Mark: the call to discipleship

Intentions - personal and community

Keeping Jesus at the centre of our church community…means we ground ourselves in who Jesus is and what He did and said so that we can recognize what He is doing and saying now. One of the ways we do this is by making our way through one of the four gospels from January through Easter each year. This year, it’s Mark!

A couple of groups have already spent three evenings together just reading through the gospel of Mark. It takes about 90 minutes to read the whole thing. I encourage you to read through the whole gospel again, whether you’ve done it already or not.

The gospels are these four books at the beginning of the New Testament that tell us about the life and ministry of Jesus. Scholars agree that it is the earliest of the four gospels, likely written just during the years preceding the destruction of the temple in 70AD which took place in the context of a Jewish revolt during the reign of Nero.

Imagine this, Mark is telling a story from 30 ish years ago, but now he’s telling it in the midst of Roman occupation, Jewish revolt and Roman suppression.

Each Gospel is unique. Mark, for instance, doesn’t contain a birth narrative nor any post-resurrection appearances.

It traces the ministry of Jesus, but, as we’ll see, it doesn’t contain blocks of teaching like in the other three. The Gospel writer instead seems to trace geographical movement as Jesus moves from the wilderness to Capernaaum, zigzags across the Sea of Galilee, and then makes a slow but sure march to Jerusalem.

Amy-Jill Levine says:

“In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus teaches more by actions than by words.”

And there is a call to discipleship issued through the raising of questions about who Jesus is and what kind of Messiah…

There is little talk about God, even from Jesus himself. Instead, as Ched Myers writes,

“the Voice that spoke through the prophets, “spoke” again in John the Baptist, and ultimately in Jesus of Nazareth and continues where and when discipleship is practiced.” Ched Myers in Binding the Strongman

Today we’ll begin with the opening verses of Mark chapter 1. And in just 20 verses, you will get a taste of how Mark works. References to things in passing that could be whole chapters, allusions to symbols and the prophets and tradition. And that famous sense of breathless urgency that makes Mark … well, Mark.

As Stephen comes to read, would you stand?

Mark 1:1–3 CEB

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, 2 happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah: Look, I am sending my messenger before you. He will prepare your way, 3 a voice shouting in the wilderness: “Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight.”

Mark 1:4–6 CEB

4 John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. 5 Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins. 6 John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.

Mark 1:7–8 CEB

7 He announced, “One stronger than I am is coming after me. I’m not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Mark 1:9–11 CEB

9 About that time, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. 10 While he was coming up out of the water, Jesus saw heaven splitting open and the Spirit, like a dove, coming down on him. 11 And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.”

Mark 1:12–13 CEB

12 At once the Spirit forced Jesus out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among the wild animals, and the angels took care of him.

Mark 1:14–17 CEB

14 After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee announcing God’s good news, 15 saying, “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!” 16 As Jesus passed alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.”

Mark 1:18–20 CEB

18 Right away, they left their nets and followed him. 19 After going a little farther, he saw James and John, Zebedee’s sons, in their boat repairing the fishing nets. 20 At that very moment he called them. They followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Wow. There was lots in there, right?

But let’s take a quick look at the opening words… the beginning…

Re: Mark 1:1

Mark 1:1 CEB

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son,

John 1:1 NIV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Not just John who references Genesis… Mark too!

good news - gospel

Christ - not Jesus’ last name but a messianic title that means Anointed

God’s Son - Son of God -

Son of God - son of god - son of God

would have been heard differently by Jewish and Gentile readers…

for Jewish readers, associated with Davidic kingship ie Psalm 2, 89

for Gentile readers, “son of god” would be known from Greek & Roman

And it doesn’t appear in all the manuscripts. May have been added so that gentile readers wouldn’t miss the reference of Jesus Christ as a messianic one.

No capitals in greek, so is it son of god (more Greek/Roman), son of God or Son of God?

Decisions like this are influenced by the translator’s theological convictions.

Mark 1:1 CEB

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son,

…

Amy-Jill Levine:

“So far, we have a beginning, something new but something that also concerns the book of Genesis. We have “good news” but the content is vague: Good news for whom? Regarding what? Now or in the future or both?

One other thing to draw your attention to… and that will likely come up again!…

“And immediately”

/ kai euthus - 42 times in Mark… and the first one happens 1:10 Baptism, 1:12 Wilderness, 1:18 Calling of the disciples

Mark 1:10 CEB

10 While he was coming up out of the water, Jesus saw heaven splitting open and the Spirit, like a dove, coming down on him.

Mark 1:12 CEB

12 At once the Spirit forced Jesus out into the wilderness.

Mark 1:18 (NIV)

18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

Let’s look quickly at these three events…

Jesus’ Baptism

Jesus is baptized by John who is calling for a baptism of repentance. Change your hearts and lives…

Why does Jesus need to repent?

What kind of Messiah is Jesus?

One who enters so fully into our humanity that when He teaches us to say “Our Father…” he enters into our collective reality so fully, that it includes repenting from and atoning for “our sins”.

Forgive us our sins/debts/trespasses…

Jesus enters into our collective sin/debt/trespasses because atonement is a community thing.

(Our fixation on being forgiven as individuals for each individual infraction has weakened our sense of this…)

But Jesus, in His baptism, sets an example and makes a declaration that repentance is the starting place.

Jesus in the Wilderness

Spirit-led (forced!) wilderness experiences.

This messes with our western sense of “follow Jesus so that everything will go well for you” - as this period of fasting (40 days! Meant to remind us of the 40 years in the wilderness, Elijah’s 40 day journey to Mount Sinai, so that we see that Jesus is keeping company here with Moses and Elijah.) And we’ve explored before how, this reminds us that being in a season of testing or difficulty - these wilderness experiences - do not signify some lack of faith on our part, or the absence of God. These are moments that may well be God drawing us out so that we can encounter God in a new and different way. Mark doesn’t go into detail like Matthew & Luke, do. He simply offers us a summary.

Jesus announces the good news

Having withstood the temptation, we hear Jesus speak for the first time in the Gospel of Mark:

Mark 1:14–15 CEB

14 After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee announcing God’s good news, 15 saying, “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!”

Mark 1:15 FNV

15 “The time has now come!” he said to the people. “Creator’s good road is right in front of you. It is time to return to the right ways of thinking and doing! Put your trust in this good story I am bringing to you.”

Does Jesus’ message surprise you in any way? When you think of “the gospel” is this what you think of? (Have we complicated something that is not meant to be quite so complex?)

What kind of Messiah is this? What is He asking?

Now. A different Empire. Repent (re-orient) and trust this.

Do you sense that immediate call? Do you hear the voice of Jesus saying, there’s a different Empire. An alternate Kingdom. Will you turn towards Jesus and trust this? (If you have in the past, will you now? )

Jesus’ call to discipleship

Mark 1:16–20 CEB

16 As Jesus passed alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” 18 Right away, they left their nets and followed him. 19 After going a little farther, he saw James and John, Zebedee’s sons, in their boat repairing the fishing nets. 20 At that very moment he called them. They followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers.

When I read these accounts, I always think, “they were just minding their own business.” Quite literally.

What happened to Simon & Andrew’s fishing business?

Poor Zebedee, left with the hired workers, abandoned by his sons.

This is radical reorientation. And somehow, as long as we leave it as something that only happens to fishermen, we can just read or hear the story and hold it at arms length.

But this Jesus, He passes along our places of life and business and ordinary pursuits. And He also calls us…

Have you heard that call? Do you have your own “right away they left their “nets” and followed him” story?

In our text today, we see at least 4 places where our story intersects with the Jesus story:

In Jesus’ baptism - have you followed his example? What prevents you from living from this place of repentance and identifying with Him in the water? (Talk to me if you haven’t yet been baptized!)

In Jesus time in the wilderness we see that the Spirit leads us even into places we would rather not go. And the Spirit empowers to withstand the pressures that are on us. And that threaten to undo our identity as children of God.

In Jesus’ proclamation of good news - Jesus announces the gospel and it’s not complicated. The good news is NOW. The good news invites us to turn (and keep turning) and to place our trust in the One inviting us into the story.

In Jesus’ call to discipleship - does the call to these fishermen seem a little too radical? Or does it touch at something in you that longs to be radically reoriented towards Jesus? You are invited to come and follow.

Communion: INVITATION

This is the table, not of the Church, but of the Lord. It is to be made ready for those who love him and who want to love him more.

So, come, If you have much faith and if you have little, if you have been here often and if you have not been for a long time, if you have tried to follow and if you have failed.

Come, not because it is I who invite you: it is our Lord. It is his will that those who want him should meet him here.

THE STORY

On the night on which Jesus was betrayed, he sat at supper with his disciples. While they were eating, he took a piece of bread, said a blessing, broke it, and gave it to them with the words, ‘This is my body. It is for you. Do this to remember me.’ Later, he took a cup of wine, saying, ‘This cup is God’s new covenant, sealed with my blood. Drink from it, all of you, to remember me’. So now, following Jesus’ example and command, we take this bread and this wine, the ordinary things of the world which Christ will make special. And as he said a prayer before sharing, let us do so too.

THE PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Loving God, we praise and thank you for your love shown to us in Jesus Christ. We thank you for his life and ministry, announcing the good news of your kingdom and demonstrating its power in the lifting of the downtrodden, and the healing of the sick, and the loving of the loveless. We thank you for his sacrificial death upon the cross for the redemption of the world, and for your raising him to life again, as a foretaste of the glory we shall share.

We give you thanks for this bread and wine, symbols of our world and signs of your transforming love. Send your Holy Spirit, we pray, that we may be renewed into the likeness of Jesus Christ and formed into his Body. This we pray in his name and for his sake. Amen.

THE SHARING

Taking and breaking the bread Among friends, gathered round a table, Jesus took bread, broke it and said, ‘This is my body, it is for you’.

Taking the cup of wine And later he took the cup of wine and said, ‘This is the new relationship with God, made possible because of my death. Take this – all of you – to remember me’.

Look, here is your Lord coming to you in bread and wine. These are the gifts of God for the people of God.