Lecture on the Gospel of Mark

 

I want to start this evening with a strange episode in the Gospel of Mark chapter 8:22-24

“22  And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23  And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24  And he looked up and said, “I see men, but they look like trees, walking.” 25  Then Jesus   laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26  And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

When I lead parishioners through this text they often ask: If Jesus really is God, and if God is omnipotent why couldn't he heal the blind man immediately? If God the Son lays his hands on a blind man with the intention of healing his blindness, there shouldn't be a do-over, a second attempt. And they're right.

But what they miss is that Jesus wasn't just healing a blind man. He was giving his followers a living illustration of what it's like to be a disciple. And, as we'll see, Mark, guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit, got it. He got the point of this miracle, he understood this illustration, and, he organized and constructed his entire gospel around it.

 Now, Mark, as you may know, probably never spent time with Jesus during his earthly ministry. What we know about Mark outside of his gospel comes first from the book of Acts (15:36-40) where we learn that he was one of Paul's companions on his first missionary journey with Barnabas through Asia Minor. Something happened on that journey and Mark abandoned the mission before it was over. Years later, when preparing for a second mission, Barnabas suggested bringing Mark along again. Barnabas, the encourager, wanted to Mark a second chance. But Paul wouldn't have it. Mark was a quitter. They had such a great disagreement, Luke tells us in Acts, that they parted ways, Barnabas took Mark and went one way and Paul took Silas and headed the other.

But God wasn't finished with Mark and actually neither was Paul. “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry” wrote Paul in his 2 nd letter to Timothy chapter 4. And, earlier, during Paul's first house arrest, we know that Mark was with him. Paul passed Mark's greetings on to the Colossians (Colossians 4:10) And we see similar words of greeting from Mark passed in Paul's letter to Philemon.

The biblical record of Mark's ministry ends there. But there's very good extra-biblical information about Mark from early second century and third century sources (Papias [via Eusebius of Ceasaria], the Anti-Marcionite Prologue, Irenaeus, and the Muratorian Canon) Mark probably stayed in Rome or at least went back to Rome sometime after Paul's arrest. And we're told that Mark, at some point, became a disciple of Peter during the last years of Peter's life in Rome.

And, in fact, these sources tell us that the information in Mark's gospel, the content, comes directly from the preaching and proclamation of Peter. Eusebius of Ceasaria writing in the third century quotes, word for word, from Papias, bishop of Heiropolis, who between 115 and 140 AD. Papias wrote the following about Mark's gospel:

“Mark, having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered.”

The content of Mark's gospel then, according to Papias, is the eyewitness testimony of St. Peter. But then he goes on to say:

“It was not, however, in exact order that he related the sayings or deeds of Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied Him. But afterwards, as I said, he accompanied Peter, who accommodated his instructions to the necessities [of his hearers], but with no intention of giving a regular narrative of the Lord's sayings. Wherefore Mark made no mistake in thus writing some things as he remembered them. For of one thing he took especial care, not to omit anything he had heard, and not to put anything fictitious into the statements."

This is a very important passage. Often 21st century readers of the Gospels get confused about chronology. People pick up the gospels and tend to think that 1 st century apostles wrote with the same intention and purpose as 21st century reporters. And so when John puts Jesus' cleansing of the Temple in the second chapter of his Gospel and Mark puts the same event in the last week of Jesus' life we think there is a contradiction. But there would only be a contradiction if both Mark and John wrote with the intention of giving a chronological account of Jesus' life. But, as Papias points out, and as is evident from both Mark and John (and Matthew and Luke) that wasn't their intention. They weren't concerned about chronology. They wanted to tell the truth about Jesus. What Mark wanted to do and what all of the apostles did, is to tell, accurately, the true historical facts about what Jesus did and said, but to arrange those facts in a manner that bears witness to the theological truth about who Christ really is. The gospels are not bare cold historical accounts.

They're gospels, they are “good news”. They're historical narratives infallibly arranged, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to provide four different, but equally true portraits of Jesus Christ.

Modern historians do this all the time. There's a biography of John f. Kennedy that starts with an account of his assassination. Why does it start at the end? The author believes that John F. Kennedy's death, says something important about John F. Kennedy. He wants his readers to see that right up front.

Papias tells us that Mark has done much the same thing. Peter provided the facts, Mark took care to accurately record those facts. But he arranged the material in order to communicate crucial theological truths about Jesus to the Christians in Rome. Now, that should raise a question in your minds as readers of Mark's gospel. Why did Mark put his gospel in the order he did?

This will ultimately bring us back to the blind man…we're not there yet. Before we get there you need to know what was happening in Rome at the time Mark wrote.

The early church was a persecuted Church. The persecutions came in successive waves from the first to the third century. The first wave hit in the mid sixties. Christianity is a religion of love and peace; it's a religion of the good news of Jesus Christ. Why were Christians persecuted?

The Roman religious world was a rich and diverse one. There were literally thousands of gods and goddesses worshiped in the capitol and throughout the Mediterranean and new cults and religions were popping up every year. There was always a new god or goddess in vogue. The Romans liked it that way. The more gods, the better. There was a god or goddess for everything, fertility, money, beer, wine, whatever you wanted. If you wanted love, there were a myriad of gods and goddesses to choose from representing each and every sort of love you could ever experience. All you had to do was bring an offering or sacrifice to the shrine of the right god or goddess in if the sacrifice was acceptable, you'd get what you want. But if, that god didn't meet your needs, you'd just go find another god or goddess until you find the one who works for you…because religion is all about getting my felt needs met and whatever meets my felt needs is right, for me.

Sound familiar?

This was a great system. The various deities all valid all legitimate all good all there for you…. But what happens in that kind of culture when the followers of one God start going around saying that the other gods are fakes…even the Emperor, who claims to be god, isn't god. Their is only one God, one Lord, Jesus Christ and there is no other? What happens? There's trouble. Christians were hated in Rome. They were called atheists. In our world an atheist is someone who does not believe in any God. In the ancient world atheism, was the rejection of the gods. Ancient writers considered Christians atheists.

They called them narrow and “haters of mankind”. Rome set aside a number of holidays during each year for religious festivals, honoring different gods. These festivals were intended to unite the people of the empire, build community, bring people together. But Christians refused participate. Who do these Christians think they are? Do they think they're better than everyone else?

So now, imagine the social pressure experienced by believers. Their neighbors were polytheists and united around a culture of polytheism in an empire that claimed to be lead by a divine emperor. Christians stood out and they were despised.

On July 18 th , 64AD, during the reign of Emperor Nero, a fire broke out in one of the poorer districts of Rome. It spread quickly and burned for 6 days. The fire destroyed or damaged 11 out 14 city districts. Tens of thousands died. Many more were left homeless. In the aftermath of the fire some prominent Romans began to blame Nero. He'd not acted very quickly to douse the flames. Some charged that he actively hindered efforts to fight the fire because it burned in the poorest districts where opposition to his rule was prevalent and his political opponents owned property. Some even said that his soldiers and servants were seen spreading the flames.

Nero was in trouble. Emperors weren't elected. They didn't have to run for reelection. They exercised absolute authority. But while an emperor didn't have to fear the election cycle, he did have to worry about assassinations and coups. If the right people were persuaded that he started or hindered the fighting of the fire, then his days were numbered.

So Nero blamed the Christians. They were an easy target; strange people widely hated. Here's Tacitus' record of what happened. He was alive at the time:

“Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace…Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed."

Most church historians believe that both Peter and Paul were martyred during these persecutions and that it was in this setting…either immediately before or immediately after the persecutions that Mark penned his gospel for the Christian church in Rome. Some think that Mark wrote the gospel specifically for new converts. What do you say to someone who just comes to faith in Jesus Christ, a newborn, who suddenly faces the martyr's choice between death and denial?

Think about that. Think about what this book must have meant to believers at that time, hated, persecuted striving to live out and spread the gospel in a hostile culture to people who were looking for anything and everything but the sort of life that the gospel demands. The other gods offer love, prosperity, riches, fame, fertility, why turn to Christ who offers a cross, who demands not just offerings and sacrifices but your whole life…everything you have and everything you are.

There are some today who offer a very easy, very simple Christianity, a Christianity that involves little more than uttering a half-hearted commitment prayer and then going about your business as usual. Or who say that Jesus will make you rich and prosperous or that he'll solve all of your problems. Sometimes we may even be guilty of offering that sort of Christ. Mark's gospel systematically destroys these illusions. The question Mark asks his readers, the question the Holy Spirit asks through Mark, that Christ asks, is…do you love me enough to take up your cross?

Let's go back to the blind man. At first the blind man sees nothing. His friends bring him or guide him to Jesus. He can't find Jesus himself. Think of the new Christian.

If you turn to the opening chapters of the gospel of Mark, you'll see that the disciples suffer from a blindness. Jesus calls them and they come. But they don't really know who he is. They suspect that he's the messiah come to lead them against the Romans and reestablish the Kingdom of Israel. And as his disciples, his close followers, they probably hope to cash in. So they follow him as he moves around Galilee preaching, healing, and casting out demons.

The crowds also are blind. They may or may not think Jesus is the messiah. It doesn't matter. He's healing, he's giving out free bread and fish. People flock to Jesus in the first 8 chapters of Mark because he is the miracle man. When you read Mark's accounts of Jesus coming into a town it sounds a bit like what used happen when I was a kid and the ice-cream truck turned into my neighborhood with its bells went off. Kids came running from all over the place. We wanted the ice-cream…we didn't so much care about the ice cream man. The crowds wanted the healings, they didn't care about the healer.

And you'll notice two very strange things in this first half of the gospel of Mark. First, Jesus wants to keep things quiet. He charges people not to go around telling about his miracles and healings and exorcisms and not to tell anyone who he is. Jesus wants his power and identity to remain hidden.

Second he and his disciples are always moving. The first part of the book is fast paced. Eutus, the greek word for “immediately” is used in just about every passage. Immediately the man rose. Immediately, the boat reached the other side of the lake. Immediately the demon left the man. Immediately this immediately that.

These two characteristics, secrecy and immediacy are related. Jesus doesn't rejoice that the crowds love him because they don't love him, they love what he does for them. Jesus isn't satisfied with his disciples' devotion because at this point they have other motives. So he doesn't want his identity known. He doesn't want to proclaim his miracles from the mountaintops. Because he doesn't want followers who are looking for candy and toys and fame and glory. He wants followers who are looking for him. They don't want Jesus. So he keeps his secret and moves fast, immediately, from place to place.

But the immediateness comes to an immediate stop in chapter 8 when Jesus touches the blind man. And he's not immediately healed. He sees, but his sight is obscured.

It is no accident that the very next passage in chapter 8, verses 27-30 is Mark's account of Peter's confession.

“But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”

  Peter gets it right. He answers correctly. He sees. What the disciples had suspected before is confirmed. Jesus is the Christ, the coming King, the messiah. A veil is removed and Peter and the disciples and the reader see who Jesus is. And they rejoice in their hearts. If Jesus the Christ he'll drive out the Romans; he'll establish his kingdom in Jerusalem; he'll give us nice golden thrones in a palace in the center of the capital.

  But Jesus isn't finished talking.

“31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly.”

Peter's confused. That's not in the script. That's not what the Messiah is supposed to do. There'll be glory and honor and power.

“And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.”

But Jesus stops him short.

“33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Peter sees enough to know that Jesus is the Messiah. But his sight is obscured. He wants honor and glory and power. Jesus offers a cross.

And the rest of Mark is a march to Jerusalem, to the cross, to death, betrayal, suffering, loss. There are fewer miracles, fewer healings. More teaching. The narrative slows down. But the march is relentless.

And right up to the end, the disciples don't quite see it. They fight about who'll sit next to Jesus on thrones and drink from his cup. It's not that Jesus does not tell them what lies ahead. From the time of Peter's confession all the way to the last supper, he tells them that he must be betrayed and suffer. They just don't hear him. When he rides through the gates of Jerusalem like a King and openly proclaims his identity. They rejoice. But the mood changes quickly. By Thursday things look grim. You know how it ends.

But Mark doesn't leave us in the dark. There's one man, who sees clearly. Mark 15:33-39

“33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:33-39)”

The Centurion sees. Jesus has touched him and his blindness is removed. The same is, hopefully, true for any reader of the Gospel of Mark.

The glory of God, the power of God, the honor of God is revealed not in the miracles and the healings and the teachings of Christ, although all of these are glorious and good things, the glory of God, the truth about Jesus, is revealed on the cross. And it is to the cross that all disciples must be willing to go.

Who, besides this centurion, and the women standing at a distance, is there with Jesus at this moment? No one. The other gospels have John there, but Mark omits John's name. It's just this Roman, this enemy of the people of Israel, this gentile, who sees Jesus' death and believes.

Mark has taken the facts of Jesus' life and he has arranged them so that the new Christian, studying his gospel goes from blindness to sight. From seeking Jesus for the stuff Jesus may give, to seeking Jesus for Jesus. Mark wants to make disciples who're willing to go to the cross for the love of Christ. That's what his Gospel is intended to do.

The question for you and for me as we read it and pray through it and study it, in our world, in this college, is twofold. Do you see Jesus clearly and are you willing to proclaim him truly.

Do you see Jesus as an eternal ice-cream man, Santa Clause with everlasting gifts, or do you see him as the pearl of great price, the one for whom you are willing to give up your life so that you can save it and find it in him. Jesus is not Santa. He's not the ice-cream man. He promises that if you come to him he'll be with you forever, that he will forgive your sins, that he'll be with you and nourish you and provide for you, give you peace and love. But he also promises that in this world there will be trouble. That in this world there will be sacrifice and suffering and death. He doesn't promise to take those things away. In fact it is often his will to bring them so that through them he might be glorified and his gospel proclaimed. Do you see that Jesus? Are you ready to die with Christ so that you can live with him?

And are you ready to proclaim Jesus as he is. You live in a religious market. Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, various cults all of them giving a plan and a promise. Follow this ritual, do these works, offer this sacrifice and you'll receive this reward, this blessing. We offer Christ and him crucified. There are certainly plans and promises in the scriptures and we must abide in them, but there is first and foremost the Person of Jesus Christ. It is to him and for him and with him and through that we live. Nothing else matters. We offer Christ and him crucified. There is power in that offer. There is power in Jesus' cross. There is life in his death, but you have to be willing to die to find it.