I've Got a Secret

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), this year concentrates its attention on the gospel readings from the Book of Mark.  There are several themes and devices that we find in Mark more than in any other gospel.  For example, the word “immediately” occurs in this gospel 41 times.  There is a sense of urgency as Jesus moves from place to place.

Another idea unique to this gospel is how Jesus will perform a mighty act or issue some marvelous revelation and then caution those who are present not to tell anyone about it.  That seems counter to what we think about in terms of witnessing or testimony.  You would think that as Jesus moves about and does these marvelous things that he would want the report – the good news – to be spread to as many people as possible.  But Jesus taught counter to this.  In biblical studies scholars call this idea “the Messianic Secret.”  The concept has evolved since it was first put forth in 1901.  But at its core the concept carries with it the notion that Jesus does not want news about him to spread because he is a miracle-worker.  He rejects the idea that everyone will think of him as a sideshow or as a short-cut to healing and feeding.    Jesus ever desires that people come to him not in search of personal gain, but in a quest for spiritual truth and the knowledge of God.

Sadly, some who have not spent a lot of time with this gospel try to explain Jesus’ attitude as a kind of “reverse psychology.”  Their position is that if Jesus tells them not to do something, their human nature dictates that they go and do it.  There are certainly instances of this behavior occurring – Mark 7:36 and 8:30 being examples.  But there is never a report of this psychological mumbo-jumbo being at the heart of Christ’s motivation.  Jesus’ miracle-workings grow out of his being the Christ of God.  But miracle-worker is not who Jesus is.  Jesus’ task is never to serve the desires of people.  It is to point the way to God.

Two thousand years later some folks still haven’t learned this lesson.  They view Jesus as a leveler of scores and a provider of wants.  They speak of Jesus as a nationalistic Christ who favors one nation over another, or who elevates a particular ideology over the rest.  “Personal Lord and Savior” gets corrupted into “supporter of what I think.”

Mark’s Gospel concerns itself with answering the question, “Who is Jesus?”  Is he the Christ?  Yes.  Is he the Son of God?  Yes.  Is he the deliverer of humankind?  You bet.  Is Jesus one whose mission is to be exclusive and to favor only a few of those whom God created?

Not so much.