Year B
First Sunday in Lent
February 22, 2015
Title: Short Life of Jesus
Cross~Wind UMC
Have people read the Gospel of Mark the week prior.
Going deeper
Mark 1:9-15 (NRSV)The theme here is the story of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist and a brief account of Jesus being the wilderness and then his entry into Galilee to preach. As Jesus grew up, there were nationalist uprisings when he was two and twelve, both of which were defeated by the superior military strength of Romans. However, there was a successful non-violent protest by peasants in Caesarea against Pilate.
9 In
those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the
Jordan. [We have
Jesus making his first major public decision, identifying himself with John.
This ascetic preacher of repentance invited people to leave "Egypt,"
that is, Jerusalem and the corrupt ways of institutional life in Israel, and
come to the wilderness, patterning himself after Moses, Elijah, and other
prophets. 10 And just as he
was coming up out of the water, he saw [only Jesus will see and hear] the heavens torn apart and the Spirit
descending like a dove on him. [Pannenberg makes the important theological
point that we have here the impartation of the Spirit on Jesus, though we do
also have the thought of adoption.[1] The baptism is the beginning of the
eschatological age. The heavens are not merely "opened up" but are
"torn apart." Mark uses this violent verb only once again when he
describes how the curtain was "torn in two, from top to bottom"
(15:38) at the moment of Jesus' death on the cross.] 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the
Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” [Jesus is the elect Son of God.[2] As
such, Jesus becomes a model of election as serving humanity for the mission God
gave him.[3] The
baptism proclaims divine sonship and relates it to the future of his public
ministry.[4] What
is important to Mark is not the relationship between John and Jesus, but the
revelation we see here. God chooses an unknown person from a small village in a
marginal region. Jesus did not have
right pedigree. Note the relation with
Psalm 2:7 ("You are my son") and Isaiah 42:1 ("my chosen, in
whom my soul delights"). Since Psalm 2 is one of the royal psalms,
describing enthronement of the king, and the Isaiah text introduces the first
"suffering servant" song, these messages together complete the secret
identity of Jesus.]
12 And
the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was
in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild
beasts; and the angels waited on him.
[The wild beasts were with him, certainly the most enigmatic aspect of Mark’s
account. The modern tendency is to hear in this reference an intensification of
threat and danger in the wilderness. Yet patristic era commentators took an
entirely different approach. For them, the presence of the ”wild beasts” drew a
parallel with Adam while in the garden of Eden. Once more Satan is tempting the
”human one” (to anticipate Jesus’ self-designation as uios tou
anqropou beginning
at 2:10 and throughout this gospel) amid the beasts, but this time the ”human
one” prevails and is ministered to by the angels rather than driven out by them
(cf. Genesis 3:22-24). On this reading of the “wild beasts,” the “wilderness”
is not a satanic and Godforsaken place. Rather, God is present with Jesus
throughout this trial in the same way God was present with Adam in Eden and
Israel in Sinai. Yet whereas both humanity generally (Adam) and God’s chosen
people (Israel) have failed such temptations in the past, this time the ”human
one” succeeds in plundering Satan’s house (cf. again Mark 3:27). Mark has just
rehearsed the exodus experience of Israel in the desert in which the people are
tested, as in Deuteronomy 8:2. The difference
is that Jesus relived the wilderness experience without yielding to the
testing, while Israel failed its test.]
14 Now
after John was arrested, [John’s
time is past]Jesus came to Galilee, [Jesus
did not stay with John in the wilderness, but went back to Galilee, making the
center of his activity to be Bethsaida, Chorazin, Capernaum. ] proclaiming the good news of God, [Mark
describes the message of Jesus as the gospel or good news of God, which may
explain why the term “gospel” came to be used for comprehensive presentations
of the Jesus tradition.[5]
Isaiah 52:7 speaks of the beauty of those who bring good tidings, who publishes
peace, who brings good tidings of good, and who says to Zion, “Your God
reigns.” The central content of the message of peace is the dawning of the
reign of God, indeed in the sense that God has already entered upon it.]
15 and
saying, “The time is fulfilled, [“Fulfilled”
refers to a completion of the past, and thus a strong sense of continuity. Scripture, Law, purpose of the old covenant,
find their fulfillment in Christ. It is interesting to note the temporal and
spatial dimensions of the kingdom. In
Mark’s understanding, time is not chronological but an opportune time. In
essence, Jesus is saying, "The time you have been waiting for, the time
announced by the prophets, is finally here! The glorious new day of God's rule
has just dawned!" The phrase is consistent with Galatians 4:4 regarding
the fullness of time being the moment when God sent the Son into the world. Ephesians
1:10 says that in the fullness of time God is summing up all things in Christ.
In Jesus, the reign of God arrives in a real but hidden form. The promises and
prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled.]
and the kingdom of God has come
near; [Here is the
spatial dimension of the kingdom. The kingdom is a reality of the near or
immediate future. Indeed, Jesus’
appearance and the appearance of the kingdom are practically the same. Mark rarely defines the content of the
preaching of Jesus. Where Mark specifies Jesus’ message precisely, it is the
announcement of the kingdom of God. There is a debate among scholars about what
Jesus is saying. Does he mean the kingdom is about to arrive or that it is
already here? As the story of Mark's gospel unfolds, those who encounter the
power of God through the words and works of Jesus experience the kingdom as
present, yet hidden; the fullness of the kingdom remains the object of prayer
and expectant waiting, but is mysteriously present in Jesus' ministry.]
repent, [the same message John preached.
Pannenberg says the prophetic theme of conversion is not prominent in the
message of Jesus, even though this passage brings it to the fore as a theme of
the preaching of Jesus. Yet, one could say that the summons to subordinate all
concerns to seeking the reign of God in human life naturally implies very
strongly a conversion to God. Conversion, for Jesus is not a precondition of
participation in the reign of God. At the center of his message is the
imminence and presence of the rule of God for believers.[6]
To repent does not mean merely to turn away from a specific sin, but turning
toward God in faith and obedience. Repentance or "metanoia" (Greek)
meant a complete about-face, a turning around of the mind, a changing of life
and lifestyle, the taking of a radical new direction. Jesus spoke of God’s rule
as close or already present but hidden, and thus in a way that frustrates
ordinary expectations. He now calls his hearers to turn around, to shift the
direction of their lives, to look, listen and give their full attention to the
arrival of the kingdom. For Karl Barth repentance means complete
re-orientation, both inward and outward, of the whole person to the God who
truly has turned to humanity in time.[7]]
and believe in the good
news.” [Belief is trusting in the kingdom of God. It involves a letting go of the things to
which we cling to for security and identity.
Jesus' call to believe is not an intellectual exercise, but a call to
trust. To believe in the good news means to wager one's future on the reality
of God's involvement in the world through the person and ministry of Jesus
Christ, despite the skepticism of the modern worldview. Pannenberg will stress,
pointing to this verse, that in the work of Jesus, the call for conversion
rests on the message of the inbreaking of the future of God in the coming of
Jesus and for those who accept the summons in faith. The proclaiming of the
presence of the rule of God and its salvation in those who in faith rely on its
all-determinative future is now a motive for conversion to God on the part of
the hearers.[8]
For Karl Barth faith means the unquestioning trust in this God that is the
positive side of this re-orientation; the new life that is the only possible
life after this event in the time that follows it.[9]]
Introduction
Last week,
I challenged you to read the Gospel of Mark in its entirety. It struck me this
time that after a brief John the Baptist prologue in 1:1-13, we have a large
segment of the preaching, teaching, and healing of Jesus in Galilee through
Chapter 9, Chapter 10 telling of a trip to Jerusalem, and Chapter 11-16 dealing
with the final week of the life of Jesus. In that final section, the tension
with religious leaders grows. Rome, the occupying power, is secondary. The
disciples do not look good here. Jesus will speak often what a follower of
Jesus is like, but the disciples are not good examples. To recognize Jesus is
central. Jesus has authority and power, but it has its limits in his hometown,
in the betrayal by Judas, in opposition from religious leaders, and ultimately
in his trial and crucifixion. The story ends abruptly in 16:8 with the fear of
the disciples. Scholars puzzle over that ending.
In 1982,
the Reader’s Digest published a Reader’s Digest Bible, a condensed and abridged
version of the Bible. After all, the Bible is a library of 66 books. The Roman
Catholics and Orthodox have more, called the Apocrypha, which will change your
interpretation of Esther, Daniel, the historical books, and the prophets. Christians
organize the Old Testament differently from the Jewish people. For Christians,
the Old Testament ends with prophets who look forward to something new. For
Jews, the Scripture ends with a celebration of the Law. The Bible sells more
than other published book globally. It has 1189 chapters and 31,173 verses.
Reader’s Digest reduced the size of the Old Testament by 40% and the New
Testament by 25%. It would seem that might be helpful and make money. Yet, the
organization came in for much criticism from certain religious groups.
Interestingly, after initial strong sales, it has become largely an
insignificant footnote in Bible publications.
Application
Mark almost
reads like a Reader’s Digest version of the life of Jesus. The book is the
shortest of the four gospels. We miss some of our favorite stories of Jesus. It
seems to give a rough outline of the life of Jesus.
Mark is famously brief and terse --
the Hemingway of biblical writers. Look at the mere seven verses included in
today's reading. In that short space, Mark covers Jesus' baptism, his
temptation, the arrest of John the Baptist and the inauguration of Jesus'
ministry, complete with Jesus' summary statement of his mission: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom
of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
So quickly does Mark move from one
incident of Jesus' life to the next that his favorite word seems to be
"immediately." Mark uses that or a related term 41 times.
With only 16 Chapters, a determined
reader in a single sitting can read Mark, the shortest of the four gospels.
More importantly, in those brief chapters, Mark tells enough about Jesus that
if we did not have Matthew, Luke and John, we would still have sufficient
material to hear God's message about who Jesus is and what he came to do. We
would have enough on which to base our faith in him.
Stan Purdum, writing for teachers
of adult classes about the book of Mark, explains:
"There is wide
agreement among Bible scholars that Mark was the first of the four gospels to
be written, and that both Matthew and Luke relied heavily upon Mark as one of
their primary sources when they composed their gospels. In fact, only 24 of
Mark's verses are not repeated in some fashion by either Matthew or Luke or
both. (John used other sources and covers different ground from that covered by
the other three.) Both Matthew and Luke include additional material and
perspectives, but neither one disagrees with the baseline about Jesus that Mark
lays down in his book."
Purdum goes on to
detail that baseline about Jesus with six points that Mark makes. They show us
why Mark's account is long enough to "make us different [than] we were
when we started -- make us bigger, somehow, ourselves."
Are you
ready for a short life of Jesus?
First, Mark identified Jesus as
"the Son of God."
In Mark's day, "Son of
God" denoted a person with a divine mission. In his opening sentence, Mark
proclaims Jesus as the Son of God, but thereafter he allows others to confirm
that identity.
At Jesus' baptism and at the
Transfiguration, a heavenly voice announces it (1:11; 9:7).
11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the
Beloved; with you I am well pleased." (Mark 1:11)
7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a
voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" (Mark 9:7)
When Jesus drives unclean spirits
out of people, demons recognize him and call him "the Son of God"
(3:11; 5:7).
11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw
him, they fell down before him and shouted, "You are the Son of God!"
(Mark 3:11)
7 and he shouted at the top of his
voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I
adjure you by God, do not torment me." (Mark 5:7)
After Jesus' arrest, the high
priest asks Jesus directly if he is the "Son of the Blessed One," and Jesus responds, "I am" (14:60-62).
60
Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Have you no
answer? What is it that they testify against you?" 61 But he was silent and did not answer.
Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" 62 Jesus said, "I am; and "you will
see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,' and "coming
with the clouds of heaven.' " (Mark 14:60-62)
And after Jesus dies on the cross,
a Roman centurion declares, "Truly
this man was God's Son!" (15:39).
We get the message. Mark is not
narrating a story of some great man, some prophet or leader who left a mark on history.
No, Mark is telling us of One specially sent by God to call people to
repentance because the kingdom of God "has
come near."
Second, Mark declares that Jesus is
the Messiah, the one expected to
restore Israel.
Mark says this in his opening sentence
too, using the title "Christ," the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew
word Messiah. It connects Jesus with the Old Testament promises of a redeemer,
and that aspect of Jesus' work is important to us when we have sunk into sin.
Third, Mark recognizes Jesus as a
unique teacher who instructs "as one having authority, and not as the
scribes" (1:22).
The scribes were the Bible scholars
of the day, but when Jesus spoke about God, his words had the weight of truth
to them in ways that the scribes' words did not. Jesus had a connection with
the Scriptures that enabled him to bring them to life in a convincing way. Yet,
the religious leaders represent a limit of the persuasiveness of Jesus in his
life and teaching. He did not convince them that the kingdom had indeed come
near.
Fourth, Mark understands the
ministry of Jesus as calling us to discipleship.
As Jesus says in Mark 8:34, "If any want to become my followers, let them
deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." In Mark's
gospel, "to follow" refers not so much to physically joining the
crowd around Jesus as it does "being in the same way with." Thus the
implication is: Be as obedient to your heavenly Father as Jesus is. Curiously, the disciples, far from being a
pattern for discipleship, are examples of failure in discipleship. Yet, this
fact has long encouraged those of us who follow Jesus that we may lose our way,
stumble, and fall, but Jesus remains ready to forgive and renew.
Fifth, Mark shows Jesus' death on
the cross as the will of God.
It is Mark who first tells of
Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane, where he bows himself to the Father's will about
the crucifixion (14:36).
Sixth, Mark understands Jesus'
death as an atoning act.
Mark quotes Jesus saying, "For the Son of Man came not to be served but
to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
Clearly, Mark views Jesus' death as a path to God's forgiveness.
Conclusion
Purdum states,
"It is good for
us to remember that all four gospel writers share one common goal -- to bring
their audience to faith in Jesus. To that end, Matthew and Luke started with
the baseline of testimony about Jesus that Mark provided and added additional
testimony to it. John, drawing from other sources, declared the deity of Jesus
and broadened our portrait of him. But Mark was the first, and his gospel is an
excellent place for anyone to begin to learn about Jesus."
Many Bible scholars have noted that
Mark's gospel ends abruptly, at 16:8. There, the women who have come to Jesus'
tomb to anoint his body encounter an angel who informs them of Jesus'
resurrection, and they flee in terror. There are other verses after 16:8, but
scholars agree that they were added later by someone other than Mark. It is
possible, of course, that Mark intended to write more and that something
prevented him from doing so, or even that he did write more but that his
concluding sentences were lost. Nonetheless, as it stands with the ending at
verse 8, Mark's gospel is open-ended. The abrupt ending lets Mark's readers
enter the story where the Easter morning witnesses stopped. Possibly Mark
intended his ending to raise the emotions of his readers so that they would
resolve to succeed where the women and the remaining 11 disciples failed. In
other words, he was calling his readers to become disciples of Jesus Christ
themselves.
We have already mentioned that most
of Mark is repeated in either Matthew or Luke or both, but two of the very few
passages that neither Matthew nor Luke have picked up reinforce this call to
follow Jesus. One is Jesus' response to a scribe who agrees with Jesus about
which two are the greatest commandments -- love God with all your heart,
understanding and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. The scribe went
on to say, "This is much more
important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Jesus then said
to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God" (Mark
12:32-34). For any of us who are near but not quite to God's kingdom yet, Mark
tells us what we need to know about Jesus to get the rest of the way there.
The other passage is the story of
Jesus healing the blind man of Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26). We would not know
about that incident if Mark had not reported it, and perhaps it is fitting that
it is so. For those who have only a glimmer about who Jesus is, Mark's gospel
can be that second touch to help us see Jesus as he was ... and is.
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