Quizzes
Exploring Jesus
Appreciating the New Testament as literature means paying attention to beginnings
Have you ever missed the start of a movie — and therefore missed some crucial information so the story never made sense to you? Just like in movies, the beginnings of the gospels give us the keys for understanding the rest of the story. In this video, we look at the beginning of the Gospel of Mark and listen to what it tells us about who Jesus is.
Read the beginning of Mark’s gospel (1:1–15). What do these verses tell us about who Jesus is? What’s going on with the quotations from Isaiah and Malachi?
Jesus is!
Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament hopes! He’s not only the Messiah, not only the Son of God, but true faithful Israel and God the king returning to His people to make things right.
Test Yourself
Answer
Talk it Through
Read and respond to the following questions:
- There is so much to unpack in these fifteen verses. How would you summarize the picture of who Jesus is that is presented in Mark 1:1–15?
- How does this beginning help you to read the rest of Mark’s gospel?
FURTHER RESOURCES
- Rikk Watts, “Did Mark Fumble his Opening Quotation?”
- BibleProject, “Who is Jesus?”
- BibleProject, “Gospel of the Kingdom”
- BibleProject, “Gospel"
- BibleProject, “Overview: Isaiah 40-66”
- BibleProject, “Overview: Malachi”
- Scot McKnight, “The Biblical Meaning of the Gospel”
- Scot McKnight, “What and Where is the Kingdom of God?”
- Ben Witherington “How does the New Testament use the Old Testament”
You Did it!
Congratulations on finishing this lesson!
If you feel like you are ready to take a quiz to review what you have learned in this lesson, go on to the next step. Otherwise, it might be a good idea to review the last few topics again.