We’re Still Here
Glenn Siepert
Day 1 of 5: We’re Still Here
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God –Mark 1:1 NIV
On July 19 in the year 64 AD, a fire erupted in Rome and blazed for 5 days, came to a standstill on day 6, and then continued to burn for another 48 hours before reducing the city to a pile of smoking rubble. The Roman world was looking for answers as to how the fire began and soon gossip began to spread that Emperor Nero was the mastermind. It was common knowledge that Nero had lofty plans to tear down old buildings and rebuild the city of Rome with modern architecture. So, the rumor was that Nero started the fire and burned down the city so that his plans could move forward without a hitch.
As people began to talk, Nero began to panic and soon found the perfect group of people to pin the blame on: the Jews. Fortunately (unfortunately?) for the Jews, their part of the city was untouched by the fire because it was far removed from the main part of the city and separated by a large river. Nero, however, saw their fully intact community as the perfect way to shift the blame off of himself and onto the Jews; he responded to the rumor about him with a rumor of his own: The Jews did this!
Uncertain of what Nero would do, the Jews began to panic. A group of Jews approached Nero and shifted the blame further onto a smaller sect of Jews–the Messianic Jews, the Christ followers. Nero sent his soldiers through the streets of that Jewish community, where a genocidal massacre occurred; Messianic Jewish men, women, and children were dragged from their homes and either murdered in the streets or dragged to the Circus Maximus where they were sprinkled with blood and eaten alive by starving dogs. It was a time of terror where family turned on family, friends turned on friends, and fear and paranoia ran wild for the few Christ followers who remained.
We begin here because the Gospel of Mark arrived on scene in Rome, shortly after Nero ordered this genocide somewhere between 65 and 70 AD. One doesn’t need to try very hard to imagine the amount of fear, pain, loss, shame, anger, bitterness, hopelessness, etc. that hovered over the remaining Messianic Jews who had somehow escaped Nero’s wrath. Not only were they betrayed by the larger Jewish community, but their families, children, and friends had also been murdered right before their eyes. More than anything else terror, shame, and a deep sense of abandonment make up the context of Mark’s Gospel. Once we grasp this idea it becomes evident that Mark was not writing so much to document the life of Jesus, but to piece together a narrative some 35 years after Jesus’ death, that would encourage the Christ followers who had escaped death, remind them of the mission Jesus had left them with, and push them to move forward, to follow in His footsteps, and to remain unfazed by the threats of the same towering Empire who had crucified and unsuccessfully tried to rid the world of their Savior.
With all of that in mind, Mark opens his Gospel with “The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” In all of the Bible this might be the most meaning-packed statement ever recorded because for Mark’s readers (those early, beat-up Christians) the terms “Gospel” and “Son of God” meant something entirely different than they do to the typical church-going person in 2019. “Gospel” was a Greek expression that literally meant “glad tidings” and was a technical term for news of victory especially in military battles. In the Roman Empire, for example, it was a term that was shouted in the streets when Rome took a colony or province under its control following a military victory—“glad tidings are coming because Rome has extended its power over your city.” In other words, “Rome is your new parent; Rome is your new protector.; Rome is victorious; and this is ‘gospel,’ ‘good news,’ ‘glad tidings.” Similarly, “Son of God” was a term that Caesar used in reference to himself. Printed on many Roman coins was an inscription that read, “Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus,” which laid claim that Caesar Augustus was the son of god, a claim that dated back to 42 BC when his step-father (Julius Caesar) died and was given the title “the Divine Julius Caesar.”
One might say, then, that as Mark opens up his story he’s taking a direct shot at the Emperor and all of the Roman Empire because (in essence) he’s declaring that “Good News doesn’t lie in the Roman Empire, and Good News has nothing to do with the military strength of Rome or Caesar. Good News, rather, is found in none other than Jesus, the only and true Son of God. And the news is good even in the midst of the horror you (Rome) have bestowed upon our people, we will keep believing. We will keep following the true Son of God. Try your best, tap into your worst evil—we’re still here—believing, loving, joyful, holding onto hope. Yes, Jesus is King, not Caesar.”
Call to Action:
As we sit in our own times of personal and/or political horror in 2019, how should we respond? How have YOU been responding? Has it been with grace, forgiveness, and an insistence on being a Light in your world?
OR
Has it been with a desire for revenge? Have you returned anger with anger? Hate with hate? Over these next few days we’ll explore the kind of Jesus that Mark presented to his readers who were faced with the darkest of times, the kind of Jesus that Mark encouraged his readers to follow and emulate. Fasten your seatbelts.
Glenn Siepert