I don’t think that I have ever before sat down and read one of the gospels in the way that I did tonight. Somehow it gave me a different perspective from reading segments of it over longer periods of time.
For my reading, I read the book of Mark, the one that I felt that I was the least familiar with. As I read through it, I picked up on several themes that I want to highlight in light of what truly is ‘the good news’.
The very first theme that I realized as I read was that of Jesus’ compassion toward those he had come to save. Honestly, I believe that that is enough good news to last a lifetime, because we as human beings are in desperate need for compassion. Jesus easily and understandably could have arrived on earth and immediately started criticizing absolutely everything that everyone was doing. To be fair, he did do a fair bit of this, such as when he flipped tables in the temple or rebuked his disciples for any number of the thoughtless things they did or said. Often times I find myself falling into the habit of only noticing those passages and feeling that this Jesus man was nitpicky and unreasonable. However, as I read through Mark I made an effort to pay more attention to instances when he did have deep compassion for people and dealt gently with those he met.
For instance, when Jesus meets the man with leprosy, he was “filled with compassion” and healed him. He had compassion on the bleeding women, on the five thousand and four thousand when they were hungry and tired.
Secondly, I was also struck by how much Jesus wanted those he was with to understand him and what he was saying. He spoke almost exclusively in parables, which we have learned in class was the culture at the time. In chapter one, Jesus tells his disciples that he wanted to go somewhere else so that he could continue to teach because it was what he had come for. He repeated himself and explained things so that people had every chance to understand and believe what he was saying.
Finally, the last pattern I noticed was the way in which Jesus was willing to meet people where they were at. This is represented in strains of my first two points, but I believe that it also deserves its own mention. For instance, when Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law, Jesus went to her. When he healed the man with leprosy, he touched him. When he met sinners and tax collectors, he ate with them. When people told him about his mother and brothers were looking for him, Jesus said that anyone could be his family. When Jairus told Jesus about his daughter, Jesus went with him to heal her. When he healed the bleeding women, Jesus spoke to her.
These are only examples that encompass the first five chapters of the book. I have no doubt that Jesus could have healed without touching anyone or perhaps even talking to anyone. He could have easily kept his distance, healing others with a half disgusted glance. But he didn’t. Jesus came to earth to become dirty with us. He touched the unclean and ate with the lowest of society.
He wanted to be with us, he wanted us to understand, and he had unending compassion. That is what I believe the good news of the gospel of Mark is all about.
Caroline's Encounters 