Mark 1:1
So
why is the title of a book so important? A title can doom a book to obscurity.
Some titles sell the book. In today’s competitive marketplace, a title must
capture your imagination. The image on the cover must enliven some image that
gets you to pick up the book, flip it over and do a bit more exploring, maybe
even read the first paragraph. If you aren’t captured by that point, most
people will simply put the book back on the shelf and continue looking. A title
can say a lot about a book, not only by what it says, but also by what it
doesn’t say.
Mark
starts his book by telling us of the beginning of the facts of the good news,
and not of the beginning of his book. He could have told us how he decided to
write down what he had experienced like the Gospel writer Luke, but he didn’t.
He starts with the unfolding of the good news that is contained in the life and
ministry of Jesus. He starts by focusing on the start of Jesus mission as the
LORD’s Servant.
Beginnings
are important to Mark. He speaks of them repeatedly throughout his book (see 1:1, 45; 4:1; 5:17, 20;
6:2, 7, 34, 55; 8:11, 31, 32; 10:28, 32, 41, 47; 11:15; 12:1; 13:5; 14:19, 33,
65, 69, 71; 15:8, 18). Some
might say that this is simply the way Mark spoke of transitions as he wrote.
But I think it is more than that. If you look at these passages, they all speak
of the beginning of a new action on the part of the person or people involved.
The
way we start things can determine their outcome. If we beginning practicing a
new musical instrument incorrectly, it can be very difficult to unlearn the bad
habit once it is formed. The same is true in sports and many other activities
in life. It is true in our spiritual life as well. If we begin our day by
surfing the web and reading about all the horror in the world, our day may take
a very different direction than if we start in the Word and prayer. If we don’t
learn the whole Gospel, but only focus on God’s love, we can get a warped view
of our relationships and responsibilities. We become blind to all that He is
calling us to do.
We
learn from this simple start that Mark is not about many things, but one thing:
Jesus. This is good news about Him. He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Promised
One. He is the One whose coming was announced hundreds of years before it
happened. He fulfills all the expectations of the world for a solution to the
problems that plague us in our darkest hours. He can solve global problems and
problems of a single human heart.
How
can He do that? He does this by being uniquely related to the Creator of the
Universe. He is the Son of God. And because of that relationship, He is able to
offer us a connection that was lost by the First Family.
What
beginnings are you going to encounter today? How are you going to handle them
in light of Jesus presence in your life? Will you allow fear and anxiety to
overtake you? Will you recognize the opportunity presented to you in each beginning
to make a change in direction for the better? Will you see the beginning as a
door opened by the LORD, one in which He is present?