Where are we in the story?
Screen shot from The Bible Project's video on the Gospel of Mark. See below for video.
by Pastor John
I've posted this video before, and I want to post it again. Here's why.
Part of studying Scripture is memorizing and understanding individual verses. Another part is understanding topics, like sexuality or God's mercy, that are developed throughout the entire Bible. But another part of understanding God's Word is to see that the author or each book is trying to communicate a message in and of itself. This means that each verse is constructed and placed in the book to be part of a grand message. And you can get the meaning of the verse, but miss the meaning of the book.
For example, if someone writes you an email, there are many sentences in their communication. But what is the grand message they are trying to communicate? It may be that they miss you or love you or that they are frustrated with you because you wronged them. You may lock in on a sentence, but those sentences are there because they support the grand message of the email.
Mark is trying to communicate the message that Jesus is the Suffering Messiah. He is King, but will become so through rejection, suffering, crucifixion and resurrection. So as we spend time in each story in this Gospel, we must remember that Mark is trying to communicate this to us.
So last week, as we learned about "The Shift" and Jesus' telling his disciples that he must suffer, and today as we learn about the Transfiguration, remember that they are both part of a larger story that Mark is telling.
The video will start at 3:26. This is the part of Mark's story where we find ourselves immersed. Watch until 5:55.