As we leave the Liturgical year of Mark I want to review a few of the highlights from our communal study of the proclamation of the Good News in Jesus Christ.
1. Mark is a war-time document. Many scholars place Mark in or very near the year 70AD, the final year of the Jewish Revolt of 66 that culminated in the destruction of the second temple.
The destruction of the temple did not come about from some outside invading force but rather was the brutal end of decades of Jewish uprisings against their Roman oppressors. The witness of Mark's Gospel account suggests that the Jewish unrest may have been further agitated by the oppression of the Pharisaic leadership of the time who were almost certainly in allegiance with the Romans. Concessions had to be made to Rome in order to continue the long-standing agreement between the Empire and the Jewish nation: Rome protected the Jews from outside nations who had threatened to annihilate them over the centuries and allowed them to have their temple and live religiously without persecution. But as the decades went by the relationship deteriorated and Rome became a domineering oppressor. A brief historical account is captured here:
A Jewish diaspora had migrated to Rome and to the territories of Roman Europe from the land of Israel, Anatolia, Babylon and Alexandria in response to economic hardship and incessant warfare over the land of Israel between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires from the 4th to the 1st centuries BCE. In Rome, Jewish communities thrived economically. Jews became a significant part of the Roman Empire's population in the first century CE, with some estimates as high as 7 million people.
Roman general Pompey conquered Jerusalem and its surroundings by 63 BCE. The Romans deposed the ruling Hasmonean dynasty of Judaea (in power from c. 140 BCE) and the Roman Senate declared Herod the Great"King of the Jews" in c. 40 BCE. Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea became the Roman province of Iudaea in 6 CE. Jewish–Roman tensions resulted in several Jewish–Roman wars between the years 66 and 135 CE, which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple and the institution of the Jewish Tax in 70 (those who paid the tax were exempt from the obligation of making sacrifices to the Roman imperial cult). (Wikipedia)
As we read Mark with the knowledge of the history between Rome and the Jewish nation and the timing of the war and its devastating effects on the Jewish people we begin to see the Gospel in a new light. Mark's proclamation of the Messiah was a shining light of hope, a call to redemption in the tradition of Isaiah and the Babylonian exile (and return to their land) in a time of desolation and utter despair. Jesus came upon the scene at a very volatile time in Jewish history; that not one stone would be left standing was a prophetic vision all too real at the time of Mark's writing.
2. Mark calls us to a change of heart and a return to the Lord. If all you know about Mark is this one thing then that is well enough. While all the Gospels call the people of God back to covenantal relationship with God, Mark does it with a shrill voice at breakneck speed. He was living in a world that most of us cannot imagine. The infant Christian community had experienced decades of rebellion that culminated into a full blown war and the widespread public tortures and persecutions of anyone who Rome felt had offended their rule of law. It is clear Mark felt that the end-times were very near, indeed, and by all accounts, the world as he knew it was ending. With the fall of Jerusalem the great diaspora would begin; from death came new life. But it would be a long while before stability began to replace chaos. The call for repentance was given with urgency in the midst of disruption and destruction - the time is now - return to the Lord! In the midst of radical violence there was a call to radical Love. We continue to live in turbulent times - different players, different situations - but the call to return to Love remains and with no less urgency.
3. Mark calls religious establishments to account. The call of Jesus in Mark to the established church of his time is to repent of its transgressions and return to right action, right relationship both with God and with God's people. In verse 12:41 Jesus sits opposite to the treasury and in verse13:3 he sits opposite the temple. That is, given the context, he sits in opposition to both the temple and its treasury; in opposition to its hypocrisy and oppressive practices; its fall out of God's favor. Throughout Mark, Jesus is in open conflict with the Jewish leaders of his generation. These religious leaders and Spiritual teachers had a profound responsibility to be honest and to have integrity. But in many cases they were not living up to the responsibilities inherent in their vocational calls and this hypocrisy and corruption infected the entire institution. The sure sign of a failed religious institution: Ambition and struggle replaces faithfulness and ongoing discernment/growth/change.
When Christian community is living up to its collective vocational and missional call to hear and respond to the Word of God in the time and place it is proclaimed, curiosity and awe replace both ambition and struggle; there exist a counter-cultural reordering of values: Inspiration becomes more important than ambition. Trust in the flow of the Spirit replaces anxiety and strategic planning. Communities who are led by the Spirit are curious to discover the newest next thing and are open to possibilities, knowing that there are an infinite number of possibilities in the field of all possibilities (Dispenza) Spirit-led communities know that they are co-creators with the Divine - and are excited and inspired! Care for the wellbeing of others, that is, discerning how to help others help themselves (building mutually beneficial relationships as opposed to the general gifting of material goods) becomes a core value. Living in a covenantal relationship with the Cosmic Christ (Fox, Rohr) requires both the individual members and the community to take seriously its profound responsibility for integrity and authentic return to Love that Jesus prescribes.
Can you catch the vision that Jesus casts for God's people in Mark?
Thank you for reading my blog and walking with me in the path of spiritual grace; for your willingness to spend this time with me as together we learn how to see and be Christ in the world. Rowena +
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