The Prologue Psalm 2:1 in Mark 1:11 Although Mark’s introductory sentence explicitly appeals to Israel’s scripture, it has important contacts with Graeco-Roman motifs. His ‘good news’ and ‘son of god’ (if original) challenge the claims of the imperial cult.5 Mark has set the stage for a clash of imperia: Yahweh’s kingdom (cf. Jesus’ announcement in 1:14) versus Rome (cf. the centurion’s confession in 15:39). It is surely significant, then, that at the climax of his prologue, Jesus’ baptism, the divine