Messiah's Divinity in the Opening Verses of Mark's Gospel

One of the oldest manuscript fragments of the Gospel of Mark, known as P.Oxy LXXXIII 5345, estimated to be some 1800 years old.

Last week I was reading the gospel of Mark, widely believed to be the oldest of the gospels, and  stumbled on something I'd never seen before. 

In the opening verses of Mark's gospel, he shows Yeshua is God. Here's the verse in question, see if you spot it:

The beginning of the Good News of Yeshua ha-Mashiach, Ben-Elohim. As Isaiah the prophet has written,

"Behold, I send My messenger before You, who will prepare Your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of ADONAI, and make His paths straight.'"

John appeared, immersing in the wilderness, proclaiming an immersion involving repentance for the removal of sins. All the Judean countryside was going out to him, and all those in Jerusalem. As they confessed their sins, they were being immersed by him in the Jordan River.

Those are the opening verses of Mark. Do you see the reference to Yeshua's divinity?

Folks tend to focus on the "Yeshua the Messiah, son of God" statement.

But notice Mark's quote from Isaiah. In fact, it's a quote from Malachi (Mal. 3:1) and Isaiah (Is. 40:3). Let's break it down:

"Behold, I will send My messenger before You, who will prepare Your way."

This is a quote is from Malachi 3:

הִנְנִ֤י שֹׁלֵ֙חַ֙ מַלְאָכִ֔י וּפִנָּה־דֶ֖רֶךְ לְפָנָ֑י וּפִתְאֹם֩ יָב֨וֹא אֶל־הֵיכָל֜וֹ הָאָד֣וֹן ׀ אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֣ם מְבַקְשִׁ֗ים וּמַלְאַ֨ךְ הַבְּרִ֜ית אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֤ם חֲפֵצִים֙ הִנֵּה־בָ֔א אָמַ֖ר יְהֹוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת׃ 

Behold, I am sending My messenger to clear the way before Me, and the Sovereign you seek shall come to the temple suddenly. As for the angel of the covenant that you desire, he is already coming.

Notice in Malachi, God is sending a messenger before "Me" -- before God himself. Mark is saying, "God has sent a messenger to prepare the way for Himself."

Mark then quotes Isaiah 40:3:

קוֹל קוֹרֵא--בַּמִּדְבָּר, פַּנּוּ דֶּרֶךְ יְהוָה; יַשְּׁרוּ, בָּעֲרָבָה, מְסִלָּה, לֵאלֹהֵינוּ

A voice rings out:
“Clear in the desert
A road for the LORD!
Level in the wilderness
A highway for our God!

Who is the road being cleared for? The LORD. The text is unmistakable on this point: it uses the divine name יהוה here and calls him "our God" אלֹהינו.

Mark says John the Baptist appeared as this messenger who would prepare the way for the LORD our God.

In Mark, John the Baptist is the messenger, and Yeshua is the LORD our God.

All in the opening verses of our oldest gospel. 

I have read the Gospels many times but never noticed this. 

Keep reading the Bible, dear Kineti readers, there is new insight and wisdom to be found even if you've read it a hundred times before!