What do Mark and Jonah have to do with one another? When people typically think about Jonah in the New Testament, they tend to think of Jesus’ reference to Jonah in Matthew and Luke. Mark does not mention anything about Jonah. Nonetheless, I want to draw our attention this week to the narrative composition of these two books.
Both books provide us with a rather disappointing ending. Jonah finishes his story with a strange comment about some animals, and Mark finishes his story with a strange remark about fear. Neither story gives us the satisfying, “and they all lived happily ever after” that we so desire in storytelling.
I am going to explore how these unsatisfactory endings may be more honest to how humans make their way through life by participating in a series of new beginnings rather than a series of clearly defined stops and starts. The cross will remain the guide for us throughout this week as we look to it as the ultimate story of a new beginning.