The beginning of the Gospel (8 September 2013)

The beginning of the Gospel

Mark 1:1-8

[audio:http://www.euroluxchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/20130908.mp3]

 

 

Since around BC 63, Jews made resistance to be freed from the oppression of the Roman Empire, but continuously failed. The result of the Jewish war in AD 66 was particularly tragic. The winning Roman Empire crucified thousands of Jewish captives, which must have been an extreme horror for the Jews. Nevertheless, the Jews never ceased their resistance, primarily because the high taxation and forced labor were too harsh, but also because the “Imperial theology” that idolizes the Roman Empire itself couldn’t be acceptable for them, who believed in the one and only God.

 

Gaius Octavianus reunified the Roman Empire in BC 31. He was one of the greatest emperors, who took all the countries on the Mediterranean Sea and made the Empire richer by laying them under tribute. For this, he got later called “Augustus”, meaning ‘the great man’. Then people began to divinize him. They claimed that he was a child of the god Apollo. His will became the will of God, and he was praised as the Son of God. Moreover, all Roman emperors after Augustus got also called “the sons of God”.

 

In this context, the Jews and Christians had to go through a serious identity crisis, because they did not consider anything but Jehovah as God. When they were defeated at the Jewish war, they had to witness Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon destroyed. The Roman Empire then expelled Jews to a land named “Palestine”, from which most of Jews got scattered to the entire world until the end of the Second World War in 1948. This is the short story of Jews, centering on the Jewish war.

 

Among the books of the New Testament, Mark was written first. Considering it was around AD 70 when the Jewish war was just over, we must acknowledge that it was very meaningful for the gospel of Jesus to be written in such a difficult time. In order to better understand Mark, we must consider the context of the Jewish independence war. Some theologian calls Mark ‘wartime gospel’. The ‘war’ here can mean the physical conflict between the Roman Empire and the Jews, on the one hand, and the conflict between the Jehovah theology and the imperial theology, on the other hand.

 

• Jesus, Son of God

 

Now let us read the first verse of Mark with this context in mind.

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  (1)

This might sound a dull introduction, but this verse is the core message throughout the book Mark. Mark gives two titles to Jesus, “Christ” and “the son of God”. “Christ” is a Greek translation of “messiah” in Hebrew, meaning an anointed person. The Israelites and the Kings of Judea were called “messiahs” in the Old Testament, because kings were also anointed at that time. However, this word gained a new meaning in the later Judaism. It came to refer to the person who will liberate Jews from the oppression of foreign countries. That is, “a messiah” became “the Messiah”.

 

Mark announces at the beginning of his book that Jesus is the Messiah who Jews had been waiting for such a long time. With the war period when the book was written considered, this announcement sounds very shocking and revolutionary.

 

As for the expression “Son of God”, it was not used to designate any divine being originally, but it sometimes referred to the whole Israelites, or kings and even magicians. That is, sons of God covered anyone who was in an intimate relationship with God. Later within the imperial theology, however, this word got exclusively used to designate Roman emperors. For instance, Augustus was praised as the Son of God, the one who would bring peace to the world. This is the theology of Pax Romana.

 

But now, Mark applies that expression to Jesus, who was born in Nazareth, lived in Galilee, and got crucified by the Roman Emperor. Therefore, his calling Jesus the Son of God is a resistance to the imperial theology. He highlights that the peace advertised by the Roman Empire is false, and testifies about the new peace that will be brought by Jesus. Jesus’ peace is the peace through service, sharing and caring, and not the control through violence. His peace is the peace of heaven, where truth, love and mercy reign.

• The way of the lord

While proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, Mark announces that the life and teaching of Jesus as “gospel”. Gospel literally means the ‘good news.’ There are many different types of good news in the world: promotion for employees, healing for patients, and release for prisoners. These types of good news, however, do not apply to everyone. But the life and gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for everybody. Mark summarized the gospel as the word “the way”.

 

Verses 2 and 3 in today’s reading are quotations of Malachias 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3, which repeat the word “way” three times, as in “your way”, “the way for the Lord”, and “paths for him”. Early believers had a nickname “people who belonged to the Way”, which can also translate into “people who follow the Way”. That is, to believe in Jesus is to follow Jesus.

 

The Bible says the Baptist John was the one who “prepares the way for the lord”. He preached in the desert without reserve. Many people went to the desert from far away to see John; they wanted to hear ‘true’ messages. John didn’t try to attract them with sweet words, nor control their hearts with threats. He only proclaims the word of God and awakened the people. He answered to those who asked about how to live, “If you have two clothes, give one to others. If you have power, don’t use it for your own interest. That is the life that worships God”. Like this, John awakened those who were in despair, frustration and vanity, and tried to build them as active players of human history. Therefore, Jesus described John as in “among those born of women there is no one greater than John”.

• Life with the Holy Spirit

Notice that John baptized in Jordan River. Jordan River is the border of a desert and the promised land. The exodus community crossed the Jordan River to Canaan, and the captives from Babylon crossed the Jordan River to return home. In this sense, the Jordan River signifies a gate from constraint to liberation, from a slave to a free man. John baptized to announce that the way that was prepared by John and made open by Jesus had just started. John now designated one person for those who came to John.

 

  And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

  I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

 

John knew very well that being aware of problems never changes the reality. He was able to stimulate those people’s dull hearts, but was frank to say that he was powerless in changing their life. So he said he was waiting for the one who would be far beyond him, the one who could ignite the fire of the holy spirit, Jesus Christ.

 

Those who met Jesus all changed through the one who never judges but embraces with love. They realized how valuable they themselves were, by looking at the soul who was filled with love and power. They then could stand up from their places of sins, despair, illness, and doubts. The new human history started with those who met Jesus.

 

Those whose soul was ignited by Jesus are people of sympathy. They feel the loneness, pain, and suffering of other people as if they themselves suffer from the same pains. This heart of sympathy is the heart that resembles Jesus and the holy spirit. To believe in Jesus is to participate in the new history that Jesus is making, and to follow the way of Jesus by carrying his cross.

 

Certainly, there are times when we get exhausted and disappointed while following Jesus. Sometimes we go astray. But we don’t have to worry. When we listen to Jesus in silence, he will teach his way for us. To confess that Jesus is the son of God means to follow his way as our way. I pray that your heart gets ignited by the fire of the holy spirit, so that you keep following the way of Jesus. Amen.