Mark 3:19b-35

Then [Jesus] went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, 'He has gone out of his mind.' And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.' And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, 'How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered. 'Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin'— for they had said, 'He has an unclean spirit.' Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, 'Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.' And he replied, 'Who are my mother and my brothers?' And looking at those who sat around him, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.'

The phrase that stands out to me today is, "if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand." To me, our pericope today describes the division that is felt throughout society up to and including the church. It is heart-wrenching to see the divisions and hatred expressed in society, government, and churches. Divisions that are primarily based on fear or ignorance.

The scribes ridicule Jesus because they feel threatened and don't understand him, so they accuse him of having a demon. Jesus straightens out their thinking and asks them, "how can Satan cast out Satan?" explaining that a divided kingdom is a weak kingdom that will fall. 

The family of Jesus is worried. So much that they go out to try to stop him. It is interesting to me that Jesus summarizes this teaching with an alternative view of what it means to be family. Family is the closest of relationships that share blood and kin. Some people hold the family bond as an unconditional bond that cannot be divided or broken. After being told that his mother, brothers, and sisters are there, Jesus says that the ones seated there learning from him are his mother, brothers, and sisters. I don't think he's saying that he has replaced his mother, brothers, and sisters.

Jesus advocates for a close relationship with his followers who do the "will of God." A relationship that is as close as family. A strong relationship that cannot be simply broken by the evils of this world. I hear the call to strong relationships nurtured by the love and forgiveness we experience from Jesus as we strive to bring about his kingdom on earth.

Mark 3:7-19b

Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, 'You are the Son of God!' But he sternly ordered them not to make him known. He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Then he went home;

Apostles... Those who are sent out to proclaim the message. Jesus has gained some notoriety and a considerable following. So much that the scriptures say the disciples had a boat ready for him. I think that this could be an escape route for Jesus. The sick and possessed were "pressing in on him" so that they could touch him. After the crowd scene, Jesus takes his disciples up a mountain, and he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles). The apostles were "sent out" and given authority to proclaim, heal, and cast out demons.

The twelve that he called apostles were sent out. The word "apostle" literally means to be sent. It's also essential that the ones closest to Jesus were those he sent. The scriptures even name them. It might be good to note that they will also become witnesses to Jesus' resurrection and glorious ascension, making them the first apostolic witnesses. So they are witnesses with authority sent by Jesus himself. 

In the church, we have a tradition that recognizes this apostolic authority in the office of the bishop. Through the "overseers" (Episkopos), apostolic authority is passed down in succession from a group of bishops (3) to new bishops. This action can be traced back to Simon (whom Jesus called Peter), the one to whom Jesus gave the "keys to the kingdom." ‎(Matthew 16:19 · ‎John 20:23). Through this apostolic authority, bishops exercise oversite of the church's work in their jurisdiction. 

Our challenge today is in reading this with modern eyes and trying to figure out the intent of Jesus. My thought is that bishops today should represent the mission of Christ that continues until his coming again. They are "sent out" to proclaim the power of Jesus to all corners of the earth to heal and cast out the demons of this world. That may have been Jesus' intent. Doing that is a way to further Christ and his mission to reconcile the world to God. When we are reconciling the world to God, we are doing the apostolic work and living in witness to the risen Christ. 

Mark 2:13-22

Jesus went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in Levi's house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, 'Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?' When Jesus heard this, he said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.'

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, 'Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?' Jesus said to them, 'The wedding-guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

'No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.' (NRSV)

The Pharisees are at it again, criticizing Jesus for every move they consider apart from their teaching. Jesus eating with "tax collectors" and other "sinners" seem to have set them off this time. They are quick to point out the social faux paux to Jesus. Jesus takes the opportunity to clarify that his mission is to help those that society thinks are lost. 

Evidently, the eating arrangement gets even more convoluted when they point out that John's disciples are fasting. This is possibly a religious fasting period for them. People of the time linked fasting to mourning. Jesus uses the opportunity again to teach that they are not mourning because he is there with them. The time for mourning will be when he is gone.

Jesus is here to do something completely new. He is the "new wine." The Pharisees are critical of Jesus because they try to look at what he is doing through the lens of the old regulations and expectations (aka "wineskins"). If you put new wine in old wineskins, the seams would break because the skins would have already stretched out. Because we don't put wine in skins, this metaphor seems foreign to us but understandable. 

Today I'm thinking of being Church. Of how church is and how church evaluates itself. We refer to the church as the 'body of Christ.' We often look at church through the lens of old regulations and expectations, "old wineskins," when quite clearly God is up to something entirely new. How can we be fresh receivers, "new wineskins," of what God is doing through Jesus Movement in this world? God is redeeming the world through Jesus. Jesus doesn't fit the old expectations. We shouldn't expect things to be the same as they've always been. How can we look at what God is doing in this world through fresh eyes?

Mark 2:1-12

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 'Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?' At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, 'Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven", or to say, "Stand up and take your mat and walk"? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins'—he said to the paralytic— 'I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.' And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, 'We have never seen anything like this!'

Every time I hear this story, I think of the Bible picture book that I had as a child. We can picture the scene: a house full of people, pressing in on one another, and at the center of the room was Jesus. The roof is being taken off the house to lower the paralyzed man down to Jesus. I find the scene is busy and confusing, especially for a kid to understand. 

Jesus recognizes their actions as a display of great faith, trusting that Jesus has the power to heal the man. However, Jesus goes a step further and pronounces forgiveness of the man's of the man. The scribes who were there start freaking out, accusing Jesus of blasphemy. Jesus knew they associated the man's paralysis with some sin he must have committed. Therefore, by pronouncing forgiveness the man was relieved of his burden and got up, took up his mat and went home. Everyone was amazed and the scripture tells us that they glorified God saying, "we have never seen anything like this."

The scene's picture is in my head. The mat with the man being lowered down through the roof. This makes me think of the lengths we will go to in order to get what we think we need. I'm sure that the man had heard of Jesus' healing powers. His friends were tenacious in their efforts to get him to Jesus. I wonder what they expected. I'm pretty sure that they didn't expect his sins to be forgiven. He probably just wanted to be healed, but Jesus ended up doing so much more.

We need to remember that God always gives us what we need, but rarely do we see it as something we want. It usually works out as so much more. The man was lowered down wanting to be healed, and had his sins forgiven. The paralyzed man didn't ask for anything, but had his sins forgiven and his paralysis healed. In lent, we focus on sin and forgiveness, wanting to be restored to right relationship with God as we approach Easter, needing to be healed of all the ways we come up short. We take time to look for paces in our lives that need to be evaluated; sickness, relationships, moods, anxieties, and then ask Jesus to interceed for us and forgive our sins, heal us, restore us, and reconcile us to God.

Mark 1:29-45

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, 'Everyone is searching for you.' He answered, 'Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.' And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons. A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, 'If you choose, you can make me clean.' Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, 'I do choose. Be made clean!' Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, 'See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.' But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

Here we are at the end of the first chapter of the Gospel according to Mark. Jesus is on the move, teaching, healing, and casting out demons. Jesus has accomplished so much he is getting noticed. The word throughout the region is spreading quickly. Today, I am drawn to the directness of Jesus as he performs the tasks before him. Mark has Jesus jumping from one task to another, almost without allowing the reader to take a breath. As the reader, it feels that Mark's story is taken from one gear to another without putting in the clutch.

Jesus starts out in the house of Simon and Andrew and cures Simon's mother-in-law, and restores her to resume her usual hospitality tasks of serving them. Evidently, word travels fast in Galilee, and a multitude showed up at the door expecting Jesus to heal them also. Jesus completes all the tasks in front of him. Then, after he is drained, Jesus goes off by himself to pray. When found by Simon and the others, Jesus took them throughout Galilee, preaching, teaching, and casting out demons. 

Jesus continues to be direct, going to where the people are, teaching them, and healing them. He is constantly on the move but takes time to pray and recharge. At this point, Jesus has quite the following. There were so many people after Jesus that he could not go to town openly, so the people came out to him in the country. 

In ministry, we get so bogged down sometimes we forget to model Jesus' pattern... Be on the move! Be about the work God has given us to do! But, always remember to take time to pray and recharge. This Wednesday, these are helpful words in the first whole week of Lent. Prayer should not be a chore or something else to put on our schedule. Prayer should be part of who we are and how we live. Prayer should be ingrained so much into our routine that it is our natural response to our work. 

Mark 1:14-28

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. (NRSV)

Mark doesn't waste any time and gets on with the story of Jesus' call to the first disciples and his first acts of teaching and casting out demons. The thing that stands out for me today is that the "unclean spirit" knows who Jesus is and it knows that Jesus has authority over it and will destroy it. Jesus doesn't waste any time and does just that. He casts out the unclean spirit from the man. This causes the man to convulse and cry out and the scriptures say that all were amazed. The crowd had not seen anything like Jesus. They had never seen anyone that had authority over unclean spirits. The word of his teaching spread fast.

To me, this makes me consider Jesus' ministry and actions a little closer. In Mark's gospel account, Jesus is very much "on the move" and goes about teaching and preaching where the people are, where the hurt is, where the demons are. As we are being taught to "fish for people," we should go out to where the people are, show them that they are loved by God, and help them cast out the demons in their lives that control them.

It is shocking to me how much the "modern church" doesn't look like a fellowship of Jesus' followers that is working to fish for people who need their love. It looks more like an institution or organization that mostly worships together. People constantly speak of the decline in the modern church and fail to see that the fish just need to be fed. In order to feed the fish, we need to go to them instead of expecting them to swim to us. I pray that we continue to become more of the body of Christ, reaching out to the world in love and reconciliation.

Mark 1:1-13

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” ’, John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

It's interesting to me that Mark begins his gospel story with the baptism of Jesus. There is no account of Jesus in the story until he comes to John at the Jordan River to be baptized. No birth narrative, no stories of teen Jesus in the temple, no Joseph and Mary, nothing prior to the baptism. Before Jesus arrives, John tells the people "I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." To me, this is the most significant statement in today's passage. John's prophetic message and recognition of who Jesus is, helps us understand everything that follows.

When Jesus came out of the water, the scripture tells us that the Spirit descended on him. The spirit in the form of a dove and then a voice boomed from heaven. I don't know about you, but if I were there, I would have freaked out. If you think about it, it's a pretty scary scene.

I have been scared before, and I have heard sounds from the sky that boom like thunder. I've also seen birds land on people before. Combine all those elements and mix them with John's prophetic message, I still don't think we have the entirety of the scene. 

John says that baptism with the Holy Spirit goes beyond baptism with water; there's more to it. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we are renewed, restored, and born again as a new creation. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we follow the teachings of a man who embodied pure unconditional love for all of humanity who bids us do the same. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we are Christ's own forever, and nothing on earth can break that bond. 

The question for us today, as we are in the wilderness of Lent, is do we know this? If we are baptized and are brought into the life of Jesus, don't we know that we are recipients of such awesome power and responsibility? Don't we know that we are responsible for showing others who Jesus is by our life and action? As we prepare for the paschal feast, before we start to examine where we have come up short, we first need to remember who we are as baptized recipients of the Holy Spirit. We are beloved of God, we are agents of the Holy Spirit, and we belong to Christ Jesus.