Christmas in Mark's Gospel... no really.
by Darren Moore
The Gospels of Matthew And Luke give us the nativity accounts. We know the Christmas story because of their record. John is different, and yet chapter one is still typically read in carol services with his big sweeping glimpse into eternity, that the Creator-Word became human flesh. I mean, that’s what it’s all about, right?
Mark really wasn’t helping future preachers plan variety in their Christmas sermons was he! Straight into Jesus’ ministry as an adult with no mucking about… or did he?
Actually Mark is all about the incarnation. Although I concede that it does make a tricky Christmas sermon … one I haven’t yet tried(!)
Mark is a book of two halves. To put it (overly) simply, we say the first half (chapters 1-8) focuses on Jesu’s identity and the second half (chapters 9-16) on the cross. The second half also focuses on how we follow him. As we will see, it all sounds surprisingly incarnation orientated, or in laymen’s terms: a bit Christmassy.
Part 1 – Jesus is God in the flesh
Mark 1:1-3 – a promised Christmas
Carol services typically contain Old Testament prophecies about the Christ. Matthew and Luke quote and draw on them. Although Mark bypasses Bethlehem, he does something similar. In his first sentence he tells us his gospel is “good news about Jesus Christ … who is the Son of God”. This sets up the first half of his book, explaining what that sentence means and trying to persuade the reader the truth of that sentence. What does that mean? It means incarnation.
In the next two verses (vv2-3) Mark quotes from quotes from Isaiah and Malachi. He then joins the two together. The first, Isaiah 40:3, written before Judah’s exile and return, foresees how the LORD goes with the exiles home on the road. The image is of a King’s visit, with all the potholes and bumps fixed ready for him (it’s often said that senior royals think everything smells of paint for the same reason). But, when THE King comes, the LORD God himself, the equivalent is mountains flattened and valleys raised. Ready for such a geological upheaval, we come to v4 onwards. We find a preacher, John the Baptist, preparing for Jesus. John is the prophesied cry in the wilderness and Jesus the promise of the LORD coming to save his exiles.
Malachi 3:1, is written after the exile. The people were back in the land but the exile was not really over. They were in the land, but in a sense, God was not. Malachi promises God will return to his Temple. Something we explicitly see in Luke 2:22ff, mentioned in passing by Mark.
The opening verses then are all about God coming to his people and his Temple. That’s how Mark kicks us off, Jesus Christ, the Son of God means in this historic man Jesus, God has come into the world.
Incarnation seen in displays of authority
If you are familiar with Christianity Explored, or it’s forerunner Christianity Explained, the first couple of sessions are about who Jesus is. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Mark specifically shows this through Christ’s displays of authority … all the authority that God shows in the Old Testament. Here are some examples.
· To call people: 1:16-20
· To teach 1:21-22: (not just good at it, but his words as equal in authority to God’s in the Old Testament)
· Over evil spirits: 1:23-26
· To heal: 2:1-12
· To forgive sins: 2:10-11
o “who can forgive sins but God alone
o There is a place and way to find forgiveness, the sacrificial system in Temple, Jesus is now the place to meet God.
· Over nature: 4:25-41
o NB the disciples initially fear the storm, then Jesus
· Over death: 5:35-43
The question is repeated, “who is this?” Mark already told us 1:1 and now he shows us that Jesus possesses all the authority of God himself. All of the above show equal authority to God.
Echoes of Genesis 1
People often notice how similar the start of John is to Genesis 1. Mark also shares some similarities, the first chapter especially. There is an emphasis on Jesus’ words, like Genesis 1, “he spoke and it was so.”
Jesus is the Saviour-God of Exodus
· 6:1-44, Jesus is the good shepherd who guides the sheep to green pastures in the desert and gives them bread from heaven (Psalm 23 style)
· 6:45-52, Jesus walks on the water/storm (only God does that: Job, Psalms) and v48, Jesus “passes by” (as the LORD did with Moses), then declares his identity v50, “Take heart, I AM. Do not be afraid”
By the time we get to the climax of the first half in 8:27-30 “You are the Christ” we may well have already got there as 1:1-8:26 proves it.
But then there is that weird bit, 8:22-26. A man has his sight partially restored by Jesus, then fully healed on a second bite – as if Jesus needed a second chance! We then see it is him acting out what happens in us spiritually. Just as the man sees, but unclearly, then clearly, so Peter can see that Jesus is the Christ, but not that he must suffer and die. We are now teed up for the second half.
Part 2: Jesus came to die… we must die to follow
The second half is all about Christ’s death for our sin. And following Christ means taking up your cross. It is there that we find true life. And that works itself out in all sorts of ways: first must be last, leaders must serve, in marriage, come as children etc. With Jesus as the example and means. The eternal King, comes, serves and dies. So his followers also must be humble and die to self, from there he raises them up.
So: Mark pt I = Who Jesus is?
Mark pt II = Why Jesus came and how we follow.
Like Athanasius’s famous saying: “He became as we are (Mark first half) … so we might become as he is (Mark second half).”
