For churches that follow a lectionary of Scripture readings, each year there is typically a different Gospel narrative that is the focus for the year. For many churches, this year’s featured Gospel account is the one attributed to Mark.
If you want a fast-action narrative, it is the perfect year to open the Good Book, and Holy Week is the perfect time. (Holy Week in Mark is chapters 11-16 if you are really crunched for time; the whole book is less than 20 pages in most translations.)
Mark is the oldest Gospel account according to most scholars and you get this sense of a group of people getting together and saying “we need to write this down” and then hurrying as quickly as possible to do so. (At one point, the author even takes a detour to go back and complete the story of what happened to John the Baptist, basically saying “oh, I almost forgot” in the text; Mark 6:14-29.)
Mark is always on the move—or rather, Jesus always is. There is no time for frills and lengthy explanations here. Jesus is on an important mission and we are along for the ride as the reader. Everything happens “immediately” (Mark’s favorite word) and then Jesus is on to the next person to heal, miracle to do, town to visit, objection to address, or challenge to overcome.
The constant rush in Mark is to get the reader to the events of what we now call Holy Week. This week is the crux of the Gospel. The center of all Good News.
Let us embrace this sacred week and ponder its mysteries.
And Mark leaves a lot of open space for contemplation. While other Scriptures give us lengthy well crafted theological statements to debate, Mark gives us plenty of room to have those discussions. This writing is about the actions of Jesus and the most important events of Holy Week.
It is the plain Gospel, said plainly. Easy to understand and easy to see Jesus for who he is. Easy to see his character. This is indeed Good News for anyone that wants to hear it. Will you and I hear it this Holy Week? And how will that impact our lives and actions in the weeks (and the rest of our earthly lives) to come?
Relevant Reformation 