The Gospel of Mark starts with these words: “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.”1 There’s a lot said in that one passage but it’s clear Mark wants us to know that what he has written about Jesus is good news.
The word gospel literally means “good news.” The gospel is something we share and tell others about, much like we gleefully do when we get married, have children, and so forth. When we have good news to share, we share with others and this is what Mark has done with his gospel. The reason Mark says this news about Jesus is good news is because Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.
Hearing that Jesus is the Messiah or Christ, and the Son of God comes with a lot of meaning for us who identify as Christians. Words like savior and salvation come to mind because we believe Jesus is the one who saves us since we believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Although such beliefs are true, the Jewish people of Jesus’s day would have understood Messiah as a referent to the future king of Israel who would save God’s people by re-establishing or restoring the kingdom of God.
So reading the Gospel of Mark is to read about Jesus, the Messiah, inaugurating the kingdom of God. That sounds good but this claim about the good news of Jesus is also disruptive because the word gospel was used throughout the Roman Empire to talk about the life that Caesar made possible. There is a conflict now because the kingdom life Jesus proclaims as good news (Mk 1:14-15) and therefore makes possible is vastly different than the life imagined in the politics of Caesar, including any of the Caesars today.2
Though many people are cynical when it comes to politics, such organizing of life for the polis is necessary for maintaining a just and civil society. And we all abhor the idea of a society where matters are settled by bullets rather than ballots. Yet politics has a way of co-opting people into its various ideological webs as though politics are the source of life rather than ways of stewarding life. When we look at politics as though our life depends on the progression or conservation of a particular ideology, idolatry emerges. Even though there are not any golden calves, idolatry materializes in the form of fear that is often vocalized with anger and antagonism when our particular politics is threatened.3
The Gospel of Mark wants to remind us to place our faith in Jesus and therefore follow Jesus, doing so even if it means we must literally carry our own cross (Mk 8:34). God is the source of life and God extends his life to us by sending his Son—Jesus, the Messiah. Lest we forget, Mark tells us about the life Jesus lived during his ministry and the authority he exhibited over nature, demons, illness, and death as well as the authority Jesus taught with. As the story goes, Mark leads us to the cross and empty tomb so that we will continue placing our faith in Jesus and faithfully living as his disciples.
“As important as any political election is, our livelihood depends on God and what God has accomplished in Jesus the Messiah—the Son of God.”
From this angle, the Gospel of Mark also offers us a counter-argument against the claims of any idol. Understanding this counter-argument matters because other people and ideas can subvert our faith and do so even with good intentions, politics especially. Yes, good things can become supreme things and thus our idols.4 In fact, if we are honest, we all get entangled in such webs of idolatry.
One of the great things that makes the news of Jesus Christ good news is that Jesus comes with an invitation rather than condemnation. Jesus knows how prone to idolatry we are but does not come seeking retribution. Instead, Jesus offers an invitation by calling us to repentance and faith as he says, “Come, follow me…” (Mk 1:17). This is an invitation to come and learn to live as participants in the kingdom of God. Jesus invites us into the adventure of discovering life with him and in him,5 so that we may believe and live under the reign of God once again.
I have brought the Gospel of Mark into conversation with the ever-volatile subject of politics. If that troubles you, then so be it because I believe politics is becoming an idol for many people. Christians are not exempt from this idolatry either. But my point is neither to point fingers nor get into the perilous trap of partisan arguments. Furthermore, I’m not writing to say anything about whether Christians should participate in local, state, and federal political matters and if so, in what capacity. However, since most Christians, including myself, do participate to some degree in politics, I want to encourage us to keep such politics in perspective.
We must guard against letting politics become an idol and therefore be proactive in making sure we continue following Jesus. In America, we are nearly a year away from another major election that will decide who serves as President as well as who serves in many other public offices. From what I have observed during the last few elections, various voices will speak to us saying that our livelihood depends on the outcome of the election. Other people will act as though their livelihood depends on the outcome of the election (is this not what motivated the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capital Building?).
Be discerning! Any hint or suggestion that our livelihood depends on the outcome of a political election is a lie. As important as any political election is, our livelihood depends on God and what God has accomplished in Jesus the Messiah—the Son of God.
So hear the voice of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark saying, “Come, follow me!”
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
N.T. Wright, Simply Good News: Why the Gospel Is News and What Makes It Good, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2015, 42; see also Marius Nel, “The Gospel of Mark in Light of Its Apocalyptic Worldview,” Journal of Early Christian History 4 (2014): 138, who notes that the opening verse of the Gospel of Mark “carries eschatological and political overtones of a kingdom that necessarily implies the delegitimization and destabilization of the Roman and Jewish order because it bespeaks the establishment of this kingdom, of the sovereignty of God.”
Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters, New York: Penguin Random House, 2009; reprint, New York: Penguin Books, 2016, 98-99 (citation to reprint edition), “One of the signs that an object is functioning as an idol is that fear becomes one of the chief characteristics of life. When we center our lives on the idol, we become dependent on it. If our counterfeit god is threatened in any way, our response is complete panic.” Keller goes on to say two paragraphs later, “Another sign of idolatry in our politics is that opponents are not considered to be simply mistaken, but to be evil.”
Ibid, xix.
Brendan Byrne, A Costly Freedom: A Theological Reading of Mark’s Gospel, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2008, 42, “To follow [Jesus] as disciples will not mean a static gathering around a teacher but a journey to a future as yet unclear.” Of course, as we read through the Gospel of Mark, the future is revealed.