This is the second week into the new year reading the Gospel of Mark, and now in week two we start at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel.  You might remember that I said with Matthew, a big theme was “invitation” - so a big theme with Mark is “immediately” - it is a much shorter gospel, the fluff is cut out, Jesus is coming back soon, so do this immediately!

 

You can somewhat see this with the way this Gospel starts. Unlike Matthew and Luke which start with an infancy narrative talking about the Birth of Jesus, Mark starts with John the Baptist, just jumps right past about thirty years of Jesus’ life.

 

Another thing about Mark is that it was thought that he was writing his Gospel to the people of Rome. I found something interesting. Scholars have unearthed what is called the Priene Inscription. It’s an ancient Greek inscription from the Roman Empire that is dated to around nine years before the birth of Christ, and it’s about the birth of Caesar Augustus. 

 

This is how the Romans announced the birth of Caesar - and I want you to listen to this with the Gospel of Mark’s reference to the good news of Christ in mind. This Priene Inscription says:

“Since the Providence which has ordered all things is deeply interested in our life has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit mankind, sending him as a savior, both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things, and since he, Caesar, by his appearance, surpassing all previous benefactors, and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done, and since the birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning for the world of the good tidings (Greek = euangeliōn) that came by reason of him.”

 

This inscription is really striking because it uses the exact same language that the Gospels use, the language of the good news (euangeliōn = where we get our word “Evangelization”) of the birth of Christ, to announce the good news (euangeliōn) of the birth of Caesar, who wasn't just regarded as a king but who was regarded as a savior and even as a god. 

 

He was divinized, he was called the divine Caesar. That’s really striking because the Gospel of Mark was written for Christians living in the city of Rome and they would have been familiar with the emperor. So how does Mark begin his gospel? He begins with the euangelion, the good news of the coming of God in Jesus Christ, the good news of the coming of the Savior. 

So Mark immediately sets up a contrast. Either you are going to accept the good news of the divine Caesar and accept him as your god, or you are going to accept the good news of the Divine Savior, Jesus, the son of God, the God who made the heavens and earth.

 

Now last weekend when I was on Kairos, a topic that came up was demonic possession and manifestations.  The kids like to talk about that stuff, and they understood someone could be possessed by a demon, a fallen angel, but one of them asked, “can someone be possessed by a good angel?”  Fair question, but I responded, “No, I don’t think so, I think we can only be possessed by Jesus Christ.”

 

It’s kind of a weird thought, but I told him, “This is really my prayer for myself, to be possessed by Jesus Christ, that I grow in holiness so much that when you look at me, you see Jesus, you hear Jesus, you know Jesus through me. As we get closer to Him, through receiving communion, through our growth in holiness, everything that is not of Him is purified from us.”

 

I believe that should be all of our immediate goals.  Listen to St. Peter from our second reading who was also presumably writing to the Romans: “Since everything is to be dissolved in this way (by fire), what sort of persons ought you to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,... Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.”

 

See, we still live in this contrast that Mark and Peter were talking about, choosing Caesar or choosing God, to be possessed by the world, or be possessed by Jesus Christ. In many ways Mark picks up right where Matthew left off: inviting us to serve God, not mammon; To do good works, not be spiritually slothful; To be a humble sheep, not a stubborn goat. These invitational choices are all over, and as I drove home from Kairos, listening to football, not praying like I should have been, I thought, “Am I possessed by NFL and fantasy football more than I am Jesus Christ?”  It is never us choosing a devil with a pitchfork, it is way more subtle.

 

I believe this is the immediate question for all of us, “am I possessed by (fill in the blank) more than I am Jesus Christ?” If so, I believe it requires an immediate response, how can I be more like Jesus Christ?  In the words of John the Baptist, “I must decrease, He must increase.”  The repentance that John the Baptist preached required their immediate change.  How can we be more possessed by Jesus Christ so that we manifest His love to the world?