Jesus is God from the beginning of Mark’s gospel: Debunking the theory of evolution regarding Christ’s divinity.
Some critical scholars of the Bible, in denying the deity of Jesus, tend to trade in a narrative describing the “evolution” of Christology. In its crudest form, the gospel of Mark, they claim, has very little or no reference to Jesus Christ as God, then in Matthew, a little more divinity, then in Luke, yet a little more divinity and by the time we get to John’s gospel, Jesus is now made into God.
This article is a refutation of this narrative. It makes the point that the gospel of Mark teaches that Jesus is God as much as the gospel of John does. In other words, the deity of Christ is very much established in Mark’s gospel and the case for Him being God can be made from this earliest gospel alone.
The case can be made from the very first statements in Mark,
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…”
(Mark 1:1)
The very first statement in Mark declares Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. Now we go further in the very first opening statements.
“As it is written in the Prophets:
“Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.”
The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’ ”
(Mark 1:2–3)
Two prophecies of scripture are cited concerning Jesus, the first comes from Malachi. Full context of prophecy below,
“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,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.”
(Malachi 3:1)
And
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.”
(Isaiah 40:3)
Do you see where this is going? They both refer to God Himself. Malachi says The LORD (YHWH) would come suddenly into His temple and Isaiah says the way of THE LORD (YHWH) should be prepared, a highway for our God. And these are the two prophecies that Mark applies in relation to Jesus Christ. Kind of hard to miss the point that the opening sentences in Mark’s gospel are to the effect that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.
This article can easily stop here but much like Alexander Hamilton, I love to overwhelm my audience with information so please indulge me. In the same first chapter of Mark, we see God affirm Jesus Christ as His Son,
“It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
(Mark 1:9–11)
In the same first chapter, we see even the demons affirming the deity of Jesus Christ,
“Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are — the Holy One of God!”
(Mark 1:23–24)
Again the mad man of Gadara shares this same sentiment when the legion within him says,
“And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”
(Mark 5:7)
So in the very first chapter of Mark, we have Mark affirming Jesus as the divine Son of God, we have the prophets (Malachi and Isaiah) affirming Jesus is God in the flesh, we have God the Father affirming Jesus as the divine Son of God and we have demons affirming Jesus as the Holy One of God.
In the second chapter of Mark, we have Jesus doing something nobody in their right mind would claim to have power to do. Jesus declares a man’s sins forgiven.
“When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
(Mark 2:5)
The audience sees what the issue with this declaration is,
“Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
(Mark 2:7)
Only God can forgive sins, because it is against God that we have all sinned. As Paul writes, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Again, the Torah makes it clear that God alone has authority to forgive sins,
“Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”
(Exodus 34:5–7)
The prophets also affirm the same thing,
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake;
And I will not remember your sins.”
(Isaiah 43:25)
And again,
“Who is a God like You,
Pardoning iniquity
And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in mercy.”
(Micah 7:18)
But Jesus showed He was not all talk,
“ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” — He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
(Mark 2:10–12)
Jesus actually had the authority to forgive sins. His proof? The man with sins who had been forgiven was cured of a physical ailment in the presence of witnesses. Jesus used the man’s physical healing as evidence that the man’s sins were truly and indeed forgiven.
Further in Mark 2, Jesus Christ claims to be the Lord of the Sabbath,
“Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
(Mark 2:28)
The Sabbath was a day ordained by God in the Torah to be sanctified in deference and honour to God.
“but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work”
(Exodus 20:10)
The Sabbath is the Sabbath of the Lord God. Jesus Christ in the book of Mark, calls Himself the Lord of the Sabbath. This would make Him what? The Lord God!
Over in Mark 4, the following incident is reported,
“On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
(Mark 4:35–41)
This incident here is a fulfilment of one of the Psalms,
“For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.”
(Psalm 107:25–30)
There is another such incident in the gospel of Mark as well. In fact in the second instance, Jesus Christ, in Mark’s gospel (just for emphasis), uses the divine name.
“for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
(Mark 6:50)
The words translated “It is I”, is actually “Ego Eimi” in Greek, this literally reads “I AM”. Remember John 8:58?
“Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
The “I AM” is “Ego Eimi” in the original Greek, same expression as in Mark 6:50.
In another discourse from Mark’s gospel,
“Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’
Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?”
(Mark 12:35–37)
Jesus here claims to be the Lord of David and the Lord who sits on the right hand of the throne of God.
Again, there are a lot more portions of Mark that could be used to show Christ’s deity already established but I will finish on the crème of the crop., to wit, the exact reason Jesus Christ was sentenced to death at His trial.
“And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” But He kept silent and answered nothing.
Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?”
And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.”
(Mark 14:60–64)
In one fell swoop, Jesus uses the divine name, I AM, claims to be the Son of the Blessed and claims to be the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God and coming on the clouds.
Now, the reference of Jesus here is to the “Son of Man” figure in the book of Daniel. This mysterious figure who is eternal and reigns alongside God.
“I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.”
(Daniel 7:13–14)
Jesus Christ is claiming in the presence of the high priest that He is this Son of Man in the book of Daniel. He is claiming to be a divine figure who is given eternal dominion by God. This is why the high priest reacted very strongly to this claim by ripping his clothes, he called it blasphemy and if Jesus Christ was not who He said He was, this would have been an entirely correct assessment.
In conclusion, the picture of Jesus in scripture is consistent. He is God in the flesh, the divine figure who rules alongside God and is the divine Son of God. There is no evolution taking place among the four gospels, from the very beginning of the very first gospel, there is a very high view of Jesus Christ.
Christians do not rely solely on the gospel of John to establish Christ’s divinity and deity.
