Reading: Mark 3-4, Psalm 96

The book of Mark continues today in much the same style as yesterday. Everything moves quickly, and Mark almost seems to be rushing through these short stories about and by Jesus in his hurry to get to his major point. On the other hand, he is still delivering the message that Matthew so emphasized about a coming Kingdom, of which Jesus is clearly portrayed as King. Mark begins with an announcement that Jesus is the Messiah, then tells a story of his anointing in his baptism by John. Then he tells us about Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. All these stories, which occupy quite a bit of space in Matthew, are single sentences in Mark. Mark then begins talking about Jesus’ miracles and parables. Again they are portrayed in a pretty minimal number of words, and the reader is left almost breathless with the pace of Mark’s storytelling.

I think this high pace is intentional on Mark’s part, but there is one thing that stick out like sore thumbs versus the portrayal in Matthew. In Mark, as Jesus is wandering around demonstrating the Kingdom of God to the people in Galilee, he is repeatedly telling them not to talk about it. When the demons he casts out declare him to be the Son of God, he commands them to stop saying it. When he calls his 12 disciples, he goes up on a mountain to do it, away from the cities he has been spending so much time in. This theme, of a sort of hiding of who Jesus is, will continue through the book right up to the end. Mark is making a point that while Jesus did amazing and astonishing things, drawing huge crowds and generating tremendous interest, he responded to it in the opposite way that one might expect. While other leaders garnered support and built an organization based on their accomplishments, Jesus actively discouraged it.

It gets worse when he starts talking and telling parables. When his family shows up he practically disowns them. He tells the familiar stories of the sower and the four kinds of ground and a series of other parables about God’s Kingdom, but wraps them up with statements like with the measure that you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added. Doesn’t leave a lot of room for the privilege of being an early adopter. Then he tells stories about plants, and credits God with all the work, inviting humans to be the harvester. Instead of ramping up his followers to do great things, he tells them that God is doing great things and to get ready to reap the benefits.

All this adds up to Mark’s message about a different way. He is telling the story of Jesus shaped to change the hearts and minds of his readers, to pull them away from the kind of authority wielded by Caesars, High Priests, soldiers, and even other messianic leaders. Jesus is the King of the Kingdom of God, yes, but this is not a kingdom like any other anyone has heard of. It is not built on the heroic actions of it’s citizens, but on the providential plan of it’s God.