Writing for Lent 2024 Takeaways
During the 40 days of Lent, I wrote out the book of Mark by hand.
I have a previous blog post explaining why I did this and how I did it, but I’d love to share with you some of my key takeaways and thoughts.
Jesus’s Baptism
I kept coming back to these verses at Jesus’s baptism.
9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Mark 1:9–11 (NKJV)
Jesus’s baptism is an important part of His journey, it is also a powerful indicator of who He is and His role on earth.
There are two interesting aspects of Jesus’s baptism that stand out to me.
The tearing of the heavens.
And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.
Mark 1:10
I’ve never taken notice of how the heavens were “parting” as the Spirit descended on Jesus. After a little Greek word study, the word used for “parting” is the same as “tearing” - “schizo”. This is also how Mark describes the veil in the temple getting torn when Jesus died on the cross:
And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. Then the veil of the temple was torn (“schizo”) in two from top to bottom.
Mark 15:37–38
The veil of the temple - a large piece of hanging clothe in the back of the temple symbolically separating the presence of God from the people - was mysteriously torn in two from top to bottom the moment Jesus died.
The tearing of the temple veil has huge theologically significance:
Mark 15:38 (HNTC Mk): The tearing of the curtain indicated that through Jesus’ death on the cross all people now had access to God. Jesus was the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins (Heb. 10:12–22; John 14:6).
Holman New Testament Commentary
Mark seems to be linking Jesus’s baptism with his death. The baptism happens at the start of the book of Mark, and His death (and resurrection) happens at the end of the book; these two events are bookmarked by a tearing (“schizo”).
There is another interesting link between these two events - the identification of Jesus as the Son of God.
The Son of God.
Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Mark 1:11
This is the first time in the book of Mark that Jesus is identified as the Son of God, as declared by God Himself. And throughout the rest of Mark, just about no human ever calls Jesus the Son of God.
The demons call Jesus the Son of God (Mark 3:11, 5:7), God calls Jesus His Son again at the transfiguration (Mark 9:7), blind Bartimaeus calls Jesus “Son of David” (Mark 10:47), and Peter calls Jesus the Christ (Mark 8:29).
But the only human who identifies Jesus as the Son of God was the centurion at the cross:
So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
Mark 15:39 (NKJV)
I find this fascinating, that the one time that a human properly identifies Jesus as the Son of God it isn’t even from one of Jesus’s followers but from a Roman gentile standing at the foot of the cross.
This makes me wonder, how do I identify who Jesus is when confronted with His reality? Do I recognise Him as the Son of God, or do I try and fit Jesus into a theological box of my own making.
What’s with the link?
I want to do more study into this link, but I suspect that a potential meaning that Mark is trying present to the reader is how do you approach the identity of Jesus?
From the very start we’re told Jesus’s identity as the Son of God at His baptism. So as the reader we know this going into the rest of the book, and we’re expecting others to come to the same conclusion.
But that doesn’t happen till nearly the very end.
There is an almost palpable tension of Jesus’s identity not being fully realised as the Son of God even though we know it as the reader. We’re almost screaming at the religious leader’s who are questioning Jesus’s authority “He’s the Son of God! How can you now know!”.
This challenges me to ensure I keep that perspective throughout my own discipleship journey. Jesus is many things, but as the Son of God am I submitting to His authority, teaching and way of life?
As I read Mark again, I’m now going to approach it with this new lens of how the people who encountered Him received Jesus and how their lives would’ve been changed.
I’m praying this encourages you to read the book of Mark a bit differently in a way that helps you. God bless!