Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
Mark 1:1-13 (NIV)
It can be hard to hear ancient texts with our modern ears and understand what’s being communicated. Our experience of the world is so different from the people who first heard this gospel. They didn’t have electricity, or tv’s, refrigerators or toilets, cars or smartphones… So if we want to understand this gospel, we need to get inside the story—the setting, the context, the feelings and thoughts of the characters, as best we can.
Mark’s gospel begins with a statement—a declaration of what this book is about—and a reference to the Jewish prophet Isaiah, setting his story (and the story of Jesus) within a much larger story, that of the people of Israel, their history and hopes for the future. He’s also speaking into the current moment. The first verse echoes the same phrase used to open writings about emperors and kings in that day. People hearing this verse would have known right away that Mark was making a statement about who Jesus is in light of Israel's history, and in light of the Roman empire who currently had them under their thumb.
As you listen to today’s passage, try to picture yourself in the scene. Imagine that you’ve grpen up hearing this story —the story of God and Israel, the tenuous tale of faithfulness and rebellion, slavery and freedom, the promise land and exile, empire and the Kingdom of God. And you, with your family and community, have been waiting. Waiting for the long-promised Messiah, the King who would bring your people back from exile. Bring you back to your place as the people of God, Israel, who God calls in the beginning of exodus, his firstborn son. And knowing all this you are among those at the Jordan, come to see John the Baptizer.
----------REFLECT----------
What surprised you in this passage? What seemed different or out of the ordinary to you?
As you imagined yourself in the scene, what pictures, thoughts or feelings came to mind?
Camel hair, bugs, sandals and water. Heaven torn open and angels in the wilderness! This passage is both extremely earthy and what we would call extremely “spiritual.” In what ways does the collision of these two seemingly disparate worlds challenge your understanding of the way the world works? Or the way God works?
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Bible Project: Mark Overview >>
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Bible Project: Gospel of the Kingdom >>
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