Mark 7:1-23 (NRSV)

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them.  (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)  So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?"  He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.'  You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition."  Then he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition!  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.'  But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, 'Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban' (that is, an offering to God ) then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on.  And you do many things like this."  Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand:  there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile."  When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable.  He said to them, "Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)  And he said, "It is what comes out of a person that defiles.  For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

The fact that the disciples were “eating with defiled hands” stands out to me.  My grandmother would have a fit!  She always insisted on us washing our hands prior to eating anything!  (Maybe she was a Pharisee?)  Anyhow, Jesus uses this situation and the ridicule by the Pharisees to teach them.

The Pharisees and scribes have joined the crowds that continue to gather around Jesus.  Mark uncharacteristically provides much detail in the interaction between the Pharisees and Jesus, giving us a chance to feel the tension between them.  The Pharisees ask why the disciples don’t wash before they eat as the elders did.

Jesus calls them hypocrites for teaching human precepts as doctrine.  The Pharisees were strict about keeping the letter of the law, careful not to do anything outside of Torah.  However, they get mixed up sometimes in their pious practices and confound the law with human traditions.  Jesus uses the example of Corban.  Jesus shows how the Pharisees sidestep one of the Ten Commandments -- "Honor your father and your mother" (from Exod. 20:12).  This particular commandment required financial support and care to aging parents.  Corban is a form of deferred giving.  A person could declare something Corban (dedicated or sacrificed to God) and then tell his or her parents that their old-age support has been given to God.  In truth, the property has only been promised to God, but that promise gives the child an excuse to dodge his or her obligation to parents.

Jesus further explains that it isn’t the foods that we eat or ritual defilement that makes us unclean, but the thoughts and feelings of our hearts.  This is received as strong language in the context of the Jewish culture that honors food laws and other ritual observances.  The Torah goes into great detail regarding clean and unclean foods, and Jewish people distinguish themselves from their pagan neighbors by observance of these food laws.

We are called today to “nurture holy things.”  This should not be confused with pious practice.  We live in a culture that tells us that we must honor our feelings rather than to control them, and fiercely resist any constraints that Christ or common sense would place on behavior.  The result is that we live in a world characterized by evil thoughts, (adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, and etc., etc…)   Jesus’ teaching points us in a radically different direction.  He tells us that "evil things come from within;" within our human heart, and implies that we have a responsibility to nurture holy things rather than evil things in our hearts.

Mark 6:47-56 (NRSV)

When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.  When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by.  But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."  Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased.  And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.  When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat.  When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.  And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

Jesus came toward them “walking on the sea.”  The image that comes out at me is popular.  When we think of Jesus, we often associate him with the miracles that he performed; healing the sick, changing water into wine, casting out demons, walking on water, feeding the multitudes, and raising from the dead (just to name a few).  He amazed many (and continues to amaze) people with the wonder and power of miracles that shows the power of the one true living and loving God.

From yesterday’s reading, Jesus catches up with the disciples.  He comes to them across sea of Galilee, walking on the water.  The wind was up and the sea was rough.  The disciples were terrified.  They didn’t expect Jesus to be coming toward them like that.  Once Jesus got into the boat, the wind stopped.  They were flabbergasted.  The disciples were still trying to understand the miracle that they had just witnessed, the feeding of the 5000, and Jesus comes at them with another display of power over the elements.

After they came to Gennesaret, they were immediately noticed by people.  They brought their sick to him to be cured.  Jesus was recognized everywhere, and there was a crowd everywhere he went.  Even people that touched the fringe of his cloak were healed.

It is hard not to concentrate on the awesome power God in this passage that is shown by Jesus.  His presence and actions are godly and of godly proportions.  To me, the call that is present in this reading is in the phrase that Jesus says to the disciples, “take heart, and don’t be afraid.”  The power of God is a scary thing; the closer we get to experiencing it, the more afraid we can become.  If we take our experiences of the living God to heart, and are not afraid, then we can let God get close and use us as vessels to spread the good news about Jesus to the world.

Mark 3:7-19a (NRSV)

Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, 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.

The presence of the boat stands out. What's the boat for? Jesus led his disciples to the sea and wanted a boat ready. However, there is no mention of the use of the boat. Mark moves along at his usual steady pace and tells us just enough to get the story.

Jesus is on the move. The way Mark tells it, he seems to be running from the great multitude following him. They are coming from everywhere. He has been healing and casting out demons everywhere he goes, so people try to touch him. The demons are even afraid of him. He went up a mountain (the mountain's presence is as strange as the boat) and took a select few with him. There he appoints the twelve.

This is definitely an account that was written after the fact. This is the first time we hear the word Apostles and about one of the twelve betraying Jesus. In fact, it almost seems that this is Mark's narrative attempt at foreshadowing, but it isn't very creative and leaves us with a bunch of questions.

I once had an issue in my ministry, and I will never forget the advice from my bishop. He said, "Ken, make disciples." He meant for me to share the load with trusted advisories to be more productive in ministry and the proclamation of the good news. So, I feel that the call today is to make disciples. Like Jesus, we need to share the load to reach the most for good. If I have twelve and my twelve each have twelve, it quickly becomes a highly manageable arrangement. However, it becomes harrowing if I try to lead all 144+ by myself.

John 11:1-16 (NRSV)

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.  So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill."  But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight?  Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world.  But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them."  After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him."  The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right."  Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep.  Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."  Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

Glorified.  God will be glorified through Jesus in the most unexpected of situations.  Lazarus becomes a vehicle for that glorification, and the opportunity for the disciples to fall into a deeper belief.

Lazarus is the brother of Mary & Martha, and he is sick.  Jesus and his disciples don’t seem to be in a hurry to get to them after they received the message, and stayed back for 2 days.  All of a sudden, Jesus is ready to go to Judea again.  The disciples are quick to remind him that the Jews were ready to stone him the last time he was there (see yesterday’s passage).  Jesus tells his disciples that Lazarus has died, and implies that he will use this death to help them believe.

Thomas still doesn’t understand, but appears to be thinking about Jews that are ready to stone Jesus.  He tells the other disciples, “let’s go and die with him.”  Thomas is ready to go, regardless of the consequences.

Jesus has spent the past few days of readings narrowly escaping the ones that want to kill him.  Today, Jesus is ready to go back into the danger zone for the chance to use the death of his friend to glorify God.  Jesus is ready to take the risk to help his followers believe.

I feel the call today is trust.  Be trusting, like Thomas.  Thomas acts like he would follow Jesus to the ends of the earth regardless of what they ran into.  This implies a deep trust of Jesus, and a belief that he is who he has proven himself to be.  If we were to trust like this, then we may see the Christ glorified in the world.

John 9:1-17 (NRSV)

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.  We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.  The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?"  Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man."  But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"  He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight."  They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."  They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.  Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see."  Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?"  And they were divided.  So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him?  It was your eyes he opened."  He said, "He is a prophet."

“What do you say about him?”  The blind man declares Jesus a prophet, the Pharisee’s are split and his followers continue to be dazed and amazed at Jesus’ wondrous works.

We are just coming off Jesus narrowly escaping being stoned when he was preaching in the temple. (Saturday’s reading)  Jesus is on his way somewhere else and sees a blind man.  The man doesn’t ask to be healed, it is the disciples who are asking about the cause of the man’s blindness.  Jesus uses the opportunity to teach the disciples with the action of healing the man’s eyes.  In a very human, almost crude act, Jesus spits in the dirt and makes mud to apply to the man’s eyes.  Then he sends the blind man to wash.

It is an incredible miracle.  However, the Pharisee’s don’t get past the fact that Jesus may have violated the Sabbath.  Evidently, one cannot make mud from spit on the Sabbath.  The Pharisees question the man as to how his sight was restored and who did it.  The strange fact to me is the blind man did not know where Jesus was (or what he looks like), and yet the Pharisees are quick to assume there was some violation that rendered this act of healing as not from God.  The scripture tells us that they were divided over the decision.

The call I hear in the context of this reading is the one that comes from Jesus to the blind man.  Go and wash!  Be made clean!  I think I am going to refer to the gospel according to John as a gospel of participation.  Our first act of full participation in the Christian life is Holy Baptism.  It is the initiatory rite that makes us participants with Christ in his life, death, and resurrection, and it includes us as full members of Christ’s body, the church (it makes us Christian - not members of any particular denomination, but that is another argument for another day).  I feel that we are called in this scripture to be made clean in the waters of baptism, and then have our eyes opened so that Jesus can lead the way.