On Line Bible Study - For the week October 27 - November 2, 2008

Lesson 359

Two Major Points ....

As we head into the Gospel of St. Mark, let's consider two factors that become central points in the story of Jesus and his followers.

First, Jesus died for our sins.

This is so basic and central to our thinking about Jesus that it might seem foolish to spend any time on it. But our familiarity with this concept (or doctrine) might cause us to treat with some contempt the revolutionary concept it articulates. And we split this simple saying in two parts:

Jesus died . . . The story that is told about Jesus is not just that he "died"; the story is that he was put to death. Put another way, Jesus was a martyr. The Greek from which we derive the word martyr means to be a witness. The Book of Revelation has this verse: Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness . . . (μαρτυς - martyr). What is it that Jesus' death is a "witness" to?

The second part of that phrase . . . for our sins . . . We know that in the early Christian communities, Jesus' "death for our sins according to the Scriptures" is considered as of "first importance". (See I Corinthians 15:3.) The question of why Jesus was executed is no small matter. While people who are executed in this country might be held with great empathy and sympathy - especially among those who oppose the death penalty - society is not inclined to deify them or look at their lives as exemplary models for our children to emulate. And we have to remember that the way the story comes to us, Jesus' death does not occur in the manner of martyrs in our own day - Martin Luther King Jr. was not executed by the state; nor was Gandhi. When we do consider the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus, we will have an opportunity to explore the various traditions around the issue of the charges brought against Jesus. But for now, in order to appreciate what the Gospel of Mark (and the other synoptic gospels) are about, we have to appreciate how the story is put together so as to lead us to the conclusion of Christ's death "for our sins".

The second major point is this: everyone is welcome in the kingdom. If we are honest, we have to acknowledge that this concept is as starkly revolutionary to us today as it was to First Century Jews. We still seem to be more obsessed with keeping people "out" of heaven than we are with celebrating heaven's power, present among us now. It became obvious to us in our consideration of the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus was breaking down walls, expanding heaven's boundaries.

This is important because ... The Gospels are laying the foundation for how centuries of people will come to think of and remember Jesus and his message. If we can approach the gospels as unique, both in their content and their literary form, we will better appreciate the power of their message, and the creativity of both their authors and subsequent interpreters. One scholar puts it this way:

...The gospels do not reflect any of the genres of the contemporary Old Testament and Jewish or Greek literature; within the context of such literatures, the gospels are unique with respect to their literary character, and they do not have any predecessors or any successors. (Philipp Vielhauer, as quoted by Helmut Koester in Ancient Christian Gospels.)

It may be somewhat presumptuous to claim to know exactly what the writers of the gospels were trying to accomplish, although we have a fairly good idea. But there is little doubt as to what their efforts produced in terms of faith, organization, and the "memory" of Jesus that has endured for well over 1600 years.

Mark's gospel is believed to be the first - the one we call "Mark" took the story - a story known through oral tradition, and very possibly partially penned in earlier documents (the Gospel of "Q"?) - he then collated that story, put some chronology to it, re-wrote it, and wittingly or otherwise, altered the course of human history. It is to that work we will turn in our next lesson.