The presentation of the gospel of the “Son of God” is pressed with urgency upon people to repent and believe the Gospel of Mark. Mark uses the word “immediately” an astonishingly forty-two times throughout the book. This is not intended to impress upon us the need merely for ethical change, but to receive by faith, all that the Son of God has come to fulfill for us in our place.  It’s a gospel of Jesus’ whole work for us. That, according to Mark, demands immediate response.

Years ago I remember hearing a wise elder say to me that if my sermon could be accepted in a Jewish synagogue then it is not a distinctively Christian sermon.  I’ve thought a lot about that over the years. What makes Christian sermons distinctively Christian? What damage could be done in the life of the Christian church if our sermons lose their distinctively Christian character?  To answer that, of course, one would need to understand and appreciate what makes a gospel message distinctively “gospel”.

To be sure, the word “gospel” is used differently in the Scriptures.  Robert Godfrey provides a helpful observation:

Sometimes the word gospel refers broadly to all aspects of the salvation and new life that Jesus gives His people, and sometimes it is used narrowly to refer to what Jesus does for us outside of us. In other words, sometimes the term gospel refers broadly to Jesus’ work of justification and sanctification for and in His people, and sometimes it refers narrowly to Jesus’ work of justification.

Godfrey also makes the case that sometimes the word “gospel” refers more broadly to all the New Testament fulfillment of what was promised in the Old Testament.  It is in this sense that Mark uses “gospel” when he says in chapter 1, “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Mark is explaining the gospel as the person and work of Christ in fulfillment on behalf of his people.

This is crucial for understanding the overall theological intent and purpose of the gospel of Mark.

The presentation of the gospel of the “Son of God” is pressed with urgency upon people to repent and believe this gospel. Mark uses the word “immediately” an astonishingly forty-two times throughout the book. This is not intended to impress upon us the need merely for ethical change, but to receive by faith, all that the Son of God has come to fulfill for us in our place.  It’s a gospel of Jesus’ whole work for us. That, according to Mark, demands immediate response.

It should be no surprise then that the first scene of his public ministry in Mark’s gospel gives us a powerful display of this urgency to believe the gospel. Jesus begins his public ministry on the Sabbath. Worship services on the Sabbath were similar to Reformed worship services today. They would begin their services with blessings, prayers of response, a reading a from the Pentateuch and the Prophets, and they would have a sermon exposition. The service was concluded with a benediction.

What is of interest is the practice of the synagogue known as the “freedom of the synagogue” under which other rabbis were allowed to, upon being recognized, stand up and deliver the sermon. Jesus’ ministry begins in the synagogue.  Mark records that Jesus’ teaching was entirely different. Mark says that he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

The people were astonished over his authority and message, blown out of their minds. They had never heard anything like it. In contrast, the scribes were masters in ethics and dissecting the law. The people were accustomed to getting a lot of law instruction every Sabbath.

But think of the tragic picture that is presented here. For years these people had been coming up to the synagogue to worship, they got in their synagogue clothes, they heard a call to praise, they heard Bible readings, the scribes got up and preached, and everyone went back home. Nothing happened in the hearts of the people and the kingdom of darkness was perfectly content with that ministry. What were the people getting?

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