You know, you know?

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee, and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay, he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

After reading those few lines, I can’t help but wonder: Is this story moving really fast, or is it just me? Why is John in prison? Since when did dressing odd and yelling at people by the river gain the status of class C felony in the Jerusalem Code? (that’s a lame lawyer joke, for those of you not following). Where is Galilee? And I don’t mean to seem naïve here, but what, pray tell, do you mean by “kingdom of God,” Jesus? What good news? OK, from a more utilitarian standpoint, if the kingdom of God is that near, and the news is that good, why did Jesus chose the decidedly non-metropolitan, sparsely populated Sea of Galilee to make his dramatic debut? And what’s with leaving Papa Zebedee scratching his head and holding the nets? I’m not saying the “offer” wasn’t good, I’m just hungry for a few details here. Can I buy a vowel, Mark!?

Although Mark hasn’t told us several key pieces of information, he has, intentionally or not, hinted at others. For example, Mark has told us a lot about who he thinks will be reading what he’s writing. Example: Despite all this tremendous sense of urgency, keep in mind that even ultra-conservative scholars think Mark was writing this a couple of decades after the events described. Let that soak in a minute. Some of you may have been to interviews recently where you were asked, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” And for some, that may be a stretch. Imagine twenty, or even forty! This part of Mark’s story occurs somewhere around the year 30 A.D. A good many respected scholars date Mark’s gospel after the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. So, perhaps enough time has gone by now that the thrust, the dramatic punch, of Jesus’s message of repentance, forgiveness, and edge-of-your-seat expectation needs a refresher. Maybe.
Another thing: Mark must think you are pretty sharp. He assumes you know not only that John went to prison, but when and maybe even why. He assumes you know where Galilee is. Keep in mind, there was no maps-section at the end of Mark’s gospel when it was written.
He even sort of hints that you might respond, “Oh, yeah, Zebedee’s boys. Sure, I know those guys. Good people. Great fish.” In other words, Mark assumes his readers are, at least to some extent, “insiders.” From the beginning, either Mark thinks that you, the reader, are “in the know,” OR (hold onto your hat, here) he wants to make you feel like someone in the know. That’s important. A lot of folks in Mark aren’t gonna “get it,” i.e. they aren’t going to recognize Jesus for who Mark believes him to be. But YOU! oh, enlightened reader, will get it. Nice work, Mark! Nice work, reader.
Look, I don’t know why Jesus started his work in Galilee. Later Mark will tell us more about John’s “crimes” and the outcome of Jesus’s recruiting strategy. And Mark’s Jesus will talk more about the kingdom of God. But for now, Mark has a story to tell, and he doesn’t have time to muck about with details. At least, not with smart readers like you! Heck, you’ve probably already repented and believed by this point, right? Oh, well. I guess Mark is better at that than I am! And we still have 15 chapters to go!