Timothy J. Geddert views Mark as a profound theologian and accomplished writer, not a mere compiler of traditions. Mark's text provokes careful reflection on its subtle and challenging message of hope and its call to faithfully follow Jesus on the way. Mark's Gospel speaks plainly, yet sometimes in riddles, of God as revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God. Mark presents God's reign, its present hiddenness and future glory, and its surprising way of coming. Mark is also about Jesus and his followers crossing barriers to pass God's grace on to those formerly excluded. Mark's...

"Watch out Rome, the Christians are coming Your powerful armies, your so-called Pax Romana - these are no match for the power of love and self-sacrifice that Jesus unleashed when he came to bring God's salvation, establish God's reign, and send his followers into the world to proclaim and to embody the greatest news the world has ever known. No earthly kingdom can stand in the face of such good news."

So we might summarize the message of Luke's Gospel. It is a message that spreads hope, that transforms life. And it speaks as powerfully to the downtrodden, to the empires,...