Recently I was asking a group of friends, “what is the first book in the New Testament (NT)?” I heard four different answers which are very interesting to note. The first friend answered, “Matthew is the first book in the NT because with the gospel according to Matthew the NT canon begins.” The second friend replied, “the book of I Thessalonians is the first book in the NT as it was the first book that was written, which was about 51CE, much before the gospels were written.” The third friend replied, “gospel according to Luke is the first book as it records the birth of Jesus Christ, and subsequently gives us the story of Jesus’ ministry, his death on the Cross and the resurrection.” The fourth friend replied, “gospel according to Mark is the first book in the NT as it was the first Gospel to be written among the four gospel writers.” As I heard these four different answers, I recognised a rich diversity in the very understanding of what ‘first’ means, and how such a definition of ‘first’ defines each of my friends' understanding and perspective of faith. The big learning for me in listening to these four diverse answers is the fact that there is no one ‘first’; there are various firsts, where all my friends understand ‘first’ from their own perspective and from their own social location.
In the prescribed reading for this second Sunday in Advent, which is from Mark 1:1-8, the gospel writer Mark, who was the youngest and the ‘first’ one to write a gospel among the four gospel writers, begins his gospel with these words. “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (v1). ‘The beginning’ of his gospel, according to Mark, is very different from the rest of the three gospel writers. For Matthew, ‘the beginning’ of his gospel has the genealogy of Jesus Christ. For Luke, ‘the beginning’ of his gospel has the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth, besides an introduction that he has researched thoroughly in writing his gospel. For John, ‘the beginning’ of his gospel is about the word who was in the beginning. Again, we notice diverse ‘beginnings,’ for all the four gospel writers begin their gospels to four different audiences and contexts, therefore each has a way of beginning their story of Jesus. The context of the writer and the context of the audience factors in defining ‘the beginning’ for any story and we see it succinctly with the gospel writers.
Let us now reflect on ‘the beginning’ of the Mark’s gospel. In Mark’s beginning to the gospel of Jesus Christ, he quotes a passage from prophet Isaiah and explains that text in reference to the life and ministry of John the Baptiser, who came to prepare the way to Jesus Christ. Allow me to present three ways of understanding ‘the beginning’ of the good news of Jesus Christ according to Mark.
1. The beginning begins with a critique of the centres:
In order to present the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Mark begins by preparing the way, and he has chosen John the baptiser, who according to him lives up to the prophesy of Isaiah. What do you expect when someone begins to narrate or write a story of Jesus Christ, the son of God? One would expect the setting either to be the place where the Son of God lived and dwelt, which should be something palatial and opulent, because he is from God’s family, way above human imagination. Or one would expect the scene to be at a temple, where the people then believed that God’s presence hovered over there. On the contrary, Mark begins the beginning with a scene in the wilderness with John the baptist preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. “And people from the whole Judean countryside, and all the people from Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in river Jordan confessing their sins” (4-5v). The beginning for Mark begins with a critique of the temples and opulence, where he was giving a message to his audience that, Jesus Christ the Son of God locates Godself in sites of margins, the wilderness and not in the centres of the power. For in a way, from that wilderness, from the waters of a small river Jordan, from the sites of the margins, Jesus’ ministry begins, and therefore for Mark such a beginning marks the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God according to Mark begins in the sites of margins, in the dirt, in the wilderness, away from the centres of powers and much far away from the transcendental spheres.
2. The beginning begins with a creative ‘show, don’t tell’ method:
One of the styles in story writings is ‘show don’t’ tell,’ allowing the reader to experience the story through action, words, thoughts feelings etc. The best example is: “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on a broken glass.” Having set the beginning in the wilderness, Mark now applies this technique of ‘show, don’t tell,’ where he allows his audience to experience Jesus Christ, the Son of God as a person who baptised with Holy Spirit unlike John the baptiser who baptises with water. Mark explains the power of the Son of God, by demonstrating the humility of John who testifies in verse 7, “the one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.” By beginning his gospel with the story of John the Baptist and his message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, Mark was showing to his audience that Jesus Christ the Son of God, who is coming is a forgiving God, who forgives anyone and everyone, for Jesus works on the ministry of grace, with a preferential option to the least, the last and the lost. This beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God is shown by Mark, inviting us to be the demonstrators of the gospel rather than mere tellers of the gospel.
3. The beginning begins with a clarion call:
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, for Mark begins with a voice, a voice in the wilderness, a herald, who was calling for action, repentance for the forgiveness of sins from people. With Jesus, the Son of God stepping into the unjust world as a human being, the message that paves the way for him is the voice for action towards justice and peace. The message is not always soothing to the audience, it was a voice disturbing people towards repentance from complacency and injustice. Mark does not record the response of the crowd who heard this voice for repentance, but Luke records it. In Luke 3: 7-17, the crowd asks “what should we do?” and John the baptiser replies, share your food, give up being greedy and don’t be corrupt exploiting people and the systems. All I am trying to say is, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ calls for action, calls for a change, calls for justice, calls for repentance and calls for being and becoming a new creation.
One of the English sayings about beginning is “Well begun is half done,” and for me Mark, fulfils that and sets the tone and tenor of the gospel of Jesus Christ with his meaningful beginning. In short, with this kind of beginning, Mark is communicating to his audience then and us now that the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God is about critiquing the centres and identifying with the margins, is about showing God’s grace and mercy to all of the creation and is about action, an action for change and new creation.
The relevance from this text for our context today is firstly to learn that there is diversity in understanding of ‘the beginning’ and in narrating the gospel of Jesus Christ. The call is to be open and accommodative in humility to knowing and receive others perspectives in sharing the gospel. Secondly, we as a church are called to begin the story of Jesus Christ today, not from the centres of powers but from the sites of the margins, for the Son of God finds margins at home. Thirdly, the gospel of Jesus Christ comes with a clarion call, a call for action, a call for return to God, a call for justice and a call for new creation. It is insufficient to shout in the street corners calling God, “Lord, Lord!” rather God in Jesus is calling us to show our discipleship in action, and in striving for transforming our world today. As we step into a new year, we are hoping for a ‘new’ beginning, and the challenge for us is to envelop the gospel of Jesus Christ relevant for our times today.
Finally, I want to conclude this reflection by asking if Mark had a style and message in beginning the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the challenge for each of us and as a church is, how are we marking the beginning the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God today in this context of our post-secular world? The message is clear and loud, we are called to begin the gospel from the margins, led by the ministry of grace and with profound actions for transformation.
May God grant God’s strength to us so that we are creative, critical and consistent in our discipling Jesus Christ today.
Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta,
4th December 2020
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