Read Matthew 28,
Mark 1-2
Woo hoo! Two Gospels complete! Pause for a moment of celebration. Pause for a moment to hold what you have
found meaningful. Pause for a moment to
also name and claim your questions about Jesus’ birth, life, death, and
resurrection. We continue to dwell in
the Word of God and let the Word of God dwell in us because every time we
re-read the words of the Gospels we see something different ~ usually
because we are different. You
could go back to John 1 today and spy a word, phrase or have a thought that
didn’t occur to you back on February 27th when we began this
adventure. Hold this truth. Speaking
of birth of Jesus, Mark doesn’t have one.
In fact, I love that Mark just jumps into the middle of the story. Like a teacher who dives into the material without
any kind of introduction. Mark catches
us off guard. In fact, the very first
verse in Mark isn’t even a complete sentence in Greek. Mark 1:1 could read: “Good news! Jesus Christ!” Mark wants to share a story of God’s
liberating love that is gospel. Recall
that Rome had a gospel, one of violence and fear and worshiping Caesar. Rome had a gospel of conformity and staying
in your place. Jesus brings a different
gospel.
How would you
describe the gospel, good news, as you have encountered it so far? Note that we have four gospels so that we can
be expansive and elastic. With each
reading of the gospels there can be an evolution toward revolution and
freedom. John longs for us to make room
on the shelves of our souls for Christ, God in the flesh, to dwell in us and us
in Christ. John wants us to be a vine
that is rooted in a live-changing relationship with the Creator and Redeemer.
Matthew wants to encourage us to have urgency and immediacy about how we live
our lives. We need to steward our lives;
to be awake and aware of the shepherd in our lives. Mark longs to share a vision of God’s
sacrificial love. Mark is the shortest
of all four gospels. In fact, many
believe that Mark wants to get the reader to the crucifixion as quickly as
possible. This is perhaps why Mark
doesn’t have a birth narrative. What is
important for Mark is to meet Jesus as an adult, who embodies God’s love, that
will be misunderstood by the powers that be.
Even though Mark is the shortest, there is an economy of words, each
verse matters. So, I encourage you to
read slowly, savoring every word. What
do you notice that is unique to Mark?
What do you pick up in his abbreviated narratives that you might have
missed in the wordier Matthew and John versions? Finally, how do the vignettes of chapters 1
and 2 stir and speak to your life in these Lenten days? May you continue to encounter God’s grace and
love in the good news of these words this day. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment