“Preparing the Way”–A Pastor’s Thoughts on the Gospel of Mark (Matthew Claridge)

Discipleship Ministry

[Editor’s note: To read previous articles in this series on the gospel of Mark, click here.]

We are seeing a natural progression here in the theological emphases of Mark. Biblical theology represents the big picture, God’s world of creation and redemption. We then zoom in on the gospel, which is the fulcrum or “axis” on which everything in Scripture turns. Finally, we zoom in on discipleship which defines our vocation and placement in this divine “tilt-a-whirl” (compliments of N.D. Wilson). Having read the script having been placed in it by the gospel what role are we then to play? “Discipleship,” just like the other terms we have considered, is very faddish. Everyone loves to throw it around and give what they are doing in ministry some aura of legitimacy. Let’s allow Mark to set the agenda for us.

There is a particular word that knits all Mark’s OT scriptural allusions together in vv. 2-3. It is the word, “way.” In Exodus, the context is the promise that the Angel of the Lord will go ahead and prepare the way for the Israelites coming into the land of Canaan. In Isaiah, the context is a royal herald encouraging the people to prepare to receive the King when he arrives.

The term “way” not only binds all these scriptural allusions together, it becomes a structural device knitting together Mark’s entire Gospel account. Many commentators note that Mark’s Gospel is constructed in three Acts. These three Acts, in turn, reflect the three stages of the anticipated New Exodus as envisioned in the prophet Isaiah. This pattern is found all over Isaiah in various forms, but perhaps Isa. 35 outlines all three stages in the clearest way. Stage 1: God journeys on a rescue mission to gather his people from their oppressors in foreign lands (Isa. 35.1-8). Stage 2: God personally leads his people through the wilderness on the “way” toward their homeland (vv. 9-10). Stage 3: they arrive in their homeland (Zion) where “I will be their God and they shall be my people” forever (v. 11). This “New Exodus” outline is, of course, identical to the original plot of the Exodus.

Mark appears to use the same outline to structure his story of Jesus. In Mark’s first Act, the focus is on Jesus miraculous ministry in and around Galilee where he gathers his disciples (1.14-8.26). In the second Act, we find Jesus on the “way” toward Jerusalem. It is in this section that Jesus first announces plainly his mission to suffer and die in Jerusalem. The focus turns away from the crowds to his disciples, as Jesus guides and instructs them (8.27-10.52). In the final Act, the scene is Jerusalem where Christ consummates his covenant with his people by establishing a permanent place where God’s people meet with their king: a Gentile cross (11.1ff).

The theme of discipleship is most naturally developed in the middle section of Mark’s Gospel. Mark will use the term ‘way’ for a thematic, theological reason to point to Christ’s way of life and journey to the cross as he lays down a new ethic and pattern for his people (8.27, 34ff). But, of course, discipleship is prominent in the other sections of Mark’s gospel as well. In the first Act (1.14-8.26), the focus is on how Jesus gathers his disciples. Christ’s words “follow me” and the kind of people to whom he addresses these words suggests the centrality of Christ and the universality of his calling. It gives us much food for thought for the church’s self-understanding and approach to evangelism.

While Mark’s scriptural preface in 1.1-3 most likely refers exclusively to the role of John the Baptist, there must also be a sense in which Jesus himself is the supreme “messenger” preparing the way. After all, John the Baptist is hardly identifiable with the “Angel of the Lord” in the reference from Exodus. The Angel of the Lord was sent as a mediator between YHWH and his people following their adulterous affair with the Golden calf. When Israel receives the “devastating news” that YHWH will not personally go up with them into the land but send his “angel” instead (Ex. 33.2-4), Moses rightly wonders if this is sufficient. Who is this “Angel of the Lord” anyway (v. 12)? Later in the account, YHWH assures Moses that He himself will go up with them in the Person of the Angel (v. 14). There are two important implications of this story: 1) The people of Israel have absolutely no ability of their own to “prepare their way” into the land of Canaan. They are hopelessly outgunned and their esprit de corp hopelessly compromised; 2) they know that if God is not personally with them they have no assurance of his grace let alone victory (vv. 15-16).

In the final analysis, the Lord must lead the way. He must himself “prepare the way.” Discipleship, then, is not something “we do” in the power of our moral resolve and devotion. Its something Christ also assumed as the obedient Son of the Father. Even this he does not lay on our shoulders to perform. In all things, he has gone before, running the race, as the author and finisher of our faith. We are merely riding his coattails, holding on by the faith He provides.

Matthew Claridge is married to Cassandra and has three children, Alec , Nora, and Grace. He is an editor for Credo Magazine and is Senior Pastor of Mt. Idaho Baptist Church in Grangeville, ID. He has earned degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.