John Calvin Commentary Mark 1

The beginning of the Gospel. Though what we have until now taken out of Matthew and Luke is a part of the Gospel, yet it is not without reason that Mark makes the beginning of the Gospel to be the preaching of John the Baptist. For the Law and the Prophets then came to an end (John 1:17). The Law and the Prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached (Luke 16:16). And with this agrees most fully the quotation which he makes from the Prophet Malachi (Malachi 3:1). In order to inflame the minds of his people with a stronger desire for the promised salvation, the Lord had determined to leave them, for a time, without new prophecies. We know that the last of the true and lawful prophets was Malachi.

That the Jews, in the meantime, might not faint with hunger, he exhorts them to continue under the Law of Moses, until the promised redemption appears. He mentions the law only (John 1:17), because the doctrine of the Prophets was not separate from the law, but was merely an appendage and fuller exposition of it, so that the form of government in the Church might depend entirely on the Law. It is no new or uncommon thing in Scripture to include the Prophets under the name of the Law: for they were all related to it as their fountain or design. The Gospel was not an inferior appendage to the Law, but a new form of instruction, by which the former was set aside.

Malachi, distinguishing the two conditions of the Church, places the one under the Law, and commences the other with the preaching of John. He unquestionably describes the Baptist when he says, Behold, I send my messenger, (Malachi 3:1), for, as we have already said, that passage lays down an express distinction between the Law and the new order and condition of the Church. With the same view he had said a little before (which is quoted by Mark in Mark 9:13, as the passages are quite similar), Behold, I send you Elijah the Prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, (Malachi 4:5). Again,

Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, (Malachi 3:1).

In both passages, the Lord promises a better condition of his Church than had existed under the Law, and this unquestionably points out the beginning of the Gospel. But before the Lord came to restore the Church, a forerunner or herald was to come, and announce that he was at hand. Hence we infer, that the abrogation of the Law, and the beginning of the Gospel, strictly speaking, took place when John began to preach.

The Evangelist John presents to us Christ clothed in flesh, the Word made flesh, (John 1:14), so that his birth and the whole history of his appearance are included in the Gospel. But here Mark inquires when the Gospel began to be published and, therefore, properly begins with John, who was its first minister. And with this view, the Heavenly Father chose that the life of his Son should be buried, as it were, in silence, until the time of the full revelation arrived. For it did not happen without the undoubted Providence of God that the Evangelists leave out the whole period which Christ spent in private, and pass at once from his earliest infancy to his thirtieth year, when he was openly exhibited to the world, invested with his public character as a Redeemer; Luke is an exception, who slightly touches on one indication of his future calling, which occurred about his twelfth year (Luke 2:42).

It had a very close connection with this object that we should be informed, first, that Christ is a true man (John 1:14), and next, that he is the Son of Abraham and of David, (Matthew 1:1); for both of which, the Lord has been pleased to give us an attestation. The other matters which we have examined, relating to the shepherds, (Luke 2:8), the Magi, (Matthew 2:1), and Simeon, (Luke 2:25), were intended to prove his Divinity. What Luke relates about John and his father Zacharias (Luke 1:5) was a sort of preparation for the Gospel.

There is no impropriety in the change of the person which is here made, in quoting the words of Malachi. According to the prophet, God says, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way Before Me. Mark introduces God as addressing the Son, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way Before Thee. But we see that Mark had no other intention than to express more clearly the prophet’s meaning. Mark designates Christ the Son of God. The other Evangelists testify that he was born of the seed of Abraham and David, and therefore was the Son of man, (Matthew 8:20). But Mark shows us that no redemption is to be expected but from the Son of God.

Preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God. Matthew appears to differ a little from the other two evangelists: for, after mentioning that Jesus left his own city Nazareth and went to Capernaum, he says: from that time Jesus began to preach. Luke and Mark, on the other hand, relate that he taught publicly in his own country. But the solution is easy, for the words Matthew uses, ἀπὸ τότε, from that time, should be viewed as referring not to what immediately precedes but to the whole course of the narrative. Christ, therefore, began his ministry when he arrived in Galilee.

The summary of doctrine Matthew gives is not at all different from what we recently saw was taught by John, for it consists of two parts: repentance, and the announcement of grace and salvation. He exhorts the Jews to conversion because the kingdom of God is at hand: that is, because God undertakes to govern his people, which is true and perfect happiness. The language of Mark is a little different: The kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel. But the meaning is the same, for, having first spoken of the restoration of the kingdom of God among the Jews, he exhorts them to repentance and faith.

But it may be asked, since repentance depends on the Gospel, why does Mark separate it from the doctrine of the Gospel? Two reasons may be given. God sometimes invites us to repentance when nothing more is meant than that we should change our lives for the better. He afterwards shows that conversion and newness of life (Romans 6:4) are the gift of God.

This is intended to inform us that not only is our duty enjoined on us, but the grace and power of obedience are, at the same time, offered. If we understand in this way the preaching of John about repentance, the meaning will be: “The Lord commands you to turn to him; but as you cannot accomplish this by your own efforts, he promises the Spirit of regeneration, and therefore you must receive this grace by faith.” At the same time, the faith which he requires men to give to the Gospel should not, by any means, be confined to the gift of renewal, but relates chiefly to the forgiveness of sins. For John connects repentance with faith because God reconciles us to himself in such a way that we serve him as a Father in holiness and righteousness.

Besides, there is no absurdity in saying that to believe the Gospel is the same thing as to embrace a free righteousness, for that special relation between faith and the forgiveness of sins is often mentioned in Scripture; as, for example, when it teaches that we are justified by faith (Romans 5:1). Whichever of these two ways you choose to explain this passage, it still remains a settled principle that God offers us a free salvation, in order that we may turn to him and live to righteousness. Accordingly, when he promises us mercy, he calls us to deny the flesh.

We must observe the designation Paul gives to the Gospel, the kingdom of God: for from this we learn that by the preaching of the Gospel the kingdom of God is set up and established among men, and that in no other way does God reign among men. Thus it is also evident how wretched the condition of men is without the Gospel.

³⁴⁴ “Mais pource que Satan ne pent endurer ceste vertue et puissance, aquelle il sait estre le destruire et ruiner, il voudroit bien que Christ se contenant d'un beau titre en l'air, se reposast, et se deportast de luy rien faire.” — “But because Satan cannot endure that power and might, which he knows to be to destroy and ruin him, he would rather wish that Christ, satisfying himself with a fine title in the air, should take repose, and refrain from doing any thing to him..” — “But because Satan cannot endure that power and might, which he knows to be to destroy and ruin him, he would rather wish that Christ, satisfying himself with a fine title in the air, should take repose, and refrain from doing any thing to him.

³⁴⁵ “En la facon d’enseigner de Jesus Christ;” — “in Jesus Christ's manner of teaching.”;” — “in Jesus Christ's manner of teaching.”

When the unclean spirit had torn him: Luke uses a milder phrase, when the devil had thrown him down; but they agree perfectly regarding the meaning, for the purpose of both was to show that the devil left the man in a violent manner. He threw down the unhappy man as if he had intended to tear him, but Luke says that the attempt was unsuccessful; for he hurt him nothing. This does not mean that the attack was in no way accompanied by injury, or at least by some feeling of pain, but rather that the man was afterward delivered from the devil and restored to perfect health.

³⁴⁶ “En leur doute et estonnement.” — “In their doubt and astonishment.”.” — “In their doubt and astonishment.”