I find something uncanny as I read Mark’s Gospel. I might not have expected it, yet I keep finding it deeply refreshing when I come back from elsewhere in the Bible to read one of these Gospels at the heart of things; helpful though reading other Bible books surely is! I find this especially at times when I’m drained, exhausted.
And Mark can be particularly refreshing: it’s a short, action-oriented Gospel, whereas eg John is the thinkers’ Gospel. Only half of Mark is teaching, unlike most of the other Gospels (five-sixths of John). Mark goes straight into the dramatic action; he has no stories of Jesus’ birth. The word `immediately` appears 50 times, eight in the very first chapter. Maybe it was written as an action summary for not-yet-Christians or for new Christians; that’s why it can work so well in the Christianity Explored course!
What’s exciting and refreshing about Mark’s first three chapters is the explosion of goodness that happens where Jesus comes. Where Jesus comes, God’s kingdom comes! What does God’s `kingdom` mean? It’s an important idea – what Jesus is preaching is the `good news of the kingdom of God` (Matt 4:23, 9:35, Luke 4:43, 8:1); and speed-reading Mark’s first five chapters is a great way to grasp what this explosion of goodness, this `kingdom’, is about. Chapter 1 presents Jesus’ first astonishing advance, where He reveals His power to put things right in the face of ignorance, sickness, even demons. Ch2 expresses the kingdom’s joyous positiveness (2:19,22,23-28,3:4-5), the way its love has strength to draw in the excluded (2:16-17). Then we get the initial rejection of that kingdom in ch3, and Jesus’ explanation in ch4; and a further section revealing God’s kingdom power in action, triumphant over destructive nature, demonic evil, even death itself (4:35-5:43). Mark also shows us Jesus and the kingdom bringing purpose to individuals (1:16-20,2:13-17); astonishing the Galilee villagers with huge new vistas of truth (1:27,38); bringing joyous liberation from the constrictions of false religion (`new wine` and `old wineskins’, 2:21-28). Above all it’s about forgiveness of sins (2:5), because dealing with that sin-blockage opens the gateway to everything else; but through this gateway a whole glorious new order floods in. Where Jesus comes the kingdom comes, and the kingdom reveals the heart of God: bringing truth where there was falsehood, love where there was hate, healing where there was pain, wholeness where there was brokenness!
In a moment we’ll explore how we ourselves get into this. But something else first. What is it about Jesus, for Mark, that makes Him so utterly foundational for what Mark has to say about the kingdom?
Well: if we want to think seriously about the Gospels, one question that will arise is, why are there four of them? Actually there are various reasons. But throughout the Church’s history the Gospels have been compared to the four beings in Revelation 4 around God’s throne, that reflect His nature: one is like a lion, one like an ox, one like a man, one like a flying eagle. You may have seen this in cathedral stained glass windows. And for centuries people have noticed how Matthew presents Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the King of Israel, the fulfilment of Israel’s prophecies; Matthew starts with a genealogy focusing on King David, and Abraham. Mark is different: it’s the Gospel of the Ox, the lowly servant creature; Mark presents Jesus as the lowly Servant, whose servanthood finally leads to the sacrifice of the cross; and getting overworked and disappointed as He serves. Then Luke presents Jesus as the Man. His Gospel is a very human document, written by a doctor. And as it’s stressing Jesus’ humanity, its genealogy looks back not to King David but to Adam. Lastly John’s is the Gospel of Jesus as the flying eagle whose home is heaven, the heavenly man; it begins about Jesus, `He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made`…. I find that approach stimulating; maybe you do too!
So Mark’s is the Gospel that focuses especially the explosion of goodness in the kingdom, and the foundation for that is how Mark especially presents Jesus — as God’s supreme, divine, Servant. Jesus the doer; acting `immediately` throughout, in instant obedience to God. In that superb, skilful obedience we feel, here is Goodness come, here is God wonderfully incarnate in a human! And then, if we want to grasp what obedience to God means for us, we’ll find lots in Mark about how we follow this Jesus as His servants, and how that leads to even more release of the kingdom.
And here’s something else: Mark’s focus on Jesus as the supreme divine Servant comes with first-hand freshness because it reflects his own personality and pilgrimage with God. Let’s remember what we know about Mark’s life and the calling he had from God. He was called into Paul & Barnabas’ team as they took the gospel into Turkey in Acts 13, to be, literally, the team’s servant (13:5). That’s a key role: something like a midfield player, not always scoring goals, but the one behind the scenes who humbly sets things up & makes things happen. And of course Mark failed badly in that; so much so that Paul wouldn’t have him back on the team (Acts 15:38). But God was at work in Mark; and Paul at the end of his life asks for Mark to come to him in Rome because he is `helpful to me` (2 Tim 4:11). What’s happened to Mark? Well, writes Hodgkin: because of God‘s calling on Mark’s particular personality, to be a servant, to be that vital, humble player who humbly makes things happen, he was equipped to see and grasp Jesus as the greatest Servant of all; and that’s what he presents in his Gospel. And in turn, the more he reflected on Jesus as Servant – & that’s what Mark was doing as he wrote his gospel – the more he was changed to be good at this himself. We need this too! (We, says Paul about Bible reading, `who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image` (2 Cor 3:18)!) Jesus being the supreme, divine, Servant is the foundation for bringing in all the goodness of God’s kingdom.
So Mark presents Jesus as Servant: serving what? Serving God’s reign, serving God’s kingdom. And with Jesus on earth, being God’s perfect servant like that, that kingdom explodes all over the place. It’s spectacular. As we’ve said, Jesus advances into Galilee announcing the good news that the kingdom has come, healing every sickness, putting things dramatically right wherever he goes; five thrilling chapters! Seeing how the new creation bursts into our world here, aren’t we reminded of the repeated phrase describing what God did in Genesis: `And God saw that it was good‘?
Now let’s note: once God through Mark has revealed this as clearly as possible, we’ll find a change of tone in the second half of the Gospel; teaching us that, this side of death, we don’t always win, the kingdom doesn’t come completely yet, indeed Jesus actually gets crucified; the way of the kingdom involves suffering, & His disciples get persecuted. But here, in Mark’s first half, God reveals the lesson that we need to get first into our thick heads and hearts: God loves; God cares; and God takes action, in tune with that! It’s like the forceful way Jesus teaches about prayer in Mark 11:24 or John 14:14 (`I will do whatever you ask in my name… You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it`), without saying that there are any exceptions; even though if we want the whole picture we must read the whole Book, & then we learn that sometimes there are some (Mark 14:36). But the first lesson we need to grasp is, prayer normally gets answered! So here too: the first thing we need to grasp is that, with Jesus, God’s kingdom is come, goodness is flooding into a broken world, and Jesus is at the heart of that. And we’ll see too that it doesn’t stop with Jesus; by 3:14 we Jesus’ followers are given the same authority to flood goodness out and drive out evil (cf 6:12-13). All this applies to us too, we too are called and enabled to spread this kingdom of goodness wherever we are! Wherever we are tomorrow; in our family, at work, in our friendships; to spread the goodness of His kingdom just like Jesus did!!
I want that! So we face a very practical question. How do we prepare the way for this explosion of goodness?
1:14-20 gives us the key clues. They’re about four people who will be at the centre of the fantastic things that happen. How does Jesus bring them into their destiny? And by implication: How will He bring us into ours?
What Jesus says to all four is `Come, follow Me!` This is the gospel in its simplest possible form. And it’s fantastic! Here’s the Son of God Himself inviting us to follow Him into the glory to come (John 17:24). Following is the only meaningful response to the rule of the `kingdom`.
But what does it mean to `follow` Jesus? Jesus is making them see that, first, something has to happen in our deepest beings. (A bit like being `born again` in John 3:3.) The kingdom is near – fantastic! But the kingdom is the place where the king rules, and if we want all the goodness of the kingdom we have to do something serious about Him being our king. How?
The crucial verse surely is v15, `the gospel according to Jesus’ if you will, where Jesus summarizes His gospel that is the gateway for the kingdom that has come within reach: `Repent, and believe the good news!` It’s the same twofold gospel summary as we find Paul sharing in Acts 20: `I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.` These are the `double doors` into the kingdom that we too are called to share in our everyday evangelism!
First then, `repentance for the forgiveness of sins`, which was the heart of John the Baptist’s message as he `prepared the way` in the chapter’s opening verses. This is the essential starting point, dealing with the barrier of my sin and independence; because God is colossally holy and will not pour His kingdom through us where there`s unholiness. Just as at the start of Matthew the angel said Jesus had come to save His people from their sins, so here the first action of the kingdom is about getting rid of sin. Repentance, forgiveness of sins: getting rid of that huge, terrible barrier that shuts us off lifelong from all the goodness of God’s kingdom: this step of escape is at the heart of what Christian faith is about.
And such repentance is serious. In v4 we find it expressed very publicly and messily, in baptism. We English like our religion private: I was surprised when I realised the sense of something deliberately public in the Russian idea of pokayanie, repentance: `I shall repent on Sunday`, a friend would say, meaning a very public action in church. Israelites had never before been asked to undergo baptism; that was for Gentile converts; but John the Baptist was apparently saying: Your need for repentance is so serious that, yes you were brought up in the people of God, but you need messy public baptism just like pagans. So what’s God’s message to us here? Not, first, get baptized (though it will involve that in the not too distant future!), but: if YOU want the explosion of goodness in God’s kingdom, get serious about repentance; get serious about dealing ruthlessly with personal independence and sin (Jesus in 9:47 `If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out` – better to enter the kingdom like that than to tragically miss out).
If we want this explosion of goodness, we need to get serious about practising absolute surrender to God’s kingship in our lives in every area. (We need to remember that when Jesus talks of repentance it’s not just a casual feeling of sorrow. When we think of what He preaches in the gospels, it’s following Him into a changed lifestyle – obviously, as we later learn, by the Spirit’s strength. But this is what John the Baptist means by repentance as well, Luke 3:10-14.) As we repent, we’ll find Jesus has died for us, He will forgive us. And then He’ll come into our lives to control us: & we’ll discover God’s goodness living in us and spreading goodness out through us… `Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! See if there’s any wicked way in me`, says Psalm 139. We need to be serious about this, about our need to repent of pride, anger, lust, greed, dishonesty. To take time – now? – to say to God, Yes, I’m serious. I will live your way. I will forsake everything I do that’s wrong…… And as we receive His forgiveness, the way opens for our lives to be the channel for God’s kingdom in our world! If we want that, let’s `prepare the way` – let’s do it!
All that of course is embodied in v15’s second double door, faith: `Believe` [which in that culture meant, Commit your whole self to] the good news [= `evangelion`, gospel]!` And, as Mark will make clear, `proclaiming the good news of God` (v14) is our job too. But what is the good news God calls us to share? For us, after the cross, the gospel is fully revealed, about the biggest good news of all, Christ’s cross and resurrection. 1 Corinthians 1:23 and 2:2 are very clear: the good news is above all `Christ, crucified.` That’s what faith is about now! In Mark 1, however, we’re in an interesting historical moment, because although the cross must be absolutely crucial for the kingdom’s coming (because it means our sin-barrier is taken away), here we’re in a transitional moment: Christ is here, but the crucified bit hasn’t happened yet. So what good news (gospel) is preached specifically meanwhile? Right here, it seems to me – & this is still part of our message – it’s simply the call to faith: faith, trust, that the kingdom of God is indeed come, here, this side of death. I’m reminded of the miserable, depressing world of Graham Greene’s novel Heart of the Matter, where the keynote of that misery is that `heaven remained rigidly in its proper place on the other side of death`. Jesus is saying, That’s not how it is; heaven has come near, `the Son of Man has authority on earth` (2:10). So the call of Jesus’ good news here is to trust that this is so, that (for reasons that will only be clear after the cross) the gap between us and God is bridged, God cares for us, massively; and in the long run He will always overrule things lovingly for good for those who love Him. (See 4:38-40; 8:16-21; 6:8, or 6:50-52; or Matt 6:31-32.) It’s a calling to faith: God acts; God is King; God cares, God provides, here, now.
And (just as Hebrew uses the same words for `faith` & `faithfulness`), what Jesus is saying here is: If you truly have this faith, if you really trust Me and trust God, follow Me faithfully (v17). And if we believe that God cares and provides, right now, then following faithfully may mean leaving things for Jesus (vv18,20). (It’s striking how often in this kingdom-oriented gospel we read about people leaving things for Jesus – eg 9:45, 10:21, 10:29, 10:50, 12:44,14:4.) Real faith on earth does have a cost. In 1:18 it’s Peter and Andrew leaving their livelihood, and as we learn from Luke 5 this is after a massive, miraculous, God-given catch. (Sometimes for the sake of the kingdom there’s a time to bid at least a temporary farewell to things we know are God’s gifts.) And in v20 James and John leave their father: sometimes putting Jesus first can have big implications (cf Luke 14:26) in terms of our other relationships. My old friend Eric Miller argues that Mark’s whole gospel keeps bringing us to the point of `After what you’ve seen of Jesus, now will you trust Him in practice?` – 4:40, 6:52, 8:16-21. Anyway throughout Mark there seems to be this strong connection: if we want to see the kingdom’s power released, we need to foster a serious faith built into the `deep structure` of our hearts: 2:5, 6:5-6.
And let’s notice too from 1:17 how Jesus’ `Follow me` leads straight into `I will make you fishers of other people.` It has to: because the King has come, fishing like Him for people, urging people like He did to dump their disastrous independence, submit their lives to our rightful Lord and come into His kingdom, is essential. Jesus called His disciples to `be with Him`, first of all (let’s never forget that!), but then `that He might send them out to preach` (3:14). Jesus loves the lost passionately, & so must we!
One last thing for us to note in this vital opening section of Mark: the sheer glory that follows from repentance and faith. We notice a lot here about God the Holy Spirit. And in 1:7-8 this apparently completes what John had to say: Jesus is coming, Jesus; & He baptizes us – drenches us, submerges us – with the Holy Spirit! And this about the Spirit (including vv10,12) is the basis for all the kingdom-of-goodness stuff that follows. God the Holy Spirit is God’s presence here and now; so the kingdom-of-goodness is about the Spirit’s goodness flooding out into the world. ` The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,` says Isaiah 61, `because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair!`
This is our huge calling & our huge privilege! Our messed-up world had needed God’s presence so desperately, for so long; but for many thousands of years, only an occasional, immensely privileged (`anointed`) prophet or king had had it; and they could lose it. (Psalm 51:11 shows us how David who had briefly brought goodness to Israel but sinned, was desperately afraid of losing this anointing of the Spirit, as he had seen Saul do (1 Sam 16:13-14).). But now, John is saying, The time has come when God’s Spirit is here for everybody! It’s what Peter proclaimed in Acts 2: `In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people… Your sons and daughters… your young men… your old men… Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit …!` The astonishing thing about us living in these `final days` of the history of homo sapiens is God’s presence, the Holy Spirit, being available, bringing huge goodness, in & through all of us His people, and lifelong! We can be drenched with the Spirit every single day if we ask!
So we want to be in on Jesus’ kingdom, this explosion of God’s goodness. Well, as with repentance, many of us need to hear God about this. We received His Spirit at conversion, yes (Rom 8:9). But as Ephesians 5:18 commands, we need daily to keep being filled with the Spirit. We want all God’s goodness, we want to be in on Jesus’ kingdom. Then let’s be serious. Not just saying, oh yes, ok; but taking time – on our own now? – to say to God, Yes, I’m serious. I’m repenting; I’m determined by Your power to live Your way; and now, because I’m forgiven, I ask you NOW to fill me afresh with your Spirit…
This then is how the foundational first chapter of Mark begins, showing us how to `prepare the way` for the kingdom: first, repent for forgiveness of our sins, throwing away our independence, trusting and giving ourselves to Him 100%; then ask God the Holy Spirit: fill me! And then again, trust Him; He will! He’s here; He loves us; He wants to share every part of our existence; He will fill us. How will you know? I don’t know, but you will. And as you trust Him to give you His forgiveness & His glorious power, you’ll find the ways swinging open for your life to be a channel for the explosive goodness of the kingdom that you read about in the rest of Mark… So let’s, right now, ` Prepare the way for the Lord`!
