Live in Tension

Sometimes you might have two options. Both options seem correct on their own, but they contradict each other. What do you do?

The greatest and most important problems in life can never be solved, only outgrown.

The tension of opposites … is to be held until a third way appears.

Carl Jung

Be patient for the third way. You can live in tension.

A Worthy Religious Practice

  1. Practice daily prayer or meditation focused on God’s goodness, kindness, mercy, and provision, fostering awe and humility.
  2. Live ethically, making decisions based on reason and moral principles (eg. forgiveness, caring for the poor, honesty, courage, being responsible, avoiding harm).
  3. Seek forgiveness for moral failings through repentance, trusting in God’s omnibenevolence.
  4. Avoid too strong attachments to material things–they distract from the eternal divine.

Who Cares About the Resurrection?

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.

Jesus Christ

The New Testament gospel is quite straight forward:

  1. The kingdom of God is at hand.
  2. God’s anointed one, the flesh-and-blood-man Jesus, has defeated death by his own death and resurrection. This is an event that happened in history.
  3. This resurrection is available to all who put their faith (trust and loyalty) in Jesus.
  4. There is a coming judgment where the wicked will be cast out of the kingdom of God.
  5. All of this will happen within the first generation of Jesus followers.

The linchpin of this gospel is the resurrection of Jesus. Without that, there is no gospel.

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (NRSV)

It would seem, then, that the best way to convince someone to embrace Jesus would be to convince them of the historical reality of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is an event that happened in real history; therefore, it is falsifiable.

For now, let’s ignore the New Testament’s eschatological expectations (No. 5 above) and assume the kingdom is still at hand, and that there is still a future resurrection and judgment. The role of the evangelist remains valid and important. What is the message of evangelists most heard today?

In my own experience, I usually hear two messages (or a combination thereof):

  1. If you don’t put your faith in Jesus, you will die in your sins and go to hell. If you do trust Jesus, you will go to heaven.
  2. If you give your life to Jesus, you will have purpose and meaning in your life.

But never do I hear: “Jesus Christ, a flesh-and-blood man, rose from the dead, and I can prove it (or at least sufficiently convince you of it).”

Again, it would seem that convincing people of Jesus’s resurrection would be a far more effective method of converting people to Christianity than the other two messages provide. Why don’t modern evangelists focus on Jesus’s resurrection then?

Many evangelists assume the resurrection rather than argue for it. Especially in Western societies, the resurrection of Jesus is an already familiar idea. It sits in the corner and is almost ignored. The evangelist often skips over it and jumps directly to the more familiar message—forgiveness of sins, salvation, heaven, purpose, escape from hell, etc. The resurrection remains a foundational background rather than the subject in the foreground.

I am currently reading Dale C. Allison’s The Resurrection of Jesus. It is clear from the book that convincing someone that a first-century man literally rose from the dead is a demanding intellectual task. To do so requires a deep dive into ancient sources, the dating of texts, eyewitness testimony, empty tomb traditions, Paul’s experiences, historical methodology, and the probability of miracles. Most evangelists are not trained historians, and many in their audiences are not interested in detailed historical discussions. It is easier to ask, “Do you feel empty?” or “Do you need forgiveness?” than to spend hours examining historical texts—which, in the end, will probably not be that convincing. Allison admits that the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is insufficient on its own.

A shift occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Whereas early Christianity focused on Christ’s victory over death, his resurrection, and the kingdom of God, modern revivalists shifted the focus toward a personal relationship with Jesus, inner transformation, individual salvation, and personal testimony. The modern new believer is more likely to exclaim, “Jesus changed my life,” rather than, “God raised Jesus from the dead and the age to come has begun!”

Many Christians have only a vague understanding of resurrection. If you ask the average churchgoer, “What happens when you die?” they will most likely respond, “Believers go to heaven when they die. Non-believers don’t.” Resurrection is not prominent in modern Christian thought, and therefore is not prominent in evangelism.

Finally, fear and personal benefit are more persuasive. A modern person can be more easily convinced to fear judgment and hell, and to hope for meaning and purpose, than to be convinced of a 2,000-year-old historical claim, which is extremely difficult to believe.

The simple fact is that the Christian gospel evolves to match its time and place—it is a cultural artifact.

Maybe then it is not so surprising that most who believe in Jesus’ resurrection, however exactly they understand it, have as little need for modern historical criticism as birds have for ornithology. When Christians, on Easter Sunday, greet each other with the acclamation, “Christ is risen,” the expected answer, “Christ is risen, indeed!” is not a statement about investigative results. … Although ignorance should not be the mother of devotion, true religion nevertheless involves realms of human experience and conviction that cannot depend upon or be undone by … historical doubts, probabilities, and conjectures…

Dale C. Allison, The Resurrection of Jesus, page 365

Related reading: Dale Allison’s Provocative Thoughts on the Resurrection

A Summary of Mark’s Gospel

1. Mark begins with an announcement: the time is fulfilled

Mark opens with:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near.” (1:15)

For a first-century Jewish audience, this would not mean “go to heaven when you die.”

It would mean:

The long-awaited moment in Israel’s story has arrived.

The “time” refers to the fulfillment of Israel’s prophetic hopes:

  • God’s reign being established,
  • Israel being restored,
  • evil being defeated,
  • God’s people being vindicated.

The kingdom is fundamentally:

God’s rule becoming effective in the world.

2. Mark’s kingdom is still Israel’s kingdom

Mark has not abandoned Jewish restoration hopes.

The kingdom remains the kingdom promised by:

  • Isaiah
  • Jeremiah
  • Ezekiel
  • Daniel

The story is still about:

God’s restoration of Israel.

However, Mark repeatedly redefines expectations about how that restoration occurs.

3. The kingdom is arriving in unexpected ways

The central theme of Mark is:

Everyone misunderstands.

The disciples misunderstand.

The crowds misunderstand.

The scribes misunderstand.

The authorities misunderstand.

Even Jesus’ family misunderstands.

People expected:

  • power,
  • victory,
  • exaltation,
  • national triumph.

Mark presents:

  • healing,
  • service,
  • suffering,
  • self-sacrifice.

The kingdom arrives, but not in the form many expected.

4. Restored Israel is being redefined

The restored people of God are no longer defined primarily by:

  • status,
  • wealth,
  • purity boundaries,
  • social rank.

Instead they are:

  • repentant,
  • faithful,
  • humble,
  • dependent upon God,
  • willing to suffer,
  • welcoming of outsiders,
  • servants rather than rulers.

The recurring theme is:

The first become last and the last become first.

5. Jesus’ ministry is a preview of restoration

The miracles are not random displays of power.

They are signs of the kingdom.

The blind see.

The deaf hear.

The sick are healed.

The demonized are liberated.

The excluded are welcomed.

Mark portrays these as previews of what God’s reign looks like.

6. The main enemies are not Rome but deeper powers

This is a striking feature of Mark.

Rome exists in the background.

But Jesus spends far more time confronting:

  • Satan,
  • demons,
  • sin,
  • hardness of heart,
  • spiritual blindness.

The kingdom is presented as God’s invasion of territory held by hostile powers.

7. Sin is broader than rule-breaking

When Jesus forgives sins in Mark 2, sin is not simply personal moral failure.

It includes:

  • alienation from God,
  • exclusion from God’s people,
  • conditions associated with living outside God’s intended order.

Forgiveness means restoration.

8. Faith is trust

Faith in Mark is rarely intellectual belief.

It is trust.

People approach Jesus believing God is acting through him.

Faith means reliance upon God’s power rather than one’s own.

9. Righteousness is covenant faithfulness

The “righteous” are not simply moral achievers.

They are those regarded as faithful to God’s covenant.

Yet Jesus repeatedly challenges conventional assumptions about who truly belongs among the righteous.

10. The old order is being replaced

Themes like:

  • new wine and old wineskins,
  • disputes over purity,
  • Sabbath controversies,

all point toward a major transition.

The kingdom is bringing something new.

The old structures are proving inadequate.

11. The Temple stands under judgment

This culminates in the fig tree “Markan sandwich.”

The fig tree:

  • appears healthy,
  • produces no fruit.

The Temple:

  • appears glorious,
  • fails in its vocation.

Mark’s audience likely saw the Temple’s destruction as divine judgment upon an institution that failed to recognize God’s work through Jesus.

12. The Messiah is not what people expected

This may be the dominant surprise in Mark.

People expected:

  • a conquering Davidic king.

Jesus repeatedly teaches:

The Messiah must suffer.

Peter rejects this idea.

The disciples struggle with it.

The authorities fail to see it.

Yet Mark insists:

suffering comes before vindication.

13. Jesus is more than merely David’s son

Mark never rejects Davidic hopes entirely.

But he expands them.

The Messiah is not merely another Davidic king.

He is greater than David.

The traditional expectation was too small.

14. The kingdom comes through the Messiah’s death

One of the most important developments in Mark is that Jesus’ death becomes central to the kingdom story.

The kingdom does not arrive despite the cross.

The kingdom arrives through the cross.

This is the great paradox of Mark.

15. Ransom means liberation

Mark 10:45 introduces the idea that Jesus gives his life:

“as a ransom for many.”

The primary meaning is:

liberation through self-giving sacrifice.

Mark does not provide a detailed theory of atonement.

Instead he presents Jesus’ death as the means by which many are delivered.

16. The Last Supper interprets the death

Mark 14 explains Jesus’ death through:

  • covenant language,
  • self-giving language,
  • kingdom language.

His death creates or renews God’s covenant people.

Yet the kingdom’s fullness still lies ahead.

17. Scripture explains the suffering

Mark repeatedly insists:

these things fulfill the Scriptures.

Not necessarily one specific prediction.

Rather, Jesus fulfills the larger scriptural pattern:

  • rejected prophet,
  • suffering servant,
  • righteous sufferer,
  • struck shepherd.

18. Resurrection becomes explicit

By chapter 12, resurrection is openly discussed.

The kingdom is not merely:

  • national restoration,
  • moral reform,
  • political change.

It includes:

victory over death itself.

The age to come is fundamentally different from the present age.

19. The kingdom has already arrived and is still future

This tension runs throughout the Gospel.

Already present:

  • healings,
  • exorcisms,
  • forgiveness,
  • restoration.

Still future:

  • resurrection,
  • judgment,
  • Son of Man’s glory,
  • gathering of the elect,
  • kingdom in power.

Mark holds both together.

20. Mark 13 is the climax of the kingdom expectation

For Mark’s audience, the destruction of the Temple likely signaled that the final phase of God’s plan was unfolding.

The coming of the Son of Man, judgment, resurrection, and kingdom consummation were expected in close connection with those events.

Whether Mark expected them all to occur together remains debated.

21. What restored Israel ultimately looks like

By the end of Mark, restored Israel is not primarily:

  • politically powerful,
  • wealthy,
  • dominant,
  • ethnically exclusive.

Instead it is a people who:

  • repent,
  • trust God,
  • welcome outsiders,
  • serve others,
  • endure suffering,
  • follow Jesus,
  • await God’s final victory.

The grand narrative of Mark

Mark’s entire story in one paragraph for a first-century audience, might be:

The long-awaited restoration of Israel has begun because God’s kingdom is arriving through Jesus. Yet the kingdom is arriving in a surprising form. The Messiah conquers through suffering rather than military victory. God’s people are being renewed around Jesus rather than around existing institutions. The last become first, outsiders are welcomed, and the powers of evil are being defeated. Jesus’ death is not a failure but part of God’s plan to liberate and restore his people. Though the kingdom is already present in signs and anticipations, its full manifestation awaits the coming of the Son of Man, the resurrection of the dead, and God’s final victory over evil and death.

That captures the major picture that emerges from Mark 1 through Mark 16. The Gospel ends abruptly, but the story it tells is one of Israel’s restoration already underway, yet awaiting its final completion.