Theology

What in this reading was surprising and what was familiar? One surprising finding from the book of Mark was that John the Baptist never fed on anything besides honey and locust. Prior to closely studying his book, I had not come to the understanding that John the Baptist was not only unique in lifestyle by living in the wilderness, but also fed on unusual foods his entire life. The familiar account in the book of Mark was John preparing the way for Jesus and telling the Jewish people of the Messiah’s coming, something they did not entirely believe. The preparations made by John as documented in the book of Mark through preaching and baptism in river Jordan, were a fulfillment of prophesies by prophet Isaiah and given my prior reading of the book of Isaiah (Mark 1 NIV), I found the events in Mark familiar.
What more do I want to know about the authors, the early readers, or the story itself?
I would like to know Mark’s understanding of the book of Isaiah and how he clearly identified and documented the events during the time of John to be a fulfillment of the prophesies of Isaiah. A few questions I would like answered on the author; Apostle Mark in this case is: Did he witness the life of John or was the information passed to him through narration by either man or the Holy Spirit? Did he out rightly believe that Jesus was the Messiah Isaiah talked about or was he convinced by the miracles and preaching that Jesus later did during his time on earth? I would equally like to know how the early readers understood the book of Mark, especially those who were witnesses to the life of both John and Jesus. Did they connect with the writings as we do today or were there better believers given their eye witness accounts of these happenings?
Work cited
” Mark 1 NIV – John the Baptist Prepares the Way – The – Bible Gateway.” BibleGateway. com: A searchable online Bible in over 100 versions and 50 languages.. N. p., n. d. Web. 3 Apr. 2013.