This is the year of Mark in the lectionary…
Jesus is called the Son of God 3 times in the Gospel of Mark. One was at the baptism of Jesus which was earlier this year in Epiphany. One time was this past Sunday at the Transfiguration, and one time later in the Gospel…
These first 2 times it is the Father that proclaims Jesus is His beloved son, someone who is loved by God and should be listened to.
At the baptism, only Jesus hears this voice though as he rises up out of the water (read Mark 1:1-11). I wonder why Jesus needed to be told that He was the son of God and beloved by the Father? Did he not already know this? Or maybe we as he readers get in on the inside at the beginning, that there is something more to this Jesus…
The second proclamation of Jesus as the son of God, there are a few more witnesses. James, John, and Peter get to see Jesus standing and talking to Moses and Elijah… And if that wasn’t enough, he turns bright white, not like any white they had ever seen before, but shining… They see Jesus as he is, God! And again if that was not enough, the Father speaks to them and says that Jesus is His son and beloved by Him, and they should listen to Him. (read Mark 9:2-9) And why did Jesus tell the three of them not to tell anyone until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead? They just got proof that Jesus is God, and He told them to not tell anyone, why?
The third time Jesus is proclaimed the son of God, it is not by God the Father, and it is not by a disciple… Mark 15:39 Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” A Roman centurion! A gentile! Not someone on the inside who walked with Jesus for 3 years, or who should know that he is the Son of God, but a Roman guard, who witnessed His death and through this knew that He was God…
Do we see Jesus as the Son of God, and if we do, how do we live our lives so that others will know that Jesus is the Son of God?
Live the Gospel out loud – showing the world that Jesus is the Son of God and you are a disciple of Him!
aSacredRebel 