The Beginning of the Gospel

"The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Mark 1:1

When you read the gospel account of Mark, you'll find that there is no story about Jesus being born, no account of the wise men from the East, no account of Jesus as a child. It simply states that this is the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ. Then it moves to a scene of John the Baptist preaching "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." And then Jesus comes and is baptized and is tempted, and calls his first disciples and his first words in the gospel are "The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news." And as chapter one goes on you see ALL these people following him, astonished at the authority he brings, crowding in to be healed of all sorts of diseases, and Jesus simply moving on and on, "Let's go somewhere else - to the nearby villages", he says, "So I can preach there also. That is why I have come." (Mark 1:38)

Jesus says, "Repent!" and he can't keep the crowds away. Why is that? My experience is that people aren't really keen on hearing someone tell them to repent. The word has come to have a connotation of 'holier than thou-ness' and often the one being told to repent feels like its not anyone's place to tell him that. Thus - that message has become a difficult tool for the contemporary Christian to use. Because over time we (the church) have used that word in a manner that has been designed to strike fear in the hearts of the wayward, fear of eternal fire and brimstone. And while it is true that there is fire and brimstone, it doesn't look like Jesus is working from a position of fear in the gospels does it?

The word 'repent' means 'turn back' or 'turn away'. The message of the gospel is to turn away from what we thought life was about, what we thought defined success, what we thought it took to be right with God, and to find out the way through Jesus. Jesus said, "The kingdom is near." And people flocked to him. The message of the gospel is that the power of God and the goodwill of God is now immediately accessible to humanity through Jesus. THAT's what drove people do him. Sure, they experienced guilt or shame, but they were driven by, captivated by this good news - that the love of God was immediately accessible to them through Jesus. And that means forgiveness of sins. That means newness of life. That means that my life is an opportunity for me to be used by the hand of the transcendant God to make a difference in other people's lives, that they may come to know and experience this good news and experience it NOW.

Because the reality is that Jesus is alive and is enthroned as King of the Universe. Our message to people is to tell them that and invite them to reorder their lives around that understanding (also known as repenting) and to live lives as subjects and brothers of the king of the universe. All of the sudden life is not about me, because my brother, the king will provide for my needs. My life becomes about Him and helping others experience what I am experiencing. That the kingdom of God in near (it is upon us). It means that my heart is broken when I see people living in bondage in any way when the freedom of the kingdom of God is immediately available to them in Jesus.

Lord, may the life you give to me be used to further the spread of the good news that you are king and are reigning now. May we gladly and continually reorder our lives around who you are and what that means as we think, act, and speak like you. Because that is the beginning of the gospel. Amen.