Mark's Gospel
Mark 1 - Jesus bursts into action
We are starting a series looking at the first half of Marks gospel, one chapter at a time. First though I'd like to give a brief introduction to Marks gospel.
A brief Introduction to Marks gospel
Who was Mark?
The gospel itself doesn't identify the author, but theologians have put a lot of effort into working out who it must be. The earliest attribution comes from Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in AD130 who said that Mark was Peter's interpreter in Rome , who wrote down all that Peter remembered.
The fact that Mark isn't one of the apostles and yet there has been no complaint about his name being attached to this gospel suggests that he was well known in the early church, and the only known example is John Mark, introduced in Acts 12v12, he accompanied Barnabas and Saul on their first missionary journey, was the cause of a dispute between them in Acts 15v37, was eventually reconciled with Paul (2 Tim 4v11) and worked with Peter in Rome 1Pet 5v13.
We think the gospel was probably written in Rome at some time during the intense period of persecution between AD64 and AD70.
Where does Mark sit amongst the other gospels?
For centuries this was the poor relation of the gospels, considered to be inferior to the others, an inelegant abridgement of Matthews gospel. Over the last hundred years it has gained a lot more attention however, and most theologians now recognise Mark as the earliest of the gospels, in many ways a precursor to Matthew and Luke (the other two synoptic gospels).
Furthermore, it has been recognised that although the language which Mark uses is pretty basic, he writes dramatically and with some interesting and unusual literary elements. As you read you can't fail to notice the immediacy which Mark brings to his gospel - he continually says 'immediately", "at once", "straight away". Furthermore he often starts his sentences with "and." to drive the narrative breathlessly forward.
He also uses an interesting "sandwich" technique on at least nine occasions, where in the midst of one story he inserts another story that serves as the theological key to the whole thing - e.g. when on the way to heal Jairus' 12 year old daughter, the woman with the haemorrhage interrupts his journey, and only after she is healed do we progress with the original story.
A Gospel in two halves 1 to 8 and 9 to 16.
Geographically the first half of the gospel covers Jesus' ministry in Galilee , the second half covers the journey to Jerusalem .
Theologically the first half of the gospel asks the question "Who is this Jesus?" to which Peter gives the answer in ch8 "you are the Christ". The second half of the gospel asks the question "What kind of Christ will he be?" since he isn't going to be the conquering Christ which everyone was anticipating, but instead the suffering Christ as prophesied by Isaiah.
The lightning introduction
Mark doesn't start with genealogies or the manner in which he set out to prepare this gospel. Instead he jumps straight in with both feet, asserting in the very first line that Jesus Christ is the Son of God - and that this is good news indeed!
He follows up by quoting from Old Testament prophets (Micah and Isaiah) as a way of introducing John the Baptist, validating Johns ministry and confirming who it was that his ministry was preparing the way for - none other than the Lord.
John is tremendously popular, and his baptism of repentance to prepare the people for the coming of the Lord reaches all across the countryside. Yet his popularity doesn't go to his head. He knows that he is waiting for one who is so much greater that he "is not worthy to untie his sandals" - i.e. not even fit to perform the deeds of the lowliest foot-washing servant for him. Although John baptises with water, the one to come will baptise, will drench people with the Holy Spirit
So Jesus steps into the story. Recognised by John for who he is, he is baptised as a sign of identification with the people of Israel . This is immediately followed by divine testimony (the heavens rent, the dove descending, the voice of God) and then the spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness where Jesus is tempted for forty days by Satan.
Mark doesn't go into any detail here (except for including the detail about wild animals being with him, which might have been to encourage those Roman Christians who were being torn apart by wild animals in Nero's arena at the time this was being written), and suddenly John is arrested and Jesus goes into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.
Proclaiming the good news
Why has Jesus come? Mark summarises Jesus' message in v15.
"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
The time has come: There is no more waiting for the enthusiastic, there is no more putting things off for the procrastinators,
The kingdom of God is near: it is right at hand, it is near enough for you to reach out and touch it. What do you need to do to enter this kingdom?
Repent: Change your mind, turn away from sin and your old way of living, say sorry for the things you have done wrong. It is not merely being sorry that you have been caught out, it has to be a decision to turn away from selfishness and turn round towards God.
And believe the good news: Repentance is an important starting place (because faith without repentance is just fooling your self) but it must be coupled with faith in the good news. Believe Gods word. In the context in which Jesus was speaking the good news was "the time has come and the kingdom of God is near". Since we live after the cross on which Jesus was crucified we have today a far fuller appreciation of what the good news actually means - complete salvation, the assurance that when we die we will be welcomed into heaven, all our sins forgiven.
Now although we see Jesus teaching in the synagogue, it is interesting that Jesus spent more of his time preaching rather than teaching (see v38 "so I can preach there also. That is why I have come") and I thought it was worth mentioning the difference. Teaching is in order to educate someone, so that they know more. Preaching is intended to change someone, so that they live their life differently. Jesus' message that he was proclaiming wasn't intended to keep the people better informed, it was a call to change, a call to review what you think about yourself (and repent), and review what you think about God (and believe).
That is the aim of Sunday morning preaching here at Crabtree church too, of course. Not that we might be better informed about God, but that we might be challenged or encouraged by Gods word, and that we might see how our lives can change in the light of its teaching.
The content of Jesus' message is important for us to hear today too - the time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news. How good is the gospel?
Charles Bradlaugh, an avowed atheist in the 19 th century, once challenged the Rev. H.P. Hughes to a debate. The preacher, who was head of a rescue mission in London , England , accepted the challenge with the condition that he could bring with him 100 men and women who would tell what had happened in their lives since trusting Christ as their Saviour. They would be people who once lived in deep sin, some having come from poverty-stricken homes caused by the vices of their parents. Hughes said they would not only tell of their conversion, but would submit to cross-examination by any who doubted their stories. Furthermore, the minister invited his opponent to bring a group of non-believers who could tell how they were helped by their lack of faith. When the appointed day arrived, the preacher came, accompanied by 100 transformed persons. But Bradlaugh never showed up. The result? The meeting turned into a testimony time and many sinners who had gathered to hear the scheduled debate were converted.
Calling the disciples
Although this first chapter contains some notable examples of Jesus' healing the sick, dismissing demons and cleansing lepers, I'm not going to concentrate on those since each of these elements will come up again in later chapters.
I'd like to spend the last few minutes concentrating on one of the unique elements of this chapter, found in v16-20: the calling of the first disciples.
We know from John's gospel and other places that John, Peter and the others had met Jesus before, and they knew something of him and his claims. Mark continues with the direct dynamism of his gospel by going straight to the point again. Jesus saw them, Jesus summoned them, and immediately they dropped what they were doing and followed him. There is a clear authority in Jesus' voice. Mark 1:17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
He called them to be fishers of men. Fishers, not anglers. An angler works alone, a fisherman works in a team. An angler fishes as a hobby, a Fisherman works for his livelihood.
Now many rabbi's had disciples in those days - but in all other cases the disciples sought out the rabbi - it was unheard of for a rabbi to call disciples, let alone call them to follow anything other than the Torah, the law. Even the OT prophets would only ever call people to follow God. So Jesus' words here are shocking enough in their context before we even think about the power that his call had upon them.
Jesus was looking for people to walk with him, to spend time with him, to learn about him and his ways. That is what a disciple is, someone who follows and learns and becomes more and more like his teacher.
Did you know that disciple is by far and away the most common title used for Christians in the new testament? I did a quick search and found "Christian" three times, "believer" fourteen times, "follower" four times and "disciple" 268 times.
As Jesus looks down on us, the title that is most likely on his mind is disciple. We are called to be Jesus' disciples - and called to be fishers of men too! After all, who do you think is responsible for leading other people to Jesus? Preachers? Leadership team?
It is every person; every believer is called by Jesus to serve him in his body, the church - as Katie and Sarah promised to do last week when they were baptised. One of the key ways in which we serve Jesus is by obeying his commands - such as Matt 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
Jesus doesn't just call people to be converts, he calls them to be disciples. Students of him and his life, proclaimers of his word.
Conclusion
- The time has come:
- The kingdom of God is near:
- Repent:
- Believe the good news:
Alex White
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