September 17, 2025
The Deep Roots of the Gospel
Mark 1:1-8
What amazes you in this life? Personally, I’m amazed by the strength of trees. You can run a 4,000 pound vehicle into a tree without it budging in the slightest. Why is that? Why can trees withstand the speed and force of thousand pound vehicles? The answer is simple; it’s because of their deep roots. Are roots important? Just ask the vehicle that crumbled upon impact.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ has deep roots in the Old Testament. They are so deep that Satan can run all the lies he wants into the tree of God’s salvation and it won’t budge in the slightest. And those grafted into this tree by grace through faith can enjoy this stability as well.
Mark 1:1–8 opens with the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In these verses there are more Old Testament citations and allusions than you will see at first glance, just like the hidden roots of a tree in the earth. Read through these eight verses below; how many roots can you spot?
1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2As it is written in Isaiah
the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your
way,
3the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make
his paths straight,’”
4John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were
going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was
clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
7And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am
not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit.”
Now read through it again with the roots (OT citations and allusions) pointed out.
| Mark 1 | OT Root |
|---|---|
|
1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. |
Isaiah 52:7 - How beautiful upon the mountains |
|
*What is the good news as declared in Isaiah 52:7 and 61:1–2 and how does that inform our understanding of good news in Mark 1:1? |
Isaiah 61:1–2 - The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me Exodus 23:20 - Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. |
|
2As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, |
Malachi 3:1 - Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. Isaiah 40:3 - A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. |
|
4John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. |
Exodus 5:1 - Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” Ezekiel 20:10 - So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. |
|
6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. |
2 Kings 1:8 - They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.” Malachi 4:6 - And he [Elijah described as John in Mark 9:12–13] will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. |
|
7And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. |
Isaiah 9:6 - For to us a child is born, *This is a possible allusion |
|
8I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” |
Isaiah 44:3 - For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; Ezekiel 36:26–27 - 26And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Joel 2:28 - “And it shall come to pass afterward, |
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is firmly rooted in God’s OT salvation plan. And these roots are hundreds and thousands of years deep. As Jesus comes onto the scene He is clearly the fulfillment of God’s promises and those who believe upon Him will be grafted into God’s unmovable grace. Mark 1:1–8 encourages us to cling to Christ and by clinging we are immovable.
Edwards, J. R. The Gospel according to Mark. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002.
Strauss, Mark L. Mark, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014.
Wessel, W. W. Mark. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984.