The Beginning…
a painting by Soichi Watanabe
Beginning today, as a spiritual discipline for the New Year, I will bLOG daily reflections from my favorite Gospel, Mark. I will keep going until I run out of verses to write on. Now some may think this is my most ambitious project yet, but this is simply a long-overdue act of devotion to my Lord, and I really need it. These are my reflections, but I am giving you a glimpse into the faith of this Hitchhiker as he journeys. I hope and pray that you benefit from them as much as I will.
Believed by many scholars to be the first Gospel written, sometime in the decade preceding the destruction of the temple (c.70 CE), Mark appears to be an account woven together from eyewitness recollections (possibly Peter) and a wonderfully artful literary structure designed to take us on a journey. Now you know why Hitchhikers are attracted to it. I invite you to come along as we travel from Galilee to Judea to Jerusalem to Golgotha to the Garden, and back to Galilee. But before we start the journey, we must have a beginning and an end…
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1
Every journey has its start, and ours begins at “the beginning.” We start our journey with a proclamation of “the good news” (in Greek: τοῦ εὐαγγελίου). This passage is not a proclamation of celebration of an earthly emperor or king, but rather a revelatory declaration of the coming of the Anointed Son of God, Jesus.
Jesus the Christ is our “beginning,” our end, and our everything in between!
Lord,
Today’s wonderful word in Greek, εὐαγγελίου, is the root word to describe those who are bringers of good news with the very essence of their being (εὐαγγελιστής). Please help me be an evangelist of the Savior of the World. May I do it with all of my passion, words, and actions.
I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Amen!
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