Christmas at Mark’s
December 1, 2024
Mark 1:1-11
The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah:
Look, I am sending my messenger before you.
He will prepare your way,
a voice shouting in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight.
Mark 1:1-3
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Wait, what… how is this the beginning of the good news? What’s going on here Mark? Where’s the angel chorus, the miraculous birth, the shepherds in the field and the wise men from afar? Where’s the manger and that “sweet little Jesus boy” we love to sing about this time of year?
The first time we see Jesus in Mark’s gospel is at his baptism, sometime around age 30. As comedian Mark Lowery says, “God is in the house, isn’t somebody keeping a journal!”
Christmas at Mark’s house must have been a little… well… non-existent. If the four gospel writers were neighbors, it appears Mark would be the Scrooge of the crew… no tree, no lights, no presents, no cookies. For 30 years Jesus has been walking around and Mark doesn’t even seem to know he was born until he shows up at the river where some strange prophet eating locusts and wearing camels hair is calling the people to repentance in preparation for the coming kingdom of God.
What’s more, Mark’s is actually the earliest gospel account we have, likely dating to more than 30 years after Jesus’ death and at least 10 to 15 years before Matthew’s version of the story (25 to 30 years before Luke or John). Could you imagine waiting that long for the next iPhone or Android upgrade? The world was clearly a lot slower back then.
The bottom line is this, for roughly the first 85 years from the time of Jesus’s birth, there was no written account of the Christmas story at all. Mark is the first that we know of to record anything about Jesus’ life and teachings and he starts recording only 3 years before the end. It would seem he came a little late to the party.
On the other hand, birthdays were really not very significant in the ancient world. Birth narratives in Rome were often more mythological accounts written much later to glorify the divine significance of a person’s life, especially someone like an emperor who they would have called the “son of God.” But we’ll save that for another gospel. For now, what in the world can we learn about Christmas from Mark?
The beginning of the good news, Mark declares, is not in a manger in Bethlehem, but in the preparation of people’s hearts for the Kingdom of God that was proclaimed centuries before by the prophet Isaiah. It’s ironic that Mark, the shortest and most high-paced of all the gospels, is the one that looking back, actually calls us to slow down. Of course his original audience would not have had the Christmas story in any form, but for us, it is a reminder not to rush too fast into Christmas. First we must prepare our hearts and change our lives. Christmas is not the beginning of the good news, it’s just one small part of the Kingdom of God breaking into our reality.
Mark’s question is simply this… “Are you ready?”