Reading 01—The Kingdom of God Has Come Near

The Gospel of Mark begins with a bang and ends with a bang! It takes just nine verses before we meet Jesus as an adult, and the first thing he says is, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (1:15). The rest of the gospel offers one scene after another of what happens when the kingdom of God, in the person of Jesus, comes near.

For several chapters, nearly everything happens at a breakneck pace. In chapter one alone, the Greek word translated “immediately” or “at once” occurs eleven times. Jesus is the Holy One of God, whom the demons recognize (and submit to) and who heals people, forgives sin, and gathers a redefined family as he gathers a community of brothers and sisters around him.

He also makes enemies, and in chapters 8-10, Jesus begins to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must suffer. Time slows down as he repeats this news three times. Each time the disciples’ reaction betrays their confusion and fear, and their denial of the way of the cross. At the beginning of chapter 11, Jesus enters Jerusalem on what the church observes as Palm Sunday. Chapters 11-15 tell the story of his last week and his crucifixion.

Mark ends as abruptly as it began. The most reliable Greek manuscripts end at Mark 16:8, which pictures the women fleeing from the empty tomb after hearing that Jesus has been raised. The Gospel concludes, “they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” In the women’s silence, hearers of the gospel ask themselves, “What will I say about the risen Jesus?”

Mark is the shortest of the gospels. We think it was the earliest to be written, most likely in the late 60s or early 70s, and that Matthew and Luke probably had a copy of Mark when they wrote their gospels. Because of the way Mark explains some Jewish customs and Aramaic phrases, we guess that the first audience for the gospel was a predominately gentile congregation. Regardless of the accuracy of these bits of historical reconstruction, it is surely true that now as when it was first written, it draws readers into the story of a Messiah whose power is most clearly seen where his love is also most evident: in the weakness on the cross and the mystery of the resurrection.

Jesus transforms the lives of those with whom he interacts. What might he be transforming about your life right now?

What might the women fleeing from the empty tomb be scared of? Have you ever had the experience of “terror and amazement” at the same time?

Almighty God, you have enriched your church with Mark’s proclamation of the gospel. Give us grace to believe firmly in the good news of salvation and to walk daily in accord with it, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, the prayer for the day of Mark, Evangelist, April 25).

The Rev. Mary Hinkle Shore is pastor of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Brevard and has taught New Testament courses at the seminary level.
She serves on the Engage the Bible Task Group of the NC Synod.