Grace and peace be yours from God our sovereign and from our Lord and savior,
Jesus the Christ and from the Holy Spirit. Amen
Repeatedly in Mark’s gospel, Jesus attempts to tell his disciples that things are not
always what they seem to be. Repeatedly Jesus tells them of the fate that awaits him
in Jerusalem, where following the way of the world the authorities will persecute,
arrest, abuse and crucify him. Each time, Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man
(or with more inclusive language, the Human One.
In the first portent, Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah, to which Jesus responds with
“The Human one must be rejected by the authorities and be killed. In the second
portent, Jesus says, “the Human One is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will
kill him.” And similarly in the third portent, the Human One will be handed over…and
ultimately crucified.)
In addition in each portent Jesus teaches the disciples about discipleship or being “On
the Way.” In the first it’s “Pick up your cross and follow,” in the second its “whoever
wants to be first must be the last of all;” while in the third it’s “whoever wishes to be
great must be your servant.”
Then as they reach Jerusalem, Jesus lives out “the way of discipleship, even o the
point of losing his life on the cross “For the sake of the gospel…” While the disciples
trying to save their lives, abandon Jesus and go into hiding.
But we, like the disciples, fail to understand, miss much of what is being said. Lost in
the drama of the moment are all of the symbolics in the insistence of Jesus on referring
to himself as “the Human One,” and the actual words of Jesus that point to the reality
beyond the symbols. Namely the insistence after each portent of impending doom
comes the affirmation of God’s vindication of “the way of Jesus!” In each case Jesus
states clearly that after three days, (biblical speak for “a short time”) that God will raise
him up. This is also stated a little differently in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus
says “After I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Critical to understanding the message in Mark’s Gospel narrative is to know and
understand the Book of Daniel. There in the 7th chapter, Daniel has a dream in which
the leaders of the World’s domination systems, are identified as wild beasts. And just
as it seems as if the beasts will dominate, the dream has a dramatic turn around.
Victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat. Now Daniel sees himself in a heavenly
courtroom with God sitting on the throne, and dominion is taken from the four beasts
and is given to “One like a Human Being”
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I saw one like a human being
coming with the clouds of heaven.
And he came to the Ancient One
and was presented before him.
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To him was given dominion
and glory and kingship,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,
and his kingship is one
that shall never be destroyed.
This is the key to reading Mark. Dominion will be taken from Rome, from Jerusalem
Temple Authorities and will be given to the Human One, whose dominion shall be
everlasting.
Power and dominion are not taken by power and force, from below. For that is the way
of the world, rather true power is wrested from the tyrants of domination history by “The
Ancient One sitting on the throne” and placed in the hands of the Human One. And
Mark declares on more than one occasion, that this generation will see it all unfold.
In the Gospel narrative, Mark insists that no heavenly sign will be given but that “there
are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God
has come with power." And during the trial of Jesus before the temple authorities,
Jesus says clearly: “’You will see the Human One seated at the right hand of the
Power,’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’” What they will see is not a heavenly
spectacle, but rather the coming of the Human One in the advent of the cross.
There are three other clues that Mark places in his Gospel narrative that point us in the
right direction if we can see beyond the actions of this present moment time into God’s
promised future, which Jesus had proclaimed to be close at hand.
On three occasions in Mark’s Gospel narrative, at the beginning, in the middle and at
the end of the story, there is an apocalyptic moment. A Moment in which heaven
breaks into the earthly story. Each moment Mark highlights with four essential things.
1)Some kind of heavenly portent; 2) a voice;3) an identification of Jesus as “Son of
God”; and 4) a relationship to Elijah.
The first is the baptismal scene. This one is private, for Jesus only, but you and I the
readers of Mark’s narrative are given special insight. In that scene, Jesus sees 1) the
heavens rent and a dove descend; 2) hears a voice from heave; 3) the voice declares
“You are my son, beloved; and 4) John the Baptist is portrayed as “Elijah.”
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The second scene is the Transfiguration Scene in the middle of the narrative. This is
public in as much as Peter, James, and John are included in the seeing and hearing of
this moment. Here 1) Jesus garments turn white and a cloud descends; 2) a voice
from the cloud, 3) declares to the disciples “This is my beloved son, Listen to him;” and
4) Moses and Elijah appear on the mountain top with Jesus.
The third such moment is today, at the cross. There is 1) a heavenly sign, … darkness
throughout the land and the sanctuary veil is rent; 2) a voice, …. Mark says “Jesus
cried out with a loud voice” ... and “Jesus gave a loud cry”; and 3) the centurion, at the
foot of the cross says “This man was God’s Son!;” Or one might read that as This was
God’s Son? But either way Jesus is identified as the Son of God. and 4) some people
believed Jesus was calling for Elijah.
When you put these portents and apocalyptic moments together, you have the keys for
a different way of interpreting the Friday event.
If you look at Friday from the perspective of the world, the world has won! The crowds
have faded away, their presence which protected Jesus earlier in the week was
subverted through the actions of a traitor, a betrayer, one of Jesus chosen 12. And all
of the twelve, have fled in fear from the scene. They will not appear again in the
Gospel. And Jesus is dead. The Temple authorities have gotten their way.
Seen from the world’s perspective this is indeed a victorious day. Jesus is silenced,
their power and dominion seems to remain intact. What more can you want.
And yet, there are a few clues lying around that suggest that the story may not be over.
While the male disciples have all fled the scene, the women who followed Jesus,
remained, a safe distance away, yet close enough that one, Mary Magdalene by name,
sees where the body is placed.
And then there is that report of the veil in the temple being ripped at the moment of
Jesus’ death. Ripped in a most unearthly manner, from top to bottom.
Is there another way to see the cross? Is it a victory of the Human One who lost his
life for the sake of the Gospel? Has the Human One come in power and glory? Is it
the moment of his, the Human one’s, coming in power and glory? Is the world about to
turn?
Mark insists in his narrative style that we wait until Easter Sunday for our answer.
Meanwhile we are left with heaviness and with hope, that maybe, just maybe the story
is not yet over. Amen.
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