Mark: The Beginning of Hope

In my personal opinion, I found the first chapter of Mark to have a few similarities with the first chapter of John. Here is one of the passages from the beginning of John:

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light." (John 1:7-1:8)
Here we are talking about some kind of messenger or witness that is there to see Jesus and perhaps, help him.

Now let's see the beginning of Mark: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." (Mark 1:1-1:5)
You can see that the same person is being talked about. We are talking about John the baptist that is "guiding" the "light". In other words, John is the messenger that is there to witness Jesus and to corroborate that he is the son of God.

The main difference between John and Mark is that John is not as straightforward as Mark. In John, metaphors and poetic-sounding words are used to represent God, Jesus, and John. John is a "witness" and Jesus is "the Light". After discussing with some of my classmates about John, Mark, and the rest of the gospels, I often heard them saying that John seemed to be the most boring gospel, and the one that required the most analysis because it isn't as direct as Mark or the rest of the gospels. I have to say that after reading the beginning of John, the beginning of Mark was a bit of a relief, events were stated in a clearer way, in my opinion. But in John, it's simply prettier or more decorative, so it makes for a nice read. You would much rather read about Jesus being a "Light" than being simply "Jesus." By stating that Jesus is a light we are saying that there is some kind of hope. Light signals hope. And by stating that John is a "witness", you can infer that Jesus is going to do something so magnificent and miraculous that is deserves or needs, a witness. Not that in Mark the reader doesn't know that it's heading into tat direction. Mark starts with the baptism of Jesus, and it's descriptions are very much obvious: "And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him" (Mark 1:10) The "spirit" of a "dove" was descending upon him. This is another influence I am reminded of that the bible had on Catholicism. In Catholicism, God exists in three different forms: the father, the son, and the holy spirit. The father is God, the son is Jesus, and the holy spirit is the dove. I'm not really sure why the dove, that is something I'd really like to look into. But, without knowing anything else, the first thing I think of when I see a dove is hope. To me, believers are the ones searching for hope, and believing in God gives them hope.