<p>1:1<em> The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God</em>- This may simply mean that Mark is beginning at the beginning, with the account of John the Baptist. Given the intensity attached to words used in the Gospels, which are highly abbreviated records anyway, that would appear somewhat superfluous. It's likely he also meant to suggest that the events of the Gospel record were only a beginning, and in the lives of all future disciples, the Gospel story continues. John begins his Gospel with the same word- &quot;In the beginning was the word&quot;. Luke uses a related word when he says that his Gospel was the record of all that Jesus &quot;began to do&quot; (Acts 1:1), with the implication that it was not being continued. So we are to see the Gospel records as a beginning of the work and word of Jesus, which continues into our lives. Matthew uses the same word in saying that Jesus &quot;began to preach&quot; (Mt. 4:17). Indeed, this word is later used by Matthew concerning how Jesus 'began' to do and teach things (Mt. 11:7,20; 16:21; 18:24); we are to understand that this beginning implies a continuation, and that continuation is in our lives. Mark&rsquo;s Gospel opens with Jesus going around preaching, appealing for people to repent and believe the Gospel (and this is described as &ldquo;the beginning of the Gospel&rdquo;). Mark concludes with <em>us</em> being asked to do the same, thereby directly continuing the work of the Lord, because we are in Him. The only other occurrence of the phrase &quot;beginning of the Gospel&quot; is in Phil. 4:15, where it means the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel. Mark's gospel is a transcript of how he or Peter used to teach the Gospel; it was written down under inspiration so that it would be preserved for future generations. We learn from this that the Gospel is in the gospels. The good news is essentially the biography and teachings of the Lord Jesus. The rest is interpretation.</p><p>The Greek text in Mark often has a rhythm and rhyme to it created by similar sounding words- because the early church aimed for new converts to memorize Mark&rsquo;s Gospel. Just one example from Mk. 1:1:<br /><em>Ar-khay tou you-ang-ge -lee-ou Yay-sou Khrees-tou whee-ou the -ou</em>.<br />The 'ou' endings are somehow rhythmical. Especially do we see this rhythmical quality in the phrase used for &quot;Jesus Christ the Son of God&quot; in Mk. 1:1: &quot;<em>Ieso-u Christo-u huio-u Theo-u</em>&quot;.</p>