Preparation

Mark 1: 9-15 (March 1, 2009)

1) The Text

9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And 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. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

2) The Context

The baptism of Jesus was a public event, witnessed by friend and enemy alike. But the audience extended far beyond the men and women present. In the mind Jesus' contemporaries, the cosmos teemed with all sorts of living creatures, some physical, but most spiritual. When the spirit realm heard the words "This is my beloved Son," Jesus' contemporaries thought those spirits opposed to God would try to discredit him. After the heavenly announcement, it was time for spiritual battle. God's Spirit drove the Son into the desert so the war could begin. In the lore of Judaism, the desert was the place to find oneself before God and others. Jesus faced not only Satan, but a hostile environment with wild beasts. In Mark's account, Jesus did not face Satan alone. God was ever present through the service of his angels.

In Hebrew, the word Heaven [shamayim] could be summed up as “transcendence.” Heaven to the Hebrew was literally the lofty sky above them [Gen 1:8] where the stars were located [Gen 1:14] and from where the dew emanated [Gen 27:28]. The Greek translation of heaven is ouranos, which is less a place than an occurrence. It still involves the concept of “up”, but it means being lifted up. In fact, the root words of ouranos are airo and ornis. Airo is a term that means to lift up or carry away, but it was also used for “to weigh anchor” (to get started on a voyage). Ornis was used for a bird that was lifting into the air.

3) Interpretation

This ‘snippet’ from Mark’s opening chapter focuses on the baptism, the temptation and the summary of Jesus’ ministry. 1:9-11 is very like the transfiguration story. It is symbolic narrative, like a movie clip which interprets the whole film. Here is a meeting point of heaven and earth, a deliberate ripping aside of the barrier on the part of God. Jesus is the point of intersection. To turn the cosmology upside down, in him the depth surfaces. John predicted that the coming one would baptize with the Spirit. Now the coming one has arrived and the camera shows the Spirit descending on him. The baptizing in the Spirit can begin.

This one is then addressed as God’s special beloved child. The son with whom God is well pleased is surely going to make God’s will known. It is a statement about Jesus’ status in the world of powers. It is also why acts of exorcism and healing are seen as his characteristic activity and Mark makes an exorcism the first public act of his ministry. By the Spirit he confronts the powers of oppression. He baptizes with the Spirit and so sets people free. That is why what he announces can truly be described as God’s reign, the coming near of the kingdom of God.
Given the framework, the time in the wilderness is both preparation and struggle from which Jesus emerges victorious. The victory here promises victory everywhere. John was in the desert waiting what was to come. Now Jesus is in the desert. The desert is a primal place of wild forces and wonders. It is a place of hope and new beginnings.

Preparing for liberation entails facing the raw elements. Part of that is struggle and Mark suggests this is Jesus’ first victory. Part of it is return to simplicity and trust. As John lived off nature (the providence of God), so Jesus would be ministered to by the angels. Back to basics, back to trust, becomes a key teaching of Jesus. Jesus was living off ‘bush tucker’ for a while, like John. The deliberate step into radical simplicity (driven, of course, by the Spirit) is a model for spiritual discipline and a timely focus for Lent. People need to find their desert places. For some the struggle and the fear of the struggle will be overwhelming.

It is almost stereotypical to begin the account of a great person’s life with a story of struggle. The experience here is defined by the surrounding passage. It is not any journey into inwardness, but the journey to meet the God in that inwardness who seeks to establish a reign of liberation and wholeness and grapple with the forces which are working in the opposite direction. This frame of reference gives a certain structure to the experience. It is not modeling interiority as floundering in introspection, as if the desert experience is its own reward. For some people it could be disastrous. It is the liberating Spirit who leads him there and then leads back and then provides the energy and power for Jesus to proclaim and become good news.

As we begin another Lent, today’s Gospel reminds us that no matter how many Lents we have lived through, the call is as urgent as it ever was. We have lived another year and become involved in many things which may have distracted our attention from our spiritual lives and our role in building God’s Kingdom on earth.

Today, we are reminded of the call of Jesus - and invited to listen and to respond. Over the next few weeks, we can restore things to a proper balance between our spiritual and material lives and, hopefully, find that when the two are in harmony each benefits the other.

4) Thought Exercise

What has distracted you from your spiritual life over the past year?

How can you use Lent to put things back into their right proportion?

The Transfiguration

Mark 9: 2-10 (February 22, 2009)

1) The Text

2Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

9As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.

2) The Context

Mark is the writer who first shaped the transfiguration story into its present form, with all other versions being dependent on Mark. The word, “transfigured,” comes from a familiar Greek word that is known to us: “metamorphosis.” It means to completely change or transform such as a cocoon transforms into a butterfly or a tulip bulb transforms into a glorious tulip blossom. Jesus’ body was transformed from an earthly body into a heavenly body.

The transfiguration fits with Mark's understanding of Jesus as God's son and provides a preview of Jesus' supernatural glory, which Mark does not otherwise narrate. In the account of Jesus' baptism, God declared Jesus to be his son, and Mark reaffirms that role here at a crucial point in the gospel's plot, just after Jesus' first prediction that he will suffer and die. The command to "listen to him," underscores the grim prediction of Jesus' passion that Mark has just reported.

3) Interpretation

Life is full of surprises. Around every corner, in every part of life, experiences of wonder await us. We only need to open ourselves for the possibility of the different, the unexpected. But the rote and routine of life dull our sense of awe. We become too familiar, take people for granted, make too many assumptions. The disciples lived with Jesus throughout his ministry in Galilee. Even the closest of Jesus' friends walked with him as he made his way to Jerusalem blinded by their daily routines. They thought they knew Jesus. They thought they knew what to expect.
Mark presents a mountain top revelation charged with symbolism. The followers of Jesus witness the status of their Master raised to the same as that of Moses and Elijah. His words have the same power as those of Law Giver (Moses) and the first among the Prophets (Elijah). In comparing the mountain top experiences of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, the first parallel is the place: the mountain top. Moses received God's word on a mountain top in Exodus 3:1-6. Elijah heard the whisper of God's presence on a mountain top in 1 Kings 19:8-13. In both encounters, Moses and Elijah stood on holy ground at the peak. This represented the closest place between heaven and earth, the place where God would descend to humanity. Mountain tops were places of encounter and revelation. Both Moses and Elijah received divine commissions on Mt. Horeb.

Second, both men hid their faces when they realized God was truly present. The encounter caused a sense of awe and holy fear. They could not look upon the glory or power of God. Yet, both men were changed after their encounter. Unlike Moses and Elijah, however, Jesus did not hide his face against the glory of God. Indeed, he shined with God's glory. Other parallels arise in that there were signs of God's presence. Moses had the burning bush. Elijah did not have the expected signs (wind, earthquake, or fire), but had a whisper of a gentle breeze. The Transfiguration had the appearance of Jesus, the cloud and the voice. The cloud and the voice are clearly contented in the text. The cloud was a sign of God's presence in the Exodus (see Exodus 13:21-22). The voice from heaven was thunder (see Exodus 19:19). Ancient Israelites equated violence in the sky as a clear manifestation of God's power. Another parallel was the reaction of those receiving the revelation. In the case of the transfiguration, Peter, James, and John shank in fear and awe. Like Moses and Elijah, the disciple's holy fear provoked a change for they were given a mission: hear the voice of God's beloved Son.

In the context of Moses and Elijah, and in the context of the signs of divine presence (glory, overshadowing cloud, and thunderous voice), the revelation placed the words of Jesus on the same plane as those of Moses and Elijah. Moses, the Law-Giver, spoke for God as a people became a nation. Elijah, first of the Prophets, spoke for God as a nation turned away. Placing the two together symbolized the summed experience of Judaism. Indeed, "the Law and the Prophets" was a code phrase for the Bible; Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) were the Living Scriptures. To the two living spokespersons for revelation, God added a third, his beloved Son.

What was the message the disciples were to hear? Not to share their experience of revelation until "the Son of Man should rise from the dead." While popular Jewish opinion held the just would rise in the Kingdom, the disciples have a hard time fathoming resurrection as "the sign" for the Kingdom. Nor could they fathom their Master dying so he could rise. And they could not sense that the only way Jesus could bridge experience and faith was through death on the cross.
Finally, the Transfiguration was a revelation of the Trinity. The voice from heaven proclaimed the words of the Father. The Son stood transformed in his glory. And the Spirit overshadowed the scene as the cloud. The scene harkens back to the Baptism, the Father's voice from heaven, the Son rising from the water, and the Spirit descending upon the Son. The difference between the two events, however, lies in the reception of the revelation. In the Baptism, Jesus received the revelation with others as witnesses. In the Transfiguration, the followers received the revelation. Notice the revelation was in context as confirmation and foreshadowing. The event confirmed Peter's confession. Jesus was the Messiah. But it also foreshadowed the mission of the Messiah, death on the cross to enter glory. The Transfiguration was a look backward and a look forward.

The message of this gospel is clear. To see, we need to look. To hear, we need to listen. To experience, we need to open our minds and hearts to the possibility of God's voice. Look at the Son. Listen to his words. Open your mind and heart to his presence. We don't need to be on a mountain top to experience God's fullness. Just shake off rote and routine. And he will be there.

4) Thought Exercise

How can we be more intent on looking for and listening to God’s presence?

How do you find ways to pause from your routine to open your mind and heart to the possibility of God’s voice?

Compassion

Mark 1:40-45 (February 15, 2009)

1) The Text

40 A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ 41Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ 42Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, 44saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ 45But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

2) The Context

At Capernaum Jesus has surprised those worshipping and studying in the synagogue by teaching with a new kind of authority and by healing a mentally disturbed man by command alone. He has then cured Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever. Later people in a crowd have witnessed him curing many. After communing with God in “a deserted place” (v. 35) he moves on to spread the good news in other towns.

Now a leper approaches him in supplication (“kneeling”, v. 40). The man recognizes something of the essence of God: God chooses whom he heals (and saves). Jesus is “moved” (v. 41) emotionally: he touches the man – thus making himself ritually unclean and risking leprosy himself. Jesus’ stern “warning” (v. 43) is to “say nothing to anyone” (v. 44), but the man ignores it (v. 45). Jesus does not wish to be misunderstood: physical healing is only an indicator of the Kingdom; he is not merely a wonder-worker. For the man to be readmitted to Jewish society, the healing needs to be confirmed by a “priest” (v. 44) – a requirement of Mosaic law (“what Moses commanded”). Leviticus 14 requires him to make certain sacrifices (“offer for your cleansing”) so he could be ritually purified. (The “testimony to them” may either be to the crowds or be to the power of God now available to all believers.) Lest he be misunderstood, Jesus continues his ministry secretly, “out in the country” (v. 45), away from the crowds.

3) Interpretation

In Mark 1:40-45 the focus is on Jesus’ power to heal. Leprosy was seen as one of the hardest nuts to crack. This is miracle, a work of the Spirit through Jesus. However we understand such healing, we need to hear what is said within Mark’s frame of reference. The kingdom means freedom also for lepers. They are not the last group to be ostracized because of their illness. Most people who live with a disability can tell stories about being ostracized, especially if that disability is seen.

In fact, the Jesus that Mark shows us is determined to find the lost and is willing to heal the least wanted—for that was the status of lepers. Indeed, this whole conversation would have begun from a distance for if the leper approached Jesus the leper could have been stoned to death. No matter who initiated the conversation, we see four things occur. First, Jesus put himself in a position where the most excluded members of his community have direct access to him. Second, Jesus crosses the barrier of ritual and repulsion to embrace this most rejected man. Third, Jesus not only crosses the barrier of ritual; but this leper broke the law by approaching Jesus. Jesus rises over the law to offer compassion and over judgment to offer love. Jesus loves this sinner even while he is in the act of sinning! Finally, Jesus is willing to cleanse him.

Genuine compassion has no limits. True compassion reaches even to the lowest level. Compassion is always necessary when working with people because we all fail. We make terrible mistakes, commit terrible sins, etc. It is our natural inclination and the easiest to move toward contempt of the down and outers (like the Pharisees did). But we need to move toward compassion, like Jesus did. When we don’t have compassion, it is because we think that we are better than others. We think that they are in their situation because of some fault of their own and we wouldn’t have done whatever it was that got them in that position. So, if we don’t have compassion, the reason may be pride.

How does this story shape our understanding of ministry, our understanding of ourselves as a compassionate community? We're tempted to keep our faith personal, that is, a private relationship with Jesus that changes our lives, at least on the inside, but Megan McKenna cautions us: "It is not enough to relate personally to Jesus and then live off a moment of healing or connection. Instead, we must return again and again to Jesus' word and to the company of other followers and walk the way together." We need one another, a community of faith, in which we can better understand who Jesus is, and what that means in our lives, that is, what it will mean to follow Jesus faithfully. We're called to serve and heal and make whole, to restore and rebuild and reach out.

One further detail calls for comment. Jesus told the man to keep the healing to himself so he would have more abundant opportunity and freedom for teaching. Not that his enemies rose against him, and attempted to shut his mouth, but because the common people were so eager to demand miracles, that no room was left for doctrine. He wished that they would all be more attentive to the word than to signs. Thus, he sought out the countryside to avoid the crowds because he saw that he would not satisfy the wishes of the people, without overwhelming his doctrine by a superfluity of miracles.

4) Thought Exercise

Where in our lives can we be more compassionate?

How can our faith community minister to others with genuine compassion?

Connected To God

Mark 1:29-39 (February 8, 2009)

1) The Text

29As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
32That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

2) The Context

Mark has begun to tell of a day, a sabbath, early in Jesus’ ministry spent at Capernaum. In the synagogue, Jesus has taught “as one having authority” (v. 22) beyond knowledge of the scriptures; he has healed a man possessed by evil simply by commanding the evil force to leave him. Now, with the four disciples he has called so far, he heals the mother of Peter’s wife. That she serves them shows that she is completely and immediately cured (v. 31). Note that Jesus “took her by the hand.” No respected religious leader would do so, especially not on the Sabbath. Was she so ill that Jesus could not wait a few hours to heal her until the Sabbath ended and avoid controversy as to whether this healing could be done on the Sabbath? Mark does not say.

Then, after the Sabbath, at the start of the next Jewish day (“that evening”, v. 32), many who are in like condition to the man in the synagogue (mentally ill) and to Peter’s mother-in-law (physically ill) are brought to him. Many gather around the doorway (“door”, v. 33) of the house to see his miracles. The evil forces recognize his power over them but he intends to show himself as God’s agent later, so he does not “permit the demons to speak” (v. 34). Jesus then withdraws to be alone to commune with God (v. 35). Perhaps Peter and the others see him as missing an opportunity to heal, but Jesus insists that his mission extends beyond Capernaum (v. 38). He travels throughout the region, proclaiming the good news to Jews who meet for worship and study, and overcoming evil forces in people (v. 39).

3) Interpretation

Mark records the early days of Jesus’ ministry as filled with healing. As so often in Mark, Jesus is the man of action. Again, His reputation spreads and people are drawn to bring their sick and disturbed to Him. He is clearly seen as a wonder-worker - and the crowds continue to come.

However, Jesus is Jesus - not just a wonder-worker. Any power He has comes from being who He is - the Son of God and an essential part of this is the time spent in communion with the Father. So, after the excitement and bustle of the evening’s events at Simon’s house, Jesus leaves the house long before dawn to find a place of solitude where He can pray and be still with God.

Given Mark’s style, the fact of including this small incident shows the importance he places on the fact that Jesus is not only someone who does things “at once” and “straight-away” but is also someone who takes time out of the busy-ness. He knows the needs of those who are sick and disturbed - but He also knows the absolute necessity of silence and communion with God.

The secret to Jesus and his ministry is that his life and his ministry were directed by God. The disciples want Jesus to do the popular thing. Lots of people wanted to see Jesus in the community, but he said he needed to move on. Jesus was directed by God. He was connected.

Part of Jesus attractiveness is his real-life connection with God through prayer. Unlike us, he was never too busy to pray, even in the busiest of times. Jesus, as a matter of routine would withdraw to pray, and as a result he was able to minister to the people who came to him. The disciples, observing Jesus day by day, began to realize that there was a connection between how he lived his life and his obvious intimacy with God. This caused them to say, “Teach us to pray.” They were drawn to know God as Jesus did - they knew that Jesus stayed spiritually connected and directed and they wanted that for themselves. Being spiritually alive is the privilege of every believer.

Jesus constantly had people around him who needed to be ministered to – people who took his time. Yet Jesus stayed focused and connected through times of stillness and solitude with God. He stayed connected.

It is following a time of prayer that Jesus discerns that His mission is not to be confined in one place - but that the Good News is to be proclaimed throughout Galilee. They leave the village - and Jesus spreads the news of the Kingdom - by preaching and by healing - particularly healing those who are held bound by evil.

This balance in Jesus’ life was to be an example to His first disciples - and may be even more important in our day where so much emphasis is placed on what people do - what people achieve. Often, this means that people lose sight of the importance of “being” - of spending time with the God who created them.

Jesus offers an example of what it means to be a whole person - who gives His time and energy generously and lovingly to those around Him - but who also gives time and space generously and lovingly to God.

4) Thought Exercise

How can we give time and space generously and lovingly to God?

How can our connectedness to God through prayer enable us to give our time and energy to those around us?