1st Sunday of Lent
Mark 1:9-15
In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And, just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And, the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
Hurry Up and Wait
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Hurry up, and wait?” One Christmas, when I was about 10 years old, we had a sort of family reunion. My dad’s brother, two of his sisters, and their families were all staying with us for the holidays. The house was full and loud, lots of food; it was so much fun! On Christmas morning, everyone gathered around the tree so we could open our presents. One of my aunts passed out envelopes to everyone. We all started to open them, and these little noises of surprise started to come from all around the room. I opened my envelope and pulled out a ticket for Disneyland.
My aunt and uncle had bought tickets to Disneyland for everyone; and we were all going to go there the next day. I cannot explain to you how excited I was. I had only ever been to Disneyland one time before, when I went with my boy scout troop three years prior. My siblings had never been, so in a way, I think I was way more excited than they were, because I actually knew what I was getting excited about.
I could not stop thinking about it the whole day. We all tried to go to bed early that night, so that we could wake up early the next morning and make the two-hour drive to the park before it opened at nine. I knew that if I could just fall asleep, then I would wake up the next morning, and it would seem like no time had passed at all, and we would be on our way to Disneyland. But, I was just too excited. So, I laid there in bed with my eyes closed for eight hours, and I couldn’t fall asleep, because I couldn’t stop thinking about how we were going to Disneyland in the morning. I did not sleep for a single second that night.
The anticipation was too much. But, it didn’t matter how much I was anticipating it, the time to leave would come when it was time leave, and no sooner. All I could do, was hurry up and wait.
The texts from Mark in our lectionary this year for Lent kind of puts me in a “hurry up and wait” mindset. The book of Mark is the shortest of the four gospels, and in our reading today, Mark’s narrative of this part of Jesus’ life is especially brief when you compare it to the accounts given in the books of Luke and Matthew. What Mark describes here in just seven verses takes seventeen verses in Luke, and twenty-two verses in Matthew. Many scholars believe that the brevity of Mark is intentional. Without all of the details that we find in the other gospels, the focus falls on Jesus and his message. The book of Mark was written to convey a sense of urgency; there is no time for unnecessary words. The people needed to know and understand the Good News, now. They needed to understand Jesus’ message now, so that they could prepare for what was about to happen.
But, Lent is the season of waiting. It’s the season of fasting and prayer, the season of contemplation and patience. Lent is when we wait for the snow to melt and for spring to come. We wait at the foot of the cross; we wait at the empty tomb. We wait for the resurrection, for Easter. We wait.
So, to read the book of Mark, in its brevity, its urgency, in its abruptness, we are pulled in two different directions. In our text today, Mark uses words like, “Just as he was coming up,” “immediately,” “is fulfilled,” “has come;” things are happening, things have already happened, “repent, and believe the good news!”
In his book, Preaching Mark in Two Voices, biblical scholar Brian Blount describes this baptism scene as “unhinged.” “Clouds tearing. Heavens ripping. Divine voice booming. Spirit descending. This is terrible, untamed tiger talk. It is the language of slashing and slicing, shredding and clawing until something once locked up on that safe and seldom seen heavenly side over there knifes its way free to this historical, human side we’re standing on over here.”
Lent tells us to wait. Mark tells us to hurry.
But, why is Mark in a hurry? What is all the fuss about? Jesus came to earth with a purpose. His arrival was a disruption of the norms of the day, of what everyone understood. What was happening in the world was not the promise that God had made, it was a disruption of that promise. So, Jesus’ arrival was a disruption of that disruption. Jesus came to disrupt the brokenness of the world, the horror that we witness every day, the ideas that we have about what’s important, and what’s not.
Immediately after the baptism, the Spirit drives Jesus out into the wilderness, some translate this verb as “casts out.” And there, Jesus is tempted by the devil, a life-or-death struggle over the course of forty days, the biblical number for completion. We see that when God is revealed to the world, it is inevitable that there will be conflict with the powers of evil. That which has power will fight to keep that power. It will not go quietly into the night. That power needs to be taken apart so that the Kingdom of God can take root and become the reality that we have all been hoping for, God’s promise. Jesus faces this struggle, this struggle that has implications for the fate of the world, and he survives.
As an aside, we see here that “the angels waited on him.” The verb used here is “to serve,” the same verb that we saw two weeks ago when Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law, and she began to serve him. It’s another foreshadowing of Jesus ultimate role as the servant Christ, as promised in the prophecies of Isaiah. Serving others and caring for others is reciprocal; it always comes back. Caring for others is ultimately caring for oneself.
We see next that John has been arrested, more foreshadowing, this time of the betrayal of Jesus and his arrest before his crucifixion. Jesus comes to Galilee and begins to preach the word of God, the good news that God is with us. Jesus’ arrival is the arrival of healing and liberation, forgiveness and transformation. This is what we were waiting for. This is where Mark’s urgency is coming from.
Last week, we talked about change, and how change is an inevitable part of life. So too, is waiting. There’s that old joke about how you should never ask for God to teach you how to be patient, because God just might send you trials and tribulations, so that you can learn. But, I think it’s okay to pray for patience, itself. Just as God is with us in times of change, God is with us in the waiting. God gives us the patience and the courage we need to hurry up and wait. Change is coming. The resurrection is coming. The revelation of Jesus and who he is rips apart the barrier between us and God, between heaven and earth. We need to wait, but we need to be ready. Are you waiting? Are you ready to see it? Are you ready to recognize the truth of who Jesus is and what he represents? Easter is coming. The resurrection is coming. So, we wait. What are you waiting for? Amen.
~ Rev. Charles Wei
