On January 30, 2011 I had the privilege of preaching Mark 1:14–45 at Kenwood Baptist Church, “A Day in the Life of Jesus.”
In Mark 1:15 Jesus claims that the time is fulfilled (perhaps interpreting Daniel 9:24–27?) and that the kingdom of God is at hand. It’s a bold man who claims that his coming marks the fulfillment of the time and the arrival of God’s kingdom.
These are deadly serious claims. Mark presents Jesus claiming that the culmination of all that has preceded has finally arrived. The whole history of the world has been building, Jesus claims, to this moment.
Do you see this audacity? Do you see this boldness? This is no gentle Jesus, meek and mild. This is a Jesus who comes declaring that the moment has arrived. This is a Jesus who has gone into action with decision and firmness and resolve. This is a Jesus who has come as a peasant but who nevertheless talks like he is the world’s true King.
Do you know this Jesus? No, I mean do you know him? He will not be domesticated. You cannot tame him. His sails will not be trimmed and his rough edges cannot be sanded away. He confronts us as he is. Do you know him?
To know him is to bow. To know him is to be awed by his magnificence. To know him is to be owned by him. To know him is to feel in the depths of your being that he made you, that he sustains you, and that he can therefore command you to storm the very gates of hell and expect to be obeyed.
If you think you can have him as you want him, you don’t know him.
If you think you can line him up next to the other authorities in your life, you don’t know him.
If you think you can decide which aspects of his character you like and which you’ll disregard, you don’t know him.
If you think that he’s weak, let me assure you, you do not know him.
If you think he is optional. You certainly don’t know him.
Let’s get this straight, shall we?
Jesus of Nazareth is Lord of the Universe.
You are either a loyal subject of the world’s true King, or you are a rebel who will be crushed.
If you’d like to hear more about Mark’s presentation of “A Day in the Life of Jesus” from Mark 1:14–45, this link’s for you.
Jim,
I’ve long been curious as to why John’s gospel does not depict Jesus in this same manner (professing that the Kingdom of God is now at hand). Mark’s accounts of Jesus seem to reflect a much more apocalyptic view, and Jesus faces down the enemy directly by showing his power over demons. John’s gospel has no depiction of this that I’m aware of (though I may well have missed it). Mark’s gospel seems to be declaring that Jesus believed the Kingdom would arrive during his own earthly lifetime. John’s seems to point to a time in the far distant future.
Thanks for your note, RD, I think that John and Mark have different ways of saying the same thing. Mark presents Jesus telling demons and those he heals not to make him known. John presents Jesus saying again and again that his time has not yet come. Jesus faces down the enemy in both gospels–in John 12 he announces that he’s about to throw down the usurper. John doesn’t have exorcisms. He chose to include other material. As for the kingdom coming in Jesus’ lifetime in Mark, I don’t know how you’d come to that conclusion given–among other things–his statement that the bridegroom is going to be taken away, then his disciples will fast (2:20). This with the 3 passion predictions in Mark 8–10 and the things that are going to take a long time to develop in Mark 13 (v.7, the end is not yet; v. 8, these are but the beginning of birth pains), and you only get to the conclusion that the kingdom comes in Jesus’ lifetime if you totally misread Mark 13:30. The generation in view is not a literal life-span but a typological generation–the generation of the wicked, the end time generation. This reading makes the best sense and follows the inner logic of the text.
Blessings.