The Gospel of Mark: A Lutheran Gospel (Part 1 of 8)
A lot of Christians regard Lutherans as being very one-sided or narrow in their theology. The accusation is that we Lutherans shrink the church year together into Good Friday. In other words, Lutherans are often blamed for making every day Good Friday while ignoring the other major themes of the church year. People will often state, "There are 3 articles of the Apostle's Creed, not just the 2nd article!" Consider this one for a moment too, "You Lutherans need to move beyond the cross to the resurrection.” In fact, I recently received the following comment on my blog called, “PM Notes.” The commenter stated, “All too often evangelicals across the board focus exclusively on Christ's death and not near enough (if any) on his resurrection. The power of the gospel is that Christ ROSE from the dead; it's our future hope to rise as well!”
So in transferring these common criticisms to the Gospel of Mark what do we find from this narrative of Jesus? What is Mark’s theology, where does the overarching structure of the book lead us, where do the individual stories direct us and what can we learn about the titles of Jesus? I have heard it stated before that Mark is a Lutheran’s Gospel because at the center of Mark we find the centrality of the cross. In other words, the dramatic narrative structure of Mark takes us to the cross. The increasing conflict of Mark’s Gospel also takes us to the cross. Furthermore, Mark’s use of the term “Son of God” climaxes at the cross. Finally, the controversial ending of Mark’s Gospel, if understood correctly, points us not forward but backwards to the cross.
The purpose of this blog series is to point out the cross-centeredness of Mark’s Gospel as a basis for reading, preaching and teaching the Gospel of Mark. Obviously, the Gospel of Mark does not exclusively belong to the Lutheran camp; however, a cross-centered approach to the Gospel of Mark certainly affirms the Lutheran Theological focus of the cross.
Next Post In This Series: February 26th of 2012
Comments
Thanks for your interesting blog!
My question and comment:
To which "controversial ending" of Mark do you refer?
There are a handful of options. If you are referring to verse 8 as the ending (which I think is, by far and away, the best alternative), I agree with you that the crucifixion is more Mark's focus than is the resurrection. If you are referring to 9-20 (or any of the similar options), then it's a more difficult case.
You might want to specify.
It is good to hear from you my friend!
In part 8 of this series I present the case for the ending of Mark at verse 8. I didn't hold to this ending until I wrestled with the evidence from the early fathers. Furthermore, as you state, the ending of Mark at verse 8 actually highlights the cross! Sweet stuff!
Grace and Peace to you my friend as you continue to minister and serve at LBS!