May 30, 2025

An issue of Commitment

Mark 10:1-12

Here we have a debate between some of the Pharisees and Jesus.  The question concerns divorce, but the deeper issue concerns how the law gets interpreted, and how it may be altered to fit circumstances. 

This is one of those passages that gets quoted in support of marriage being only between a man and a woman, and it is interpreted that Jesus is making a statement against any other kind of marriage.  While marriage between same sex couples would not have been thought about back then, and Jesus certainly does not make a statement for or against such a marriage, Jesus’ point here is not about something that has become a religious and political point of contention among many, but rather, Jesus’ point is about commitment to one another in marriage, and I believe that such commitment can happen in any marriage, just as that commitment can be taken lightly in any marriage. 

We all certainly know that there can be reasonable causes for divorce, and that sometimes that cause is abuse of a spouse.  I do not believe that Jesus would ask a person to sacrifice their own life, especially in an abusive marriage, just to maintain some biblical precept.  However, I also believe that Jesus would invite couples, under more usual circumstances, to consider their life together, what brought them together in the first place, and to examine if there are ways in which they might maintain their commitment in marriage.  Sometimes things can indeed be worked on, improved, and a marriage can continue as a blessing to both people.  And sometimes divorce is the most appropriate course for both people.  I believe Jesus would ask that each person consider things deeply, pray about things, and then come to a decision one way or the other.

In the last three verses of the section, we also find an interesting conflict.  Although the statement is phrased so as to indicate that either person could be committing adultery, it is important to note that in Palestine women could not sue for divorce.  Once again, we have an unequal situation, and because Jesus surely knew this, it raises the question of whether this response is indeed to be attributed to Jesus, as opposed to having come later as the church spread to other parts of the world.

These verses, taken in total, are sometimes used to push a point, rather than being received as Jesus urging to always take our commitments in relationships seriously.  That sense of commitment indeed needs to extend beyond just marriages, to all of the relationships that we are in.  Commitment, prayerfully considered, makes a world of difference.

May 25, 2025

Acting in Jesus’ name and being at peace with one another

Mark 9:38-50

It is interesting that Jesus first addresses the issue of someone outside the group doing something in his name, and then speaks about the presence or absence of stumbling blocks.  There is a definite connection between the two incidents, at least in so far as teaching us something. 

In Christianity, when we hold up the tenets and history of the faith again those of another religion, it is interesting how we have historically often negated the contributions of those other faiths.  Within Christianity, whether it be the historic forms of Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Protestantism, we have often emphasized the competition rather than the idea of all being called in Jesus’ name.  Within the Protestantism that I am most familiar with, although I sense that it is true among the various traditions of Catholicism as well, we tend to find ways to negate the contributions of others while uplifting our own chosen pathway.  In doing this, at whatever level of engagement, we then tend to miss out on the riches and possibilities that exist outside our own rather narrow focus of faith.  Indeed, if someone is acting in Jesus’ name, or even in God’s name, and their deeds are beneficial to whomever they are with, then can’t we set aside our narrow appreciation of things and acknowledge their good gifts and the hearts from which they have emerged?

Jesus understood, I think even before his death, that there would be multiple expressions of the movement that would operate while claiming his name.  His point was that if someone was doing good in his name, then we should rejoice, whether they see everything the same way as we do or not.  If they are operating in ways that are not true to the way that he has shown us, then we need to be more discerning, but we should always look first at our own motives for questioning another.

As for the stumbling blocks, we should certainly understand this section metaphorically, understanding Jesus to mean that we should remove the offending behavior or attitude from our life, not to literally mutilate ourselves.  He then concludes by saying that we should be well seasoned, and indeed at peace with one another.

May 16, 2025

Discussions and Service

Mark 9:30-37

For the second time, in consecutive chapters, we have words from Jesus about his death and resurrection.  Whereas in the first instance (8:31-33) Peter responds to Jesus, here the disciples keep silent.  Considering how Jesus responded to Peter’s reaction the first time, it is not surprising that Peter keeps quiet here.  But Mark tells us that the reason everyone is quiet is that they just plain don’t understand what he is saying to them.

I think that we often read such things and, from our perspective these many centuries later, look at the responses and wonder how they could have missed things.  But they were being told things before they happened, and we react based on knowing where things lead for Jesus.

But I think that this raises an important dynamic in discussing Jesus, religion and all related things.  It is good and important to ask questions, and both the dialogue and possibly the debate that follows will be instructive and clarifying for all.  Ask those questions!

Then we come to the argument among the disciples about who is the greatest among them.  If they are all equally confused about things, it would seem that none of them is the greatest.  But I have two reactions to this passage.  The first is that I wonder if this reflects more of the early church situation than it does their actual time with Jesus.  As the church later developed, and different disciples had different ideas, one can imagine their angling for superiority.  I am not totally convinced that this conflict was true when they were walking with Jesus.  But the story as Mark brings it to us makes a central point about Jesus’ approach to life.  He repeatedly, in various circumstances, talks about how being a servant is what we are called to do.  If the disciples missed that point, either when they were with Jesus, or as they moved and worked in the early church, then they missed one of most critical things that they should have learned from Jesus.  It is as we serve one another that we get truly in touch with Jesus, and through that in touch with God.

May 9, 2025

Belief and Doubt

Mark 9:14-29

This passage takes us from the power of the Transfiguration, to the seeming lack of power of the disciples who had remained down the mountain and been approached by this distraught father.  The events of the story pretty much speak for themselves, but there are at least two things to note which are significant.

The first is the rather famous statement from the father:  “I believe; help my unbelief!” 

There are times when people criticize others by saying that if they only had enough belief and faith then things would happen the way that they hope for.  This sets up guilt for a lot of people.  If a child has cancer, and we pray for that child, and the child then still dies, is it our fault because we didn’t have enough faith?  Sometimes horrible things still happen, despite our fervent and faith-filled prayers.  But in addition, doubt is a part of life, it is part of being human.  To equate doubt somehow with failure is to miss the mark.  Faith and doubt indeed go hand in hand.  We believe, we exhibit faith, with all the power that we can muster, as did the father in the story, and yet, doubt is still around, is still natural, is still a part of who we are.  This father has the courage to acknowledge both his faith and his doubt.  And Jesus doesn’t criticize him for this conflict.  Jesus doesn’t tell him that he is a horrible father.  Jesus heals the boy.  Jesus loves them both, knowing that faith and doubt exist together within us.

The second note is the closing verse, wherein Jesus explains to the disciples why it is that they couldn’t cast out the demon.  “This kind,” he says, “can come out only through prayer.”

Casting out of demons is a strange phenomena to me in the first place, but I think that Jesus’ point is that if the disciples were to do this then it is something that will happen not through their own power, but through their connection with God.  That connection happens through prayer, and that is a gift to us from this passage.

May 3, 2025

Transformation

Mark 9:1-13

The opening verse of this passage has been a point of hope and confusion since Jesus said it.  Some, perhaps many, in the early church took it to mean that Jesus would come again with great power, what is usually referred to as the Second Coming, and that it would take place in that generation while at least some of them were still alive.  If we take it in that literal way, then something is up, for we are still here, and still waiting for Jesus to return.

But, if we stop and notice that Jesus always spoke of the kingdom of God in two ways, as a future presence, but also as something that was either very near to them or present with them, then we can understand this saying more as pointing toward experiences when people would actually grasp the truth and reality of the presence of the kingdom of God in their midst.  In some ways it is a reflection of that perspective of truly opening the eyes and ears, and the mind and spirit, to what was with them, and welcoming it into their lives.  This is of course a message for us as well, and indeed we are invited to have a part in making the presence of the kingdom of God, the living with God, a part of the experience of all those whom we meet.

Then, as if to demonstrate the presence of that power in their midst, we receive the story of the Transfiguration.  It is for me one of the most intense, spirit-filled experiences of Jesus that we are allowed to glimpse.  I can barely imagine what it would have been like for the inner circle of three disciples who were there with Jesus.  Jesus is transfigured, in a way that seems to point toward his later glory in the Resurrection.  It is an “unearthly” experience, as his clothes are brighter than anyone on earth could have made them. 

Then both Elijah and Moses appear to them.  Elijah here represents the prophets, and Moses, who received the tablets on Mount Sinai, represents the law.  Then, when the two of them disappear, the disciples are left with the one who has come to fulfill both the law and the prophets. 

Peter, the lone one of the three disciples to find a voice, as they are all terrified we are told, proposes to build dwelling places for Moses, Elijah and Jesus.  In his uncertainty, he looks at this experience in a human way, rather than grasping the intense movement of God’s spirit in all of this.  God then speaks out of a cloud, in words purposefully reminiscent of the baptism of Jesus, and says, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 

This experience concludes with a discussion as they come down the mountain.  Jesus, in a way that is typical of Mark’s Gospel, tells the disciples to tell no one about what had taken place until after Jesus had risen from the dead.  They ask Jesus about this, as they try to make sense of everything, with the recorded conversation focusing on Elijah, the forerunner of the Messiah, and Jesus tells them that Elijah has come, meaning in the person of John the Baptist.  And that, whether they catch it or not, means that they can recognize the Messiah in their midst, and the fulfillment of the words that we began with in this passage.