“The beginning

Of the gospel

Of Jesus Christ,

The Son of God.”

Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ Υἱοῦ Θεοῦ.

When you compare the beginnings of the other gospels to Mark, you can see the differences.  Matthew, chapter 1:1, called his account a book or account (Βίβλος) that starts with a genealogy, while Luke, chapter 1-4, talked about an orderly account for his friend Theophilus.  John, chapter l:18, had his long logos prologue.  Mark was the only one to call his work a gospel (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου), or more precisely, the beginning of a gospel (Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου).  Just like in Genesis, chapter 1:1, this is the beginning (Ἀρχὴ) of something important, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news about Jesus Christ (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ).  Like Matthew, Mark called Jesus the Christ (Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ) or the Messiah right from the beginning.  Jesus was the anointed one, the “Christ (Χριστοῦ).”  This author clearly stated at the beginning of this book that it would be about Jesus the expected anointed Messiah, Christ.  However, there is nothing about the genealogy or the birth of Jesus as in Matthew and Luke.  Instead, like John, the emphasis was on the divine Jesus, the Son of God (Υἱοῦ Θεοῦ).  Right from the beginning, Jesus is and was the Son of God.