THE BIBLE – LEARNING FROM MARK
COMMENT FOR ADVENT 2 – 07.12.08
Isaiah 40: 1-11
The years in exile were slowly going by with their dislocation, strangeness, and different habits of living and working. Then to these vulnerable people there comes the voice of the prophet with the comfort of their God. The spiritual power of this voice overcomes their doubt and opens up the possibility of really going back home. The comfort of God speaks to the wilderness years of the human spirit. It brings a new awakening and problems of mountainous proportions lose their threat. At times of confusion and anxiety, try letting the comfort of God speak to you.
Psalm 85: 1-2, 8-13
The returning exiles found hardship and toil back in their home country. So the Psalm begins by referring to examples in the past where the people were forgiven. Then there is a deeply felt prayer for restoration. In verse 8 there is a response, there is salvation. Not a political kind, for the people had simply moved from Babylonian rule to Persian. But there was a sense of peace, where divine love and human faithfulness came together. This trust or hope in God held its way through all the obstacles of Hebrew history.
2 Peter 3: 8-15a
In this last letter we can see what Peter and the early Church are really thinking about. For the life of Jesus; his death and resurrection and the Pentecost experience, has so caught everyone’s imagination that a further event was the logical climax. An unbelieving humanity was to be swept aside and a new heaven and a new earth would rise in their place. People think of the renewal of the earth today to save our ravaged planet. But over the centuries the Church has maintained this conviction that this earth is the creation of our creator God.
Mark 1: 1-8
Mark has given us a striking opening to his Gospel. There is this headline: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Then we hear a voice from a wilderness undamaged by human activity. It is a prelude to a new creative act. Then there is a person coming out of the long Hebrew search for God with all the mystique of the Hebrew tradition and history. Like someone appearing at a critical moment in a world prepared to hear a new message.
THE BIBLE – LEARNING FROM MARK
COMMENT FOR ADVENT 3 – 14.12.08
Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11
The returning exiles were now under the administrative control of the Persian Satrap “Beyond the River”. The people of Judah tried to get their lives together amid the devastation. Then they heard this great prophetic Isaiah voice speaking to the heart of the people. They began to see there could be a future for them in a new understanding of their covenant relationship, not based on land ownership. Think of how Jesus used the opening words when he announced his ministry in Palestine. (Luke 4: 16-21)
Luke 1: 47-55
Mary’s song is a wonderful piece of poetry. It comes out of the hill country of Judah, and included the strongest prophetic messages of the Old Testament. What is striking and revolutionary is the way these message have been put together as Mary’s song. It is a message – theme for the baby she is to bear. Luke places this story right at the beginning of his Gospel. In doing so he is stating that Jesus is the Messiah and the fulfilment of God’s covenant promises.
1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24
That whole paragraph from verse 12 to 24 needs to be read to get the strength of what Paul is saying. He is concerned that the recently formed Christian congregations should be strong and respected by the whole community. He is about at the end of his first letter and seems to have decided he must finish. In doing so, we have a great picture of a loving, sharing congregation trying to live the resurrection faith of their Lord. They would especially treasure the last two verses of this reading.
John 1: 6-8, 19-28
In Palestine there was an uneasy relationship with the Roman authorities, and there was a general feeling that greater religious observance would hasten the coming of the Messiah. Hence there was great excitement with the coming of John. He so fitted the expectation of the people that he had trouble making them understand that he was just “the voice in the wilderness,” and not the one expected. St John’s Gospel explains that there was to be an action of Divine Power in the Messiah who was to come which was beyond his ability to explain. This is part of the mystery and the hope of Advent.
THE BIBLE – LEARNING FROM MARK
COMMENT FOR ADVENT 4 – 21.12.08
2 Samuel 7: 1-11, 16
King David is now comfortable and suggests to Nathan that the ark of God should have better housing than a tent. The prophet gives a quick approving response, then all day worries about it. In Hebrew as in English “house” has many meanings. How to you house the God-power that led the people over their wanderings to the present, he wondered? Also, how could that God-power be established in kingly leadership so that it would endure over the centuries? These questions are forever with us as we try to use a building to nurture the essential dynamic of a vital spiritual faith.
Psalm 89: 19-29
This is the second section of a great covenant festival Psalm. It establishes David’s kingship as the model for the central security of the country. One who was “chosen from the people” now carries the covenant into the future, but it is because of the faithfulness and steadfast love of their God, Yahweh. There is a further question raised in the third section: Now that the Hebrew people are established in the land of promise, how long will they keep to the model of David’s kingship?
Romans 16: 25-27
Paul has completed his letter which is really his careful statement why Jew and Gentile should accept Christianity. Over the centuries countless numbers have been inspired by it, especially Martin Luther with his understanding of the magnificent 8th chapter. These three verses are a doxology, and explanation of praise. Did Paul write these words as he reviewed how the spiritual search for God went on in the Hebrew people until in the man from Nazareth it became a universal faith? Or did someone years later write them, understanding how Paul saw the creator God achieving in Jesus a spiritual renewal for humanity?
Luke 1: 26-38
What a wonderful story! Imagine Luke, the Greek doctor, whom Paul met at Troas (Acts 16: 8-10), coming to Palestine to research the story of Jesus after what Paul had told him. He would have been fascinated with the birth and boyhood stories of Jesus because they were so new to him and Mark’s gospel did not mention them. In Luke’s account there is a gently sensitive integrity which gives importance to the role of women in the gospel story. Luke talks of women as real people, not to be ignored, and shepherds – the ones at the lowest point of Hebrew culture, got the great announcement.
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