Sermon for December 29

The reading

Mark 1

 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
    ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He proclaimed, “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. ⁸ I have baptized you with^[f] water; but he will baptize you with^[g] the Holy Spirit.”

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;^[h] with you I am well pleased.”

¹² And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³ He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news^[i] of God,^{[j] 15} and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;^[k] repent, and believe in the good news.”

¹⁶ As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” ¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹ As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰ Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

The message


Welcome to the start of our journey to Easter. During the next few months, we will read through the Gospel of 

Mark.  This account of the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus centers around a series of escalating 
conflicts between Jesus and the religious authorities over how they understand God being and working in the 

world.  There is no real, significant change on the part of the religious authorities. They do not relent.  They 

keep doubling down on keeping things the way they are, they are afraid of any change they cannot time and 

control, let alone the great changes that Jesus is talking about.  At times it looks like they are concerned with 

their own power and wealth, other times concerned about the reaction of Rome to this new religious 

insurrection, other times with the ancient traditions and keeping the status quo. Whatever the reason, its 

always  fear that leads them to confront Jesus.  Jesus also does not relent, does not back down, does not water 

things down so people can just hear a little, change a little or be kind of, sort of saved, so a handful of sins are 

forgiven or people are brought most of the way to God.  

In the first chapter, we already see conflicts. John is in the wilderness, outside of the religious power structure, John has no official approval or authorization, he has no known pedigree, education or family inheritance of authority, he has the word of God and what he is experiencing and seeing happen through Jesus. John is not teaching what the government or religious authorities approve of or want to hear (hence his arrest to shut him up), There is a quick conflict between John and Jesus, who should be listened to. Before it even starts really, John points to Jesus, the one more powerful than I, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.   There is Jesus temptation, a confrontation with evil and chaos.  There is conflict within the first followers, between their old lives and following Jesus, this will not be part time work or a side hustle.

The Gospel of Mark is urgent. I think of the quote, If not us, who, if not now, when. In recent history, it was said by RFK and Regan but attributed to thinkers as far back as Hillel the Elder about 2100 years ago. Things are urgent, the kingdom of God is here.  In Mark (and the other Gospels), the thing Jesus talks the most about is this kingdom of God (the second most talked about is money, economics).  There is a lot of uncertainty and debate over what exactly the kingdom of God means.  I see it as God’s breaking into the world (think Christmas, God really with us).  It is not only urgent to realize what God is doing, it is urgent to tell what God is doing. The command or law that Jesus speaks about more than any other is evangelism  “go and tell the others, share the good news” The first line of Mark, the letter is introduced as the good news, that is a greek word evangelieon and the root of evangalism and gospel.  This book is meant to bring people to faith.

The Gospel of Mark is very fast paced, its very structure points to the urgency.  In the original Greek the phrase Kai Ethos meaning “and immediately” appears all the time. Jesus’s 3 years of ministry rapidly go from healing to miracle or sign of power to healing to a new city to another healing to a conflict to a healing to a miracle or sign of power.  There are 2 stops for a collection of teachings (mostly parables about the kingdom of God).  The Gospel of Mark was written to be read, start to finish, in one meeting (about 90 minutes). It was meant to impact a community, to bring people to faith.  The original manuscripts end with an empty tomb and fear, without a real resurrection appearance, you need to share, act on it, it will be completed in you and you sharing the faith.  


The Gospel of Mark is considered to be the first written of the 4 Gospels and draws from a strong oral tradition.  A consensus of scholars date Mark to the time right before the failed Jewish revolt against Rome starting in 66. Historically people have attributed it to John Mark as a summary of Peter’s preaching (Acts 12:12 then this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Acts 15  Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” ³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, ³⁸ but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia  and had not continued with them in the work. (perhaps bothered by what he saw in ministry to the gentiles, Mark returned to Jerusalem) They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,) There is very little evidence or certainty about this claim but it is the oldest attribution to the Gospel of Mark. 


In our reading today, the first chapter of Mark, a lot happens. We go from the start of John the Baptist’s ministry to the start of Jesus ministry and the call of the disciples in 21 verses.  There is no Christmas in Mark, no birth narrative, that is unnecessary, the very voice of God has already told us who Jesus is, John’s preaching has told us he is fulfilling the prophesy.   


Mark starts with a bold proclamation: Jesus fulfills prophesy, he is the waited for one, the Messiah, the savior.  We start in the middle of stuff, John the Baptist is preaching in the wilderness, how long has he been there, who cares, this is not modern day news reporting, who cares, this is good news.  How did he get there, who cares, this aint history class, this is the good news, God is here.   Who trained him, who cares,  who recorded his words, no one, what is he teaching “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me” (I bet you thought I would say who cares to that one too).

Okay, we are onto Jesus now, after what all the gospels indicate as a very normal life of a young man in this area, Jesus appears, gets baptized and the voice of God declares “this is my son, the beloved”.  Now in less then 10 verses, we have already had one of the great prophets, the Holy Spirit and the very voice of God attest to who Jesus is. There is no baptism party here, its off to the wilderness for temptation, what exactly happened there in the wild, who cares, point is Jesus endures.  The creation, Satan and angels now all attest to who Jesus is. No time for a nap after the temptation, John is arrested (why, who cares, more important things to talk about).  Jesus starts his public ministry.  proclaiming the good news of God  and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” There it is again, good news, good news, the kingdom of God is here,

Jesus solo career does not last long, He is the only one literally going to hell and back, to the cross, grave and resurrection to defeat sin and death, but he will not be the only one proclaiming good news, good news, the kingdom of God, God is here.  Jesus calls his first disciples, Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”  And immediately they left their nets and followed him. There is no time for what on earth does that mean, do we need nets rods or spears to fish for people,  where are we going, should I pack my winter sandals or summer shirt, what about my family, who will watch my boat, what time will we be home, whos going to feed my cat.   The answers to all those questions do not matter.  They get caught up by the good news and they follow Jesus.  That is what the Gospel of Mark was written to do, to bring people to faith in Jesus.