News from On High

With his usual brevity, the Markan Jesus announces the content of the good news; it is this:  God's reign has come near us.  God's rule is breaking forth.  Things are no longer going to remain as they have been!  As Don Juel has said, "God, unwilling to be confined to sacred spaces, is on the loose in our own realm." (A Master of Surprise, p. 35)  This short account, found in Mark 1:14-20, is the gospel lesson appointed for the Third Sunday after Epiphany.  It is our decision whether our response to this announcement will be as Jesus exhorts us:  "Repent, and believe in the good news," or in some other fashion.  In other words, we are invited to embrace this announcement, or we may view it as a threat to our own power, and thus resist this news from the lips of Jesus.  It is our call.

(The following questions are a method for coming to terms with some of the fundamental questions for Law and Gospel preachers.  They are meant to be used in conjunction with other fine sets of questions which open up a text for a preacher.  To learn more about this unique genre of preaching, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1. How does the Word function in the text?  The Word here functions in multiple ways.  First, it is an announcement of the reign of God begun.  It is also a call to repentance.  Finally, it is a call to follow Jesus.  What we have in this short text are examples of all the ways the Word can function.  First, the announcement of the reign of God is gospel - good news.  Then, the call to repentance reminds us of our need for a Savior, which is the function of the Law.  Finally, the call to follow is what I have termed "the call to obedience" - the word which instructs us how we might live in response to the Gospel.  What a rich text this is!

2.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are those addressed by the Word.  That means that we are those who rejoice in the good news of God's reign begun; we are also those who see our own need for repentance and long to live our lives in the ways of Christ; finally, we are those who, amidst our busy lives, hear the call to follow Jesus and realize that that call may mean leaving even good things behind.

3.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  As always these couplets are a product of the text and our own imagination.  Here are a few suggestions:  John arrested/ Jesus on the loose; despair/hope; time unfulfilled/time fulfilled; living in sin/repentance and new life.

4.  Exegetical work:  This brief text has few words which draw our attention, but two terms are exceedingly important in understanding this text; they are kairos and basileia.  They both occur in verse 15:  "The time (kairos) is fulfilled, and the kingdom (basileia) of God has come near."  Gerhard Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament is exceptionally helpful in understanding these two terms, with extensive discussions of both.  Here are a few excerpts: "Those who do not realise that they stand under the kairos of God think that they see a cosmic or human kairos in all the opportunities which seem to be favourable for the realisation of their cosmic plans (Ac. 24:25).  But this is not a true, divinely given kairos. ...When autonomous man speaks of his kairos, he sees it in what he believes to be independent decision - and he remains blind.  When Jesus waits for His kairos, He allows the Father to show it to Him, and He thus attains to genuine certainty." (vol. III, p. 460)

Regarding basileia:  "From the direction in the summarised account at the beginning of the proclamation of the Gospel: [Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near] (Mt. 4:17), there arises the only question which can be and is relevant.  This is not the question whether or how we men (sic) may have the kingdom of God as a disposition in our hearts, or whether we may represent it as a fellowship of those thus minded.  The question is whether we belong to it or not.  To try to bring in the kingdom of God is human presumption, self-righteous Pharisaism and refined Zealotism.  From this standpoint, the supremely hard thing required of man is the patience by which alone may be achieved readiness for the act of God... The parables of the kingdom are spoken to drive home this point.  The man who does not display a patient openness for God is like a man who sows, and then like an impatient and curious child - the seed grows he knows not how - he cannot allow it to germinate and grow of itself."  (vol. I, p. 584-585)

5.  How does the Crossings Community model work with this text?  Carolyn Schneider, in her fine analysis of this text, emphasizes the double-edged sword of this announcement that God's reign has begun.  In her diagnosis she highlights the fact that the beginning of God's reign means the end of ours.  She goes on to show how when we insist on living under our reign and not God's, death comes to us.  In her prognosis, the gospel is clearly shown, how Christ upends our designs on death and comes to reign and give us life.  See the entire analysis archived under the Third Sunday after Epiphany at crossings.org/text study.

Blessings on your proclamation!