Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:16-20

Jesus now comes to invite the first four of the group of disciples, as they became known, to go with him. These four are all fishermen, two sets of brothers, and Jesus uses the analogy of catching people. What is fascinating, and perhaps challenging, is that there is no hesitancy of the part of these first followers. They go with him immediately, and that, right from the beginning, says a great deal about the charismatic leadership that we are going to discover as we walk the roads and lanes of Galilee and beyond with Jesus and the loyal group who identify with him.

This does not, of course, mean that all will be easy, nor that all will always be well. Leith Fisher (Will you follow me?) notes that challenges and difficulties lie ahead – “As the story of the disciples’ life with Jesus unfolds, we will see many painful birthpangs on the way to the establishing of the new order – following Jesus is not instant heaven. …. The story depicts the call to discipleship with stunning simplicity; it is on the way itself that the implications of the call will deepen and unfold.”

James and John would appear to come from a comparatively wealthy family, as we are informed that their father, Zebedee, remained in the boat with the hired men. Perhaps it was not too big a risk to leave home, family and work, at least for a while. We can be less certain as to whether that applied to Simon and Andrew. However, in both cases, they surely left a hole in the family business, and we might assume that this would not be welcome. However, there is no recorded indication of any second thoughts or anyone trying to persuade them to reconsider.

Whatever we are not told, meeting Jesus was a transforming moment in their lives. This may well raise questions about how we respond to God’s call, and just what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in our day.

However, we might also note that Jesus does not appear to have done anything to persuade them. He simply invites them to go with him; and, unhesitatingly, they accept.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:14-15

Having been baptised by his cousin, John, and having spent a significant period of challenging time in the wilderness, Jesus launches his earthly ministry.

As Douglas Hare (Mark) comments – “The Messiah has been commissioned and empowered at the Jordan, tested in the wilderness, and is now ready to fulfil his role.”

As has been the case with everything so far, Mark describes this next step in the story very succinctly. We are given a time. It is after John was arrested. We are given a place. It is in Galilee. And we are given the essence of the message, which is identified as good news. Under that general heading of ‘good news’, four points are named which summarise the message.

In the first place, Jesus tells his listeners that it’s time, time for something special, time for something new. The second element in the message is the proximity of the kingdom of God. The third point, which is a clear echo of John’s message, concerns repentance, and the fourth thing is a call to faith – believe in the good news.

In a sense the implication is that this message is so good that a response is inevitable, and the only appropriate response is that of repentance – and John has done well in proclaiming the right preparatory message. It is certainly true, as Hare says, that “for Mark, Jesus’ entire ministry, including his death and resurrection, signifies that the time has come and that God’s rule is at hand. His ministry in itself constitutes a call for repentance and faith.”

Mark thus quickly launches Jesus into ministry and, right from the beginning, the defining element of his ministry is that he talks a great deal about the kingdom of God. Jesus, as we will discover, will do all sorts of things and meet all sorts of people, but the really important thing is that he is here to announce the kingdom of God. It is a ‘kairos’ moment, kairos being the appointed time within the purpose of God.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:12-13

The high point is followed by the low point. We now come to what we tend to call the “temptations” of Jesus. This might be better termed a time of testing. The idea of temptation is slightly more suggestive of an attempt to trip us up than might be strictly appropriate. As William Barclay (Daily Bible Readings – The Gospel of Mark) explains it – “Temptations are not sent to us to make us fall; they are sent to us to strengthen the nerve and the sinew of our minds and hearts and spirits. They are not meant for our ruin, but for our good.”

If that is so, we might wonder why they occur at all. Yet, thinking about it, such experiences clearly help us navigate a tricky and messy world.

Mark’s account of the temptations is remarkably brief. John does not mention them at all, but we get far more detail from Matthew and Luke, who both identify the three temptations. Mark simply says that this was a time in the wilderness, though, interestingly, begins by saying that the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. I wonder how often, whether for good or difficult experiences, we have allowed ourselves to be “driven” by the Spirit. Mark specifies the length of time as forty days, though that is not necessarily to be taken literally, as it would have been the usual expression for a reasonable amount of time. He identifies Satan as the tempter, and heightens the feeling of danger by mentioning the presence of wild beasts.

However, Barclay suggests, with regard to the presence of the wild beasts, that – “Perhaps this was a lovely thing, for perhaps it means that the beasts were Jesus’ friends. Amidst the dreams of the golden age when the Messiah would come, the Jews dreamed of a day when the enmity between (humankind) and the beasts would no longer exist. Might we possibly hear have echoes of the likes of Daniel in the lions’ den and the prophetic picture of the wolf lying down with the lamb (Isaiah 11:6). If so, it introduces a very positive note to the moment of struggle.

The other positive element is that the angels waited on him. Life does sometimes have desolate moments, and there is no promise from God that we can avoid those. But there is a very clear promise that God is with us – and that God understands the moment of anguished isolation.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:9-11

Mark does not take long to launch Jesus on his ministry. Matthew and Luke have accounts of the nativity. John has his wonderful and thoughtful prologue. Mark, by contrast, fairly briefly describes the preparatory work of John the Baptist before we reach the significant moment when John baptises Jesus.

Interestingly, Mark is the most specific in identifying the place from which Jesus came – Nazareth of Galilee. This underlines an important Gospel theme around God’s acceptance of the marginalised and the outcast. We expect important people to come from significant places, but that is not what we have here. As Ched Myers (“Binding the Strong Man”) expresses it – “One would expect the hero to be credentialed through miraculous origins or a solid genealogy (something Matthew and Luke cannot resist). Mark, however, stresses Jesus’ obscure origins, “from Nazareth,” tantamount to introducing him as “Jesus from Nowheresville.”

But the important thing is not where he has come from, but that he is there, and that he is there to do God’s work.

The moment of baptism becomes a moment of affirmation. Mark here deals in the essentials. Matthew tells us that John was reluctant to baptise this particular candidate, claiming that it should be the other way round, but Jesus sees this as the first step of walking the way that he has come to walk. Let it be so now (Matthew 3:15).

Jesus goes the way of baptism, and then there is a special vision and special words. The heavens are torn apart and the Spirit descends on him like a dove. That is what he sees. You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased. That is what he hears. This is a remarkable moment, what Myers calls a point of “discourse between earth and “heaven”.” It is not entirely clear whether others who were present were fully aware of this remarkable experience but, if that was not so, clearly something of it got out, as it is recorded.

For us, it is a reminder that being baptised is a point of connection to God, though there are many other such points.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:5-8

John the Baptist must have been a preacher with a reputation. Going on the description that is given of him he must have been somewhere on the spectrum between a bit strange and really weird. He is certainly not what you might expect. His clothing is strange. His diet is strange. His location is strange. Why did so many people make the journey into the wilderness in order to see and hear this eccentric preacher with clothes that were somewhat unique and whose diet was right off the scale of anything that could be considered normal.

Of course, it is worth noting the significance of the wilderness, established by its being the place where the people spent forty years after their escape from Egypt. The wilderness, as Bonnie Bowman Thurston (Preaching Mark) notes, is “the symbol of the time when God was preparing the people for entry into the promised land (that is salvation).” The wilderness is an interesting location, in normal times, probably a place to be avoided. However, it becomes an important place because so many special things happen there. In the past it had been the route from Egyptian slavery to the land anticipated as that flowing with milk and honey. Now it becomes the auditorium for John’s message of repentance and his call to symbolise that by baptism. Baptised with water, the people hear of one who is coming to really make a difference, and who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.

Right from its beginning, Mark’s Gospel is pointing towards Jesus, and that is a useful reminder to us that we should be doing the same. As Thurston expresses it – “Mark’s Gospel, a Gospel especially concerned with discipleship, opens with one person in service to another. John declares his subservience to “the one who is more powerful” and points to Jesus.” John is a key worker, but his role is one of preparation, and pointing out another who is greater. John puts it fairly graphically – “I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.”

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:2-4

In Mark 1:2-4 we get notice of the ministry of John the Baptizer. John is a man with a message. We are told that his proclamation is about repentance and forgiveness. However, even before that, and presumably to stress the importance of the role, we are informed that this was foretold by the prophets. The text claims that the quotation comes from Isaiah. Actually, it is a mix of two quotations, the first part coming from the prophet Malachi (3:1), with the second part certainly from Isaiah (40:3).

However, the critical point is that this is important, though actually of limited importance. Something bigger is going to happen. Someone more important is following. Mark is preparing to introduce us to Jesus, just as John’s role is to prepare the way.

The preparatory role of John the Baptist is so important to Mark that he uses it as the launchpad of his Gospel. There is no hint of a nativity in Mark. It is John’s message that prepares the way.

The good news, as stated in verse 1, belongs to Jesus; but the first voice to be heard is that of John. These early words also surely identify forgiveness as the hallmark of the Gospel. Forgiveness, preceded by repentance, without which it does not really work is what sorts things out. The kinks in the road are sorted as the Lord’s way is made straight.

This is the good news that will bring salvation, to use the Biblical word, to the world. As Eduard Schweizer (The Good News according to Mark) says – “God’s special salvation-tine has begun; therefore, this preaching resounds through the world.” Through the preaching those who are listening are encouraged to change direction. John urges the people to turn around, thus firmly placing himself in the prophetic line as it was often the task of the prophet to offer words that reminded the people of what they were doing wrong, and the point is that a complete change is needed. Responding to that transformative opportunity will pave the way for something – someone – very special. And the people flood to the wilderness, despite the walk, to hear what John has to say. (How many preachers are worth such an effort and going out of our way?)

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:1

I have elsewhere reflected that a good way of thinking about following Jesus would be to read a gospel - http://gettingthechurchsorted.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-jesus-we-follow.html - so I thought I should perhaps, for once, do what I have suggested and read (slowly) through Mark's Gospel.

Alongside that (and before I get going) just to mention that one of my 'weaknesses' is buying commentaries and I have quite a number on Mark, so I am going to limit myself to looking at one each time, for each little bit of Mark.

Denis McBride (The Gospel of Mark: A Reflective Commentary) says of the first verse of this Gospel - "Mark announces at the beginning of the story what becomes evident only at the end of it: only after the deatb of Jesus does a human being come to acknowledge that Jesus is Son of God. Mark's writing, however, is a post-Easter proclamation of the community's belief in Jesus as Christ and Son of God."

So, right from the beginning, Mark announces that the story is a good news story. That is hugely important and much needed. We should not pretend that Jesus can magically resolve all our problems, but encountering Jesus is always good news, and Mark gives the clear hint as to that being what we will discover in the stories that follow. I was watching a streamed service yesterday in which the preacher, several times, talked about being excited. In saying that, she rightly reminded us that the good news we have is exciting.

So, we can look forward to what we will discover in these words penned by Mark; and we can also look forward to the impact that encountering Jesus will have on our lives. What we are dealing with is good news and whatever happens we cannot help but approach it in the light of Easter. But perhaps it is worth reminding ourselves, in part to give ourselves a jolt when we don't have enough of the excitement that, as McBride puts it - "the blindness of the first disciples will look like stubborn obtuseness in the new light of faith in Jesus as Lord."

We all end up plunging a few depths, but the good news remains, and we are still and always Easter people.