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Lectio Mark: Prepare the Way of the Lord
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The opening lines of Mark's Gospel proclaim that Jesus is, without a doubt, the Son of God. He is the one for whom the way is being prepared. As Jesus sets out on that way, fulfilling the Old Testament _prophecies and prefigurements, Mark shows the Son doing precisely the work of the Father.
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Welcome back to our Bible study on the Gospel of Mark. Last time we talked about who Mark is, who is this evangelist who wrote the Gospel of Mark. And we found out that Mark has deep connections that go all the way back, as we saw in Acts, chapter 12, verse 12, to Peter. And we find John, Mark, at the beginning of the story of the apostles, evangelizing with Peter. Peter and Mark together at Mark's house with his mother Mary, where the Christians are gathered together. And then we find that tradition brings Peter and Mark together again, working together in Rome, preaching the gospel, evangelizing. And of course, Mark writes that down in the gospel. So Mark's Gospel, in a sense, as the early church father said, is Peter's Gospel. And so Peter is the eyewitness. And that's what tradition says. But there's been an interesting discovery in modern scholarship in the last decade by a great historian from England, Richard Bauckham. And Richard Bauckham wrote a book that was very significant called Jesus and the the Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony. When you're an eyewitness, you describe things in a very granular, particular way versus if you're not an eyewitness and you're talking about an event. You talk about the significance of the event, but you do lack details. And what Bauckham does is he shows that the Gospels, especially Peter, Mark's gospel, has this eyewitness flavor to it, and it's Peter's. Now, one of the fascinating things he discovers as he studies Greek writing, people like Greek historians, like Herodotus, Herodotus, this great Greek kind of father of historiography, said, if you're going to be a historian and write about events, you need to do one of two things. Either, and ideally, you were an eyewitness yourself, or you interview those who were eyewitnesses. And if you interview those who are who were eyewitnesses, you want to make clear that the testimony that they gave you was from that eyewitness. And there was a literary method the Greeks had for showing who their main eyewitness was. Now, this was very important. We know, for example, Luke, who's a Greek, begins his gospel saying, having followed all things closely for some time past and having talked to those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning, which is exactly the standard of historiography of an accurate historian, according to the Greeks. Luke's giving. Well, what Bauckham shows is that Mark's Gospel has a very distinctive way of showing that Peter is the primary eyewitness for Mark in his account of Jesus, how does he do that? Well, what you would usually do is you would frame a story that you were. If you interviewed somebody who was an eyewitness, you'd frame their interview and their testimony with their name at the beginning and at the end. And Bauckham notes that there's something particular about Mark's Gospel. The first person named of all the disciples in the Gospel of mark in verse 16 is Simon Peter. Now, he wasn't the first disciple to encounter Jesus. If you go back to John's Gospel, for example, John mentions that Andrew and the beloved disciple meet Jesus first, and then they go and tell Peter. Only in Mark's Gospel is Peter the first disciple named, the first disciple who encounters Jesus. Now, what's interesting about that, in verse 16, Jesus is walking along the Sea of Galilee and he encounters Simon Peter and his brother Andrew casting nets. But then at the end of the Gospel of Mark, the last person named Peter. Now, the ending of Mark's Gospel is actually in verse eight. Now, at the very last Bible study on Mark, I'll talk to you about the manuscripts and why verse 9 of chapter 16 and following is from later manuscripts that we don't have until a couple hundred years later. So that's probably the real ending of Mark's Gospel is in chapter 16, verse 8. And in chapter 16, verse 7, the angels tell the women who gather at the empty tomb, go and tell Jesus disciples and Peter what you have seen. And so it's the last person mentioned by name is Peter. So what we have then is the first of the disciples named in the Gospel of Mark is Peter. And we know that that's not chronologically accurate. And the last one named is Peter. So why does Mark do that? Well, if you understand Greek history writing and testimony, you would frame a testimony by your lead witness. And so the fact, Bauckham points out that Mark uses Peter at the beginning and Peter at the end. Mark is showing you in his text that he is giving you the testimony of Peter. So what tradition said that Mark's Gospel was writing down the testimony of St. Peter? Mark's own gospel alludes to and points to in the way he names his eyewitnesses and the unique way that Peter is named. I think that's very suggestive. And I think that then that scholarship confirms the tradition of Mark's Gospel being the testimony of Peter. And so as you read Mark's Gospel, what I want you to do is think about Peter, that Peter telling these stories to the early Christians about Jesus, Peter recounting these events. It has Peter's flavor. And that would fit very well, by the way, with what we said about Peter's gospel. Peter doesn't give long discourses. Peter's the action gospel. Well, guess what? If Mark's gospel is the action gospel, that's because Peter is the action guy. Peter's all about action. He is a man of action. He's constantly on the move. And so that kind of breathless pace that Mark's Gospel moves at is Peter's pace. It's Peter's gospel in that sense of being action and testimony. So I wanted to kind of frame before we dive into the text, that idea and then just start where Mark does right in the beginning. And we're going to see that Mark is going to move fast. And so in chapter one, verse one, Mark says the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Now, he doesn't hold back any punches. Mark tells you that Jesus is the Son of God in the first verse. And that'll be very important in Mark's Gospel. In fact, a lot of the early writings on Mark and some of the early church fathers noticed that Mark highlights the divinity of Jesus as one of his major themes. That's interesting because by the 18th and 19th century German scholarship, they thought that Mark's Gospel downplayed the divinity of Jesus and that John was the one. John's Gospel, John's one who talks about the divinity of Jesus. Now, certainly John does in explicit ways talk about the divinity of Jesus, but Mark talks about the divinity of Jesus explicitly right here in the first verse. He will do it in other ways as well that scholars then tried to ignore because they wanted Mark's Gospel to be kind of simple. And what they wanted to hypothesize is that Mark's Gospel was the simple gospel, where Jesus is mainly human or just human, and that John's later development, where all of a sudden the Christians later on made Jesus divine. But we're going to find is that Mark's Gospel, even in its simplicity, is focused on Jesus divinity. And there's no doubt about that. And the only way you lose that is if you ignore a couple obvious verses and if you ignore the allusions to the Old Testament. And I'm going to show you that as we go through that if you know the scriptures of Israel, the way that Jesus describes himself and the actions of Jesus imitate and embody the very role of Yahweh himself. So in other words, Jesus actions and role in the gospel of Mark is exactly the role of and exactly the line of action that we see with Yahweh himself in the Old Testament. And we'll see that in some significant ways. Now, Mark already gives us a hint, by the way, his first word, beginning, and in the Greek, it's arche. That's the first word Mark uses in the text, arche, beginning. And that's the first phrase that we find in the very beginning of the Bible itself in the Old Testament, in Genesis. In the Greek translation, when Genesis begins in the beginning, that beginning is arche, same Greek word that Mark uses here. So now Mark, his first word is the first words of Genesis. And so what Mark is trying to show us subtly is that Jesus story that he's about to tell you is a new arche. It's a new beginning, it's a new creation. And here we have a new beginning. And that beginning is going to be the Gospel, which means good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So in a sense, if God the Father begins creation by creating the world, Jesus begins the new creation by redeeming it and renewing it. So already there's an allusion to the Scriptures of Israel here that's very subtle. But then it becomes very explicit. In verse two, he says, as it is written in Isaiah, the prophet. As it is written in Isaiah, the prophet. Behold, I send my messenger before your face who shall prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of. And notice who it is. The way of who? The Lord. Exactly, the way of the Lord. And here we get again the idea of Jesus as the Son of God, because the voice is not preparing the way simply of the Messiah or the way of a renewal of the kingdom of Israel itself, but the voice and the way that's being prepared is the way the Lord and the Lord is used in Isaiah for Yahweh. And Mark is showing you that the way of Yahweh in Isaiah is the way of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. So Jesus has taken on the way and the role and the identity of Yahweh himself. That's significant. It's interesting as well, that even though he says this is from the prophet Isaiah, and certainly the last part of that is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. That comes From Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 3, the turning point of Isaiah's story, so to speak. The first half of Isaiah being usually the bad news and the second half being the good news. But it's also part of two other quotes from the Old Testament. One is from Exodus. It's in Exodus 23:20. That very first line. Behold, I send my messenger before your face, as well as Malachi, Chapter 3 1, where he says, who shall prepare your way? So you have, in a sense, three citations, one from Exodus 23:20, the other from Malachi 3:1. And then finally, Isaiah 40:3. You know, was Mark ignorant? He just conflates all these. No, all three of those passages. And here's the key. All three of those passages use the same word. The way. The way. And that was an ancient rabbinic way of combining and bringing together different passages of Scripture. If they had the same key hook word. It was called a hook word interpretation, where you bring together different texts because they shared the same key word. And that key word is the way. And that's very important for Mark, that word. And the idea is this. What's the connection between all these passages? Well, going all the way Back to Exodus 23, this is the way of the Exodus. So here God is promising Moses, Moses that he's going to send his angel before Israel. And of course, it'll be the spirit of God and the glory cloud. Remember, that's a fire by night and a cloud of pillar by day, and that leads Israel through the wilderness. So in other words, the way to the promised land will be led by God himself. That's what God promises Moses. Well, then Malachi and Isaiah, as promised prophets later on, say that God's going to do a new Exodus, and he himself will lead the way for Israel to freedom and liberation and redemption. And so they use that idea of a way. In fact, Isaiah, playing on the story of the Exodus, talks about the way beginning in what region? The wilderness. Exactly. The voice cries out, in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Because Israel was in the wilderness making her way out of Egypt. And now the idea of a new Exodus and God coming back to lead himself, his people will begin in the wilderness. And so the whole idea of the way is that the way is led by none other than God himself. The way is the Lord's way. It's Yahweh's way. And just as God sent his Spirit and led himself and was with Israel and led the people of Israel, God is going to lead again his people. And so, and they are to prepare the way of the Lord and make straight his paths. And then verse four, boom. Where is John the Baptist preaching? Guess where? In the wilderness. In other words, the new Exodus that God has long promised Israel has finally begun. So John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now, John was clothed with camel's hair, and he had a leather girdle around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. Now, one of the reasons why in the early church, Mark's Gospel was epitomized by the image of a lion is that it begins with John in the wilderness. And John's kind of like a lion. He's wearing the camel hair like a lion who kills the camel. He's got this leather garment, and he's eating locusts and wild honey. Like a lion who would eat wild honey. Right. So the idea is that John the Baptist is roaring like a lion with his message of repentance. That's the idea that John the Baptist roars in the wilderness like a lion. That's part of the imagery. And then we'll see that he's preaching, saying, after me comes one who is mightier than me, literally stronger than I am. So the idea of a strong man will be important later on in what we're going to hear in Mark chapter five and Mark chapter three, about Jesus talking about who can bind the strong man and the strongman being the devil, Only one who is stronger. And so John talking about one who is stronger is coming. And so we're going to see that played on later in the story. And I'm not worthy to stoop down and unfasten his sandals. I've baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Here we are in the wilderness, and he's talking about the one who's stronger than him will bring the Holy Spirit. And that's exactly what happened to Israel in the wilderness, where God's glory came down and filled the tent of meeting with Moses. And God's glory was like a pillar of fire and cloud that led Israel in the wilderness. So the idea that the Holy Spirit's coming is very important to the whole story of the Exodus. That'll be very important. And then we don't have to wait long for that to happen, because this is Mark's gospel. And the action comes quickly. Verse 9. In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and he was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately there's that word that Mark loves. Immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove. So here comes the Holy Spirit right away. And the Holy Spirit comes. But what's the action that brings the Holy Spirit back? Well, we're told here that he saw the heavens opened. So John the prophet is seeing what's happening with Jesus here, and he sees the heavens opened. But this is a unique word that Mark uses versus the other Gospel writers. Matthew uses the Greek word luo, which means opening. You know, just your typical word for something being opened, like a window being opened or a door being nicely opened. That's not the term Mark uses. That's not dramatic enough. Mark uses the very dramatic term of schizomenos in Greek. It's the word in Greek from which we get the English word schism. It means to rend, to tear. And so for Mark, as Jesus is baptized, something changes in the cosmos. When Jesus is baptized in the Jordan river, it's an event that changes the world. And the heavens are literally rent open. They're torn open, and it's as if the Holy Spirit drops out of the heavens because the heavens have been rent open by Jesus humble act of submission to the prophet's summons. And Jesus submitting to baptism changes the world. Heaven. And the veil of heaven is torn open and the Holy Spirit comes down. Now, that is a very important word. And why does Mark use it? Why does he use a word that the other gospels don't? Well, Mark is linking this to a very important Old Testament prophecy, an Old Testament prophecy that comes from the book of the prophet and Mark's favorite prophet, Isaiah. Isaiah, chapter 63, verse 7, all the way through to chapter 64. Isaiah gives a prophecy. And it's more of a lament. It's a prayer, because God has been making these promises that he's going to do, like in Exodus, chapter 40, a new Exodus. And so you get all these great promises as you're reading through the second half of Isaiah, promise after promise of restoration, renewal and a new Exodus. And finally, finally, the prophet and the people who have been listening to the prophet are saying, okay, enough with the promises. Deliver. How long do we have to wait? How long do we have to wait for Christmas? And they're not just thinking 12 months, right? They've been waiting for Christmas for hundreds of years, for Christ to be born at Christmas, literally, right? They're waiting for the advent of the kingdom, for the advent of the Messiah. And so it's a lament in Exodus or in Isaiah 63:7, it begins with praising God for his steadfast love, for his great Mercy. And that's how the prayer begins. But as Isaiah 63 moves on, it starts to talk three times about the first Exodus, when God had given Israel his holy Spirit. And finally, as we look in Isaiah 63, 11 Isaiah begins to lament. Where is your promise? Where is your spirit? Why don't you help us right, like you used to remember the days of old? Where is he who brought us up out of the sea, the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit? So where are you, God? And where is your spirit that you used to give us? And then in verse 14, like cattle they go down into the valley. The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. You did lead your people, and you made for yourself a glorious name. So you used to lead your people and you used to give them your holy spirit. And then you get the lament. And this is really a great prayer of lament. The lament now takes full flight in verse 15 of Isaiah 63. Look down from heaven and see from your holy and glorious habitation where is your zeal, where is your might? The yearning of your heart and your compassion are withheld from me. For you are our Father, even if Abraham doesn't know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer. From of old is your name, O Lord, why do you make us err from your ways and, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not return for the sake of your servants, your holy people? And so it's this lament. And then in chapter 64, verse 1. And remember, when Isaiah wrote, he didn't put a chapter break here. That was added later on by monks in the 9th century. All the chapter divisions you find in the Bible. And then at the heart of the prayer is this great lament. Oh, that you would rend. And in the Greek it's schizomenos. In the Septuagint translation, it's the same Greek word that Mark uses. Oh, that you would tear, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence. And the reference to the mountains quaking at God's presence is a reference to Mount Sinai when the mountain quaked and Moses and Israel was in the wilderness and God came down and and manifested his presence on Mount Sinai and went from Mount Sinai on leading them. So this prayer is like, would that you would do a new Exodus and save us. And so this great prayer, and so what Mark is showing us is that Jesus is baptized. The Heavens are torn asunder. And so the great lament of Isaiah would that you would rend the heavens and come down. Mark is showing you that is happening right here, right now. As Jesus is baptized, the heavens are rent. The Holy Spirit does come down, and Jesus is going to be leading. He will be the shepherd of God's people. So then the Spirit descends upon him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven back in Mark, chapter 1, verse 11. You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. So we heard that God is the Father of Israel in Isaiah 63. And now the Father speaks to his son Jesus, and says, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. And immediately the Spirit drives him into the wilderness, where he was in the wilderness for 40 days, tested by Satan. And he was with wild beasts. This is another reason why the Gospel of Mark is associated with a lion, because each gospel has a certain symbol. Matthew's Gospel is a man because he begins with a human genealogy. John's Gospel has the eagle because he soars with contemplation. In the beginning was the Word. And Luke's Gospel is symbolized by an ox because he begins in the temple with Zechariah, the priest officiating its sacrifice. Mark's gospel is a lion because he begins with Jesus in the wilderness with wild beasts. Now, how appropriate would it be Mark is the only one who tells us that Jesus is with the wild beast in the wilderness. How appropriate and fitting would that be if Mark's writing to the early Christians suffering at the hands of Nero? Because we know from Roman historians that Nero not only crucified Christians, he not only burned them alive, but he fed them to wild beasts. So as consolation to those early Christians, Mark is perhaps suggesting that Jesus himself was alone with the wild beasts, tested by the devil. And now you, too, in your temptation and trials, are being tested by the devil with wild beasts. Could be an interesting connection. And then we end with verse 14 and 15, which is a summary. This is going to be one of these summary moments, a kind of interlude. That's what I would call an interpretive interlude that Mark likes to have. In the midst of going from one story to the next story, Mark sets up key verses that are short, that kind of are interpretive lenses, kind of glasses, so to speak, a lens by which we're to read the story of Jesus. And here we get verse 14 and 15, which is a lens for the rest of the story. Now, after John was arrested, literally in Greek, handed over, which will be a very key and repeated term for Jesus when he is betrayed and handed over. After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God and saying, and here we get a summary of Jesus teaching. And what does Jesus say? The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. And then he gives us two verbs in imperative, two things we're to do. Repent and believe in the Gospel. Repent and believe. Now, that word repent is where we get is the Greek term metanoia, which means a transformation of thinking, a transformation of how we understand and think about the world. So what Jesus invites us to do is two things. The first is to transform our minds by the story that we're going to read in this gospel. And the second is trust Jesus and his gospel. If we can have our minds converted and transformed and our hearts trust. So both our mind and our heart needs to be engaged by the story as we're going to go through it. What Jesus says here, repent is about our minds being transformed. And believe it's about our hearts trusting in Jesus, who's the Son of God, amidst the trials, amidst the wild beasts, amidst the trials of Satan. Believe, trust with our heart and let our minds be converted to the truth. That's the call of the Gospel of Mark.