December 23rd, 2023

The name for this Sunday is the Fourth Sunday in Advent. And this year the latter part of that day also happens to have the name of Christmas Eve, and that does not happen too often. The Gospel Reading for this Sunday is from the Gospel according to Luke (1:26-38), and that also does not happen too often in the ‘B-Series’. The Gospel readings for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are familiar ones, from both the Gospel according to Luke, chapter two, and the Gospel according to John, chapter one.

Last week’s writings of this website looked at a somewhat abrupt start to Jesus’ ministry in the first few verses of the Gospel according to Mark. That is not a familiar start when it comes to the gospel accounts. In both the Gospel according to Matthew and the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus’ birth is the focus for a little while. And in the Gospel according to John, the writer goes back to the very beginning of time and focuses on Jesus’ connection to that.

In the writings of this past week, the first historical account (where one expects the verb to be in the past tense, but it appears in the present) was given in the text when Jesus is ‘thrown out’ into the wilderness at the start of his ministry. That action of being thrown out was connected to growth, and one could say that things grew because of Jesus’ wilderness experience. And one could also say that in these next few verses we will see some growth as well.

The idea of these historical presents is not always to focus the attention of the reader or listener on Jesus. The attempt will continue to connect these historical presents to a particular living creature of the LORD’s throne, and that creature for this gospel account is the lion. And the LORD’s presence has ramifications like a lion in some parts of the Old Testament, much in the same way that the LORD does some things in the New Testament in Jesus AND in Jesus’ followers.

The following words of scripture are a somewhat-literal translation of Mark 1:14-29, and the words of the historical present are in bold print (and it may be helpful to look also at a study bible or another translation to see the meaning of this section more clearly):
Now after the, to be given over, the John, he came, the Jesus, into the Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of the God and saying “It has been fulfilled, the time, and it has come near, the kingdom of the God; change your mind, and believe in the Gospel.”

And leading near, along the Sea of the Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, throwing around in the sea, for they were fishers. And he said to them, the Jesus, “Come after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” And straightway, having left the nets, they followed him.

And having gone on a little, he saw Jacob, the one of the Zebedee, and John, the brother of him, also them in the boat, mending the nets. And straightway he called them, and having left the father of them, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants, they went away after him.

And they enter into Capernaum, and straightway on the Sabbaths, having entered into the synagogue, he began to teach. And they were struck out upon the teaching of him, for he was teaching them as authority having, and not as the scribes.

And straightway, he was in the synagogue of them, a man in a spirit, unclean, and he cried out, saying, “What to us and to you, Jesus, Nazarene? You came to destroy us? I know you, who you are, the Holy One of the God.”

And he rebuked him, the Jesus, saying, “Be muzzled, and come out from him.” And having shaken him, the spirit, the unclean, and having cried out, with a voice, great, it came out from him.

And they were amazed, all, so as to debate with themselves, saying, “What is this? Teaching, new, according to authority; and the spirits, the unclean, he commands, and they obey him.” And it went out, the hearing of him, straightway, everywhere, into all the surrounding region of the Galilee.

And straightway out of the synagogue, having come out, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with Jacob and John.

As always, there is much that could be said about what is above. The growth that happens above may be seen in the historical present that appears within the above text.

It could be said, first of all, that growth appears after the reference to John being handed over. That should be a depressing thought. As this gospel account started so abruptly, it also turned abruptly to be somewhat negative. But it is interesting that, after that negative thought, there are two mentions of the word ‘gospel’, the next time that word appears after the first verse of the account. The title had the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now there is the Gospel of the God. That bigger description is much more comforting.

It is interesting that the historical present does not just focus on Jesus, that only he enters into the synagogue. There was a great amount of detail given with the calling of Jesus’ first disciples. And you could say that they are thrown in together with Jesus for this great work he is about to do. And this may be compared to a group of lions.

Jesus ‘comes’ to a lot of places within the rest of this gospel account. And he also ‘enters’ into another place, with just a few of his disciples as well, the place where the little girl was raised from the dead (see Mark 5:40). It has been said that there is not much in the Gospel according to Mark about the resurrection of the dead, but you could say that here there is something to keep in mind.

There are forces in present-day society that wish to tear people from their connections to others and force us to be ‘individuals’. But that is not how God designed the family. And that is not how the LORD designed his Church.
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There is a reason that a group of lions is called a pride. And I think it is an okay one, particularly if Jesus is the leader.