Mark’s gospel skips the birth narrative, but gives us “inside information” about this puzzling man named JesusBeginnings are important. I’ve learned this the hard way. When I start reading a novel, I am so eager to get into it that I skip over the first few pages really quickly. I don’t need all that introductory stuff! Just get me to the action. But then, 20 pages in, I come across names and comments and I can’t figure out what’s happening. I’m lost! So back to the beginning I go, reacquainting myself with the characters are and what they are up to, paying more attention to the details.

Let’s take time then to pay attention to the beginning of Mark’s Gospel. Right away we seem to have a problem. The Christmas story is absent. There is nothing about how or where Jesus was born or about the manger, the shepherds or the Wise Men. The story starts when Jesus is already an adult, ready to launch his ministry. So let’s take a close look at Mark’s beginning, a “good place to start.”

First Impressions
The first verse of Mark’s account reads: “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1 NIV). Mark catches our attention by beginning his Gospel with privileged, inside information. He tells us who Jesus is: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Keep in mind that no one else in the story knows this-not the crowds, not the Pharisees, not the scribes, not even the disciples. They will have to come to their own conclusions as they watch Jesus and listen to his teachings.

In a sense, Mark begins with the conclusion. As readers we are told the truth about Jesus right from the start. But we don’t know what this truth means. If we want to know the whole truth, the deeper truth, we will need to follow the story closely. The opening statement suggests that Mark isn’t going to lay out arguments in a logical order, convincing us to believe. Rather he will skillfully and quickly tell us about Jesus and trust that, through the writing, we will encounter him for ourselves and become part of God’s ongoing story.

If beginnings are important, then so are first impressions. We are influenced by them, whether we like to admit it or not. Mark gives us a quick snapshot in Chapter 1 of Jesus and his mission. These aspects of ministry are repeated again and again, chapter after chapter. So what are Mark’s first impressions of Jesus?

• Jesus calls. He urges people to follow him and be his disciples. He is no lone ranger. He works with a team and forms a community, even when that community seems to constantly misunderstand and get things wrong (see 1:14-20; 4:13-34).
• Jesus teaches. From his initial words, people are captivated. He teaches with authority (1:27).
• Jesus heals. He heals the whole person-physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually. This is seen in 1:40-45 where Jesus touches a man with leprosy (one considered “unclean”), healing his disease and restoring him to society.
• Jesus prays. Very early in the morning he slips away from the others to a solitary place (1:35). He keeps in close communion with God, his Father.

Who Is He?
From the very beginning of Mark’s Gospel, people repeatedly ask, “Who is this man who teaches and heals with authority?” This question is so essential that Jesus himself asks it of his disciples in 8:27: “Who do people say I am?” His actions and his words create a stir among the people and huge crowds follow him with amazement from place to place, wondering who he is and what he’s up to.

But some people aren’t so much amazed as annoyed. Some of the authorities of society (teachers of the law, Pharisees, scribes) are threatened by Jesus. Why does this fellow talk like this? Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? And so by Mark 3:6, near the beginning of the story, “the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.” The story no sooner begins than the end appears to be in sight. Who is this man who creates such conflict? The crowds are drawn to Jesus, his teaching and his healing. Yet the religious leaders feel threatened and label him as a troublemaker, a blasphemer.

As we read through Mark, the tension grows. Between the popularity with the crowds and the plot to kill Jesus by the authorities stand the disciples, those whom Jesus has called to follow him. Mark presents them to us as a rather dull group, not easily “getting it” and at times actively resisting Jesus and his mission. They don’t understand the parables, even with an explanation. They are filled with fear during a storm, even though Jesus is with them. By Chapter 8, at least halfway through the story, Jesus has to rebuke them: “Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?” (8:17-18).

There are, however, also moments of clarity and conviction. Peter declares, “You are the Christ” (8:29 NIV). Perhaps we identify with the struggle of the disciples to understand who Jesus is. We, too, strive to fully respond to Jesus and live out his mission in our world. We try different methods and argue among ourselves about which is the greatest. We too have moments of misunderstanding as well as moments of clarity. Jesus doesn’t give up on his disciples. Rather, he continues to teach them about God’s ways.

Son of God, Son of Man
One of Mark’s main themes is the tension between the way of God and the way of the world. He draws attention to this through the various “titles” used for Jesus. The Jews of the time were expecting the Christ (Messiah). He would be of the line of David, rescue them from Roman oppression and set them up in their own kingdom. They would be a great nation. So when people in the story refer to Jesus as Christ or Son of God they are expecting that he will fulfil these aspirations.

As we read through Mark, however, we see Jesus constantly resisting these titles. He silences the evil spirits who call him Son of God. He instructs people he has healed not to tell others. This seems strange! If we read more closely we will see that Jesus refers to himself not as Christ, not as Son of God, but rather as the “Son of Man.” Jesus himself defines what Son of Man means: not one who is served but one who serves others and gives his life as a “ransom for many” (10:45). Peter strongly resists this notion of Jesus suffering and dying. He argues with him. But Jesus’ response to Peter is strong and dramatic: “Get behind me, Satan! You have the way of the world in mind, not the way of God” (8:33).

In a success-driven world, we too can be tempted to confuse God’s way with the world’s way. The struggle of Peter and the disciples against a serving, suffering Jesus continues in us. But Mark gives us a glimpse of God’s way through the life of Jesus:

• While humanity sets up boundaries between “insiders” and “outsiders,” God’s way is to welcome all-women, children, lepers and Gentiles.
• While humanity wants to control God and keep him within the walls of the temple/church, Jesus ministers outside the walls, out in the open where all can hear him.
• While the way of humanity is to stereotype people and ignore the messiness of the world, Jesus touches those considered unclean and spreads holiness to all.
• While humanity seeks for success and honour, Jesus faces persecution, suffering and death in order to bring new life.

Jesus’ method of fulfilling the way of God flies in the face of all that we expect. This Jesus-Christ, Son of God-is first and foremost Son of Man, living on earth, facing pain and giving his life so people might be ransomed and transformed.

To Be Continued
If Mark’s beginning surprises us with no manger, no shepherds or angels, his ending is even more puzzling. Most scholars agree that the original text of Mark ends at 16:8. Jesus is raised from the dead and an angelic being shares this phenomenal news with the women who come to the tomb. “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”

Now what kind of an ending is that? It’s incomplete! It’s like watching a TV show for an hour and seeing the “To Be Continued” screen. Exactly! The story is to be continued, through Paul and Timothy, through Martin Luther and Catherine Booth, through you, through me.

Mark tells us in the first verse who Jesus is. But as we read the story from beginning to end we come to know the “whole truth” about Jesus. He has come as Son of Man, as a servant, to ransom humanity. It is for us to decide if we, too, will be followers. If we say yes, we are called to live the way of God rather than the way of humanity. We will carry on the story of Jesus that Mark narrates and go and tell people about Jesus-that he lived, died and rose again, and is coming again in glory!

by Major Cathie Harris