"NOW - we turn toward the good news"
EPIPHANY
Mark 1:1-20, 2:1-22
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What’s the hurry—what’s so urgent—
in this Gospel according to Mark?
And what is actually in the text—or not in the text—
that makes bible scholars say
Mark is action-oriented, and has a sense of urgency about it?
Actually, there are plenty of clues.
When you hold Mark up and compare it to the other three Gospels,
of Matthew, Luke, and John,
you notice several things.
It’s the shortest Gospel.
It’s the earliest Gospel.
It’s the Gospel that contains by far fewer words spoken by Jesus.
It has the fewest parables.
It has no long teaching sections.
Not as much focus on what Jesus says
or what he and others think.
The focus is on what Jesus does.
And actually, some of the stories of what Jesus does,
are longer in Mark, than the other Gospels,
because Mark adds more vivid detail.
Mark does not include a birth narrative.
We start right in on his ministry activity.
If we had only Mark, we’d have no Christmas stories. Period.
And as we move from one vivid story to another,
we often find a Greek adverb—εὐθέως, (eu-theh'-os)
usually translated immediately, or at once, or directly.
Just to compare, this shortest Gospel uses that word 42 times.
Luke, almost twice as long, uses it 7 times.
That can’t be a coincidence.
The word appears 13 times in just the first two chapters.
In today’s reading we heard that
the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness
immediately they left their nets and followed him
immediately he called them
immediately the paralytic took his mat and walked out
Full disclosure.
I’m barely going to touch on the two long readings from Mark
we heard this morning, about Jesus’ baptism,
temptation, calling of disciples, and a healing story.
I hope you were listening well, when Silas and Wendel read them.
If not, read them again at home this week.
We’ll probably circle back to them a few times,
during our 13-week journey through Mark.
But this morning, my goal is to lay some groundwork
for that journey.
This is our fourth yearly cycle of the Narrative Lectionary.
Each year gives us a chance to spend lots of time in one Gospel.
We started with Luke, in 2021.
Then John in 2022.
Last year was Matthew.
This year we complete our 4-gospel cycle.
If your memory is sharp,
you might recall that each Gospel had its own character,
its own origin story,
its own “agenda.”
And that informs how we read that Gospel.
What a gift to have these four different complete tellings
of the story of Jesus.
Lots of common material between them.
But each one gives us a different, and unique portrait of Jesus,
and a different slant on how we follow Jesus.
And I think that’s beautiful.
You may recall last year, when we launched in Matthew,
I said that the probable origin of the Gospel
was a traumatized community of Jesus-followers
in the city of Antioch, soon after 70 AD,
when Rome defeated Jerusalem,
and left the city in ruins, the temple destroyed,
and over a million Jews dead in the city.
You just can’t NOT take that context into consideration,
when you read Matthew,
and see all the ways the storyteller tries to
build up a beaten-down people.
So what’s the back story of Mark?
Well, we can’t be certain.
Historically, there has been a widely-held opinion
that this Gospel is based largely
on the preaching of the apostle Peter.
And perhaps, it could have been written down, at least in part,
by John Mark,
the disciple who accompanied Paul for a bit,
but then left and became kind of a secretary to,
and interpreter of, the apostle Peter.
And there is the thought that the writing may have happened
while both Peter and John Mark were in Rome,
around 65 AD and following,
during a time when Rome was actively at war against
Judea, and the Jewish people in general.
There are multiple clues in the text that support these ideas.
Including this focus on the actions of Jesus,
more than his words and theology.
As a disciple, Peter was not a philosopher-theologian.
He was an action-oriented, impulsive, “git-er-done” disciple.
So Mark easily sounds like it could be Peter preaching.
And if the community where it was written was Rome,
and the audience was largely Gentile, not Jewish,
that would account for how often
Jewish customs are explained to the reader,
and the frequent words or phrases of Latin origin.
But regardless who first wrote down this Gospel, and from where,
it’s pretty clear the audience is Gentile,
and the intent is to convince the hearers
that Jesus, not Caesar, was the authentic Messiah, the Christ,
and that he came bringing Good News for everyone,
Jews and Gentiles alike.
_____________________
So if we say Mark is summarizing Peter’s preaching
in and around Rome,
the urgency of this Gospel begins to make a lot of sense.
Rome—this overpowering and highly militarized Empire—
was at war against the woefully weak
and pathetically underpowered forces of Judea.
This Gospel is not written from a place of strength,
or comfort,
or optimism,
or respectability.
It is written from the underside of society,
from the perspective of the oppressed and occupied.
And it’s written to citizens of the Roman Empire,
whose Caesar, whose Emperor, claims to be the divine Savior
and used the title “Son of God,” to refer to himself.
The urgent message of the Gospel of Mark
butts up against the Empire, head on, as an act of resistance.
No hesitation. No indecisiveness. Immediately. εὐθέως.
Here is my paraphrase
of the urgent Gospel message in the book of Mark.
“Join us. Join this fringe movement. Now. It’s the real deal.
It’s worth you taking the risk, making the leap,
and becoming a Jesus-follower.
Now. Do not waver. Do not delay.
The life you were intended to live can be found
in the community of those who follow Jesus.
It’s more real than the Empire.
It’s more life-giving than chasing wealth and power
and prestige, like Rome teaches you to do.
Furthermore, the Caesar is an imposter. He’s a fake.
Jesus is the Savior. Not Nero.
Jesus is the Son of God.
No earthly ruler can compete.”
And Mark puts that confrontational message in chapter 1, verse 1:
“The beginning of the Good News of Jesus the Messiah,
the Son of God.”
I used to think that was just a generic greeting to open the book.
Like, “Dear friends. Here’s what I’m going to write about.”
No! Those are confrontational words, political words.
They are taken right out of the mouth of the Roman Empire,
and turned around against it.
Rome used the phrase “Good News” (or evangelion in Greek)
when sending word of military victories around the Empire.
Rome praised its Caesar as their anointed Savior.
Caesar accepted the honorific title of Son of God.
So everyone hearing this Gospel of Mark for the first time,
would have been jarred by that opening line.
“The beginning of the Good News of Jesus the Messiah,
the Son of God.”
Them’s fightin’ words.
So . . . do you think there are any points of connection
between that context for Mark,
and today’s violent and materialistic and politically fraught world
where we Jesus-followers live?
Let me re-read my paraphrase of Mark’s urgent message,
and change just a couple of words, and see what you think.
“Join us. Join this fringe movement. Now. It’s the real deal.
It’s worth you taking the risk, making the leap,
and becoming a Jesus-follower.
Now. Do not waver. Do not delay.
The life you were intended to live can be found
in the community of those who follow Jesus.
It’s more real than the American Dream.
It’s more life-giving than chasing wealth and power and prestige,
like our Western culture teaches you to do.
Furthermore, the power elite in D.C. are imposters.
Wall St. and Madison Ave. are selling us cheap fakes.
Jesus is the Savior. Not your political party.
Jesus is born of God.
No president or prime minister can compete.”
I look forward to continuing this journey through Mark,
with you, the family of faith at Park View,
and everyone listening in from the margins,
as we discover again, the relevance, urgency, and beauty
of the Gospel message of radical following of Jesus,
in our world today.
No better way to mark the beginning of that journey,
and the beginning of a new year together,
than to come to the Lord’s Table,
and remember where Jesus’ journey led him,
and the gift that his sacrificial life, death, and resurrection
is for us all. (invite servers forward)
_____________________
The communion table at Park View
is open to all followers of Jesus,
who wish to commune with us,
whether or not you are a member of this congregation.
When indicated, come to the front by the two angled aisles.
And return to your seats either by the center aisle,
or the side aisles along the walls.
Ushers will dismiss you, beginning at the back.
If you are receiving communion today,
hold out an open palm, and receive a piece of bread
(free of gluten, eggs, or dairy)
then take a juice cup, and return to your seats with bread and cup
so we can eat and drink all together when indicated.
If any of you need or prefer to be served in your seat,
we will bring the bread and cup to you.
Just indicate with a raised hand at that time.
If you are not receiving communion today, for whatever reason,
you are welcome to come to the front anyway,
and come to Moriah or me,
and we will offer you a word of blessing.
_____________________
Listen now, to the words of institution, from 1 Cor. 11.
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,
“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood;
do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
_____________________
Christ, who invites us to follow him in all of life,
now invites us to eat and drink with him.
Let us do so, in reverence, and in gratitude.
—Phil Kniss, January 7, 2024
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