If you had a story to tell, one that
was profoundly significant, that had been living inside you for years, how
would you tell it?
Would you write it as a book? Or a
play or a movie? Maybe a poem or lyrics set to music. Maybe you'd paint or draw
or sculpt the story into being, or choreograph a dance to manifest the
narrative...
The sky is the limit! There is a story
to be told, to withstand the test of time - and it will be told, by the grace
of God!
How would YOU tell a story of
fantastic news?
With that in mind, let's think about
how our biblical folks today tell their
story. We have quite a few stories coming at us today - and they all intertwine
in this first snippet of Mark's Gospel.
So how does he do that? Well, bluntly.
Precisely. With no room for misinterpretation. In fact, with this as the very
start of Mark's gospel, it reads almost like a political brief - there's a
statement of what it is, then there's the background, then there's a hint of
the preamble to lead into the content of the document.
Have you ever read political
briefings? They're kinda dry. Dense, academic writing. And yet this is the
method that Mark employs... right from the start - because today's passage is
that start.
Chapter 1, Verse 1:
THE BEGINNING OF THE GOOD NEWS OF
JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD.
He leaves no room for
misinterpretation there. It's even more like a heading than a sentence. Not even
a complete sentence, really. "This is my account of the beginning of the
good news..."
Nor does Mark spend any time with any
extraneous details. He doesn't go into setting the scene, the way Matthew does,
by identifying every branch of the family tree of Jesus and a nativity with wandering
magi, and an Egyptian escapade. Nor does he, like Luke does, detail extended family
histories, nativities (of both John and Jesus), some shepherds, and childhood
adventures. In fact, it takes both Matthew and Luke to chapter 3 to get to
where Mark starts.
The beginning of the Good News of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Simple enough as a statement - a headline, if
you will.
Well, let's pause for just a moment.
This is, for us Christian folks, some 2000 years later, a simple enough
statement. But for the people Mark was chatting with, the people first hearing
this - this was Breaking News. This was shocking. This was bordering on
scandal!
Because this was making some really
bold statements against both the political and the religious regimes.
Politically: the term "son of
God" had been previously used in recognition of one person, and one person
alone: Caesar. He liked the title - it gave him, in his mind, power and
authority. He liked the title so much that he added it to statues of himself.
He would have had that on his business cards, if business cards existed then.
So to say that this upstart, unknown,
ruffian was the son of God? Shocking. Especially since by the time Mark is
writing this, the crucifixion has happened. So here he is, saying that the man,
who the state thought of so lowly that it killed him in the most demeaning way,
was in fact more powerful than the Caesar.
Religiously: Mark calls Jesus the
Christ. To Jewish ears, this was still ridiculous to consider. For the Messiah,
God's annointed, the Christ, was prophesied about for thousands of years. He
was going to come and change everything - everything! - so that God's people
would know freedom and favour.
Jesus? Again; here Mark is, saying
that the man the state (including state religion) thought of so lowly that it
killed him in the most demeaning way, was in fact the holiest of holies, more
powerful than any of the rabbis and high priests in the temple.
So by starting his account in this
way, Mark has chosen to let people know that his story will be like that first
sentence: shocking. Attention-grabbing. Provocative. Unsettling.
The beginning of the Good News of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The people hearing this must have been
thinking: "WHOA. Okay, friend, prove
it."
So he does.
He does this by moving immediately to
Isaiah: a prophet, whose teachings have been so trusted for centuries that they
have been passed on and passed down, within families, within communities,
within the religious establishment.
A messenger is coming, to remind you
to prepare God's way.
"Okay!" the people must be
thinking. "This is good. We're back to something that we can all agree on,
something that calms the hearts and brings comfort to those who are afflicted.
The prophesy is our background for discussing holy things."
And I'm willing to guess that some of
them were waiting for a nice, expected commentary about how the messenger would
fit all the expected, societal norms. Because this is what is used for the
background of Mark's message, this is giving some handy historical context.
And just when the people are starting
to take that deep calming breath, Mark - like every evangelist - throws another
curve. He talks about John the Baptist.
So again, I invite us to consider John
the Baptist NOT with our modern, 'oh-lovely-a-saint; we-all-love-a-saint'
perspective. Instead, let's consider Johnny as he presented himself. What did
the people know about John? Well, some may have known that he was Jesus' cousin
- which, given how Jesus was perceived by the non-believers (which was most of
the people hearing this Gospel!), he had some guilt by association. "That
Jesus bloke - maybe the weirdness ran in the family!" Hmm.
Taking it one step further, we have
his presence and presentation.
A man walks out of the wilderness. A
dry, dessert, wilderness. Out he pops; unclean, unshaven, undernourished. He's
wearing animal skin rags, he's eating insects, he's been standing in rivers as
much as possible, so that camel hair is probably stinking like wet dog. And
he's wandering from town to town crying out about how the people he meets need
to reject their godless ways. Repentence is his thing, the Holy Spirit hasn't
made an appearance yet, but that will come with the 'someone greater than me'
who's coming along.
Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!
As Mark is writing this gospel
account, John's story is known - the entirety of it. John is looked on by many
with skepticism, cynicism, and pity. Because John, as we know, doesn't have a
great life. His dad was older when he
was born, so likely they didn't have many years together. He's had a very
difficult ministry in the wilderness. He's really not popular with the ruling
party: he's arrested a few times, and then he's beheaded by Herod at the whim
of a dancing girls' mother.
Pardon the pun, but it must have made
people's heads spin to hear Mark suggesting that this man, this gross and
grody, unlikely man, was the prophesied and long-awaited messenger!
It's shocking. It's
attention-grabbing. It's provocative.
As it was intended to be. Quite
frankly, as it should be.
Because it conveys a message of the
beginning of something good - something GREAT. It has 3 different people (Mark,
Isaiah, and John) agreeing that something BIG is about to happen. Something
worth hearing about. Something worth thinking about. Something worth changing
your life about. And, something worth telling others about.
This is a story to be told, even by
the most unlikely and unexpected people. Folks that today’s society might not
choose, in a way that we may not choose – but exactly the people and the
process and the timeline and the manner that God intentionally chose – to tell The
Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Isaiah the Prophet prophesied about
it.
John the Baptist proclaimed it.
Mark the Evangelist wrote it.
The beginning of the Good News of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
...but not the end. Never, never the
end. The good news continues, so long as there are people who believe it and
live it and share it. The good news
continues, so long as we are those people.
So I ask again: If you had a story to
tell, one that was profoundly significant, that had been living inside you for
years, how would you tell it?
Because now is our time.
Now is our opportunity to share the good news. Now is our world, a world
desperate to receive good news, to proclaim the ongoing truth. May we all
celebrate the grace and the privilege of finding new ways to make known the
Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
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