Abstract
Mark seems in a hurry to get things going. In seven verses, the Gospel writer records three critical events connected with the identity and mission of Jesus. The pericope brings to light Jesus’s identity as both human and divine, his relationship with God, and his mission in the name of God as it describes in brief Jesus’s baptism, his temptation in the wilderness, and the announcement of his ministry. This text offers material instructive to our own identity, responsibility, and commitment as Christians, especially in light of the current societal challenges that confront us.
Mark’s introductory christological snapshot describes the preparatory activities that precede the advent of Jesus’s Galilean ministry. In each case, there are two distinctive events that are both disparate and connected in affirming Jesus’s dual identity. These may even be related to the notion of body and spirit of the Christian. But the events also give rise to questions of faith and belief, some of which have surfaced most recently because of the required quarantine that has necessitated new practices and different rituals for the church.
Jesus, the divine, is baptized by the human, John the Baptist. Some long-standing questions present themselves: If we accept Jesus’s divinity, then why does he participate in this ritual that is done for the purpose of confessing and repenting of one’s sin? As divine, Jesus is sinless, so what purpose does this act serve? The church considers baptism a sacrament because it is an act that was done by Jesus himself, and thus through our baptism we are initiated into the body of Christ. But the question of Jesus’s need for baptism remains. Many Jews during this period engaged in ritual cleansing as a sign of repentance and humility, and Jesus was an observant Jew from Galilee. Perhaps this detail in Mark reflects the spirit of humility that epitomizes Jesus’s action.
Jesus, who was one with God, but human in form, freely gives up his power and privilege by making himself subject to the will of God. He humbles himself to become one who is of lower estate and is subsequently exalted, named openly the Beloved Son of God (see Phil 2:5–11). In other words, he gives up his power only to be empowered afresh by God. In so doing, Jesus commits himself to the responsibility of being the savior of the world.
Quarantine has prompted a fresh question of how one can follow Jesus’s footsteps when enactment of the ritual, which establishes our identity in Christ, may put those involved at risk for their physical well-being. Perhaps the lesson for us as we make our way through quarantine is not whether we need physical baptism—we do—but that we need to strive for the same humility of spirit to follow Christ in making the commitment to Christian responsibility. This humility provides a link to what follows in Mark’s narrative and may serve as an interpretive key for this work.
Moving from that first preparatory step, Jesus willingly takes a solitary journey into the wilderness where he is vulnerable and subject to great harm, perhaps even death of both body and spirit. Satan comes with temptations of the spirit, and the wild beasts endanger his body (Matt 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13). Is this a time of preparation or a time of testing? Certainly Satan is no supporter of good will, and wild animals are not known for their friendliness to or their companionship of humans. Both are known to attack and devour whatever they consider as prey. So what is the purpose of this journey into seeming nothingness? Perhaps the emptiness that is repre sentative of Jesus’s sojourn in the wilderness is an exemplar for the solitary times in our own life, such as is presently being experienced by too many because of the necessity of quarantine.
For those who have been baptized into Christ, Jesus’s experience may also alert us to expect trials that can inflict harm to body and spirit. And it may have particular meaning in this season of danger to the body through the COVID-19 pandemic, to the soul because of the overwhelming evidence of injustice perpetrated against some racial groups in society, and to the church in its frequent collusion with divisive acts.
The text informs us also that in the midst of human solitude, angels, those often-misinterpreted beings who reveal God’s sustaining presence, attended him. While the implication here is of heavenly beings, it is not inappropriate to make the interpretative leap in order to recognize angels in the form of persons who provide aid, often unsolicited and unrewarded. Today, the challenges of the pandemic have revealed angels among us who have attended persons unknown, thereby proclaiming the good news of God’s sustaining presence.
Jesus proclaims, “the good news of God.” What is that exactly? The writer offers no clear definition of the phrase, or for the claim that “the time is fulfilled.” What time? There is also his heralding of the ambiguous but imminent “Kingdom of God.” Both the passage and the present time seem to call us to investigate these questions, as well as other theological questions related to our identity, responsibility, and commitment as Christians. The human/divine Jesus, in his humility, offers an other-worldly response that invites hearers into a new relationship with God. Jesus does not call the hearers to be baptized. That was John’s purpose. But Jesus’s call still requires repentance, turning away from the present to a new relationship with God, one defined by our humility, perhaps as prerequisite to claiming one’s place in the Kingdom—the kin-dom—of God that Jesus declares has come to fulfillment.
The “time fulfilled,” the construct of the Kingdom of God, and the need for humble repentance have all come starkly into view in recent days. Power and privilege are lauded by too many in society, while humility is seen as weakness. The call to the present society to acknowledge that “Black Lives Matter” in the same way as the lives of other racial groups, and especially White persons, seems for some to be an attack on the structure of society. But for those who take their privilege and its attendant power for granted, perhaps repentance and a turning around with humility might be necessary at this particular time to participate in the manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth.
It seems significant that Mark notes the start of Jesus’s ministry in conjunction with the arrest of John the Baptist. It is as though the baton has been passed and Jesus is prepared to run the final leg of the race, to take the home stretch in establishing the Kingdom of God on earth. The protests that have been sparked by the life-stealing arrests and the openly inhumane treatment of some by other persons in power have in some cases been a means of moving the issue of justice forward—a passing of a different baton to help bring about the Kingdom of God. Jesus’s words, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15) hold special meaning in this time as the call for equal justice for all people sounds loudly in the streets. It might well be a clarion call to advance the Kingdom of God among us.
God’s kingdom, where all are equal in each other’s eyes, just as they are in the eyes of God, under the leadership of the divine/human Jesus, is available to all people who accept his call and follow his lead. That means having a humble heart that is subject to the will of God and that acknowledges the active presence of God. Perhaps that in and of itself is the good news. The COVID-19 pandemic and the glaring reality of racial injustice have called our attention to the realization that too many are floundering in the depths of despair and need good news. In the current contexts, nationally and globally, it is difficult for some, perhaps many, to believe there is good news. Yet Jesus’s declaration of good news must still be every preacher’s declaration in the here and now. In the face of what seems like unending violence to body and spirit, and through the destructive power of nature in hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires, it is difficult to name good news in our times. But just as in Jesus’s time, there is evidence all around us of the Kingdom of God that has come near.
The good news is God’s presence with us sustaining us through every situation. We find it, for example, in the Christ-like humility of essential workers who have and continue to put their lives on the line, and in people of all races who march peacefully and are reviled willingly for the sake of justice for everyone. Jesus named the good news as the impending Kingdom of God, theologically defined as a time when God is present and rules supreme. For the present time, it is the community of those identified through baptism into Christ, who commit to live responsibly as Christians and with a spirit of humility reject privilege and submit voluntarily to the will of God.