Genesis starts with "In the beginning God ...", Mark starts his gospel with "The beginning of the good news...", so maybe there is an allusion to Genesis here. The good news marks a new beginning, as Paul says, we are a new creation if we are in Christ.
"Good news" is the literal translation of "gospel". The good news is about Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Messiah means Christ or Anointed One. In the Old Testament kings, priests and prophets were anointed. All three ministries are encapsulated in Christ. He is the king of kings, He proclaimed the word of God (indeed He is the word of God), and He is the great high priest.
The first of the two quotations from the Old Testament actually comes from Malachi 3:1, while the second comes from Isaiah 40:3. Isaiah is the major prophet, hence Mark says "as it is written in Isaiah".
These two prophets cover two different aspects of Christ's ministry. Malachi speaks of judgement, whereas the passage from Isaiah speaks of mercy. In Christ we find both aspects. In the temple He expelled the money changers, He had many severe words to say about the Pharisees and other religious leaders. Then, of course we saw Jesus displaying great mercy, the supreme example being on the cross.
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