THE BIBLE – LEARNING FROM MARK
COMMENT FOR TRINITY SUNDAY – 7.06.09
Isaiah 6: 1-8
The fortunes of Judah prospered under King Uzziah (also known as Azariah) 785 to 759 and his son Jotham, 759 to 743 when his sudden death gave the kingship to the faithless Ahay. King Uzziah contracted leprosy in 759 and lived in a small house close to the palace until his death in 733. thus began the Isaiah prophetic years where there is this great sense of the holiness of God as the work of the Spirit. This majestic God is above the turmoil of the politics of the day and it is the work of the prophet to bring this understanding of God to people in their ordinary lives.
Psalm 29
This Psalm takes us back to Exodus 19 as the people were being prepared for the coming of the Law on Mt Sinai. They had left the Nile Delta, wandered through the stillness of Kadesh and then stood terrified before Mt Sinai in a kind of volcanic eruption. Yahweh, their God, was about to deliver the Law through Moses. There are lists in the Psalm of acts of power which carry their own emphasis on the terms of the Law given through the thunder – the voice of the Lord. Along with prophetic visions of overwhelming majesty and spiritual holiness this is part of the O.T. faith.
Romans 8: 12-17
Paul now moves to discuss the transformation which the Spirit of Jesus works in the human heart. This is new life, with a new way of looking at everything. It is becoming spiritually alive, with a goal of becoming spiritually mature. The second great idea of this passage is that of being adopted into the family of God. In that first century, a new century, a new society was being formed, where issues of race, class and gender were ignored, for all were one in the family of God through God’s free grace. Each one then inherited all the riches of the life and work of Christ as they became a member of the family of God.
John 3: 1-17
The story of Nicodemus shows how important and also temporary is the life-faith-culture of the present. Nicodemus was a member of the Council of 70 Jewish elders advising on matters of law in relation to the Roman Government. So he reflected the best in the culture of the times. But Jesus came, announcing the kingdom of God, where the limitless love of God is forever growing and adapting to the needs of everyday. So the laws of the kingdom are positive with never a statute of limitations.
THE BIBLE – LEARNING FROM MARK
COMMENT FOR PENTECOST 3 – 21.06.09
1 Samuel 17: 32-49
The considerable detail of the David story shows how he has gripped the attention of the Hebrew people. They would remember the story of Joseph, a younger son, who took the whole people to Egypt. Then this young man accepts a challenge and becomes a hero with just the traditional skills of living and faith in their God. So he brought into focus all the power of the Abraham Covenant. At the same time he met the growing disappointment with the power and leadership of King Saul. All through the centuries and into the English-speaking world the “David and Goliath” story has become part of the culture.
Psalm 9: 9-20
This Psalm reflects the turbulent circumstances which prevailed when David met Goliath. The people of the covenant are encouraged to rely on the power of their God and his overall power and judgement of people and nations, believing that he will execute judgement in their favour. This judgement reveals the reality of God, and provides the Old Testament faith in the power of God while the worshipper realises his human weakness and helplessness.
2 Corinthians 6: 1-13
Paul writes as if he is under pressure from the Corinthian congregation with whom he has had a rather difficult relationship. So in this reading he makes the grace of God the point on which he builds and asks his readers to do the same. Then he defends his position and work as an apostle telling them how complex is his task. Then he says how it has affected him personally because of the very sincerity of his approach. It is full of paradoxes, but so is the life of faith lived in response to the Gospel.
Mark 4: 35-41
Jesus had a very busy day, so physically he needed quiet which meant taking a boat instead of walking round Lake Galilee. He seemed entirely unconcerned about being in a boat on this water, notorious for sudden storms and wind squalls. Then it happened. Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat now close to being swamped. He doesn’t share the disciples’ fear, and speaks to the storm as if it should be more considerate when he needed rest! And to the disciples it is as if he is saying they shouldn’t worry because he is also in the boat with them. But Mark wants us all to come to terms with a person who can calm the storms of life.
THE BIBLE – LEARNING FROM MARK
COMMENT FOR PENTECOST 4 – 28.06.09
2 Samuel 1: 1, 17-27
The intense feelings of this brilliant young David really show as he mourns for Saul and Jonathan. “How the mighty have fallen!” Three times he uses this phrase in his lament, “Song of the Bow.” He has this overwhelming sense that it was now his responsibility to find a renewal of the covenant with Abraham.
Psalm 130
Martin Luther loved this wonderful penitential Psalm. It spoke to the depths of his concerns in what he was doing, in the nature of sin, and the amazing gift of God’s grace. We may not go as far as Martin Luther but at heart we can experience the loving forgiveness of God no matter what. Then comes that confident phrase “watchmen waiting for the morning.” We wait for God’s action as we wait for the morning, knowing that the night will pass and light and mercy will come in God’s good time.
2 Corinthians 8: 7-15
In Acts 6: 1 we read that in Jerusalem there was a daily distribution of food to widows without family support. For practical caring for those most in need is part of the compassionate response to the Gospel. Paul has taken this message round with him in that growing network of small congregations in the Roman Empire. Now he tells the congregation in Corinth how the Christians in the north – Macedonia – have responded. But more than the example of others, he tells them of the life giving example of Jesus. This is still the model for the social concern of Christians the world over.
Mark 5: 21-43
This looks like the story of one crowded morning. But there are two out of all the crowd around that get his attention. Their faith in his willingness to respond is contrasted with the rather unconcerned attitude of the crowd. For Jesus it was the overflowing energies of the love of God that knew no boundaries when the request comes in faith. In the most remarkable act of life restored to a young girl he strictly orders them that they should not talk about what happened. He simply wanted each person to experience an encounter with the love of God rather than make it a story to tell.
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