who is Mark 1:7 referring to ?

written by Ijaz Ahmed

A few years ago during a debate between Dr. Bart Ehrman and Dr. Daniel Wallace, Dr. Wallace claimed that there had been a recent discovery of a first century manuscript of the Gospel attributed to Mark. This was major news as there had been no extant (still-surviving) manuscript (any handwritten document) of the New Testament from the 1st century CE up until this discovery. This would have made it the closest Gospel reference to the time of Jesus (peace be upon him). Speculation based on a blurb featured on the Amazon listing of the, "The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Vol. LXXXIII" by the Egypt Exploration Society has recently surfaced and it makes mention of an "early" manuscript of the Gospel attributed to Mark.

Interestingly, the blurb does not state it "is the earliest" manuscript of the Gospel attributed to Mark or of any of the New Testament books. Instead it describes it as a further early witness to the Gospel attributed to Mark. This wording would therefore suggest it is not as early as Dr. Daniel Wallace had claimed. What is of interest to the Muslim community are the verses written on that manuscript. Mark 1:7 is claimed to be written on it. This verse (according to our current version of the New Testament) reads as:

"And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful (ἰσχυρότερός) than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie."

In the Gospel attributed to Mark, the above verse is placed as a reference to Jesus (peace be upon him), that John the Baptist is speaking about the Messiah to come. There is however a possibility that this does not refer to Jesus (peace be upon him) but to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The Greek text is rendered as follows:

"Καὶ ἐκήρυσσεν λέγων· ἔρχεται ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου ὀπίσω μου, οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς κύψας λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ"

As we all know, Jesus (peace be upon him) is not known for having led an army or being militarily strong. The Greek word "ισχυροτερος" (strong, militarily strong) used brings forward for us an interesting question. Was Jesus (peace be upon him) known for fighting in wars or is there someone else, also known to be a Prophet after the time of Jesus (peace be upon him) who was known for this? The Prophet who is known for having been physically strong and who led an army was the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Therefore the question before us is, what does this manuscript teach us about this quote? One can only wonder if this prophecy about Prophethood had been made in reference to someone other than Jesus (peace be upon him) and the answer to that question has significant value for us all.