Getting Ready for Jesus Isn’t What You Think | Mark 1:1–8
Study Guide: Mark 1:1-8
Have you ever realized you were headed the wrong direction but kept going anyway?
Maybe you missed a highway exit and decided the GPS would eventually figure out what you were doing. Maybe a conversation was going badly, but instead of changing your approach, you kept pushing harder. Sometimes we know something isn't right long before we're willing to admit that we need to change direction.
That gets us surprisingly close to one of the first important words we encounter in Mark: repentance.
For some people, repentance sounds like a harsh religious word. We may picture someone shouting about everything we're doing wrong or imagine that repentance means feeling terrible about ourselves until God is satisfied.
John the Baptist gives us a better picture.
Repentance involves recognizing that we're headed away from God and turning back toward Him. It isn't about pretending we've never wandered or cleaning ourselves up enough to impress God. It begins with enough honesty to admit where we're headed and enough trust to turn around.
Why does Mark begin the story of Jesus there?
Because Someone is coming, and John has been sent to help people get ready.
📖 TODAY'S PASSAGE
READ: Mark 1:1–8
I suggest reading the passage in the NLT and one of these "NASB, ESV, CSB"
BIG IDEA
God's long-promised rescue is beginning, and John prepares people for Jesus by calling them to turn back to God and pointing them toward Someone far greater than himself.
👀 WATCH FOR THIS
As you read, notice how often John directs attention away from himself and toward the One who is coming after him.
🎥 WATCH THE TEACHING
This study guide goes with our teaching from the Daily Bible Podcast.
You can watch the teaching first and then work through this guide, follow along while you watch, or come back afterward and use the questions to dig deeper.
SETTING THE SCENE
Yesterday we stepped back and looked at the Gospel of Mark as a whole. Today we begin walking through it verse by verse.
Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark doesn't begin with Jesus' birth. There is no Bethlehem, manger, genealogy, or visit from shepherds. Instead, Mark immediately announces “the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1 NLT), reaches back into Israel's Scriptures, and then takes us into the wilderness.
That setting matters.
The wilderness was woven deeply into Israel's history. God had rescued His people from Egypt and led them through the wilderness, where they learned what it meant to depend on Him. Centuries later, the prophets used wilderness imagery when describing God's promised rescue and restoration.
Now another prophet-like figure appears there with an announcement.
God is doing something new, but it is connected to a story that has been unfolding for generations.
1. THIS ISN'T ADVICE. IT'S NEWS. — Mark 1:1
Mark begins with the word gospel, which simply means good news. That word matters because news is different from advice. Advice tells us what we should do; news announces that something has happened.
Israel's Scriptures used “good news” when announcing God's rescue and reign (Isaiah 40:9; 52:7). Similar language was also used in the wider Roman world for important public announcements, including news about victories and rulers. Mark's readers would have understood that he was announcing something significant.
The surprising part is who the announcement is about: Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God (Mark 1:1).
“Christ” or “Messiah” isn't Jesus' last name. Both are titles referring to God's anointed King, the One Israel had been waiting for.
Mark therefore gives his readers an advantage from the opening sentence. The people inside the story will spend chapter after chapter trying to understand Jesus, but Mark has already told us who we should be watching.
As we read, the question isn't simply whether Jesus is important. Mark wants us to watch the evidence build for the claim he has placed right at the beginning: this is God's promised King.
🐇 RABBIT TRAIL: WHAT DOES “SON OF GOD” MEAN?
Mark wastes no time. In his very first sentence he calls Jesus “the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1 NLT). We’re used to hearing that title, but Mark’s original readers may have heard several layers of meaning in it.
WHERE DID THE TITLE COME FROM?
For a Jewish reader, “Son of God” had deep roots in the Old Testament. God called Israel His son (Exodus 4:22), but the title was also connected specifically with Israel’s king.
God promised David that his royal descendant would have a unique father-son relationship with Him (2 Samuel 7:14), and in Psalm 2:2, 7, God’s anointed King—His Messiah—is called His Son.
So when Mark puts these titles together—
Jesus. Messiah. Son of God.
—a Jewish reader could hear a major claim: Jesus is God’s promised King.
But Mark will spend the rest of his Gospel showing us that this title means even more than they might have expected.
A ROMAN MIGHT HAVE HEARD SOMETHING ELSE
Mark’s readers also lived in the Roman world, where divine-son language wasn’t unfamiliar. After Julius Caesar was declared divine, his adopted son Augustus used the title divi filius—“son of the divine one.” The title even appeared on Roman coins.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Mark 1:1 was written specifically as an attack on Caesar, but the cultural connection is hard to miss. In a world where emperors made enormous claims about themselves, Mark announces his Good News by pointing to Jesus as Messiah and Son of God.
Mark is going to show us a very different kind of King—one whose greatness is ultimately revealed through serving, suffering, and giving His life.
WAIT...WHY DOES MY BIBLE HAVE A FOOTNOTE?
You may see a note beside Mark 1:1 saying:
“Some manuscripts do not include ‘the Son of God.’”
Remember, we don’t possess Mark’s original handwritten page. We have many ancient handwritten copies, and occasionally those copies differ in small ways.
In this case, most manuscripts contain “Son of God,” while a few ancient copies do not. Scholars debate whether an early copyist accidentally left the words out or whether they were added very early as manuscripts were copied.
Fortunately, nothing about Mark’s view of Jesus hangs on this one textual question.
Only ten verses later, God Himself calls Jesus His Son at His baptism (Mark 1:11). The title continues throughout Mark (3:11; 5:7; 9:7; 14:61) until a surprising person uses it at the cross—a Roman centurion:
“This man truly was the Son of God!” — Mark 15:39 NLT
👀 WATCH FOR THIS
Mark tells us who Jesus is near the beginning.
But knowing the title is only the beginning.
As we work through Mark, keep asking:
What does it actually mean that Jesus is the Son of God?
The answer will become clearer as we get closer to the cross.
2. GOD HAS BEEN PLANNING THIS FOR A LONG TIME — Mark 1:2–3
Before Jesus says or does anything, Mark reaches back into the Old Testament.
He introduces the quotation with “the prophet Isaiah,” but the wording brings together ideas from Exodus 23:20, Malachi 3:1, and especially Isaiah 40:3. Isaiah supplies the main picture: a voice in the wilderness calling people to “clear the road for him” (Isaiah 40:3 NLT).
In the ancient world, preparing a road for an arriving ruler was a picture people could understand. Obstacles needed to be cleared because someone important was coming.
But Mark does something remarkable with Isaiah's words. In Isaiah, the road is being prepared for the LORD. In Mark, John is preparing the way for Jesus.
Before Jesus has preached a sermon or performed a miracle, Mark is already giving us an important clue about His identity.
This also tells us that Jesus isn't God's emergency response to a plan that went wrong. His arrival belongs to the much larger story of God's promises to Israel.
Mark is saying, in effect, The wait is ending. The promised rescue is beginning. Get ready.
3. GETTING READY STARTS WITH TURNING AROUND — Mark 1:4–5
So how should people prepare for the arrival of God's promised King?
John calls them to repentance.
Mark describes John preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven (Mark 1:4 NLT). People come from Jerusalem and throughout Judea, openly confess their sins, and John baptizes them in the Jordan River.
Repentance is more than feeling guilty or embarrassed about something we've done. The basic idea is a real change of mind and direction that results in turning away from sin and back toward God.
It is also important to notice who John is calling to repent. These aren't people who know nothing about God. They are part of Israel, God's covenant people. They have Scripture, worship, religious traditions, and generations of history with God, yet John still tells them they need to turn back to Him.
That should keep us from treating repentance as something only “bad people out there” need.
Religious familiarity doesn't guarantee that we're headed in the right direction.
Sometimes preparing to follow Jesus begins with enough honesty to say, I've been heading the wrong way. I need to turn around.
4. JOHN LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE WE'VE SEEN BEFORE — Mark 1:6
Mark gives us a surprisingly specific description of John. He wears clothing woven from camel hair with a leather belt, and he eats locusts and wild honey.
The food fits someone living simply in the wilderness, but the clothing gives us an important clue.
In 2 Kings 1:8, the prophet Elijah is recognized by his hairy appearance and leather belt.
Later, the prophet Malachi promises that Elijah will come before the great day of the LORD (Malachi 4:5), and Mark will eventually connect John with that expectation (Mark 9:11–13).
John looks and sounds like one of Israel's prophets because that is the role he is filling. He has come to prepare God's people.
Yet despite the crowds coming to hear him, John never makes himself the center of the story. His entire ministry points beyond himself.
That may be one of the easiest details to overlook. John has attention, influence, and an audience, but he knows he is only the messenger.
The messenger matters because of the message he carries.
And John's message is clear:
Someone greater is coming.
5. SOMEONE FAR GREATER IS COMING — Mark 1:7–8
John doesn't merely say that another teacher will come after him. He describes someone in an entirely different category.
He tells the crowds, “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I'm not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals” (Mark 1:7 NLT).
Handling someone's dusty sandals was servant's work. John isn't trying to convince everyone that he is worthless; he is emphasizing how great the coming One will be.
Then he explains the difference between their ministries. John baptizes with water, but the One coming after him will “baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8 NLT).
That language reaches back into promises that God would pour out His Spirit, cleanse His people, and bring renewal (Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 36:25–27; Joel 2:28–29).
John can call people to repentance and put them under the water as a public expression of that turning.
Jesus can do what John cannot: give God's Spirit.
Jesus hasn't even walked into Mark's story yet, but everything is already pointing toward Him.
🔎 DON'T MISS THIS: WHOSE ROAD IS JOHN PREPARING?
It is easy to read Mark 1:2–3 as nothing more than a prediction that John the Baptist would show up before Jesus. There is more happening.
Isaiah 40:3 says, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!” (NLT).
Isaiah is talking about God's arrival.
Mark uses that passage to explain John's role in preparing people for Jesus.
That doesn't answer every theological question about Jesus in two verses, but it gives Mark's readers an enormous clue before Jesus has even entered the scene. The person John is preparing them to meet isn't simply another prophet or religious teacher.
Mark began by calling Jesus the Messiah and Son of God. Now he uses a passage about preparing for the LORD to describe Jesus' arrival.
Mark wants us asking from the beginning:
Just who is this Jesus?
THE BIGGER LESSON
Mark's first eight verses are mostly preparation. Jesus hasn't spoken, healed anyone, called a disciple, or performed a miracle yet, but Mark has already told us a great deal about Him.
Jesus is the promised Messiah. His arrival fulfills a story God has been unfolding for generations. John considers Him so much greater than himself that he doesn't feel worthy to perform a servant's task for Him, and while John baptizes with water, Jesus will baptize with God's Spirit.
So how do people prepare to meet Him?
They turn around.
Repentance isn't an attempt to make ourselves good enough for Jesus. It is the honest recognition that we have been moving away from God and need to turn toward Him.
WHO IS JESUS?
Mark is already showing us that Jesus is far more than another teacher. He is God's promised King, and the Old Testament language Mark uses hints at an identity even greater than the people around Him yet understand.
WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY MEAN TO FOLLOW HIM?
It begins with being willing to change direction. Following Jesus requires enough humility to recognize when our current direction isn't His direction and enough trust to turn around.
👀 LOOK BACK — WHAT DOES THE PASSAGE ACTUALLY SAY?
1. What titles does Mark give Jesus in the very first verse, and what do those titles tell us before Jesus even appears?
2. What connections do you see between Mark 1:2–3 and the Old Testament passages behind Mark's quotation?
3. Compare what John says about his own baptism with what he says Jesus will do. What difference does John emphasize?
🪞 LOOK IN — WHAT IS HAPPENING INSIDE ME?
1. When you hear the word repentance, what have you normally thought it meant? Has this passage changed or expanded that picture?
2. Why can it sometimes be difficult to admit that we're heading in the wrong direction, even when we already know it?
3. Are there religious habits or routines that could make it easy for you to assume you're close to God without honestly asking whether you're following His direction?
⬆️ LOOK UP — WHAT DOES THIS SHOW ME ABOUT JESUS AND GOD?
1. What does the connection with Isaiah 40 suggest about how Mark wants us to understand Jesus?
2. What do God's promises through the prophets tell us about the long story behind Jesus' arrival?
3. What does John's statement about Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit tell us about the authority and work of Jesus?
➡️ LOOK AHEAD — WHAT WILL I DO WITH THIS?
1. Is there one area of your life where you already know you need to change direction? What would one actual step toward God look like?
2. John consistently pointed attention away from himself and toward Jesus. Where could you do the same in a relationship or conversation this week?
3. Who could you invite to continue through the Gospel of Mark with you?
💬 SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION STARTER
Think of a time when you realized you were headed in the wrong direction—not necessarily spiritually. Maybe you were literally lost, making a bad decision, handling a relationship poorly, or stubbornly continuing with a plan that wasn't working.
What finally made you admit, “Okay, I need to turn around”?
Keep this light enough that everyone can participate. The point is to help the group connect the idea of changing direction with a real experience before discussing the deeper meaning of repentance.
A NOTE FOR GROUP LEADERS
When someone shares, resist the urge to immediately explain how their story connects to the lesson. Instead, ask a simple follow-up such as, “When did you first realize something needed to change?”
A good group conversation doesn't require the leader to comment on every answer. Sometimes your most important job is to help people keep talking and listening to one another. Choose the questions that best serve your group rather than trying to finish every question on the page.
🌱 DISCIPLE-MAKER TIP: POINT BEYOND YOURSELF
John had crowds coming to hear him, yet he kept directing their attention toward Jesus.
That's a valuable habit for anyone helping another person follow Jesus. When someone comes to you for advice, don't feel pressure to become the person who has every answer. When appropriate, help them look at Scripture and ask, “What do you notice here about Jesus?”
The goal of disciple making isn't to make someone increasingly dependent on you. It is to help them become increasingly confident in listening to Jesus, understanding Scripture, and following Him.
A good disciple maker eventually teaches people how to keep growing even when you aren't in the room.
🤝 DON'T JUST STUDY IT — PRACTICE IT
Take five quiet minutes sometime today and ask God to show you whether there is an area where you have been moving in the wrong direction.
If something comes to mind, don't stop with feeling bad about it. Identify one concrete step that represents turning toward God, and take that step today.
If appropriate, tell one trusted Christian friend what you're doing and ask them to check in with you later this week.
Repentance becomes real when the change of direction actually begins.
📌 REMEMBER THIS
Getting ready for Jesus isn't about looking religious; it begins with being willing to turn around.
📖 NEXT: MARK 1:9–11 — WHY DID JESUS NEED THIS?
John has been baptizing people who are confessing their sins and turning back toward God. Then Jesus arrives from Nazareth and steps into the Jordan River to be baptized by John.
That should make us stop.
If John's baptism is connected with repentance, and Jesus is the One John has just described as far greater than himself, why does Jesus get baptized?
And what happens as Jesus comes up out of the water will give us another enormous clue about who He really is.
📺 KEEP GOING THROUGH MARK
Follow the complete Gospel of Mark Verse-by-Verse Bible Study as we work through the entire Gospel together.
New Daily Bible Podcast teachings and study guides will be added throughout our journey.
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