The Life of Jesus in Mark: Inversion
The Life of Jesus in Mark: Inversion
Major Roy Johnson
USA Southern Territory
Scripture: Mark 1:21-42; 2:1-17
Inversion = a reversal of position, order, form, or relationship …
the condition of being turned inward or inside out
On January 1, 1773, a parish priest in Buckinghamshire, England, preached a sermon based upon 1 Chronicles 17 that highlighted a classic example of inversion for his congregation. In this passage,
King David expresses to Nathan the prophet his discomfort over the fact that the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord is housed under a tent, while he is living in a luxurious house of cedar. This is not the way it’s supposed to be. So, David offers to build God a house. Astonishingly, God rejects and inverts this proposal, by telling him that He will build an enduring house for David and his descendants instead! Humbled and honored by this incredible offer, David cries out to God by saying, “Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house that you have brought me thus far?” (17:16 - ESV). He clearly recognized that this was an undeserved act of grace on God’s part.
At the conclusion of this sermon delivered 250 years ago, John Newton shared with his congregation how he too, had experienced the inverting power of God’s grace when he quoted the first verse of his now well-known poem:
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
The Mind’s Eye
What happened in Newton’s life could rightly be called a “conversion,” but to fit our purposes here, I have chosen to use the word “inversion” instead, as it best describes the nature of the 180º turnaround he experienced. But, “inversion” is not a word we commonly use, so it might be helpful for us to see it illustrated from the world of optometry. Did you know that the image that appears on the retina of your eye is upside-down? It’s the natural result of a refraction through a convex lens. The reason you don’t see images upside-down is because your brain has been marvelously created by God to take the inverted image and turn it into a coherent, right-side-up image. Pretty amazing!
Unfortunately, when it comes to how we see the world through our “spiritual eyes,” sin has caused a major malfunction to occur in our heart, and we do not see things as they really are. Wrong is seen to be right, and right is seen to be wrong. We have difficulty discerning the truth. As a result, we end up living confused and disordered lives where we are uncertain about what really is true or not. What we need is Someone who can reverse or invert what has gone wrong in our heart and cause us to see the truth. And that, takes us back to the good news about Jesus as found in the first verse of Mark’s Gospel, where He is declared to be both the Savior and the Son of God – the only One who can bring salvation. This is the good news of the gospel in a nutshell.
Inverting Grace
Because of Jesus, God’s inverting and transforming grace is what turns everything around in our life. It corrects our vision so we can see life as God sees it, and we can be reconciled to the Father. We can now say with John Newton: “once I was lost, but now I am found; once I was blind, but now I can see; once I was wounded, but now I am whole; once I was dead, but now I am alive! Everything changes, and thankfully, this transforming work of grace is available to everyone regardless of their station or situation in life, as this is why Jesus came into the world (1 Timothy 1:15).
The universality and application of God’s grace is clearly evidenced in the opening pages of Mark’s gospel, as we see Jesus lavishly and freely extending grace to the nobodies of society. Consider those whom He prioritizes with the announcement of the arrival of the Kingdom: the demon possessed man in the synagogue (1:21-28); the diseased and demon-possessed masses throughout Galilee (1:32-39); the leper (1:40-42); the paralytic in Capernaum (2:2-12); the calling of a hated tax collector, and His fellowship with “many tax gatherers and sinners” (2:14-17). In this kingdom, the sick, the poor, and humble outsiders are given the position of honor, whereas the rich, and powerful, and the self-righteous are demoted to a lesser status in this Kingdom.
Perhaps this inversion is most explicitly summed up for us in Jesus’ response to the scribes and Pharisees when they complained about Him eating and drinking with tax-gatherers and sinners, and He said: “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician but those are who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (2:17). Now, that’s the good news of the gospel!
According to Alex Deasley, these manifestations of God’s inverting grace are the quintessence of grace, as Jesus doesn’t wait until people are fit to be associated with Him or receive His grace. Instead, He goes to them just as they are with the saving news of the gospel.” There is no sense of earning or meriting of salvation, as nothing for our sins could atone - only the precious blood of Jesus.
Before we conclude this series on the life of Jesus as found in the Gospel According to Mark, we need to see the integral connection between inversion and the Person of Jesus. For, without the One (Jesus), the other (inversion) would never have happened. Two passages highlight this connection for us:
Mark 1:15: “… The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand …”
Mark 2:21-22: “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
The Herald King
Jesus is not only the herald of the coming Kingdom, but He is also the agent by which it came. The two are inseparable. He is the One who brings the Kingdom, and in Him, the Kingdom of God is here. He did not come to rehabilitate or revive an old way or system. Instead, He came to inaugurate a Kingdom where the old things would pass away, and new things would come (2 Cor 5:17). A Kingdom where God would set things right again and reconcile us to Himself.
This is only possible because Jesus was willing to humble Himself by inverting His place and position in Heaven, to take on flesh and become the Savior of the world. Stuart Townend and Keith Getty beautifully illustrate the idea of inversion in the second verse of their song “In Christ Alone” with these words:
In Christ alone, who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied,
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
Now that, my friends, is not just good news – it’s GREAT NEWS!
Our Corporate Prayer
Dear God, we are so very grateful that when we have things so upside down that You come and turn them right side up for us. Thank You that in reaching the lowest, Your reached me just like You did the leper, and the dead and the outcast. This grace truly is amazing. Thank You for Your life that is in me. Help me to share this good news with others. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Our Worldwide Prayer Meeting
Brazil Territory
Thinking it Through
What things has the Lord turned around in your life? Is there anything you are holding onto that you should release so that He can make something new in and for you?
Notable Quotables
Before we can be filled we must be emptied. Before we can have the "life more abundant" we must die to sin. - Commissioner Samuel Logan Brengle
This is a wonderful song by the International Staff Songsters entitled, "Throned in Majesty."
We would appreciate any feedback and/or suggestions on how to improve these devotionals. Please email comments to: SpiritualLifeDevelopment@uss.salvationarmy.org or by going to our website: https://southernusa.salvationarmy.org/uss/spiritual-life-development.
We would love to hear from you.
Lt. Colonel Allen Satterlee
Territorial Spiritual Life Development Officer/THQ Chaplain
USA Southern Territory