"Faith is ... the certainty of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1)
livingwithfaith.org
  • HOME
  • ARTICLES
  • E-BOOKS
  • BLOG
  • ABOUT

Mark –  The Gospel of NOW

9/20/2020

 
Picture
One of the most notable traits of the Gospel of Mark is its immediacy. In Mark things happen now – or sooner!  We see this from the beginning of the Gospel in the way important events are described. Mark tells us that at the onset of Jesus’ ministry “At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12). Without delay he called his disciples (1:18); they immediately followed him (1:18, 20); news about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee (1:28).

The pattern continues throughout the Gospel.  The Greek word eutheos, translated "immediately,” “straight away,” “at once,” etc. occurs no fewer than forty-two times in Mark and frequently colors the narrative.  This and other terms of time give a preciseness and immediacy to important events and also to everyday actions. When Mark tells us regarding Jesus and his disciples that “As soon as they left the synagogue they …” (1:29), he conveys a sense of pressing dedication to what they were doing.  When he tells us of the man healed by Christ: “immediately the leprosy left him” (1:42), we see the power that effected not an eventual but an immediate change.

And it is not just Jesus and the disciples that act with speed. Often the agents of evil do also. When John the Baptist is imprisoned, Salome’s daughter doesn’t just ask for the head of John – she asks for it “right now” (6:25). Mark paints a verbal picture of a cosmos in which good and evil are completely dedicated to their goals and the battle between them is being fought not in some distant past or potential future, but constantly in the here and now.

Why does Mark’s Gospel differ from the other three portraits of Jesus in this way?  To a large extent, it may have been the result of Mark’s audience. Most scholars believe that the primary original audience for Mark’s Gospel was a Roman one. There is plenty of internal evidence – such as the frequent use of Latin terms (for example, denarius in 12:15, quadrans in 12:42, praetorium in 15:16, and flagellare in 15:15) and details such as Mark’s use of the Roman system of dividing the night into four watches instead of the Jewish system of three divisions (6:48, 13:35) – to suggest this is true.
  
Mark’s Roman audience lived in a somewhat different world than the largely quiet and pastoral Judea. Romans were used to a faster pace of life enabled by straight Roman roads, organized commerce and efficient messenger systems.  In the Roman world, if something was important it would usually be done quickly – and something done quickly was often likely to be important.

But to only see the immediacy of Mark’s account as a product of Roman attitudes and expectations is to miss the point that Mark, like all the Gospels, speaks to a situation that goes beyond this world’s political and social realities – to the underlying spiritual reality of the story he tells.  Mark’s use of constantly active narrative showing the dedication and non-stop work of Jesus, along with his frequent use of the “historical present tense,” gives every reader of this Gospel a sense of a story that is occurring in the present – a story that includes continual pointers to the need for dedication and an attitude of urgency in doing the work of God. 

​Mark is a Gospel of now and his story challenges us to live out our part in God’s calling not in dwelling on events of the past or plans for the future, but in doing what we have been given to do, now.​​

​*Extracted from our e-book  Inside the New Testament. Download a free copy here.

Are the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven Different?

9/6/2020

 
Picture
Some Christians believe that the kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven are two different things. According to this view,  the writers of the New Testament were referring to a “millennial kingdom” (the kingdom of God)  or a “universal kingdom” (the kingdom of heaven).  But does the New Testament really make such a distinction? 

The expression “kingdom of God” occurs some 68 times in the New Testament, while the phrase “kingdom of heaven” occurs only 32 times.  Importantly, while “kingdom of God” is found in ten New Testament books, all the references to the “kingdom of heaven” occur in the Gospel of Matthew.

While the “two kingdoms” advocates suggest that Matthew was describing a “millennial kingdom” and the other Gospel writers were speaking of a “universal kingdom,” there is no biblical basis to presume this.  On the contrary, there is good biblical indication that the two expressions are not referring to two different things, but are two ways of referencing the same thing.

We see this in the words of Christ himself in his conversation with his disciples after he spoke with the rich young ruler who did not want to give up his possessions to follow Christ:

“Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23-24, emphases added).

Looking closely at these verses we see that Christ used both expressions –  the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven –  at the same time and clearly speaking about the same thing. 

Why then does Matthew usually use only the expression “kingdom of heaven”?  The answer is simply because Matthew originally wrote his Gospel to a Jewish audience that by tradition – in order to not break the commandment against lightly using God’s name –  often tried to avoid speaking the name of God and frequently substituted a euphemism.  As a result, the Jews frequently referred to the “kingdom of heaven” rather than the “kingdom of God”  –  using the one expression for the other in much the same way that we nowadays might say “The White House announced” meaning the President or his administration announced something.

The other Gospels usually used “kingdom of God” where Matthew used “kingdom of heaven” in recording their parallel accounts of the same spoken words.  We can see this by comparing, for example, Matthew 11:11-12 with Luke 7:28; or Matthew 13:11 with Mark 4:11 and Luke 8:10. In these and many other instances Matthew used the expression “kingdom of heaven” in deference to his Jewish audience, while the other Gospels used “kingdom of God.”

​For all these reasons, the New Testament makes it clear that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are exactly the same thing.

    BLOG

    Follow @livingbelief

    RSS Feed

    For a smart browser-bookmark showing new blog postings, click on the RSS Feed icon.  

    Author :

    Unless otherwise stated, blog posts are written by R. Herbert, Ph.D.,  who writes for a number of Christian venues – including our sister site: TacticalChristianity.org
    ​
    For more about us, see our About Page.

    Categories :

    All
    Behind The Stories
    Bible Study
    Biblical Concepts
    Books Of The Bible
    Christianity & Culture
    Christian Living
    Dealing With Doubt
    Discipleship
    Encouragement
    Faith Hall Of Fame
    Faith & Trust
    Faith & Works
    Family
    Fellowship
    Forgiveness
    Giving
    God
    Gratitude
    History & The Bible
    Hope
    Knowledge & Wisdom
    Love
    Persecution
    Prayer
    Relationships
    Scripture In Question
    Spiritual Growth
    The Christian Calling
    The Christian Faith
    The Life Of Jesus
    Truth
    Works Of Faith

    Archives :

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Community :

    Picture
    - Charter Member -
© 2014 – 2022 LivingWithFaith.org