Mark and the Invitation of Jesus
Posted by Randy | Labels: Acts, Baptism, Barnabas, Holy Spirit, John Mark, John the Baptist, Mark, Paul, Peter, Silas | Posted On Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Today we move into the Gospel of Mark, looking at the first two chapters. But I want to first share a little background about Mark.
Most scholars believe that Mark was the first of the Gospels written (but not the first writing of the New Testament - some of Paul's writings date to the late 40s), somewhere between 55 and 65 A.D. It was written by John Mark, a disciple of Jesus, but not one of the original twelve. He is mentioned in Acts as accompanying Paul on his first missionary journey (Acts 13:5), but he did not stay for the whole journey (13:13). As Paul prepared to depart on his second missionary journey with Barnabas, Barnabas wanted to take John Mark along, but Paul strongly disagreed since John Mark had left them on their first journey. Barnabas ends up taking John Mark with him to Cyprus, while Paul takes Silas with him on his second missionary journey.
Sometime after that Mark probably wrote his Gospel. Many scholars believe that while Mark probably knew Jesus firsthand and followed him, he depended on the Apostle Peter for many of the details of his Gospel, giving it the credibility of one of the greatest apostles. Mark's Gospel is the shortest of the four Gospels, and was written to Gentiles (probably in Rome) instead of Jews. Therefore, he wanted to emphasize that Jesus was the Son of God who came not as a conquering king but as a humble servant. For that reason, unlike Matthew, he is less concerned to show how Jesus fulfilled Jewish prophecy. His focus is on what will make the most sense to Gentiles who may know little or nothing about Judaism and the one true God, and it may explain why he shows us more miracles than any other Gospel. Interestingly, Mark is the only Gospel that tells us absolutely nothing about Jesus' birth or coming into this world.
Most scholars believe that both Matthew and Luke had copies of Mark as they wrote their own Gospels, for virtually all of Mark is repeated in one or both of these other two Gospels. This explains why we often read the same stories in these three Gospels, though Matthew and Luke added their own insights and purposes to make them distinctively different. These three Gospels are sometimes called the Synoptic Gospels, differentiating them from John, which has little overlap.
Mark begins his Gospel with John the Baptist announcing the Messiah, the anointed one of God, is coming. Jesus comes to John, his older cousin, and is baptized by him in the Jordan River. "As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, 'You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.'" (Mark 1:10-11, NLT)
The very first words Mark records out of Jesus' mouth are these: "'The time promised by God has come at last!' he announced. 'The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!'" (1:15) These words sum up Jesus' message throughout Mark - repent and believe!
Very soon after that Jesus begins calling his disciples, and his invitation then is the same as his invitation today. To Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, Jesus said, "...'Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!'" (1:17) He would repeat that same basic invitation, Mark tells us, to the brothers James and John, and to Levi (Matthew), the tax collector: follow me!
Last night our Life Group finished watched the three-part video series "Simple" by Pastor Andy Stanley. The three messages were: "Follow," "Believe," and "Obey." Our group really enjoyed all three, but it helped to hear Stanley talk about where Jesus began with people. Not do this, or follow these rules, or jump through these hoops. He simply said, "Follow me." Go with me, get to know me, discover who I am and what I'm about. Walk with me. I love that! Let's get to know and trust each other first. That's the way all relationships begin - walking through life together.
Mark tells us Jesus invited five disciples this very way, but my guess is he used this same basic invitation with everyone. Too many folks want to make it hard - they want to make Christianity a religion of rules, when it all begins with a relationship. That doesn't mean there isn't a place for doing the right things - Stanley got to that in his third message, which we watched last night, and it was obedience. But obedience comes after a relationship is established and we come to believe and trust Jesus. In the beginning, we just follow.
Because Mark wrote to people who may have known little or nothing about Jesus, his emphasis on Jesus' invitation is a great way for us to begin today with those around us who aren't sure about Jesus. Just come check him out, start following him, and see where he leads you. Don't worry about all the rules, etc. - just get to know Jesus himself. We can tell our own story of how we began to follow him, and not try to force things. We might just be surprised by how much happens when we simply do things Jesus' way.
