Mark starts his book by declaring, “This is the good news about Jesus Christ.” There is no birth narrative here but instead there’s the birth of a literary genre—the gospel (from the old English “god-spel”—“good news”).
There is so much meaning packed into the first two sentences of Mark.
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When Mordecai hears of the decree to kill the Jews, he responds with grief. In deep mourning, wearing sackcloth and ashes, Mordecai makes himself a spectacle throughout Susa. His fellow Jews respond and also wearing sackcloth and ashes, lament and fast as they cry out for help.
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