Well, with evacuation confusion during the hurricane scare, we will pick back up this week in Mark chapter 4 and cover it this Sunday, September 7th. Come get back in worship and study gear.
A highlight reel of Mark 4 -
- Mark 4 is a chapter of parables. Parables are often misunderstood. Many times they are seen simply as allegories, moral lessons, or ethical teachings. When described in this way, parables become lessons about life rather than stories about God. They are very particularly, stories about the kingdom of God. Jesus uses everyday items to use as comparisons for kingdom understanding.
- Jesus leaves hanging in the air, a very mysterious quality about these parables. "With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything" (verses 33-34).
- Finally in chapter 4, Mark's version is given for the evening at sea on the boat with Jesus and the disciples. "A great wind arose and the waves beat into the boat." Jesus is peacefully sleeping below when he is awakened by the scared disciples. He soon calms the sea, saves them and challenges their faith.
- For the first time in Mark's Gospel, Jesus demonstrates power over the forces of nature and the people are amazed and begin to see that Jesus is more than a teacher of morals.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Knowing Jesus through Mark Chapter 3
This week in Sunday school and worship we are seeking to know Jesus through Mark Chapter 3. As with each chapter there are sub-sections here. However we have to be careful not to read them in isolation from each other. Even as I break these sections down, try to look for the places of continuity between stories and points of connection between themes that emerge from story to story and chapter to chapter. For each section I'll offer tidbits that I hope will wet your appetite for study and for worship this Sunday.
Verses 1-6: Jesus heals a man with the "withered" hand. It takes place in the temple on the sabbath day in front of people, including the Pharisees.
- The ministry of Jesus clashes again with the religious authorities over the meaning of the Sabbath. We saw this in chapter 2.
- On Sunday we'll dive deeper into the meaning of "Sabbath" for Jesus era Jews and the ways Christians have "converted" as well as distorted it.
- Jesus "restores" the man with the withered hand. The original Greek word here is apokathistemi, which simply means for something to be returned to its original intent and purpose. Mark's use of "restoration" foreshadows for later in chapter 3 as well as the rest of the gospel, where restoration themes abound (verses 7-19 - see notes below)
Verses 7-19: Large Crowds are following Jesus
- Word is surely spreading that Jesus is healing people so one can imagine the abundant demand for Jesus' power. Jesus retreats in order, it seems, to call, recruit and empower disciples who he calls apostles also (apostolos, meaning messenger) to do three things:
1- to be with him
2- to proclaim the message
3- to cast out demons
Jesus authorizes and commissions trusted apostles to go in his name and do ministry. The authorizing of persons for ministries of various kinds in the life of the church is rooted well Biblically and this is a prime example. Jesus clearly wants to meet the needs of the people and perhaps? he is physically limited in doing that. After-all, he can only be in one place at one time.
- Restoration. In choosing the twelve disciples Jesus makes what must have been an obvious connection to his hearers. He is signaling the restoration of the people Israel rooted in the historical lineage of the twelve tribes of Jacob. Because 10 of those tribes had been conquered and carried away by the Assyrians 700 years before, the Israelites were waiting for a restoration of everything. Through this commissioning of the 12 apostles, Tom Wright notes that Jesus was signaling that "this was more than a great healing mission."
Verses 20-30: Jesus and Beelzebul
- Jesus' family is wondering about Jesus' sanity (verse 21) because of his healing work and what he is saying.
- The authorities, not even his family understand what Jesus is about. Because they don't understand, they revert to a caustic label. Beelzebul was an "arch-demon" as Wright describes it. We'll talk more Sunday about the reasons we label and the dangers of doing it
- Jesus is angry. We are used to thinking that the temple cleansing episode is the only place where Jesus gets angry in the Gospels...not true, we see that he gets angry here. Jesus is serious about the work of the Holy Spirit.
- We have to be extremely careful not to discount work that we may not understand but might be the work of the Holy Spirit.
Verses 31-35: Jesus' Family
- Again, Jesus' family tries to get Jesus to come outside.
- Wright wants us to understand how shocking the words are that Jesus speaks about his relatives. In the modern West, we are used to distance between family members. Even if we don't like it, we know that jobs, school and relationships take people far away from home sometimes. In Jesus' day there was rarely such mobility and the interdependence on one's family was strong. To ask, "who is my mother and who are my brothers?" would have been shocking to the hearers.
- Jesus calls for first loyalty among those who "do God's will." These are family.
Therefore our loyalty and devotion to our biological families becomes an outgrowth of our first loyalty to God and the family of faith.
*Wright says and I agree that Mark calls his readers to "stick with Jesus, whatever the cost."
Verses 1-6: Jesus heals a man with the "withered" hand. It takes place in the temple on the sabbath day in front of people, including the Pharisees.
- The ministry of Jesus clashes again with the religious authorities over the meaning of the Sabbath. We saw this in chapter 2.
- On Sunday we'll dive deeper into the meaning of "Sabbath" for Jesus era Jews and the ways Christians have "converted" as well as distorted it.
- Jesus "restores" the man with the withered hand. The original Greek word here is apokathistemi, which simply means for something to be returned to its original intent and purpose. Mark's use of "restoration" foreshadows for later in chapter 3 as well as the rest of the gospel, where restoration themes abound (verses 7-19 - see notes below)
Verses 7-19: Large Crowds are following Jesus
- Word is surely spreading that Jesus is healing people so one can imagine the abundant demand for Jesus' power. Jesus retreats in order, it seems, to call, recruit and empower disciples who he calls apostles also (apostolos, meaning messenger) to do three things:
1- to be with him
2- to proclaim the message
3- to cast out demons
Jesus authorizes and commissions trusted apostles to go in his name and do ministry. The authorizing of persons for ministries of various kinds in the life of the church is rooted well Biblically and this is a prime example. Jesus clearly wants to meet the needs of the people and perhaps? he is physically limited in doing that. After-all, he can only be in one place at one time.
- Restoration. In choosing the twelve disciples Jesus makes what must have been an obvious connection to his hearers. He is signaling the restoration of the people Israel rooted in the historical lineage of the twelve tribes of Jacob. Because 10 of those tribes had been conquered and carried away by the Assyrians 700 years before, the Israelites were waiting for a restoration of everything. Through this commissioning of the 12 apostles, Tom Wright notes that Jesus was signaling that "this was more than a great healing mission."
Verses 20-30: Jesus and Beelzebul
- Jesus' family is wondering about Jesus' sanity (verse 21) because of his healing work and what he is saying.
- The authorities, not even his family understand what Jesus is about. Because they don't understand, they revert to a caustic label. Beelzebul was an "arch-demon" as Wright describes it. We'll talk more Sunday about the reasons we label and the dangers of doing it
- Jesus is angry. We are used to thinking that the temple cleansing episode is the only place where Jesus gets angry in the Gospels...not true, we see that he gets angry here. Jesus is serious about the work of the Holy Spirit.
- We have to be extremely careful not to discount work that we may not understand but might be the work of the Holy Spirit.
Verses 31-35: Jesus' Family
- Again, Jesus' family tries to get Jesus to come outside.
- Wright wants us to understand how shocking the words are that Jesus speaks about his relatives. In the modern West, we are used to distance between family members. Even if we don't like it, we know that jobs, school and relationships take people far away from home sometimes. In Jesus' day there was rarely such mobility and the interdependence on one's family was strong. To ask, "who is my mother and who are my brothers?" would have been shocking to the hearers.
- Jesus calls for first loyalty among those who "do God's will." These are family.
Therefore our loyalty and devotion to our biological families becomes an outgrowth of our first loyalty to God and the family of faith.
*Wright says and I agree that Mark calls his readers to "stick with Jesus, whatever the cost."
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Knowing Jesus through Mark Chapter 2
This week we move to chapter 2 of Mark's Gospel. It opens with the occasion of Jesus' preaching and teaching "at home" (verses 1-12). Tom Wright notes in his commentary, Mark for Everyone, that there is a strong possibility that this home might have literally been Jesus' home. He notes that Jesus had moved to Capernaum from Nazareth. After preaching and teaching in surrounding villages (1:38) Jesus came home to Capernaum. Much like a famous athlete or rock star, the Jesus paparazzi was crowding in.
Here are key elements and questions for verses 1-12.
- Jesus' first confrontation with the Pharisees and religious authorities in Mark. There are a string of these in chapter 2, beginning in verse 6 during the story of the healing of the paralytic. This time it seems subtle. The scripture says, they were "questioning in their hearts..." about Jesus' authority to forgive sins after his forgiveness of the paralytic man who has been lowered through his roof. (Wright jokes that maybe Jesus is forgiving him for cutting through the roof of his home). Jesus perceives that there are questions in the crowd and he addresses those in verses 8-12.
- Jesus' first issuance of forgiveness in Mark
- Jesus responds to an interruption when the paralyzed man is lowered into the room - come on Sunday, this will be a key question for us during the sermon.
Key elements and questions for verses 13-17
- Jesus continues calling disciples to follow, this time its Levi, a tax collector. Chapter 1 its fishermen, chapter 2 its a tax collector. In both cases, the scripture takes note of the family heritage in the business they are leaving. In chapter 1, verse 20, it notes that James and John are leaving their father Zebedee in the family business to follow Jesus. Here in Chapter 2, it is Levi, son of Alphaeus. Jesus finds them in the tax booth.
- Jesus eats dinner with Levi and other sinners in Levi's home. Jesus responds to the criticism of the scribes by saying essentially that he will be found with those who need him most. Note also that he is on their turf, in Levi's home.
- A key question on Sunday is discerning where we might find Jesus if we looked for him in our community.
Key elements and questions for Verses 18-28
- The confrontations with the religious authorities continues...here it is out loud and about the Jewish laws related to fasting and the sabbath
- Jesus uses common everyday examples to teach. Verses 21-22 use old wineskins and new wineskins. Tom Wright replaces that with bottles in order to illustrate the obvious - "new wine in old bottles will result in broken bottles and wasted wine." Wright goes on to say that "what Jesus is doing can't be fitted in to the existing ways of thinking and living."
*The following is a link to an article written after a powerful sermon given on Mark 2: 1-12 by Rev. Peter Storey. He was the main preacher at the 2008 gathering of the Texas Annual Conference meeting in the Woodlands last May. It has some of his stirring reflections on this passage and what it might mean for churches. Don't be surprised if I quote some of it Sunday!
http://www.txcumc.org/news_detail.asp?pkvalue=627
I invite your thoughts on Mark 2. Scroll up to the top here and click on "comments." Check out a Sunday school class for further study also.
Here are key elements and questions for verses 1-12.
- Jesus' first confrontation with the Pharisees and religious authorities in Mark. There are a string of these in chapter 2, beginning in verse 6 during the story of the healing of the paralytic. This time it seems subtle. The scripture says, they were "questioning in their hearts..." about Jesus' authority to forgive sins after his forgiveness of the paralytic man who has been lowered through his roof. (Wright jokes that maybe Jesus is forgiving him for cutting through the roof of his home). Jesus perceives that there are questions in the crowd and he addresses those in verses 8-12.
- Jesus' first issuance of forgiveness in Mark
- Jesus responds to an interruption when the paralyzed man is lowered into the room - come on Sunday, this will be a key question for us during the sermon.
Key elements and questions for verses 13-17
- Jesus continues calling disciples to follow, this time its Levi, a tax collector. Chapter 1 its fishermen, chapter 2 its a tax collector. In both cases, the scripture takes note of the family heritage in the business they are leaving. In chapter 1, verse 20, it notes that James and John are leaving their father Zebedee in the family business to follow Jesus. Here in Chapter 2, it is Levi, son of Alphaeus. Jesus finds them in the tax booth.
- Jesus eats dinner with Levi and other sinners in Levi's home. Jesus responds to the criticism of the scribes by saying essentially that he will be found with those who need him most. Note also that he is on their turf, in Levi's home.
- A key question on Sunday is discerning where we might find Jesus if we looked for him in our community.
Key elements and questions for Verses 18-28
- The confrontations with the religious authorities continues...here it is out loud and about the Jewish laws related to fasting and the sabbath
- Jesus uses common everyday examples to teach. Verses 21-22 use old wineskins and new wineskins. Tom Wright replaces that with bottles in order to illustrate the obvious - "new wine in old bottles will result in broken bottles and wasted wine." Wright goes on to say that "what Jesus is doing can't be fitted in to the existing ways of thinking and living."
*The following is a link to an article written after a powerful sermon given on Mark 2: 1-12 by Rev. Peter Storey. He was the main preacher at the 2008 gathering of the Texas Annual Conference meeting in the Woodlands last May. It has some of his stirring reflections on this passage and what it might mean for churches. Don't be surprised if I quote some of it Sunday!
http://www.txcumc.org/news_detail.asp?pkvalue=627
I invite your thoughts on Mark 2. Scroll up to the top here and click on "comments." Check out a Sunday school class for further study also.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Detour - Book Review
For all the Woodville UMC readers out there, I'm going to take a quick detour here from the Mark study to mention a few things about a book I just finished reading. Legacy of Ashes: The Secret History of the CIA is a thrilling, frightening, sobering book. This 514 page volume is a chronicle of the CIA from its inception just after the conclusion of World War II, through the Cold War to 9/11 and ending at the reorganization of national intelligence services in 2004-2005. This book won the Pulitzer Prize and its easy to see why. The scope of his sources is amazing, yes because of who they are (all the living former directors, including fmr. President Bush, scores of assistant directors and field agents) but more amazing because they are all "on the record." He has not a single anonymous source cited in this book. They are all on the record interviews and open archival records released under the US Freedom of Information Act or records that were set to be released in a certain year anyway. A couple of observations:
1- Democracy as we know it in the US is a precious and messy thing. The CIA's mission is essentially to gather and analyze information for use to protect the US and its interests. Under this mission, the CIA has engaged in activities and support of activities that are inspiring in many cases, daring to be sure, and illegal and immoral in others. Many of these directors admit all of this on the record in this book and given some of the events described and verified in the book, I agree.
2- There is lots of gray in the world. Attempts to paint a black and white picture of American moral superiority and the "others" as morally inferior is uninformed, arrogant and sinful. Leaders around the world including our own of every political and ideological stripe, are mixed bags. They make hard, life impacting decisions no doubt. The same leader will at times be quite courageous and in another instance cowardly. In one instance make decisions driven by the morality one would hope for and in another instance authorize some of the most heinous behavior one could think of.
In short, they are like any of us - we are a mix. The major mistake we can make is be either completely cynical about our country and its leaders or in complete denial about our own fallibility.
The book was a real page turner but there were lots of pages to turn. I look forward to reading something shorter next.
1- Democracy as we know it in the US is a precious and messy thing. The CIA's mission is essentially to gather and analyze information for use to protect the US and its interests. Under this mission, the CIA has engaged in activities and support of activities that are inspiring in many cases, daring to be sure, and illegal and immoral in others. Many of these directors admit all of this on the record in this book and given some of the events described and verified in the book, I agree.
2- There is lots of gray in the world. Attempts to paint a black and white picture of American moral superiority and the "others" as morally inferior is uninformed, arrogant and sinful. Leaders around the world including our own of every political and ideological stripe, are mixed bags. They make hard, life impacting decisions no doubt. The same leader will at times be quite courageous and in another instance cowardly. In one instance make decisions driven by the morality one would hope for and in another instance authorize some of the most heinous behavior one could think of.
In short, they are like any of us - we are a mix. The major mistake we can make is be either completely cynical about our country and its leaders or in complete denial about our own fallibility.
The book was a real page turner but there were lots of pages to turn. I look forward to reading something shorter next.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Intro to Knowing Jesus through Mark
We are embarking on a journey through Mark starting this Sunday. Each week I'll post here some background material on the chapter we are covering in worship the coming Sunday. Three of our adult Sunday school classes and our youth classes are covering this study too. Our prime resource is Mark for Everyone by N.T. (Tom Wright). Our goal here is to know Jesus through Mark.
Snapshot introduction to Mark:
1. Most Biblical scholars agree that Mark was the first Gospel recorded. It is dated between the years 64-68 AD. There are indications within Mark (13:5-23) that date it to the time of The Roman Emperor Nero's intense persecution of Christians which happened about 64 AD. The Jews revolted against Rome (their occupying authority) between 67-70. The revolt was put down and the temple in Jerusalem destroyed. In Mark Jesus emphasizes a great deal the hardship of the disciples. It would make sense given these historical occurences.
2. Most Biblical scholars agree that Mark was a source for Matthew and Luke. I encourage you to draw some of those parallels in your own study.
3. Mark does not contain the birth story of Jesus. Therefore, there is no incarnation, virgin birth here. It also does not contain the experience in the temple at age 12 recorded in other Gospels.
4. Mark begins with John the Baptist and the prophecy of Isaiah that announces the one who will prepare the way for the Messiah. John the Baptist plays a critical role here by proclaiming this "good news." He begins with baptism and the need for repentance of sin. He proclaims the good news of the forgiveness of God.
5. John the Baptist points the way to Jesus "who is more powerful than I..." John has been baptizing with water but Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit
The following is a brief outline of Chapter 1 - we will walk our way through these on Sunday August 10th -
Verses 1-8: The Proclamation of John the Baptist
Verses 9-11: The Baptism of Jesus
Verses 12-13: The Temptation of Jesus
Verses 14-20: Beginning of Jesus' ministry and calling the first disciples
Verses 21-45: Exorcisms, Healings and Preaching
I sense great urgency with the Gospel of Mark. This is a Jesus who moves and calls and heals. This is a Jesus whose power marvels and whose life changes the lives of others.
*Next week we'll break down Chapter 2 a little more specifically than I have chapter 1. I wanted first to share some background on Mark's Gospel as a whole.
*Attend Sunday school to learn more and come to worship this Sunday
Snapshot introduction to Mark:
1. Most Biblical scholars agree that Mark was the first Gospel recorded. It is dated between the years 64-68 AD. There are indications within Mark (13:5-23) that date it to the time of The Roman Emperor Nero's intense persecution of Christians which happened about 64 AD. The Jews revolted against Rome (their occupying authority) between 67-70. The revolt was put down and the temple in Jerusalem destroyed. In Mark Jesus emphasizes a great deal the hardship of the disciples. It would make sense given these historical occurences.
2. Most Biblical scholars agree that Mark was a source for Matthew and Luke. I encourage you to draw some of those parallels in your own study.
3. Mark does not contain the birth story of Jesus. Therefore, there is no incarnation, virgin birth here. It also does not contain the experience in the temple at age 12 recorded in other Gospels.
4. Mark begins with John the Baptist and the prophecy of Isaiah that announces the one who will prepare the way for the Messiah. John the Baptist plays a critical role here by proclaiming this "good news." He begins with baptism and the need for repentance of sin. He proclaims the good news of the forgiveness of God.
5. John the Baptist points the way to Jesus "who is more powerful than I..." John has been baptizing with water but Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit
The following is a brief outline of Chapter 1 - we will walk our way through these on Sunday August 10th -
Verses 1-8: The Proclamation of John the Baptist
Verses 9-11: The Baptism of Jesus
Verses 12-13: The Temptation of Jesus
Verses 14-20: Beginning of Jesus' ministry and calling the first disciples
Verses 21-45: Exorcisms, Healings and Preaching
I sense great urgency with the Gospel of Mark. This is a Jesus who moves and calls and heals. This is a Jesus whose power marvels and whose life changes the lives of others.
*Next week we'll break down Chapter 2 a little more specifically than I have chapter 1. I wanted first to share some background on Mark's Gospel as a whole.
*Attend Sunday school to learn more and come to worship this Sunday
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