Mark 1:1, The Son of God!

//Much is made by scholars about the fact that Jesus called himself the Son of Man, and rarely, if ever, called himself the Son of God. Using the first Gospel written as a basis, we find the phrase Son of Man thirteen times … all of them from the lips of Jesus himself.

A hidden Markan theme, however, is that Jesus is more than he claims to be! Mark begins his Gospel with the claim that Jesus truly is the Son of God. A short bit into the story, we’re reminded again:

Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” –Mark 3:11

Then we’ll hear no more about this title until the end of the story. In Mark’s Gospel, the disciples never do catch on. Jesus dies with his true identity still a secret, recognized by only one unlikely man:

And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” –Mark 15:39

Mark’s Gospel originally ended with verse 16:8. Three women discover the tomb empty, and run away afraid, telling no one what they saw. Jesus’ secret remains intact.