| January 13, 2003 Isaiah 42: 1-4,6-7 n+ Acts 10:34-38 + Mark 1:7 11 |
| It is only the seventh verse of Mark’s GospelThe whole of this Gospel to this point has been occupied by John the Baptist. Only his voice has been heard.Up to this point, Matthew and Lukehave been busy with Shepherds, Astrologers from the East, Old folks in the Temple,visions, dreams, and angels. None of that for Mark.The identity of Jesus the Christ will come from the Prophets and the Scriptures themselves.What angels announce in Matthew and Luke is spoken by a voice from tom open heavens. Loaded with images of Old Testament hopes,these five verses tell the end of the story at its beginning. |
| What a Roman centurion will proclaimon a hill outside Jerusalem at the end of this Gospel, a voice from the heavens proclaims in the Jordan.What happens to the veil in the Temple at the end occurs in the heavens at the beginning.Tom in two, the secret and everything that was hidden is made known.What only you and I and Jesus know in the first chapter is known to all by the last.It’s as though the story is being told in reverse. We know the ending at the beginning. |
| What Mark gives us here in the first chapter of the first Gospel is the faith of the community from which he writes.This voice that speaks so clearly is the voice of their faith and what they have come to believe.The identity established here in this first chapter is more than the identity of Jesus of Nazareth.It is their identity that is about to be made known.It is more than the troubling relationship between Jesus and John that is explored here.It is the relationship of the new Israel (the dove) to God that is being revealed and unfqlded. |
| What we discover here is the end of the storyKnowing what Jesus has been given, we know now what he has to give.This Jesus, having been given the Spirit will give that Spirit to others.This Jesus who has made himself onewith those who seek repentance by choosing to be Baptized has a unique relationship with God that he will sharewith those who will come to the waterThrough this story, Mark not only reveals the identity of Jesus, but he invites those who share his faith in this Son of Godto orient their lives toward this Spirit-filled Jesus.He is the one who can guide and lead us into God’s new and decisive way of Salvation.There is no other way to get there. |
| Just as hedied for us, he is baptized for us. He had no need of Baptism,but his willingness to go down into the water just like his willingness to go down to death brought him God’s affirmation and the Spirit.That spirit will next drive him into the desertwhere he will know temptation and emerge the victor. |
| That’s the end of the story, Victory for those who are filled with the Spirit.It can be the end of our story as well,but to get there we will have to go down into the water, into the desert,and into the mystery of this one who is servant and son. When we confess who he is, we know what we can become. “Son of God” is a significant title for Jesus in Mark’s Gospel.It not only signifies the identity of Jesus and what he shall become as he is led by this spirit;but it reveals what we shall become by that same spirit poured out upon those who see themselves as one with him.And so, today it is not angels, prophets, old folks in the temple, shepherds, astrologers, or dreams that reveal Jesus Christ,but you and me.The voice to be heard today is ours.The lives to be filled with the spirit are ours.The victory over temptation, evil, and death is ours,and for this we have every reason to give thanks, and praise, and glory. |