The Gospel of Mark has three phrases that serve as structural markers in the book. At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, the crowds are constantly asking a question that could be paraphrased as, 'what kind of authority is this?' Chapter after chapter explores this question by contrasting the kind of authority and Kingdom that Jesus is part of with the other claimants to authority: the Jewish leaders, Rome, and the various forces of darkness that afflict people.

A turning point in the book comes when Jesus asks his disciples, 'who do you say that I am?' and Peter responds by proclaiming that Jesus is in fact the Messiah - the long awaited King, and pivot-point of human history. Finally, the book ends with a Roman centurion, perhaps the most visible representative of the 'other authorities' at Jesus' crucifixion, stating, 'truly this man was the Son of God!'

As you read the Gospels, read them in light of the central question that drives this structure: who is Jesus?

Notice the details that the author chooses to include. Jesus is born to the line of Abraham, David and the Exiles. An evil ruler tries to kill all the baby boys, but Jesus and his family escape to Egypt. They then go to Galilee, and Jesus goes through the waters of baptism, is filled with the Spirit, and wanders in the desert for forty days, being tempted by the lack of bread. Then, he goes up on a mountain and teaches the people about the Law.

The writer of Matthew describes Jesus living in miniature the journey of Israel throughout the Exodus.

The Gospel of Mark begins with a form of proclamation that would have been instantly recognizable to anyone living in the Roman Empire. The Greek word euangelion, meaning good news, which we translate as gospel, was commonly used to proclaim a significant change in the Empire, such as the birth of a new Caesar, or a great military victory. The first chapter of Mark builds on this political format, describing Jesus proclaiming a new kingdom, and overcoming all manner of spiritual and physical evils afflicting the people of Galilee. Their response is to ask the question, what is this? A new teaching with authority!

Continuing to develop the theme of contrasting kingdoms, Mark describes two scenes, involving two feasts, and two very different men claiming to be the King of the Jews. Herod gets drunk at his birthday banquet, and kills the greatest prophet ever sent to Israel. Jesus has compassion for the crowd, and feeds them.

In the hours before his death, Jesus is brought before the different authorities of Judea. He claims to be the King of the Jews, and before the Jewish council he makes the extraordinary claim to be both God and Messiah. But, the picture is not of the kind of authority and kingship that we might expect: reviled, executed, and abandoned by all his followers except the women. Ironically, the only one who acknowledges his authority is the Roman centurion in charge of the execution. Mark is forcing us to ask the question, what kind of King is this Jesus?

Just as Matthew begins with imagery drawn from the Exodus, and Mark paints a picture of Jesus the King, the Gospel of Luke draws its tone from the Exile, and the years of longing for God to return to his people. At the start of Luke, Jesus is born after a number of prophecies, he is presented in the Temple to Simeon and Anna, and then he begins his ministry by preaching from Isaiah’s great prophecy of the salvation of Israel, but is quickly ‘exiled’ from the town, and begins wandering throughout Galilee.

Consider the echoes of the Exile period in this passage: Jesus has no place to lay his head; he and his disciples go out without possessions; he curses towns that fail to repent; and we are told that all this is the fulfillment of the longings of Israel’s prophets and kings.

One of the great ironies presented in Luke is God’s return to Jerusalem, and to his Temple. Longed for and prophesied about since the Exile, Jesus’ entrance turns to weeping, and finally to a cleansing of the Temple – not what anyone had been expecting.

The story of the road to Emmaus is deeply shaped by the theme of Exile. The two disciples are literally leaving Jerusalem, devastated and confused. As they walk away looking for meaning, Jesus joins them, and explains the whole story to them, but they are slow to realize what is going on. Finally, when their eyes are opened, they rush back to Jerusalem, late at night, and bring the good news to the apostles. The book of Luke ends with Jesus’ explanation that his death and resurrection would lead to proclamation to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem, and with his disciples returning to Jerusalem in great joy, blessing God in the Temple – a true return from Exile.

If the first three Gospels portray Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel’s story as seen through the lenses of Exodus, David’s Kingdom, and Exile, the Gospel of John reaches back to Creation itself, and asserts that in Jesus, not only are the covenants fulfilled, but God has actually created again. The beginning of John echoes Genesis 1, but with language drawn from Greek philosophy and other sources. The claim being made here, is that not only is Jesus a new Creation, but he is the Creator himself, incarnated now as the first light of the new world.

The first parts of John are full of imagery of God creating again. To Nicodemus, Jesus explains that his redemption is so significant that it is like rebirth, and that God so loved the whole world (meaning the Creation), that he sent Jesus. As twenty-first century readers, we often imagine that God is talking about coming to offer salvation to all of humanity, but Jesus is making a broader point than that – the whole cosmos is the object of God’s redemptive act.

John’s portrait of the resurrection is a wonderful intermixing of the creation theme. Jesus meets Mary outside the tomb, but she thinks he is the gardener. It’s a beautiful double-meaning, that tells us not just of her confusion, but echoes Adam the first gardener, walking in Eden. Similarly, when Jesus breathes on his disciples and offers the Holy Spirit, we are meant to remember God’s first breathing of life into humanity in Eden. Finally, the last scene of Jesus with his disciples on the beach, eating breakfast, is itself a microcosmic glimpse of the new creation. We will see God on earth with his people again in the story of the Bible, but not until the end.