Unlike Matthew, Mark seems to have no difficulty with Jesus undergoing John’s baptism of repentance even though Jesus had no need to repent.[1]
- Discussion Outline
- Discussion Audio (1h07 minutes)
- Text: Mark 1:9-15
As we read Mark, we can make assumptions about the traditions about Jesus that he knew. If he was recording Peter’s knowledge, Mark certainly knew that Jesus was personally sinless. Yet in these opening verses, Mark chooses to deliberately omit those parts of the tradition that object to Jesus being baptized. Jesus is baptized with a “baptism of repentance.” We, as the audience, are left to wrestle with Mark’s choices of inclusion and exclusion.
Repentance and repenting are not exactly popular concepts within modern Christianity. I’ve noticed one of two ways of dealing with it. One is for churches to not talk about it – to 
The second way is to talk about it all the time. The world is lost in sin and the Christian has been commissioned to identify that problem and bring people to repentance. Sermons frequently identify different types of sin and exhort listeners to repent and be saved. The constant focus, conscious or not, is on the ongoing failure of humanity to measure up to God’s standards and thus our need of repentance. The question is always there: have we sufficiently repented of our sins? For many this constant reminder of sins and guilt and shame leads to fear and in some cases, abandoning Christianity.
Both approaches to repentance – ignoring it and dwelling on it – are based on the premise that “repent” is defined primarily in its relationship to sin and more specifically, personal sin. But is this what Mark (and Peter) had in mind when the gospel opens with both John the Baptist and Jesus calling on people to “repent”, and when Jesus himself undergoes a baptism of repentance?
Sin Infects the Entire Community
The biggest mistake Western Christians make about sin and repentance is to see it primarily through our individualistic culture. For decades and even a couple of centuries now, Christianity has spoken primarily of personal salvation and a personal relationship with Jesus and/or God. But such a notion would have been rather foreign to Mark and his audience.
Do not forget that Metanoeite! [Repent!] is a plural verb. Over the years, in English, we have downsized this powerful Greek verb into a singular, private affair. Of course, a person’s decision whether or not to follow Jesus is deeply personal, but Metanoeite! is a plural imperative that extends beyond one’s personal decision. Mark refuses to reduce Metanoeite! to a privatized response, as though the invitation of Jesus involved “just me and Jesus.” Mark will have none of that. “Believing the gospel” is a group effort. Christian life is lived in community, always in community, no matter how many blemishes or scars.[2]
Sin has infected the entire human community. It doesn’t matter if just one individual sins or all of them. All have sinned. When Jesus chooses to become incarnate as a human, he chooses to take upon
But for Jesus (and Mark as he writes) turning away from sin is a very tiny part of repentance. For Jesus repentance is turning to God, committing himself to God’s will and purposes, and making the decisions all through his life in line with a journey toward God. Jesus rejects the temptation to sin of self-preservation. He rejects the basis of power and empire of this world and reveals a different kind of kingdom, one based not on self-preservation but on self-sacrifice.
To prepare for participation in the reign of God means a complete reversal of mindset (metanoeite is usually translated "Repent!" but this is much more all-encompassing than mere regret or admission of fault). This reversal of mindset amounts to putting unreserved trust in the good news from God and about God that will unfold in the course of the narrative. That is all the Markan Jesus asks- a complete reversal of humanity's values, priorities, and ground of security.[3]
Testing Continues Through This Life
Unlike the gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke, there is no “finish” to the period of testing/temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. There is no decisive victory. By this lack of a “finish” Mark tells his audience (Christians undergoing crisis and persecution) that like Jesus, the testing and suffering will continue through their entire lives, that they may well not experience any respite from it in this life. But the encouragement is that a “wilderness experience” is not a sign of God’s abandonment but quite to the contrary, God’s will can be accomplished through it. Not only that but heavenly ministers will minister to them during this trying period. Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark writes that angels minister to Jesus throughout his testing period.
The Kingdom Is Here – Repent!
The Kingdom of God is vastly different from the kingdoms of the world. The two are based on diametrically opposed systems of power and governance. All human systems are based on hierarchy and power that leads to tyranny and corruption as those more powerful attempt to retain their positions and privileges through manipulation, deceit, and force.
Human history is a continued record of one kingdom conquering another, to be conquered by yet another. In many cases the conquering kingdom has noble vision and high ideals, but as it is established it falls to the same temptation that caused its predecessor to fall.
The same can be said not just of political powers but business and religious groups.
Therefore, repentance is the good news of the kingdom of God.
“The kingdom of God” here means the rule of God, and Jesus' message signifies that God has begun to establish his rule in a world viewed by many religious Jews as under the tyranny of Satan and evil.[4]
Jesus' action in confronting Satan, sin, disease and death, and subduing nature is the sign that the end stands as the next act of God in man's future. Provision has been made for men to repent, but there is no time for delay. Only through repentance can a man participate with joy in the kingdom when it does break forth… Either a man submits to the summons of God or he chooses this world and its riches and honor. The either/or character of this decision is of immense importance and permits of no postponement. That is what repentance is all about.[5]
We do not have to repeat the past. We can have a new beginning and enter into a new way of life. This is the meaning of Jesus’ opening announcement in Mark’s gospel account.
Without question, Metanoeite! carries with it the notion that we have some changing to do, some new directions to take; its primary orientation, though, is toward God’s future rather than our past. In Mark, Metanoeite! is an invitation to trust in a future made possible by the grace of God. The first word Jesus
speaks in Mark’s Gospel is “Metanoeite!” Why? Because in Jesus, God makes it possible for God’s people to do more than rerun the past. That is the gospel, the good news, the glad tidings toward which Jesus invites us to stop, turn, or turn again, and hold on to for dear life. Metanoeite! says our Lord; things do not have to stay the way they are now! In fact, to follow Jesus means that things cannot stay the way they are…[6]
[1] Exploring Mark, p.43.
[2] Feasting: Mark, location 1284.
[3] Reading Mark, 1:1-13.
[4] UBC: Mark, 1:14-20.
[5] NICNT: Mark, 1:14-15.
[6] Feasting: Mark, location 1260.
