The Messianic Secret (I)

Sermon on Mark 3:13-19

Happy New Year everyone! This year, from now till Easter, we will be looking at the life of Jesus from the perspective of Mark. This is something we do every year, preaching from a different gospel from Advent to Easter. This year, it is Mark’s turn. I hope that the short series on Isaiah during Advent was a good foundational preparation for you. As stated before, we have good grounds to believe that Mark wrote his gospel with Isaiah in mind. Hence, a stronger background in Isaiah will give us a deeper insight as we look into the life of Jesus Christ in Mark. Now, because of the way these gospel stories are repeated year after year, and also because our sermons recordings are now available online, I am judicious with the selection of sermon passages, so that repetitions are minimised, and you are introduced to a new portion of the Bible every time. This poses a bigger challenge when we come to the Gospel of Mark. If you accept the general consensus that Mark is the earliest gospel [1], then Matthew and Luke both used Mark as a source for their writing. In fact, over 90% of Mark is included in Matthew, and about 50% is included in Luke, so there are only very few passages that are entirely unique to Mark’s Gospel. Nonetheless, like what my daughter does with the green peas in her fried rice, we have picked out these “Mark exclusive” verses for our sermons before Lent. Just like those peas, maybe they have been excluded or overlooked by Matthew and Luke because they taste yucky. But who knows, if we give them a try, perhaps they too have the nutritional value we need for a balanced diet.

One of these “Mark exclusive” verses can be found in the passage we have read, Mark 3:13-19, which is about the calling of the twelve apostles. I assume that you are already familiar with this story. Unless you are doing an analysis of the list of 12 names, this is probably a passage which you usually quickly skip by. The list of twelve names is like information for the footnotes. As far as the imagery of the calling of disciples is concerned, the calling of the fishermen by the sea is way more dramatic. “Come, follow me.” And they left their boats to follow Jesus. This is way more intense a scene than Jesus saying, “and so the twelve apostles will be you, you and you over there, yes you too. Is that twelve already? Raise your hands again. One, two, three, four… … eleven, twelve. Alright, that’s it.”

Yet, there is a great significance in the choosing of the twelve. The significance is this: the twelve apostles represent the twelve tribes of Israel. And so, this calling of the Twelve goes beyond the usual step of disciple-making or simply a command to follow Jesus. This calling of the twelve represents the formation of a new people of God. It is a symbolic restoration of the kingdom of God after the fall of Judah more than 500 years ago. You can probably hear the echoes of the prophetic words of Ezekiel and Isaiah promising this very restoration. Furthermore, with a descendant of David, Jesus, as the King of this kingdom of God, you can tell why this choosing of the twelve is indeed highly significant. The three synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, present this significance in three different ways

Luke presents this significance in the most straight-forward manner.
Luke 6: 12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. 17 He went down with them and stood on a level place.

Why were Jesus and the twelve standing on a level place? Because after coming down from the mountain, he was going to tell them about the laws of his kingdom. What follows this passage in Luke is the Sermon on the Plain which is known as the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. Luke’s presentation is to highlight the same imagery as in Exodus: that of Moses coming down from Mount Sinai to deliver God’s law to the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve apostles were clearly to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. It should be most obvious to any reader, even to the Gentile audience of Luke.

Let’s compare this presentation with that of Matthew’s.
Matthew 10: 1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions:

In Matthew’s version, the twelve apostles were sent immediately after their appointment to proclaim the message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ (Matthew 10:7) Compared to Luke’s version of this sending in Luke 9, there is a greater emphasis to spread the message, even to die for the message. Here is an example of the words said to the Twelve after their appointment:

Matthew 10: 26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Therefore, in Matthew’s presentation, the Twelve represent not just the restored Kingdom of God; they also represent the Church itself. The Church is the people of God with the mission to spread the message of God’s kingdom. On the other hand, they would also be rejected, persecuted and killed for this message. Perhaps this is why Matthew’s version preserved the point about the Twelve also being given authority. This authority goes hand in hand with the heavy responsibility to spread the message. Because the Church, as represented by the Twelve, will live and die for this message, the Church has the authority to judge or be a blessing with this message. [3]

After understanding the presentations in Luke and Matthew, we are now ready to examine the “Mark-exclusive” verse in today’s passage. In comparing the passages, we can see that Luke preserved the mountainside setting of Mark, to draw out the Exodus analogy. We can also see that Matthew preserved the sending, the preaching and the authority-giving portion of Mark, to spell out the mission of the Church. So what is solely “Mark-exclusive” is the “they might be with him” portion. Is it significant? Isn’t everybody called to follow Jesus and “be with him”? Or is there something special about the Twelve, intentionally appointed so that “they might be with him”?

To answer this question, allow me to introduce you to one of the key themes in Mark, usually referred to as the Messianic Secret [4]. In many parts of the first half of Mark, before Jesus enters Jerusalem, “Jesus regularly commands people and demons to say nothing about what has happened, or who he truly is (e.g. 1:25, 34, 44; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36). He also gives some teaching privately to the disciples, and tells them not to tell others about it (8:30; 9:9). Further, he appears to tell parables in order to prevent people outside the disciple group from understanding him (4:10-12, 33f.)” [4] So this seems like a big contrast to Matthew’s presentation where the twelve apostles are told immediately to go out to proclaim the gospel. In Mark, they are instead told to “be with Jesus” first. The preaching and works of the apostles come much later. Why? The answer to the Messianic secrecy and the reason for the need to first “be with Jesus” is the same: You only know Jesus when you know him fully.

Alexander Pope wrote: A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. I believe the same applies in knowing Jesus. Knowing Jesus partially can be dangerous. There are many who think they know Jesus, but not really. The crowd thinks that Jesus is a miracle worker or a healer. The Romans think that he is a revolutionary. The Jewish authorities think that he is a competing but renegade teacher. Mark also intentionally highlights the disciples’ lack of understanding at key points in his Gospel, not least when Jesus teaches about his forthcoming suffering (e.g. 8:32; 9:32). Jesus is very much misunderstood by all until his death and resurrection come to past. And this is why the Twelve have “to be with him”. This is their primary responsibility. Eventually, they become the true authentic witnesses to his ministry. They have personally learned from him, and are hence most qualified to do the preaching with which they are entrusted. Out of the Twelve, Peter, James, and John, the first three in the list, comprise an inner circle even closer with Jesus. They “are with Jesus at the momentous points in the Gospel: when he raises Jairus’ daughter to life (5:37), when he is transfigured on the mountain (9:2-13), and when he prays in Gethsemane (14:33).” [5] Note the more natural listing of the names in Luke and Matthew – Peter is often paired with his brother Andrew. It is an easy way to remember all twelve apostles. But Mark probably separated Peter from Andrew to denote the inner circle (of Peter, James and John) that would truly exemplify “being with Jesus”.

I think that Mark has highlighted something very important for us today. You need to “be with Jesus” in order to “preach Jesus and be given authority”. You need to know fully and deeply, in order to then minister meaningfully. Tradition tells us that Mark the evangelist wrote his Gospel based on the testimony of Peter. I think we can be thankful that the Jesus we know is based on someone so close to Jesus. There is a comic that I found interesting that tells of this place called Mount Stupid [6] (see SMBC comic). It speaks of the three phases that occur in our quest for knowledge. The first phase occurs as you are climbing Mount Stupid. You are gaining knowledge on a new topic. You find it fascinating and you feel entitled to give opinions on the topic with your knowledge gained. The second phase occurs as you are descending Mount Stupid. You now know even more. And you find that the more you know, the more you know what you don’t actually know. Your willingness to opine reduces as you realise what you have known previously can be inaccurate. The third phase occurs away from Mount Stupid. This is when you gain true knowledge. You know enough to discern between the good and the bad. You know enough to know what you must know more. This is when you start to talk again. You know what you now know is true and substantial. You must share because true knowledge is beneficial and good.

Unfortunately, there are many who are always in the first phase. The Bible records many of these eager beavers and I think history repeats itself until today. You can identify these people as those who only know Jesus through signs and wonders, who think Jesus is only a moral teacher, Jesus as a passport from Hell to Heaven, Jesus as an ideal figure for their notions of love or peace or whichever agenda they have. Thankfully, I hope this is true, Jubilee Church has been rather successful in moving everybody beyond phase one. We stress on the importance of context in interpreting scripture. We teach an awful amount of historical background, biblical scholarship insights and word studies (like our recent series in Isaiah). But I hope we are not a bunch of people all stuck in phase two. We are afraid of being wrong and looking stupid, and hence we do not talk about our faith. Let’s try harder in our walk and start on phase three. Be with Jesus. Know him fully. And then start preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

[1] Known as the Two Source Hypothesis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-source_hypothesis
[2] Matthew 10: 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. 40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Secret Note that the term is now used very much different from William Wrede’s original meaning. This author agrees with the criticisms of the original theory, and accepts the latest scholarship views on the reasons of Jesus’ messianic secrecy in Mark.
[4] Exploring the New Testament, v.1, p.193
[5] Garland, Mark, The NIV Application Commentary, p. 129
[6] http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2475#comic