Sunday January 22, 2012

January 17, 2012

The lectionary readings for Sunday January 22, the Third Sunday after Epiphany are Jonah 3:1-5, 10, Psalm 62:5-12, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, and Mark 1:14-20.

I plan to focus on the gospel reading, Mark 1.14-20.

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

The opening line from the mouth of Jesus, "The kingdom of God has come (is at hand), repent, and believe the good news (the gospel)," is the gospel in miniature. The Jews to whom Jesus speaks have been yearning for this change for generations. They long to be free from the yoke of their foreign oppressors - first the Babylonians (587 BC), and then the Persians, and then the Greeks, and, in the time of Jesus, the Romans. They live in the "promised land" but they live as tenants and not as owners.

There is debate as to the timing of the coming. Hence, the difference in translations. Does it mean the kingdom of God has already come in the person of Jesus, perhaps with his baptism in Mark's scenario? Does it mean it is about to come, or it has begun? A long time ago, I think when I was in seminary, I read C H Dodd's little book on the Kingdom of God, and I have always liked what I think is his rendering - "already, but not yet." In oher words, the kingdom of God has been inagurated in the person and work of Jesus, but it is not yet completed. So we pray, "... your kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven."

And what it is - the kingdom of God - is not yet clear. That becomes the subject of the rest of the gospel - at least up to the Passion narrative in chapter 14. The sayings and parable of Jesus paint the kingdom of God as a way of life, rather than as a place. And it is a way of life which is contrary to the mainstream of life in the time of Jesus. Hence the need for repentance - for a change of worldview, for a change of heart, a re-orientation of the way we live in the world.

The two short stories which follow the proclamation serve to illustrate the point. The calling of the two pairs of brothers, Andrew and Simon Peter, and James and John make the point. Stop what you are doing right now, and follow me. Andrew and Simon Peter leave "at once," and the Zebedee brothers abandon their father "without delay," leaving him in the boat with the hired hands, a great insult in their culture.

There is no training program for these first disciples. They journey with Jesus, and witness him in action, casting out demons, healing many people, and preaching as one with "authority."

HGH