THE BIBLE – LEARNING FROM MARK
COMMENT FOR EPIPHANY 5 – 8.02.09
Isaiah 40: 21-31
This prophetic voice sounds from the depth of the exile experience. It calls people to remember how their history followed the active leadership of their creator God. They should reflect on the magnificence and power of his creation. By contrast it was the self seeking statecraft of the Hebrew leaders that took them into exile. The prophet calls people to reflect on the mysterious spiritual power of their God who will be with them in rebuilding their faith as well as their country and city.
Psalm 147: 1-11, 20
This Psalm probably grew out of the painful experience of the Babylonian exile and the sheer difficulties of re-settlement afterwards. The first six verses calls in the cosmic implications for their God surely means help for the weakest and judgement for the wicked. But verses 6-11 could reflect the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem as told in Nehemiah, especially chapter 4. It is a great faith story of this remnant people as they get on with the restoration under Persian administration.
1 Corinthians 9: 14-23
We get a good picture here of the style of Paul’s Ministry in the Greek world. He probably supported himself to some degree as a tent maker – a trade skill he acquired in his youth. Therefore he could spread the news of the love of God through the Christ of the resurrection with very little local support. This to him was both a privilege and a sacred duty. Such was his love for and empathy with every person of any cultural background that he sought to present the good news of the love of God in action in their own lives.
Mark 1: 29-39
Mark is quickly into his picture of the Man from Nazareth with a group already forming to support him. Extraordinary events of the afternoon and evening occur as the loving energies of God meet a variety of needs – everything happening so naturally. Then, surprisingly, he lets all the interest he has generated, simply evaporate. But that early dawn time he has spent alone explains his strategy; just as it explains the depth of his response to one outcast who is in the most acute need of being loved by God.
THE BIBLE – LEARNING FROM MARK
COMMENT FOR EPIPHANY 6 – 15.02.09
2 Kings 5: 1-14
The common thread is the fear of leprosy in this remarkable story from around 920 BC. A Hebrew girl responds with love and concern instead of revenge. An Israelite king in a panic fears the worst. A Syrian General found healing through humility. The prophet Elisha insists that the spiritual power in him is the free gift from his God. Unfortunately the prophet’s servant did not understand what his master was really trying to do, and so fell victim to both greed and leprosy. But Naaman got his request for two mule loads of Israeli soil on which to worship Israel’s God.
Psalm 30
This Psalm was used at Feast of Dedication of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus in 164 BC (With Love to the World Vol 12 No 5 P61) It also celebrated the miraculous deliverance of the people from Syrian overlordship. The whole Psalm, however, has a deeply personal experience of a worshipper who goes from a secure life to a period of such illness that he had given up all hope of recovery. Feeling abandoned by God he only has the strength and faith to cry for help. There are feelings expressed that would find an echo in many Australian hearts during the week of fires in Victoria. The Psalm ends with the note of wonder in the joy of being heard and restored.
1 Corinthians 9: 24-27
Paul would have been delighted that the Isthmanian Games were held near Corinth every two years. (WLW 9.2.09 p58) They were second in importance to the Olympic Games and made Corinth a more important city than a seaport with a sordid reputation. He uses the whole model of training, self discipline, setting goals and winning races to achieve a Christ like life. He also applies the strongest test of all to himself. There is nothing that will fade as Paul presses on, trusting in the non-perishable hope he has found in Jesus Christ.
Mark 1: 40-45
Leviticus chapters 13 and 14 give a detailed account of how to deal with leprosy as an important health matter which the Hebrews took seriously. Mark shows how Jesus had a different approach for he understood the distress which isolation from all human contact caused the leper. So Jesus is prepared to break rules of conduct. He lets the man come close to him and will even reach out and touch him. This bringing a social outcast into the healing compassion of God makes the ministry of Jesus an expression of the boundless love of God.
THE BIBLE – LEARNING FROM MARK
COMMENT FOR EPIPHANY 7 – 15.02.09
2 Kings 2: 1-12
In this dramatic reading we farewell Elijah; a towering figure of the Old Testament. He kept alive in people a sense of the purpose, justice and Spirit of God. He opposed the drift to local Canaanite animistic practices incurring royal hostility. Now Elisha tries to keep up with him as he goes to earlier scenes of spiritual discoveries: Bethel, where Jacob discovered the power of God, and the Jordan where the Israelites crossed over in a test of faith. But Elisha still has to pass the test of spiritual insight for himself. He does, but the mystery only deepens.
Psalm 50: 1-6
The prophetic voice reaches a climax and it is God who speaks, who has come in judgement. It is an occasion like that in 1 Kings 19:12 where God appears to Elijah at Horeb – after the earthquake and the fire – a sound of sheer silence: this God of mystery, of all that is beautiful, gives everything a moral significance. For here is an ultimate Authority before whom the human race has to explain itself. The beautiful line: “gather to me my faithful ones” rewards commitment to prophetic values of God’s peace, love, truth and justice.
2 Corinthians 4: 3-6
As the Christian faith spread Jesus became the focus of people’s love and loyalty, and directly challenged the Roman emperor’s demand for loyalty from its citizens. The peace of Rome was political, social and economic and was encouraged by special events but in the end compliance through an oath of loyalty where the cult of Emperor Worship was being developed. But the faith in Christ which Paul is talking about here was becoming a basic statement of faith – Jesus is Lord. As persecution developed there were people who had made their own discovery of the Grace of God and were prepared to die for it as Jesus once did.
Mark 9: 2-9
The disciples have followed Jesus as far as they could onto the Mountain of God’s Presence in overpowering light. Our commentary “With Love to the World” describes Jesus here as a “breakthrough” Presence representing “an evolutionary possibility for human living in an evolving cosmos.” The man from Nazareth enjoys the company of Moses and Elijah, two “breakthrough” people of their day. Then Peter speaks out of fear and confusion which is no solution. But Jesus then goes down the mountain where the fragile world of everyday affairs has to be the focus for the next evolutionary event.
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