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February 2006, Page 2.
Index of articles:
by subject,
by date.
In this issue:
(February 2006)
Deanery Plan,
Mark,
Song,
Question.
Mark his words
If we aren’t able to give a proper account of what we believe and why we believe it, then we’re a positive hindrance to the mission of the church. Our lack of answers give people the impression that there are no answers, and our ignorance helps them to believe that all Christians are ignorant. So it’s vital that we all learn as much as we can about our faith.
That’s what sermons are for, and it’s why sermons are based on bible readings. The bible was written so that we’d have hard facts about our faith - and no part of it more so than the gospel of Mark. Each year the church takes a gospel to study. This year it’s Mark.
You can read Mark through for yourself: it takes about an hour if you sit down and stick at it. I recommend you to make time to do this between now and Easter. It will make an impact on you, and it will probably fill you with questions as well as answers.
Mark’s Gospel is a fast-moving account of the life of Jesus, written for the second generation of Christians so they’d have the facts. The readers in Rome would have been no-nonsense people, so Mark gets straight on with the action. “These are the amazing things that Jesus did - now explain it if you can.” Mark records 19 miracles of Jesus, but only 5 parables. His is the shortest gospel, but when he’s relating incidents in Jesus’ life, he is the one who gives the most detail. And he never ducks the awkward truths, or tries to paint Jesus different from how he was.
Mark got a lot of what he wrote from Peter, who witnessed it himself and taught it to the people in Rome (where he became the “bishop”). Not that it whitewashes Peter - far from it. Peter clearly had his ups and downs, and Jesus rebukes him when he needs it, as well as praises him.
In our generation a lot of people think you can’t be certain about Jesus. They wonder if the records can be trusted, and whether Jesus really did do and say the things the bible says. Mark’s Gospel is a great book for dispelling this kind of doubt. Once you read it seriously you are struck by the air of reality about the person of Jesus.
Between Christmas and Easter we are reading Mark’s gospel through in our Sunday services, paying attention to Jesus’ life and what it means. I invite us all to consider Jesus afresh through the history that Mark wrote down.
John Hartley