In our gospel readings for the last few weeks, Jesus has done quite a bit of traveling. He went back and forth from one side of the Sea of Galilee to the other. Two weeks ago he went to Tyre which is a city in Lebanon and then he went to the cities of the Decapolis which was on the far Eastern…
The Light on the Ridge
The Light on the Ridge
Sermons on Mark (Page 2)
Today’s gospel has more than one memorable verse. More than one piece of this passage has been quoted, repeated and woven into our cultural understanding of Jesus, Christianity and the church. The phrases are a part of how we may define ourselves and most certainly have had an impact on the way our culture views us as Christians. And curiously, two of…
When we last heard from Mark, he was reporting on Jesus’ conversation with the Judean mucky-mucks who wanted to know why the disciples were eating without washing their hands? Why were they not following “the tradition of the elders?” Why weren’t they following the rules for cleanliness?
We never think it can happen to us – until it does. Good people behaving badly.
When I was in seminary, one of my professors said that if a story seemed odd or unusual it was because either there was some deep symbolism involved or it just plain happened that way. Mark may have told this story, simply because that’s what happened. From the perspective of the storyteller, it provides an interlude in the narrative. If you remember…
Now, you may wonder why God sent people like Ezekiel to talk to the Israelites. Why didn’t God just speak to them directly, and the reason is pretty simple.
Today’s gospel is one of those stories. I can remember hearing this story as a girl and thinking how wonderful it was that Jesus was concerned about Jairus’ daughter. The man was so sad about his little girl dying, and Jesus wanted to help her. It seemed like a family story. A children’s story.
It’s like the seed planting experiments you did in elementary school. You put dirt in a paper cup. You plant your bean seed. You water the bean. You talk to the bean. You make sure the bean gets sunshine and everything goes just like it was planned. The bean sprouts and begins to grow.