I have been reading through the gospel of Matthew and have really enjoyed myself. But I finished it yesterday and was quite disappointed. It is so majestic and is written in the same way as the wonderful books of the Old Testament. I would go so far to say that it should be the 67th book of the Old Testament. But after finishing it, I was disappointed to have to move into simple little Mark. But, I put my biases aside and in faith began Mark this morning to see what the Spirit would teach me through it.
Now after having read the first chapter in Mark for the first time in a long while, I have to say that my initial attitude toward the book was ABSOLUTELY WRONG! While Matthew is deep and somewhat dark at times, Mark is refreshingly simple. Matthew was written to the Jews and it is all about the future kingdom of Israel, but Mark is about the gospel for me! Right from the start, Mark sets the stage. Rather than presenting Jesus going around explaining OT prophesy, it starts withe Jesus "proclaiming the gospel of God." This is the gospel for gentiles! It is quite simply about Jesus and what he did for us.
Simple and beautiful.
I also love the wilderness imagery. John was the imperfect crier in the wilderness, Jesus became the perfect crier in the wilderness of the world, and now in the power of the Holy Spirit we are left as criers in this wilderness of a fallen world.
I'm very excited to read the rest of the book... it's been far too long :-).
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