In the following exercise, I have split Mark 1:1-12 into three
blocks of text. Read each block, looking for
time markers. You are looking for anything that alludes to time: a
day, festival name, or hour. Even
adverbs or prepositions that give you information about the timing
of things in the text can be time markers. You might even choose a
verb if its tense gives you information about the time when something
has happened or will happen.
Fill in your time-words in the boxes provided
and then click on the "compare
answers" button to see what sorts of things I am hoping you will
see. You may, of course, judge that some words I have not listed do indeed
function as time markers. The goal here is not to match my answers
exactly but to recognize what a text is telling you about time.
The beginning of the good news of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the
prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of
you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one
crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make
his paths straight,'"
4 John the baptizer appeared
in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean
countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to
him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing
their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair,
with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and
wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, "The one who is
more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop
down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have
baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit."
9 In those days Jesus came
from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And
just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens
torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And
a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved;
with you I am well pleased." 12 And the Spirit
immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
Creating a Timeline
You may want to visualize how a portion of the gospels is put together
in terms of time, or you may want to figure out what Paul is talking
about when he speaks of things that have happened and other things
that will happen. You could create a timeline to see what you have
learned about time.
A timeline could be vertical:
The Beginning
Mark begins by saying, "The beginning
of the gospel...." One wonders how much of the gospel we
will get here. Is it continuing?
"Prepare."
Mark quotes the prophets. [One
might put this first on the timeline to indicate that the words
were spoken earlier and are a kind of "flashback" to
the OT as they appear in Mark.]
John appeared, baptized,
preached.
John baptizes and also speaks of one
coming after him.
Jesus came from Nazareth.
Jesus came to the Jordan and was baptized
by John.
Jesus is baptized: Heavens Open;
Dove Descends; Voice Speaks.
All of these happen nearly at the
same time. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, the heavens
were torn open, a dove descended on him and a voice said, "You
are my Son; I am pleased with you."
The Spirit drove him....
Immediately, the Spirit drove Jesus into
the wilderness.
"He will baptize..."
John predicts something that hasn't
happened yet as this part of the gospel (Mark 1:1-12) concludes. "He
will baptize with the Holy Spirit."
Or you could present the same material along a horizontal line:
Timelines may be much more involved than the ones
created here. They can attempt to trace the history behind the texts
(see, for example this timeline
created for a Pauline letters class). They can bring together images,
text, hyperlinks... whatever helps you and others see where we have
been and where we are going.
Next:
For Problems to Solve, go to the Activity
Grid.
