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Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
2Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
All of the gospels begin with a certain majesty. Matthew’s gospel begins, “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham” followed by forty generations of ancestors from Abraham to Jesus. This list includes the Father of the faith and the patriarchs. It includes judges and kings. It takes us into the exile and returns us to the Holy Land . There is a sweep and a majesty that takes us across the ages and history of the people of Israel and Judah
Luke’s gospel begins with what could be considered not just an introduction but a mission statement. “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”
Luke reminds Theophilus then and us today he has heard plenty of stories. Theophilus has possibly heard the gospels of Mark and Matthew along with at least some other collected writings. But Luke, the good physician, collects the writings he knows and the stories he has heard and collects them for Theophilus to hear.
But in this very reading from Luke’s gospel there is something hidden from a modern reader. Since not many of us speak Koine Greek, most of us probably don’t know “theophilus” means “God lover.” So Theophilus may not be the proper name of a person. Instead Luke may have intended this gospel for all God lovers everywhere. Now that’s majestic.
John’s gospel doesn’t begin with a genealogy or a mission statement, it begins at the very beginning, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” So let’s give it up for John, it doesn’t get any more majestic than the very beginning.
Mark’s gospel, as majestic as it is, is comparatively Spartan, “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” That’s it. Mark’s gospel doesn’t begin with history or fanfare. There is no glorious genealogy of the people of God. There’s no holy mission statement. There’s certainly no cosmic verity being cast into holy writ like stars into the skies. There’s not even a “this is.” Mark’s gospel simply starts “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” That’s it.
As far as introductions go, my second grade teacher Miss Bedene would have expected more, but what’s there is packed with glory and splendor. With this simple introduction, Mark follows with the words of the prophet Isaiah not to introduce the Lord, but the man who will introduce the Lord, John the Baptist.
One of the joys of reading scripture, becoming immersed in scripture, is that when the language of the Word opens it opens like a rosebud. The word that is once tightly packed and protected opens to reveal such great beauty. The splendor of the rose opens beyond the beauty of its features and expands into its scent and even the feel of the silky petals. So too the splendor of the Word begins with the most common of words in scripture and opens far beyond the simple sum of its parts.
You know that I love the original texts, and I pray I don’t beat you over the head with them. I don’t use them to show off, I use them to try to open the scripture and open us to new and glorious interpretations of the Word of God. This comes into play when we talk about the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Many other translations of this verse don’t use the word “gospel,” rather they use the phrase “good news.”
As far as the Greek translation goes, it’s six of one, a half dozen of the other, both are suitable translations. The Greek word when taken apart literally means “good message.” In the history of interpretation the word is translated as both “good news” and “gospel,” so that’s no problem. But in our dialect of the English language, when we talk about “the gospel truth” it means truth beyond question, truth beyond the shadow of a doubt. Using the words “good news” instead just doesn’t pack the same punch for our ears. Let me agree, the gospel is the truth, and when we speak the full truth, there is more than simple words of truth.
The gospel, the good news is more than a collection of words bound and placed in our pew racks. Beyond a collection of good words, the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the living breathing gospel. The good news is a proclamation. The good news is the declaration of the life of Jesus. The good news is the declaration of our lives.
Last week I mentioned a scholar who believes the gospel of Mark is well served to be read in reverse. Under this instruction, we are reading the last three or four snippets of Mark’s gospel today. We read John prophesying the coming of the Lord, the one who he is not worthy to stoop down to serve, the one who will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. We meet John not only coming as in the prophecy of Isaiah, but coming in the clothes and fashion of Elijah. Then just as soon as we are introduced to the fulfillment of the prophecy, we hear the words of the prophet Isaiah himself declaring the messenger who comes to make straight the path of the Lord.
By this reading of the gospel, we are left with what we call the beginning of our reading, but this scholar calls the grand conclusion of Mark’s gospel, “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ the Son of God.” If we decide to read it this way, our reading means something different. It’s certainly different from how we normally read this passage. It certainly is unsettling to read the gospel ending with the phrase “the beginning.”
Read this way, we prepare for the coming of the Lord in a brand new way. Advent means coming, but this coming is different. This coming is more like the one we heard about last week when we heard that this Advent, this Parousia; this coming is not just the coming of the baby on Christmas, but the final coming of the Christ in victory. The coming of this Advent is more than the coming of history; it is the coming of the future.
There’s an old children’s game called “Red Light/Green Light.” It starts with a person who is “stop light” the standing about fifteen feet from the other kids. The other kids go when they hear “green light” but have to stop when they hear “red light.” If they don’t stop, and if they get caught, they’re out of the game. The winner of the game is the first person to tag the “stop light.” The winner becomes “stop light” in the next round.
Reading the gospel and hearing “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God” is Mark’s way of telling the world the Lord has cried “green light.” We are supposed to go. It becomes our call to action. No longer is this a preamble to a reading, it becomes our charge, our vocation.
When we read “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,” as the end of the gospel instead of the beginning, this passage becomes more than an introduction. It’s our summons to reach out to the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of Man. We are to reach out to the world with the love of God, the authority of the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the source of the good news, the news we are to share and the gospel we are to live.
It is our call to Christ’s new beginning, to be opened like a rosebud by the flower of the word. It is our call to not only let the world see the vivid color and beauty of the bloom. It is also our call to be a joy to our God and God’s good creation spreading the sweet smell of Christ where we live and breathe.
What comes next, what follows is the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. This is the life we are to live. Two-thousand years after the birth of our Lord and Savior we are called to continue beginning the work he started. What comes through the lives of all Christians in every time and place is the beginning of God’s good news. What follows, what comes next; the life that we live, that too is the gospel.
The way we share the good news of Jesus the Christ is with our hands, with our hearts, and with our voice. This is our charge, our call, our vocation. This is only the beginning. This is the gospel truth and this is the good news. This is what coming means for us. This is Advent. Advent means coming. Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
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