Observation: Today is the Festival of St. Mark the Evangelist. One unique thing I appreciate about Mark's Gospel is that it's the only one that drops us right into the thick of the action. Matthew begins with a lengthy genealogy, Luke with a purpose statement, and John with cosmic spiritual poetry, But Mark begins with "The Beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ..." and three verses later we're already waste-deep in the flow of the Jordan river. From there out it's non-stop action: in particular the action of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Application: (Warning: yet another sci-fi reference!) I was very impressed with the film Rogue One, the first Star Wars film not to be associated with a trilogy. One thing that established it as unique from the very beginning was that the opening "crawl" of those wonderfully familiar paragraphs of exposition, floating through space, was completely absent. The film simply drops you into the thick of the action, and you are on the journey together with the characters. This reminded me very much of Mark's Gospel.
Part of the appeal of Mark, for me, is that it more closely resembles real life as a disciple of Jesus. Yes, sometimes there is time for an extended introduction, to study your Bible and its historical context, to learn the history of Christian theology, to keep up on what's going on in the world today and how our faith applies. Those times of study and reflection are important. But that does not mean the action stops. For a disciple of Jesus "The Beginning of the Good News" begins right at the moment of your baptism, at which point you are plunged into the chaotic waters of God's loving action in the world, without much of any introduction. What you learn, you learn on the way, following Jesus.
Prayer: God, thank you for dropping me into the action so many years ago. Teach me what I need for today, so that I may trust you with all my tomorrows. Amen.
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