Mark 1:2
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As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee-- (Mal 3:1; Isa 40:3).
Open source ↗Mark's narrative does not take rise so early as those of Matthew and Luke do, from the birth of our Saviour, but from John's baptism, from which he soon passes to Christ's public ministry. Accordingly, in this chapter, we have, I. The office of John Baptist illustrated by the prophecy of him (Mar 1:1-3), and by the history of him (Mar 1:4-8). II. Christ's baptism, and his being owned from heaven (Mar 1:9-11). III. His temptation (Mar 1:12, Mar 1:13). IV. His preaching (Mar 1:14, Mar 1:15, Mar 1:21, Mar 1:22, Mar 1:38, Mar 1:39). V. His calling disciples (Mar 1:16-20). VI. His praying (Mar 1:35). VII. His working miracles. 1. His rebuking an unclean spirit (Mar 1:23-28). 2. His curing Peter's mother-in-law, who was ill of a fever (Mar 1:29-31). 3. His healing all that came to him (Mar 1:32, Mar 1:34). 4. His cleansing a leper (Mar 1:40-45).
Open source ↗1:2-8 This account is not primarily about John the Baptist, the messenger, but about the one he announces as “Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (1:1). 1:2-3 Mark includes Old Testament prophecies to support his account of the Good News about Jesus Christ. John the Baptist’s role as the prophetic messenger reveals that Jesus is the promised Lord—Christ, the Son of God. • Isaiah: Mark follows the Jewish practice of mentioning only the most prominent of the sources that make up the quotation (Mal 3:1; Isa 40:3).
Open source ↗Cross-references
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“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,
This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’
as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of ages past,
Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll:
Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed. It would be better for him if he had not been born.”