This gospel was written by John Mark who was a teenager during Jesus’ ministry, not a disciple or apostle. His two names are Hebrew and Latin, which implies that his family may have been important or wealthy – in Acts it’s noted that a church meets in his mother’s home.
This is the same Mark who runs away and loses his clothing in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was also a close friend and disciple of Peter, and it is likely that Peter is the source for most if not all of this gospel.
Mark is also the cause of the split between Barnabas and Paul in Acts. Mark was Barnabas’ cousin, and Barnabas wanted to take him along on their second missionary journey. Paul, though, considered Mark a flake because he had abandoned them in an earlier situation. The dispute became so heated that they ended up parting ways. But later on, Mark and Paul did reconcile – in his final list, Paul instructs Timothy to bring Mark along “because he is helpful to me in my ministry.”
This should be a comfort to us if we have ever messed up or failed someone, or if we have been rejected for ministry whether for good reasons or bad. Mark went through the same thing and ended up with his name on a Gospel.
Maybe for this reason, the gospel also focuses on the theme of the mistakes and ignorance of the disciples as a whole. There is a regular motif of the the disciples urging Jesus towards secular power and material success. This is utterly natural – their culture and ours, our entire species, is focused on upward mobility and the accumulation of power and possessions, especially when looking at those in authority. But Jesus came to turn that upside down – He is powerful and authoritative over both people and the elements of nature, but also humbles Himself among the most lowly in society, and ultimately becomes the Suffering Servant prophesied by Isaiah.
The book of Mark starts with a bang. Rather than starting at the very beginning – of Time in John, of Jesus’ lineage in Matthew or Jesus’ earthly life in Luke, Mark jumps right in at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry with another fulfillment of a prophecy of Isaiah – the “voice crying in the wilderness,” John the Baptist, “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
John was baptizing people in a long Jewish tradition of Baptism – this was not a Christian invention but a way for Jewish people to recommit themselves to the instructions of Yahweh and the looking forward to the promised Messiah. Our practice of Baptism descends directly from this tradition.
So the Gospel of Mark begins with this core notion of confession and repentance, as scores of people come out into the middle of nowhere to listen to a wild man urge them to stop doing what they are doing. This is the beginning of revival, revival that will find its culmination in the person of Christ and the Church as His body.
But it starts here, as John baptizes Jesus now as a sign of repentance but as a signal that things are about to change. The heavens are rent open and glimpses of eternity shine through, the Spirit descends like a dove, the Father speaks audibly, and the Son rises from the water to begin His work.
And, of course, that work starts with 40 days alone, enduring both physical and spiritual oppression, before returning to civilization in the wake of John’s imprisonmentsaying, “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!”
As in those days, God is calling us back. Whether back after Covid, back after a time of wandering, back after outright rejecting the gospel.
But the church in America today is not providing the experience we see John leading in the wilderness. We cannot preach the good news until we have experienced it, we cannot lead others to the living water in the desert until we have drunk from it ourselves.
Are you ready to return? Are you ready to trust the gospel and live it out in love and service, following in the footsteps of your savior as told to us by Mark?
— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church Lynnwood, WA, September 10, 2023