Sunday, July 25, 2021

 Mark 1:1-15

"Now is the time! Here comes God's kingdom!

Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!" (Mk. 1:15 CEB)

A few interesting things about how Mark begins his story of Jesus:

• Mark is the only one of the four gospels to use the word "gospel" to describe what he's writing. The above translation renders it "good news". The Greek word is εὐαγγελίῳ, which is the base for our English word "evangelism".
• Mark wastes no time. His first sentence almost gives everything away. in fifteen verses Mark gives us what takes about four chapters each in Matthew and Luke.
• The citation from Isaiah 40 gets repurposed in Mark. In Isaiah (40) it's a voice saying, In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord. In Mark it's the voice that's in the wilderness -- John's voice.
• The picture of John the Baptist reflects a description of the prophet Elijah in 2 Kings. Elijah was thought to be arriving just before the Messiah.

The primary theme in Mark's opening is "repent". John calls those who come to him to repent, and to make a public sign of washing, in order for God to give them a fresh start. Jesus, beginning his public ministry, announces that God's kingdom is at hand and asks that we repent and believe it.

But what is it to repent? It's not to feels sorry for our misdoings. Or to feel sorry that we got caught. The CEB translation that I'm giving translates μετανοεῖτε as "change your hearts and your lives". The basic meaning is to change direction, inside and out. Not just to think about it. Not just to think that it's a good idea. To make an actual change.

And this is good news.