The Jesus Christ Gospel According to Mark pt 1
I want to begin a brief series of posts on Mark 1:14-15
and Mark’s first recorded words of Jesus,
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
I have really been fascinated by Mark’s work on the ministry of Jesus. My fascination of Mark’s writing has dramatically increased this past fall, having studied the gospels. So I want to just examine this text and make some observations from this text about Mark’s view of Jesus’ ministry here on earth and how he wanted his readers to view Jesus and his work on earth.
The first observation that I want to make a connection from Mark 1:1 and Mark 1:14-15. Mark’s opening statement is, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (More could be said here as Mark continues this thought into the OT quote of Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 with the conjunction καθὼς that most translations except the NLT fail to show). Mark 1:1 in the Greek begins with this series of genitives, ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ θεοῦ. The question is, do the genitives Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ function as the subject/definition of τοῦ εὐαγγελίου or as the object? If it is subject or definition, then τοῦ εὐαγγελίου is what Jesus preached or brought to the world. If it is object, then Jesus is the τοῦ εὐαγγελίου. I think that Mark 1:14-15 sheds some light to this question as Mark says “Jesus…proclaim[ed] the gospel of God.” I think that what Mark is showing here is that the gospel in Mark 1:1 is subject (some may argue for a plenary use of the genitive here and that would work). I think that this allows Mark’s use of ἀρχὴ to make better sense. Mark is recording the beginning of Jesus preaching of the gospel of God by taking us to John the Baptizer and the baptism of Jesus.
Hence, I think that Mark is trying to not give his readers in Rome, being persecuted by the state, a complete biography of Jesus’ life. Rather he is trying to construct a view of Jesus’ ministry. This also would make sense of the lack of a true ending to Mark’s work and it ending at Mark 16:8. He wants his readers to examine the ministry of Jesus and to glean from it all that they can so that from the life of Jesus, they can see how he dealt with his own struggles and what Jesus taught his own disciples, they can themselves face their own situation.
I think that is how Mark wants us to read his writing today. We are not facing the wrath of Nero Caesar after the city of Rome burned to the ground. But we face our own struggles in our 21st century world and the life and teachings of Jesus can be of great value to us. So the next time you want to study a gospel, look at Mark. He does not have the long discourses of Matthew, he does not have the parables of Luke, he does not have the signs and “I am” statements of John. Mark shows us the ministry of Jesus and the life that Christ lived. Christ came and proclaimed good news. Mark wanted his Roman readers to see that news that Jesus brought. It began with John’s arrival and it ended with the empty tomb. Take some time to read Mark and let Jesus simply impress himself upon you like he did Peter after Jesus concluded his Galilean Ministry or the Roman centurion while Jesus hung on the cross. Jesus asked his disciples point-blank in Mark 8:29, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered Jesus, “You are the Christ.” The Roman centurion upon seeing Jesus on the cross confessed in Mark 15:39, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
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Ecclesiastes and the Election
So I have been having a difficult time finding time to post recently. I work for UPS and during Christmas, the volume shipped increases geometrically. This week I will work from 2:00 AM, that’s right, until 9:00 am loading my four trucks with about two thousands pieces of mail. Then from 9:00 am until 3:30 pm-4:30 pm I will be helping drivers deliver packages to businesses in downtown KC. That means twelve to thirteen hours per day for five days. I will be tired with a fat pay check when all is said and done. If you want a prayer request, pray that a.) I will have the energy to perform my duties efficiently and accurately, and, b.) I will not go insane with all of the mail that I have to load when the majority of my volume is pushed through after 6:00 am. But it has been like that since Thanksgiving.
Usually my morning routine is get up, shower, hop in the car and drive to Edwards’ Religious Affections while scarfing down some pop-tarts and an energy drink. Once I get to work about twenty minutes before I clock in, I have my morning Scripture reading and prayer. Last Wednesday I read Ecclesiastes 10. Ecclesiastes 10:2 reads, “A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.” The nation is gearing up for the primary elections to determine who the presidential candidates are going to be for the 2008 general election. When I had first read that text back in 2004, the first thing that came to mind was a joke about the “right” in this text referring to the political right (which I tend to lean) and the “left” referring to the political left. But I dismissed that thought as quickly as it came. The “right” in that honor/shame culture of Old Testament Judaism is honor and the left is shame. The a wise man is inclined to the right or to honor and a fool is inclined to shame or the left. But I was reminded of something back in 2004 when George W. Bush was re-elected.
A nasty habit of evangelicals is to say that to be a true Christian is to be a Republican because of the social stance on abortion and gay marriage that Republicans take. In 2004, the SBU College Republicans put out their T-shirt for that year with Ecclesiastes 10:2 on the back. Thus the intimation of the text is that a wise man is a Republican and a fool is a Democrat. Or at the very least a political conservative is wise and a political liberal is a fool. That is a mishandling of the Scripture and it is an intentional one.
Now most Christians might get that as humorous. But many will think that the given interpretation is accurate. It isn’t. Politics has no bearing upon the text at all. So when they would wear that shirt in public, they would be broadcasting that the only true Christian is a Republican. It doesn’t matter the relationship between the political liberal and the Lord Jesus Christ. It may not have been the intention of the SBU College Republicans, that is what was being communicated by the T-shirts. I remember calling out one guy who was part of the College Republicans that year. He thought it was okay to print that T-shirt but when I asked him if it was okay that he abuse the Scriptures in printing that T-shirt he wouldn’t answer or even try to defend the T-shirt. I emailed the faculty sponsor about the T-shirt and got no response.
It just served to remind me that my allegiance is not to any political party or candidate or government. It is to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. To take a text and intentionally mishandle it is completely unacceptable. If you want to be a politician who is a Christian, be my guest. But don’t allow your political views to take priority over your allegiance to Jesus Christ. As we near the 2008 election in which our nation will decide its leaders, both in the Legislature and in the White House, our first priority must be the Kingdom of God. We must look at each candidate and political party and see which will serve Christ and his Kingdom most faithfully. If it is a Democrat then vote Democrat; if it is a Republican, then vote Republican. But don’t use the Bible as a means for political gain. The Bible is not to be used to serve a person’s personal interests, rather, a person should submit his or her interests to the God found in the Bible.
Just some thoughts on the upcoming election and our role as Christians in it.
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