I remember my dad once asked me to do something I wasn’t quite sure how to do. As I considered his instruction, I asked him, “how do you know that’s going to work?” He smiled and said, “I guess you’re just going to have to take my word for it.” At that moment, I had a choice to make: trust my dad and take his word or forge my own way.
The Gospel of Mark is a literary masterpiece, written by a man who was both divinely inspired and a careful student. (1) I imagine Mark recording Peter’s reflections on Jesus—his stories, miracles, and teachings. The Gospel writers weren’t careless; they examined Jesus’ life in light of the Old Testament (or “the Gospel according to the Prophets,” as one of my professors called it) to confirm he fulfilled the prophecies of the one who would bring salvation to mankind—and the world.
They studied the Scriptures, consulted scholars, and interviewed eyewitnesses, eventually seeing a key attribute of God emerge: his faithfulness. One clear theme from reading the Bible cover to cover is that God always does what he says he will do. We can take him at his word.
This truth is seen in Jeremiah 1:12, where God tells the prophet, “I am watching over my word to perform it.” What word? The Scriptures, which reveal God’s character and will. God declares his intentions—and then fulfills them. He is faithful to his Word, to his promises, to his people.
In the opening verses of Mark, we see this reality take shape. Old Testament ideas are woven into Mark’s narrative to help readers understand who Jesus is according to the Scriptures. Consider this:
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1) “Son of God” language echoes Psalm 2—God declaring his Son as the heir of the nations and that faith in him is the way to the blessing of God.
“As it is written in Isaiah the prophet…” (Mark 1:2–3) This merges Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3, (2) foretelling a forerunner to the Messiah. (3) John the Baptist fulfilled this role.
“John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness…” (Mark 1:4–5) While there are no direct Old Testament quotes here, the allusions are strong: ritual purification, deliverance from slavery and crossing the Red Sea, entry into the Promised Land, and perhaps most importantly, repentance as a symbolic death to sin. Proverbs 1:23 hints why this matters: “If you turn at my reproof… I will pour out my spirit to you.” Repentance is how we return to God, making room for his Spirit to dwell among his people—the plan from the beginning (Gen. 1–2, Rev. 21–22).
“Now John was clothed with camel’s hair…” (Mark 1:6) This alludes to 2 Kings 1:8 and signals that John is the Elijah (4) who would come (Malachi 4:5), the forerunner of the Promised Savior. Jesus himself affirms this several times in the Gospels.
“After me comes he who is mightier than I…” (Mark 1:7–8) John ties Jesus’ mission to Old Testament prophecy. Jesus would fulfill Israel’s story and reunite God and man, heaven and earth. Being baptized with the Holy Spirit recalls Ezekiel 36:26–27 and Joel 2:28—key texts describing the New Covenant Jesus would establish.
From the start, Mark uses prophecy and symbolism—especially through John the Baptist—to highlight the faithfulness of God. He is going to go on to show that Jesus is the one all Scripture points to.
“Why? So we can know that God still watches over his word to perform it. We can take him at his Word.
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1. The doctrine of inspiration typically refers to the belief that the Holy Spirit super-intended (or inspired) the writing of the Bible, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of its teachings. It’s essentially the idea that God was the primary author of the Scriptures, even though it is through humans the revelation was given and delivered.
2. Why doesn’t Mark say, “As it is written in Malachi and Isaiah?” The Old Testament was ordered in three major categories: Torah (the Law: 5 books), Nevi’im (the Prophets: 8 books) and the Ketuvim (the Writings: 11 books). Our Bibles have 39 books because they break out the 12 prophets individually, split Samuel, Kings, Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah each into two books. But in Hebrew culture, there is an ancient practice that took the first book of each section and attributed the whole section to that author as a representative. Jesus uses this very practice twice in Luke 24:27 and 24:44 to show how the entire Old Testament was pointing to him.The Nevi’im is broken up into two sections: The former prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings) and the latter prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Book of the 12 ‘minor’ prophets). Since Isaiah is the first book of the latter prophets and Malachi is the last of the 12, Mark is basically saying that John the Baptist’s coming should be understood in light of the prophecies of these texts.
3. The word “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew word mashiach and means “anointed one” or “chosen one.” The Greek word Christos conveys the same meaning, or, in English, Christ. It’s a title given to the long awaited savior who would rescue God’s people and usher them into a reign of peace and prosperity. (Gen. 3:15; Daniel 9:25-26, et.al.)
4. He’s not Elijah, he’s just come in the Spirit and power of Elijah.