Conversations with Scripture: The Gospel of Mark (Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars) - Softcover

Borg, Marcus J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0819223395 ISBN 13: 9780819223395

Verlag: Morehouse Publishing, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

Most Christians are familiar with the story told in Mark's gospel, from the fishermen leaving their nets, to the miracle of the loaves and fishes, to the political rumblings and the crucifixion. But no one knows who Mark really was or why this gospel was written or why it's charged with such a sense of immediacy.

For noted Jesus scholar Marcus Borg, reading Mark is like meeting Jesus again for the first time. Individual readers and parish study groups will learn about this earliest gospel from the perspective of an important Anglican theologian.

Conversations with Scripture is the umbrella title of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars Study Series. Written in accessible language and sensitive to those who have little or no experience in reading the Bible, each book in the series focuses on exploring the historical and critical background, plus modern application of the texts. Other books in the series focus on the Gospel of John, Revelation, the Law, the Parables, and 2 Isaiah.

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Marcus Borg (1942-2015) was internationally known in both academic and church circles as a biblical and Jesus scholar. He was Hundere Chair of Religion and Culture in the Philosophy Department at Oregon State University and Canon Theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Portland, Oregon. Described by The New York Times as “a leading figure in his generation of Jesus scholars,” he was a Fellow of the Jesus Seminar, national chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature and president of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars.

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CONVERSATIONS WITH SCRIPTURE: THE GOSPEL OF MARK

By MARCUS J. BORG

Church Publishing Incorporated

Copyright © 2009 Marcus J. Borg
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-8192-2339-5

Contents

Introduction to the Series
Autobiographical Note
Introduction
CHAPTER ONE Overture and Beginning: Mark 1–3
CHAPTER TWO Parables and Miracles: Mark 4–5
CHAPTER THREE Rejection, Miracles, and Conflict: Mark 6:1–8:21
CHAPTER FOUR From Galilee to Jerusalem: Mark 8:22–10:52
CHAPTER FIVE Jerusalem, Execution, and Resurrection: Mark 11–16
Study Questions
Notes
Further Reading
About the Author

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Overture and Beginning: Mark 1–3

The first three chapters of Mark not only begin the story of Jesus' publicactivity in Galilee but also function as an extended introduction to the gospelas a whole by introducing its central themes. To provide an overview, thesechapters include:

* The overture to the gospel (1:1–20)

* A day in the public activity of Jesus (1:21–34)

* Jesus at prayer (1:35–39)

* Healing a leper (1:40–45)

* A series of conflict stories, the dominant theme of Mark 2–3

I encourage you to read Mark 1–3 before continuing.

The Overture: 1:1–20

Mark begins with an overture. So do the other gospels. Like the overture to asymphony, each sounds the central themes of the gospel that follows. In Matthewand Luke, the overtures are the stories of Jesus' birth. In John, the overtureis the great "Hymn to the Word"; it opens with the famous line, "In thebeginning was the Word," now revealed and become flesh, embodied, in Jesus.

Mark's overture is quite different. There is no birth story and no hymn to theWord. Rather, Jesus appears for the first time as an adult on his way to thewilderness to be baptized by John the Baptizer in the Jordan River. There Jesushas a vision of the Spirit descending on him and hears a voice declare, "You aremy son." By the time the overture ends, Jesus has begun his public activityproclaiming the coming of "the kingdom of God" and calling disciples "to followhim."

Because of the importance of Mark's overture, most of this chapter is devoted toit. I begin by quoting it in full:

1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,"See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way;

3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'"

4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism ofrepentance for the forgiveness of sins.

5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalemwere going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessingtheir sins.

6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist,and he ate locusts and wild honey.

7 He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I amnot worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.

8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John inthe Jordan.

10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apartand the Spirit descending like a dove on him.

11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I amwell pleased."

12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with thewild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good newsof God,

15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;repent, and believe in the good news."

16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrewcasting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brotherJohn, who were in their boat mending the nets: 20 Immediately he called them;and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followedhim.

Verse One: The Title

Verse one is the title of the gospel. Recall that Mark did not write "The GospelAccording to Mark" at the top of his first page. Rather, this story is "Thebeginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." As noted earlier,"good news" and "gospel" translate the same Greek word and we use theminterchangeably.

Though brief, this verse is packed with meaning. Its first phrase, "thebeginning" (of the good news), has at least three possible meanings. It couldsimply mean, "This is the beginning of this document," as when an essay mightinelegantly begin, "I begin by saying...." Or it could refer to the verses thatsoon follow narrating the appearance of John the Baptizer in the wilderness, asif Mark were saying, "The gospel of Jesus begins with John."

Or, finally, it could refer to the whole story, the whole document that follows:all of it is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus—a story that is not over, butthat has only begun. It is not just about past good news, but about good newsthat continues to unfold. I suspect that Mark intends this fuller meaning: thegospel is not just about the past—it was also about Mark's present and ourpresent.

The rest of verse one contains two of the most important early Christianaffirmations about Jesus: he is "Christ" and "the Son of God." Both are "titles"of Jesus used by his followers after Easter.

"Christ" (from the Greek word christos that translates the Hebrew word for"messiah"—and thus Christ and Messiah are synonyms) was a term of greatsignificance in the Jewish tradition. It meant "anointed" and, implicitly,anointed by God. In the Jewish Bible (the Christian Old Testament) the term wasused to refer to the kings of Israel and Judah who were "anointed" by God (see,for example, Ps 2:2). It was also used for a foreign king, Cyrus of Persia, whoin the sixth century B.C.E. permitted the Jewish exiles to return to theirhomeland (Isa 45:1).

By the first century, the word had acquired a more specific and exalted meaning.For many within Judaism, in diverse ways, it designated a future figure whowould be anointed by God to deliver Israel from centuries of oppression. Thus ina first-century context, it is appropriate to speak not simply of a messiah ...but of the Messiah. Mark affirms at the beginning of his gospel that Jesus isthe Messiah, the hoped-for and longed-for anointed one of Israel. The good newsis the story of Jesus the Messiah

The gospel is also the story of Jesus "the Son of God." The phrase has richmeanings not only in the Jewish but also in the Roman world of Mark. In theJewish Bible, "son of God" could refer to Israel as a whole, as in Hosea 11:1:"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." Itcould also...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Morehouse Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0819223395
• ISBN 13: 9780819223395
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 140
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
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