The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: S. Mark
Chapter 1
1 The office of John the Baptist. 9 Jesus is baptised , 12 tempted: 14 he preacheth: 16 calleth Peter , Andrew, James , and John : 23 healeth one that had a devil; 29 Peter’s mother-in-law , 32 many diseased persons , 41 and cleanseth the leper.
The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaias , &c. Many place a full stop before as, thinking that the beginning of the Gospel, &c., is the title of the book. But that these words are not the title, but the introduction of the book, is plain from the word beginning, and because they are really dependent upon the clause as it is written, &c. Therefore a comma, not a period, must be placed before as. The word Gospel, then, in this place does not denote the book of the Gospel which Mark wrote, as when we say, the Gospel of Mark , but the Gospel preaching of Jesus Christ as it follows. The meaning, therefore, is, “The Gospel preaching of Christ had such a beginning as Isaiah and Malachi foretold, that is to say, the preaching of John the Baptist and his testimony concerning Christ.” For John began to preach the kingdom of heaven, that it would be opened by Christ’s preaching and death. Wherefore he urged them to repentance, that they might be capable of receiving the grace of Christ, saying, Repent ye, &c. For Moses and the ancient Law preached and promised a land flowing with milk and honey, if the Jews would obey God’s commandments. But Christ and the Evangelical Law preach
* It has not been thought necessary to print in full the text of S. Mark. The citation of the few passages commented on is from the Douai Version.
and promise the kingdom of heaven, if men will repent of their sins, and obey the commands of Christ. John’s preaching of repentance, therefore, was the preparation for, and the beginning of, Christ’s preaching the Gospel.
Observe, Matthew and John commence their Gospels from Christ Himself — John from the divine, Matthew from the human generation of Christ. Mark and Luke begin with John the Baptist — Luke from his nativity, Mark from his preaching.
Vers. 2, 3. As it is written in Isaias the prophet, Behold, I send my angel before Thy face , who shall prepare the way before Thee. A voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare ye the way of the Lord , make straight His paths. The former citation in the 2nd verse is from Mal. iii. 1. The latter is from Isa. xl. 3. Wherefore the Greek has, it is written in the prophets . But the Vulgate and some Greek copies, also the Syriac and Arabic, have as above. And S. Jerome says that this was formerly the reading of the Greek (lib. de Opt. Gen. Interpret. Scrip.).
You will ask, “Why does Mark only cite Isaias and not
Malachi?” I answer, because the prophecy of Isaias is of greatest importance in this place, for the voice of John crying in the desert, Do penance , &c., was the beginning of the Gospel. But inasmuch as Malachi shows that John was not sent by man, but by God, to utter these words, therefore Mark prefixes the words of Malachi to arouse the attention of the reader to receive and venerate the voice of John. Besides, Malachi in reality says the same as Isaias. For the angel sent by God to prepare the way of Christ was none other than John himself, crying , and preaching repentance, by which the hearts of men must be prepared for the preaching and grace of Christ. This is therefore, as it were, one and the same oracle of two prophets, uttered concerning one and the same John, but in different words, so that they mutually confirm and explain one another. This, then, is the reason why Mark in this place, and the other Evangelists and Apostles, when they cite two prophets, or two or more sentences of the same or different books of the Old Testament, quote them as one and the same testimony. This is plain from 1 Pet. ii. 7, compared with Ps. cxviii. 22 and Isa. viii. 14. Also 1 Cor. xv. 54, compared with Isa. xxv. 8 and Hos. xiii. 14. The reason, I say, is, because one sentence confirms and explains the other, so that they are in truth not two, but one sentence.
Ver. 4. John was in the desert baptizing, and preaching the baptism of penance unto remission of sins . That this remission was to be received from Christ and His baptism, which was the perfection and consummation of John’s baptism. For Christ, as it were the King of Heaven, preached that the kingdom must be received by His grace, of which the first part is remission of sins, which is given by the baptism of Christ, inasmuch as it is furnished and, as it were, animated by the Spirit and grace of Christ, according to those words of John (in Matt. iii. 11), “I indeed baptize you in water unto penance, but He that shall come after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear ; He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire.”
And immediately the Spirit drove (Gr. ἐκβάλλει, i.e., sends out , expels ) Him out into the desert. The Spirit, i.e., the Holy Spirit, who a little while before had glided down upon Him in His baptism in the form of a dove. Drove, that is, impelled Christ with great power of spirit and ardour, that He should, of His own accord, go into the desert, and there, as in a palcestra, match Himself in single combat with the devil.
And He was in the desert forty days and forty nights, and was tempted (Gr. πειραζόμενος, i.e., suffering temptation). Whence many think that Christ during the forty days was frequently tempted by Satan, by means of various spectres and horrible monsters, such as the demon presented to S. Anthony, to terrify him and distract his mind from prayer. So Franc. Lucas. But it seems better to take Mark as speaking only of the three well-known temptations (see what has been said in Matt iv. 2).
And He was with beasts (Gr. θηρίων, wild beasts). This is an intimation of the excessive solitude of the place, as well as of Christ’s innocency. Although He was in such a desert place, with lions, wolves, leopards, serpents, yet He did not fear them, nor was He injured by them. Just as Adam, so long as he was innocent, lived with such creatures without harm in Paradise. For they all looked up to him, and reverenced him as their lord.
And the angels ministered to Him. Not before His temptation and victory, as Bede supposes. For if so, Jesus would have been recognised by the devil as the Son of God ; nor would the devil have dared to approach Him. But it was after the temptation and the victory, as is plain from Matt. iv. 11. And for this reason, that Jesus might show in His own person that consolation and comfort and the ministry of angels has been prepared by God for those who overcome temptations.