How would you feel if everything you believed came crumbling down around you like the destruction of a majestic cathedral? What if I told you that’s what the original audience of the Gospel of Mark felt? I’m Rev Darcy (she/hers), a Universalist pastor from rural Alabama, and I’m inviting you on a journey with me through the Bible where we’ll dive deep into all of the drama without the spiritual trauma. Come with me to learn about just how much you are loved, just as you are in this moment, as we spend the next eleven minutes in heaven.
Listen to what the Spirit is saying to you through this sacred word from the Gospel of Mark:
The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah: “Look, I am sending my messenger before you. He will prepare your way,a voice shouting in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight.’” (Mark 1:1-3, CEB)
Beloved, welcome back to another Eleven Minutes in Heaven. I am so excited about jumping straight into the Gospel of Mark with you today. Over the next few episodes we will be exploring the first chapter of Mark, what scholars call “the overture” of the Gospel. This overture unpacks the main themes of Mark’s gospel. In this episode, we will look at the first three verses of Mark and the startling claims they make about Jesus and the implications these have for Jesus’ identity. As we unpack the remainder of chapter one, you’ll come to see, I hope, that these implications extend to you and me.
Sermon Note: Want to dig deeper and/or check my claims? Here are the books I’m using and recommend to get a deeper understanding of Mark.
Marcus J. Borg’s The Gospel of Mark from Morehouse (ISBN: 978-0-8192--2339-5)
Jerry L. Sumney’s The Bible: An Introduction (3rd ed.) from Fortress Press (ISBN: 978-1506466781).
Ben Witherington III’s The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary from Eerdmans (ISBN: 978-0802845030).
The World Behind the Text
Each week we will be reading our sacred word using three different lenses or contexts— the world behind, of, and in front of the text. Our first lens is the historical and cultural context…what we call the world behind the text. As I covered last week in the introduction to season one, the historical and cultural context of the events that took place in the Gospel of Mark is one of political unrest and turmoil and a fast-changing world. Listen again if you need a refresher. In this world, the Jewish nation is a people occupied by Imperial Rome. While they have some autonomy, they are increasingly seeing that autonomy eroded as Rome inserts itself more and more into their political and even religious affairs. Rome maintained control over their colonies through a process called Hellenization or the forced assimilation of Greco-Roman culture. Jews resisted this process and were constantly rebelling against Roman rule. One way that the Jewish people resisted Hellenization was by diligently working to be a distinct nation…a goal completely opposite that of Hellenization which worked to make all of Rome’s empire Roman.
Jews at this time generally aligned themselves with one of three broad groups each exploring what it meant to be a distinct Jewish nation. Some of these names may be familiar to you if you grew up in Sunday school. The first group were the Sadducees. This group was comprised mostly of the wealthier classes of Jewish society including many of the priests. Their Bible comprised only the Torah, and they denied most of the supernatural aspects of religion including the idea of the resurrection of the dead and the afterlife. Because of their wealth and standing, the Sadducees were often hand in glove with the Romans, and they often capitulated to Empire. You could say their method of being a distinct nation was maintaining power. In the middle were the Pharisees. The Pharisees are the ancestors of modern-day Rabbinic Judaism. They accepted the whole Hebrew Scripture as their Bible and believed in the supernatural aspects of religion the Sadducees rejected. Appealing mostly to the common folk and the laity of the Jewish faith, the Sadducees were very concerned about following the instructions of the Law and Prophets faithfully as their means of being a distinct nation. They way that they did this was by debating and talking about what did the Torah or what did the Prophets mean when they said this specific thing which is what we see them doing often with Jesus in the Gospels. The last major group was the Essenes. They don’t get much press in the Gospels, mostly because they lived cloistered away from the world, studying the Bible, not participating in Temple worship, and waiting for the coming Messiah. We have the Essenes to thank for the Dead Sea Scrolls. Go back and listen to Part 5 of the podcast introduction to learn more about the Dead Sea Scrolls! You could say the Essenes tried to be a distinct nation by literally closing themselves off from the rest of the world!
The World of the Text
The narrative context, or the world of the text, is equally rich in these first three verses of Mark. Let’s unpack four different and powerful words used in these three verses. The first is “beginning.” The way this word is used in Mark can convey three possible meanings. First, Mark could simply mean “hey, here’s the start of my Gospel.” Alternatively, the Evangelist could mean that the story of Jesus begins with John the Baptizer— the story of which literally follows in verse four. However, the Evangelist could have also meant, and this is my favorite interpretation, “hey, this gospel of Jesus is merely the beginning of something beyond your wildest dreams.
Next, we have the word “Christ.” Christ comes from the Greek word christos which means “anointed.” The Hebrew word would be, in English, messiah. Now, in most contexts, christos would simply refer to the placement of oil on a ruler or priest as a symbol of the divine approval or ordination of that person to the office. However, in the Hebrew Scriptures, the term messiah refers to a king of Israel, and except in only one case, would not be the noun used to describe other kings or rulers or the anointing of priests. The one exception to this rule was Cyrus of Persia who is described as “God’s anointed” because he allowed the Jews to return to their homeland from their exile in Babylon and Persia. In other words, the messiah is one who God ordains to benefit God’s people, and in the time of Jesus the messiah was seen as one who would come to liberate God’s people from oppression.
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Then, there’s the bombshell “son of God.” In these days of Roman imperialism, only the Emperor was called “son of God.” He also had the additional title of “prince of peace.” Sound familiar? The Bible is so much more political than we realize…it’s an entire narrative about God’s liberation of God’s people from oppression! By calling Jesus the “son of God,” who has been anointed like a Jewish king, Mark is saying “hey, this is a different kind of ruler.” In the Hebrew scriptures, the term “son of God” is used to describe people who have an intimate relationship with God, not necessarily someone who was begat by God.
Lastly, we have the expression “the way.” In Greek, the word used means road or path. Mark uses “the way” differently throughout this Gospel. Narratively, Mark uses “the way” to describe Jesus’ journey from baptism in Judea to journey back to Galilee to do his ministry to his journey back to Judea to die in Jerusalem. The Evangelist uses it theologically to describe the new way of life Jesus was bringing as heralded by John the Baptizer— which is the way…no pun intended…the Evangelist is using it in these verses. Lastly, the Evangelist uses “the way” to describe the spiritual journey one takes with Jesus as we join him in baptism, ministry, and in taking up our cross.
The World in Front of the Text
But what about the world in front of the text. How was this sacred word received in 70 CE when it was first proclaimed, and how we can receive it now in 2025 CE? There are not a lot of differences between 70 CE and 2025 CE. A cruel emperor has destroyed Jewish life as they knew it, the little autonomy the Jewish nation had was gone, and people are looking at their faith wondering if they were tricked into following this Jesus guy. Today, a cruel wannabe dictator is about to be inaugurated, the democracy we love and thought was secure is in a tenuous position, and we are looking at our faith and wondering if this Jesus movement is a load of unholy excrement. The time was ripe then, as it is now, for a re-examination of who Jesus was, is, and will be through his followers.
Last Things
In our next episode we continue with the overture of the Gospel of Mark and will unpack the story of John the Baptizer and the baptism of Jesus. The implications of that baptism on Jesus’ identity, and on your identity, may surprise you.
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Beloved, go about your day knowing you are loved more than you could ever ask or imagine. Be kind to yourself and to one another. Have a snack, and take a nap. Above all, dwell in peace. May it be.
This episode of Eleven Minutes in Heaven was written and produced by Rev. Darcy Corbitt and is © Copyright 2025 Darcy Corbitt, LLC, PO Box 23, Camp Hill, AL 36850. All rights reserved.
All scripture quotations come from the COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE which is © Copyright 2011 COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (www.CommonEnglishBible.com).
Music included in this podcast is by Julius H used under the Pixabay Content License.
