Extract
A second look at the Gospel of Mark--midway in the year of mark.
The Currents issue that led us into Mark's Gospel for the 2005-2006 church year (December 2005) did not do full justice, in my opinion, to the Good News--the really "Good" and the really "New"--that Mark wants us to hear as he teases us to follow his opening words: "The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ the Son of God."
The major item missing--or at best fuzzy--in the articles offered was the uniquely Good, the uniquely New, in the kingdom of God (reign of God) as Mark's Jesus enacts it. One item that signals this right from the start is the frequent references to Jesus' "revealing" the kingdom of God. Fact is, Mark never uses the terms "reveal" or "revelation" at all! So Mark's Jesus does not reveal the kingdom of God--as though the kingdom of God were already present, or had been around for a long time but concealed, and needed only to have the veil removed. No, apart from Jesus, the kingdom of God is not here, a la Mark. When "Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God," then "the kingdom of God was drawing near," then "the time was fulfilled." Jesus makes the kingdom of God happen. He enacts it. No Jesus, no kingdom of God--at least not Mark's version of both Jesus and the kingdom of God. So what is Jesus doing that had not been done before? What is not done when Jesus isn't there doing it? The kingdom of God is the code word, but what's that? Yes, indeed, what is the kingdom of God? That was a hot-potato item a...See the full content of this document
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