Monday, October 26, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
+ Pentecost XIX + Oct. 11th, 2009 +
Lexegete™ | Year B | St. Mark
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Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 11, 2009 (Lectionary 28)
Complementary Series
Amos 5:6-7, 10-15
Psalm 90:12-17
Hebrews 4:12-16
Mark 10:17-31
Semicontinuous Series
Job 23:1-9, 16-17
Psalm 22:1-15 (1)
Hebrews 4:12-16
Mark 10:17-31
Prayer of the Day
Almighty and ever-living God, increase in us your gift of faith, that, forsaking what lies behind and reaching out to what lies ahead, we may follow the way of your commandments and receive the crown of everlasting joy, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. Blessed are the | poor in spirit,
for theirs is the king- | dom of heaven. Alleluia. (Matt. 5:3)
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1a. First Lesson - RC = 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
RC - Wisdom 7:7-11 ; C - Genesis 3:8-19
E/C - Proper 23 (Sunday closest to Oct. 12)
E/L - Amos 5:6-7, 10-15
Amos5:6 Seek the LORD and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.
Amos5:7 Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground!
Amos5:10 They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth.
Amos5:11 Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
Amos5:12 For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins-- you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate.
Amos5:13 Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time.
Amos5:14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as
you have said.
Amos5:15 Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
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1b. Second Lesson
R - Hebrews 4:12-13 ; C-Hebrews 4:1-3,9-13
E/L - Hebrews 3:1-6
Heb. 4:12 Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Heb. 4:13 And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.
Heb. 4:14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.
Heb. 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.
Heb. 4:16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
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1c. Gospel R/E/L/C Mark 10:17-27 (C:17-30) (31)
ESV:
The Rich Young Man
17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is [1] to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, [2] “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
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[1] 10:24 Some manuscripts add for those who trust in riches
[2] 10:26 Some manuscripts to one another
1d. Context: Mark 10:17-27 (28-30) (31)
Much of what was said about Pentecost 20 B applies to this text as well. Jesus'
conversation on riches and the discussion of the reward for discipleship is situated in the fourth major section of Mark's gospel (8:29-10:45), a section which deals with the topics of Christology and Discipleship as they are nuanced by the prediction of the Passion. The section is organized around the theme of a journey whose stepping stones are the three predictions of the Passion. Misunderstanding about the necessity of Jesus' suffering occasioned the teaching on discipleship. It is within this context that Jesus' views on riches are expressed. (Daniel Malone, p. 78) The first words of the text remind us that Jesus is still on his journey to the cross [kai, the story-telling linkage; ekporeuomenou autou eis hodon, "as he was going out (genitive absolute of ekporeuomai) into his way . . "]. "By using the preposition eis ("into"), the narrator expresses a sense of direction. There is only one way, and its course is predetermined. Jesus knows the way, because he entered upon it through submission to John's baptism of repentance. Its end is like its beginning: death followed by resurrection." (Waetjen, p. 167; cf. Waetjen's discussion of Jesus' baptism, pp. 63-74) Fundamentally, this passage tells the story about an invitation to discipleship.
The story of Jesus' encounter with a man who asks about eternal life is found in all three synoptic gospels. Only Matthew says that the man was "young;" only Luke says that he was a "ruler." All three say that he was "rich" (v. 23c and parallels), and in Mark this is the only description given. The passage unfolds in three parts with a conclusion: (1) Jesus encounters a rich man, 17-22; (2) Jesus teaches his disciples about the dangers of wealth, 23- 27; and (3) Jesus reassures Peter, 28-30; with a concluding saying, 31.
2.Analysis: Mark 10:17-27 (28-30) (31)
[17-22] As Jesus proceeds on his way, he is confronted, in a somewhat dramatic scene, by a man who ran up (prostrecho, aorist participle) to him and then knelt down (gonypeteo, aor. ptc.) before him. The man's running expresses his sense of urgency; his kneeling highlights his view of Jesus' importance and, perhaps, the importance of his need. On the one hand, the kneeling joined with his greeting hints of an actor overplaying his part. On the other hand, unlike the Pharisees and others, the man has not come to trick, trap or test Jesus. At least he comes as a seeker, someone
asking about "ultimate things." "Good Teacher" (didaskale agathe), the man says. If Jesus is a teacher, not a god or king, then why the kneeling? Nineham comments that the man's behavior "reveals first that the stranger was altogether too obsequious and effusive in his approach. Jesus pricks the bubble of his fulsomeness by reminding him that religion has a hard, practical side. The way to obtain eternal life is not by giving flattering titles to Jesus, but by doing the will of the Father." (p. 270) The man's question gives us a clue to explain his overwrought behavior: "What must I do (poieso, either aorist subjunctive deliberative or future indicative, which has much the same meaning) to inherit (kleronomeo, aor. subj., literally "assign lot") eternal life (zoe aionios)?"
Here, in Mark's Gospel, "eternal life" is virtually synonymous with "kingdom of God" (cf. 10:14, 15, 23, 24, 25), and similar to being "saved" (v. 26). "Generally an inheritance is not earned by works; rather, it is awarded on the basis of genealogical lineage. It is ironic that this individual should be raising this question, for the eternal life that he craves is available to him on the basis of his integrity as a Jew, a member of God's elect people Israel. That, in fact, is what Jesus intimates in his response, 'You know the commandments.'" (Waetjen, p. 168) And yet, the language of "inheriting" eternal life was in common usage among the rabbis of Jesus' time. (Nineham, p. 273) The rich man is taking seriously the need to be an active member of the family to whom the inheritance is promised. (Juel, p. 145) Jesus responds by observing that only God is good. His response has the sound of a rebuff. Is Jesus just a bit put-off by the man's obsequiousness? Does Jesus sense that the man is a bit misdirected, unaware of the absolute worth of God, the one and only, in his life? The man kneels to Jesus, but Jesus directs the man to God. Isn't that an overarching theme of Jesus' ministry, to point to God? Remember, he "came not to be served but to serve . . " (Mark 10:45). God is the only source of all that is good. Jesus' life is to proclaim and manifest that truth.He "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" (Philippians 2:6b). In this light, it is interesting that the commandments of the covenant that Jesus cites as the way to eternal life are not those from the first table of the law, focused on our relationship with God, but those from the second table of the law, focused on our relationships with one another. Eternal life has to do with justice and kindness in human relationships. The injunction, "You shall not defraud" (apostereo, aor. subj.), appears to be a way of summarizing the tenth commandment--"You shall not covet." Perhaps the word "defraud" is used because fraudulence is a special temptation of the rich. (Nineham, p. 274) Is the commandment "Honor your father and mother" listed last as a way of underscoring it, or because it, as opposed to the others, is less concerned with property issues? After the man answers that he has "kept (phylasso, aor. middle; to guard or observe) all these since (his) youth," we read that "Jesus, looking at him (emblepo, aor. ptc.; to look hard or straight at someone, to gaze intently), loved him" (agapao, aor.). Jesus felt for the man, for his sincere but ultimately shallow religiousness. Nineham suggests that Jesus expressed this by a gesture of affection (pp. 274-275). Yet, Jesus, obviously, was not impressed, saying, "You lack (hustereo) one thing . . ." Then follow five imperatives, which are essentially one command: go, sell, give,
come, and follow. [By the way, the "poor," ptochos, are those who "cower," ptosso.] After hearing of the "one thing" that was, in effect, everything, the man leaves, crestfallen (stygnazo, aor. ptc.; "somber," "gloomy," "down in the mouth," "his countenance fallen," "appalled") and sorrowful (lypeo, passive ptc.; "distressed," "grieved," "sad," "sorry"). Why? Because he had many possessions (or did they have him?).
[23-27] Some commentators, such as Ernest Best, make much about the Markan construction of this section (cf. Disciples and Discipleship, p. 18ff.; Best has similar remarks about 10:28-31), suggesting an "original" or pre-Markan order. But, as Williamson, Nineham and others point out, the present order and construction is plenty understandable (so let's not worry about it, O.K.?). Jesus turns to his disciples, giving them and us words of instruction about the dangers of wealth and the rigors of discipleship. "Then Jesus looked around [periblepomai, aor. ptc.; a peculiarly
Markan term, used mostly by Jesus (5 times out of 6 in Mark), in 3:5 (and Lukan parallel); 3:34; 5:32; and 11:11] and said to his disciples, 'How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!'" The disciples are addressed as "children" (tekna, as opposed to paidia in 10:13-16), and so, the disciples and we are being connected to the previous words of Jesus (10:13-16) about entering the kingdom of God. While the rich man's reaction to Jesus' words was a kind of shock and sorrow, the reaction of the disciples is to become perplexed or astonished (thambeo, perfect passive; of the evangelists, used only by Mark). Whereas, traditionally, wealth
was considered a beneficent blessing from God, a sign of God's "positive evaluation" (not dissimilar from the teachings of the Puritans), Jesus, on the other hand, sees it as a hindrance to participating in the reign of God. According to the text, Jesus moves from a specific case (the rich man) to a generalization about all who are wealthy, and then to a further generalization which includes us all (v. 24b).
The analogy or proverb of the camel and the eye of the needle focuses again on the rich, while the final generalization (v. 27) applies to everyone. The vivid image of the camel squeezing through the eye of a needle is both humorous and to the point. The camel was likely the largest animal the people knew about; the eye of the needle was about the smallest space they knew for fitting something (thread) through. The example both elaborates and makes the point--"you can't get to heaven in a Cadillac." At this news the disciples were exceedingly (perissos, used in the NT only
twice, here and in Mk. 15:14) astounded (ekplesso, imperfect passive; "overwhelmed," as it were "struck outside" oneself). The disciples were not so surprised that it is hard to enter the kingdom of God; rather, they are shaken that it would be difficult for the rich to enter. After all, aren't the rich the ones who have plenty to spend by way of doing religious things? Can't they give alms freely and regularly? "Such instruction comes as a great surprise to the disciples, who have been brought up in the rabbinic teaching that worldly wealth, though it involves great responsibility, is on the whole a sign of God's favor and makes easier the 'good works' on which salvation will depend." (Nineham, p. 271.)
[28-30] Speaking on behalf of the disciple-corps, Peter seeks reassurance for himself and themselves, who have left "everything" (panta) to follow Jesus. We are reminded of the first "callto- discipleship" scene in 1:16-20. Jesus does not rebuke Peter or the others for overstating their case (cf. 1:29; 3:9; 4:1, 36); rather, he responds to their feelings of insecurity with a solemn assertion, "Truly I tell you . . . " (cf. 10:15). These words take up not only financial concerns but familial concerns. What we do for the sake of Jesus and for the sake of the Gospel will have promise and blessing, not only in the "age to come" but also "now in this age" (kairos, this "right time"). We may not have the promise of renewed financial wealth, but we will have a new community in Christ, community in abundance ("hundredfold") and fullness, a community that can face and survive "persecutions" (diogmos, for dioko, meaning "pursue").
3. Strategy: Mark 10:17-27 (28-30) (31)
How do we come to Jesus? How do we enter the Kingdom? Is it by pious words and
genuflection? Is discipleship about obeying some holy do's and don'ts, getting the religious etiquette down; or is it about a radical transformation of life which includes a free submission to the will and way of God? The rich man comes seeking. He is already aware that there is something he lacks. What is it? He has been keeping the Law faithfully, all his life. Perhaps, for that very reason, he has come to realize that there must be something else, something missing.
He is like a young Luther, struggling for eternal security. The one thing he lacks is, in effect, everything. As John Wesley once wrote, Jesus is saying that if you would have eternal life, then you need "the love of God, without which all religion is a dead carcass. In order to do this, throw away what to thee is the grand hindrance of it. Give up thy great idol, riches." (quoted by Gareth L. Cockerill, p. 14)
The rich man came seeking, to get himself some eternal life. He came getting, not giving. "The man came to Jesus eagerly enough, but he did not receive what he wanted because he wouldn't give up what he had." (Cockerill, pp. 19- 20) I am reminded of the story of Cain and Abel making their offering to God (Gn. 4:1-7). Is the rich man fallen in countenance for much the same reason that Cain was down in the mouth? Cain seemed more interested in getting God's blessing than in giving thanks. Isn't there reward enough in the relationship God makes with us? Let God be God and get on with
it. As Amos says, in the first lesson for the day, "Seek the Lord and live . . ." Trust God. For the rich man this means giving "it" (his wealth, his hold on life) away, giving to the poor, giving for the sake of others. God is there, not only in the poor but in the giving.
"Eternal life" is not a religious commodity, bought by means of religious performance. Eternal life is a way of being with God; it is a way of following the way of Christ. [Cf. Frederick Buechner's words on "eternal life" in Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC.] Eternal life is gift, God's gift to give, not for us to possess but for us to celebrate in a new community, a community which is also God's gift. This is a community formed by God of those who have died--died to wealth and possessing, died to control and keeping, died to self-aggrandizing power in this world (whether in the family of mother, father, sister, brother, children, or in the marketplace of farms, fields and commodities, or in the arena of politics, etc.),
died to self.
The rich man wants security. "The uncovering of his basic disposition of dependence on wealth shows that his obedience to the law is similar: he accumulates possessions and he accumulates obedience in order to make himself secure" (Via, pp. 134-135). He wants the answer. He is intense about it. He is serious and sincere. He comes running. We may admire his intensity and his acting with compunction. He's an achiever, a doer. He's not lazy in his religious faith. He leads a good life--a reason for Jesus to love him, for his heart to go out to the man. After all, he's making a genuine effort. He's not taking his faith for granted. He's not making weak excuses, justifying himself. And yet, doesn't his inability to respond to Jesus give us a hint that he is focused upon efforts of self-justification? Jesus' radical call to discipleship is pushing the rich man to his limits. Jesus is asking him to abandon his religious security as well as his financial security. The rich man is being challenged to give up control. This is his version of Abraham's walk up the mountain of Moriah with his son Isaac. He's motivated, but his faith lacks follow
through. As long as faith can be defined as and limited to prescribed procedures (e.g.,
genuflection, obeying the rules, etc.), then this man can discipline his life to master the requirements. But when faith is an open invitation to follow wherever Jesus leads, then he is no longer master of his own destiny and religion becomes a fathomless abyss which can be crossed only by trusting God, by a "leap of faith." In this story, the church is supplied with an explanation of the failure of the gospel to come home to some to whom it was preached. (Best, Disciples and Discipleship, p. 112) They turn down the Good News because the change of life's direction which it requires is just too great. The sacrifice is too great, whether it's leaving the land, the house, the family, riches, or whatever. "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead" (Mt. 8:22; cf. Lk. 9:59-60). The entire chapter [chapter 10] forms a unified treatment of the family and related issues of property and hierarchy. Its message is that full disciples must give them all up: wealth, family, and their dominant place in the hierarchy. Even the more distant follower who retains spouse and family must give up the rights of ownership and domination over them. The family is stripped of its unquestioned centrality in the culture and in the lives of its members, while the adult males who follow Jesus are deprived of the status they had enjoyed as heads of such families. All this is
done "for my sake and the sake of the gospel" (10:29). (Countryman, p. 181)
The man might have responded affirmatively to Jesus. He could have given away all of his
possessions and still remain fundamentally unchanged. What Jesus asked this man to do was not simply to abandon his goods, but to use them for good, in the service of God--to help the poor. (Best, Mark: The Gospel as Story, p. 84) Indeed, "the gift to the poor is portrayed as virtually equivalent to the cause of the gospel ." (Ringe, p. 61) And yet, Jesus wanted a more fundamental and radical change in the man--the "giving away" of his self-interest. For ultimately what the young man cannot do is allow himself to be vulnerable before God. "Come and follow me," Jesus says, and the young ruler knows full well what this implies. To give up possessions is not enough. To care about the poor and the dispossessed is not enough. What is required is that we stand before God stripped of our wealth, of our pride, of our self-assurance, and of our own attempts to answer the question, "What must I do to be saved." (Randall R. Lee, "Preaching Helps", Currents in Theology and Mission, July 1985, Vol. 12, No. 4, p. 54) Perhaps the man could have continued to use his wealth, using it for the sake of others, for the sake of the poor, but using it for their benefit, not his own, i.e., as a means of "earning" eternal life. This story raises all sorts of issues regarding wealth (of course, "wealth" is always a relative term, relative to whom and how we compare our wealth). Is money automatically the root of all evils, or is it the "love" of money (cf. 1 Tim. 6:10)? Still, doesn't wealth almost automatically lure us and woo us into an attachment? Wealth is not only the only attachment which threatens our loyalty to God and our willingness to go whenever and wherever God sends
us (10:24). But wealth is a particularly great threat, and it also represents whatever gets in the way, whatever must be given up in order to follow Jesus. So, the desire of Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof" ("If I were a rich man . . . ), the desire common to us all (or nearly so), represents a risk. Wealth affords possibilities, possibilities for doing many good things (such as Tevye imagined), but the risk of attachment is great. With the wealth comes the illusion of selfsufficiency.
With wealth comes the delusion that we can control, that we can master our own fate. If we are in charge, then there is no need to follow the way, no need to trust God, no need to give thanks.
Does this mean that we must renounce possessing worldly wealth and take vows of poverty (certainly this text has taken its institutional form in the vow of poverty prescribed by certain religious orders)? Is the eschaton so near that we should sell all that we have a set up camp on a hillside, waiting for our Lord's return? What does this text say to those of us with pension plans, savings and checking accounts, certificates of deposit, insurance, Social Security, mutual funds, etc.? If it is not prescribing a vow of poverty, is it then saying something about the poverty of wealth? How do we apply the story and the teaching to our own lives? Does one "size," one interpretation, fit all? Will we come up with a neat, well-defined answer, a new security prop, or is this a perennial issue with which we must struggle along the way? "If this message does not take our breath away, if we are not shocked, appalled, grieved, or amazed, we have either not yet heard it or heard it so often that we do not really hear it any more" (Williamson, p. 188). The parable-proverb of the camel and the needle's eye says it so well, but never so simply that we can assure ourselves that we've got it all figured out. Our Lord's ironic pun emphasizes the difficult of people loaded down with real estate, smothered under stocks and bonds, burdened with burglar alarms and the fear of losing possessions. "How hard it is . . . how hard it is . . ." "He means," writes Calvin, "that the rich are too swollen with pride and confidence to let themselves be reduced to the narrow straits in which God contains them." (William J. Carl III, p. 284)
Discipleship is costly. Again and again that is the message of this central section of Mark's Gospel, as Jesus journeys to Jerusalem. Discipleship is costly. It costs whatever stands in the way between me and "Follow me." Even in Jesus' words of reassurance to Peter and the other disciples there is the news of "persecutions." In this life, in this place and time, even though the time is "right," the Good News comes with "persecutions." Yet, for those who dare to place themselves in the hands of God [cf. Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers, July 21, 1944], that is, who dare to follow the way of God, there is life, full life, eternal life, life in the joy of community. The Cost of Discipleship, however radical and demanding, includes a promise of Life Together. Even if discipleship could mean leaving family or being "divorced" from family, nonetheless, God gives us a new family (10:30). Paradoxically, to renounce all is to be given all. Those who have renounced property (10:29) are contrasted with the rich man, for they have been given so much, including the gift of one another. It is worth noting that the "father" left in v. 29 is not included in the list of relationships in v. 30. In the new community human relationships are "saved," made whole and healthy, with God alone as our Father. This marks the end of the traditional patriarchy and other forms of human authoritarianism. This marks the fulfillment of relationships based upon grace and mercy, love and kindness, giving and receiving, sharing and fellowship, mutual participation and responsibility, forgiveness and acceptance. (cf. Via, pp. 146-154) "By the grace of God, we are participants in the impossible possibility" (Rogers, Pentecost 3, p. 23). 4.
Bibliography: Mark 10:17-27 (28-30) (31)
Carl, William J., III. "Mark 10:17-27 (28-31)" Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology, July 1979, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 283-288.
Hengel, Martin. Property and Riches in the Early Church: Aspects of a Social History of Early Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974).
Pilgrim, Walter E. Good News to the Poor: Wealth and Poverty in Luke-Acts (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1981).
Ringe, Sharon H. Jesus, Liberation, and the Biblical Jubilee: Images for Ethics and Christology
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985).
Rogers, John B., Jr. Pentecost 3, Proclamation 3: Aids for Interpreting the Lessons of the Church Year, ed. Elizabeth Achtemeier (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985).
5. Hymn Suggestions: Mark 10:17-27 (28-30) (31) - LBW Hymns
97 "Christ, the Life of All the Living"
187 "Dearest Jesus, We Are Here"
194 "All Who Believe and Are Baptized"
220 "O Jesus, Blessed Lord"
248 "Dearest Jesus, at Your Word"
321 "The Day is Surely Drawing Near"
325 "Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart"
326 "My Heart Is Longing"
10
333 "Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me"
341 "Jesus, Still Lead On"
364 "Son of God, Eternal Savior"
366 "Lord of Our Life"
374 "We All Believe in One True God"
395 "I Trust, O Christ, in You Alone"
399 "We Are the Lord's"
406 "Take My Life, that I May Be"
408 "God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending"
410 "We Give Thee but Thine Own"
413 "Father Eternal, Ruler of Creation"
416 "O God of Every Nation"
436 "All Who Love and Serve Your City"
440 "Christians, While on Earth Abiding"
465 "Evening and Morning"
494 "Jesus Calls us; O'er the Tumult"
498 "All Who Would Valiant Be"
501 "He Leadeth Me: Oh, Blessed Thought!"
503 "O Jesus, I Have Promised"
Exegete: Rev. Glenn C. Petersen, Anchorage, AK
Ed. Nota Bene - I have had several thousand students of all ages going back to my first teaching in 1965 up until now. During those years, one who stands out most was a “Parish Associate” of mine from Yale Divinity School, Glenn C. Peterson. What follows is borrowed from his current parish website:
Pastor Glenn was born in Glendale, California, in a hospital long ago torn down. Second in a family of four, he was raised in the Lutheran church, among the “sober Danes,” but still having plenty of fun along the way. Since a child, he has loved to sing the songs of the church, and has written a few tunes himself.
In 1967, Glenn left the sunny climes of San Fernando Valley for St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota. First planning to study chemistry, he switched to philosophy and U.S. history, graduating in 1971. While considering what to do with his life, he applied his B.A. degree at the Malt-O-Meal factory in Northfield. In 1972, he began studies at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, receiving an M.A. in systematic and philosophical theology in 1974. In 1973, in Spokane, Washington, Glenn married Carol Rowberg, a fellow ‘Ole.’ In 1974, they transported themselves to New Haven, Connecticut, where Glenn studied at Yale Divinity School, receiving a divinity degree in 1976 and Carol worked at the Yale Medical School. More than once, Glenn has been heard to say, “I went to school by the sweat of my Frau.” After a year of internship in Fountain Valley, CA (Orange County), in 1977 Glenn was called and ordained to serve as a pastor of the Lutheran church.
Since serving as associate pastor of King of Glory (1977-1981), Glenn has served as pastor of Holy Trinity, Fremont, CA (1981-1991) and Peace in Colfax, WA (1991-2007), leaving for Central Lutheran, Anchorage, when Glenn was called to serve as senior pastor.
Glenn and Carol have three children: Hans, Thea and Carl. Hans, a graduate of Oberlin College, is in the midst of divinity studies at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. Thea, a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University and University of Washington School of Medicine, is in her second year of family practice residency in Billings, Montana. Carl, also a PLU graduate, is in Los Angeles, working as an actor and also for a Lutheran church. Carol, by the way, besides being wife, mother, and homemaker, has worked for years as a micro-biologist.
Glenn and Carol love their families, their children, opportunities to enjoy the arts (especially choral music), and the great outdoors (hiking, backpacking, x-country skiing).
Glenn sings tenor with the church choir and bass with Alaska Chamber Singers. He enjoys watching movies, listening to music and public radio news, reading a novel occasionally and tries to keep up with various theological journals and books.
His favorite theologians are [still] Søren Kierkegaard and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (both deceased), Walter Brueggemann and Douglas John Hall (both living). Glenn’s study/office is usually a mess.
Pastor Glenn thinks that the church is called to serve as the body of Christ in this world, to make a difference for Christ’s sake! We must not take Christ or the faith or the church for granted. When we confess that we believe in Christ Jesus, then our lives are to become shaped by the Word of God, by the cross and by the habit and comm.-
itment of worship and praise. The church is
not a religious social club nor an institution
for our children to be taught polite Christian
etiquette. At Central Lutheran, we proclaim
that Jesus is Lord! We listen to Jesus, love Jesus,
follow Jesus, and endeavor to live our lives
in this world as Jesus leads us.
____________________________________________________________________
© 2009 Tischrede Software
Dartmouth, Massachusetts 02747
www.yourobdtsvt.blogspot.com
____________________________________________________________________
Monday, September 28, 2009
+ Pentecost XVII + September 27, 2009 +
Lexegete™ | Year B | St. Mark
_____________________________________________________________
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 27, 2009 (Lectionary 26)
Complementary Series
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Psalm 19:7-14 (8)
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50
Semicontinuous Series
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
Psalm 124 (7)
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50
Prayer of the Day
Generous God, your Son gave his life that we might come to peace with you. Give us a share of your Spirit, and in all we do empower us to bear the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. You word, O | Lord, is truth;
sanctify us | in the truth. Alleluia. (John 17:7)
Color: Green
__________________________________________________________
1a. CONTEXT: Mark 9:38--50
This pericope is a continuation of the apothegmatic section which began at verse 33 in the midst of last Sunday's reading. This teaching section does not consist of parables or exhortations to the crowd, nor of explication of such public instruction for the sake of his disciples. Such proclamation and teaching was of course integral to Jesus' Galilean ministry, but this collection of the Lord's teaching is placed just following the dramatic turning of his mission in the direction of the Cross, i.e. after Peter's "confession", the Transfiguration, and three passion predictions in close succession. Even though they are momentarily resting at their home base in Capernaum, Jesus and his followers are already on the journey to Jerusalem.
Thus do we have here a particularly urgent concern for the ways in which the disciples will function as a messianic community. Given the opposition and persecution which lies ahead, will they rightly understand and witness to the Kingdom, or will they prove as good as the scribes at turning discipleship into an exercise in arrogance and competition?
1b. Text: Mark 9:38-50
NRSV:
9:38 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us."
9:39 But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
9:40 Whoever is not against us is for us.
9:41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
9:42 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.
9:43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
9:44 [Mark 9:44 and 9:46, which are identical with 9:48, are lacking in authority.]
9:45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.,
9:46 [Mark 9:44 and 9:46, which are identical with 9:48, are lacking in authority.]
9:47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,
9:48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
9:49 For everyone will be salted with fire.
9:50 Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."
GREEK:
38 Ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰωάννης, Διδάσκαλε, εἴδομέν τινα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐκβάλλοντα δαιμόνια, καὶ ἐκωλύομεν αὐτόν, ὅτι οὐκ ἠκολούθει ἡμῖν.
39 ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν, Μὴ κωλύετε αὐτόν, οὐδεὶς γάρ ἐστιν ὃς ποιήσει δύναμιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου καὶ δυνήσεται ταχὺ κακολογῆσαί με:
40 ὃς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν καθ' ἡμῶν, ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐστιν.
41 Ὃς γὰρ ἂν ποτίσῃ ὑμᾶς ποτήριον ὕδατος ἐν ὀνόματι ὅτι Χριστοῦ ἐστε, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσῃ τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ.
42 Καὶ ὃς ἂν σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων [εἰς ἐμέ], καλόν ἐστιν αὐτῷ μᾶλλον εἰ περίκειται μύλος ὀνικὸς περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ καὶ βέβληται εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν.
43 Καὶ ἐὰν σκανδαλίζῃ σε ἡ χείρ σου, ἀπόκοψον αὐτήν: καλόν ἐστίν σε κυλλὸν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν ἢ τὰς δύο χεῖρας ἔχοντα ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὴν γέενναν, εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἄσβεστον. 44 καὶ
45 ἐὰν ὁ πούς σου σκανδαλίζῃ σε, ἀπόκοψον αὐτόν: καλόν ἐστίν σε εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν χωλὸν ἢ τοὺς δύο πόδας ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὴν γέενναν. 46 καὶ
47 ἐὰν ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου σκανδαλίζῃ σε, ἔκβαλε αὐτόν: καλόν σέ ἐστιν μονόφθαλμον εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ δύο ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὴν γέενναν,
48 ὅπου ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτᾷ καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὐ σβέννυται:
49 πᾶς γὰρ πυρὶ ἁλισθήσεται.
50 Καλὸν τὸ ἅλας: ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας ἄναλον γένηται, ἐν τίνι αὐτὸ ἀρτύσετε; ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἅλα, καὶ εἰρηνεύετε ἐν ἀλλήλοις.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 26th edition © 1979, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart;
The Greek New Testament, 3rd edition © 1975, United Bible Societies, London
2. ANALYSIS: Mark 9:38-50
Mk. 9:38 "in your name"-- It is of course striking that we have here a reference not just to "competing" exorcists, but to the perception of such competition within the namers of Jesus. The implications of this as a comment on division and denominationalism in the early Christian community may be attenuated if one interprets the en to onomati sou as a mere reflection of the disciple's assumption that all such work would be done by the power of his master, but such an avoidance of the word's more immediate meaning seems both belabored and unnecessary. More likely is that the saying of Jesus in verse 39 is here intentionally pointed at divisions between Christians.
"not following us"-- Note how John's complaint arrogates the plural usage in regard to discipleship: the followers identify themselves
with Jesus in a way that demands that others follow them. What a striking image for subsequent political developments in the church!
Mk. 9:39 "Do not forbid him..."-- This language (me koluete) recalls the parallel story in Numbers 11:26-29, where Joshua asks Moses to forbid the unregistered prophets (koluson autous [LXX]). The jealousy and exclusivity of community leaders is not a new phenomenon among the people of God.
"for no one who does..."-- Jesus' rationale for not suppressing the alien exorcist not only involves solidarity in the common task of ministry (the "deed of power") whereby the kingdom is enacted, but also points ahead to the cost of that ministry to Jesus. The question is raised as to who will remain an ally of Jesus in the time of trial. John, Peter, and the others in the inner circle will not so qualify.
Mk. 9:40-- This proverbial saying has its opposite in Matthew 12:30, a word of equal dominical authority. We have here an instructive example of the importance of contextual analysis and the pitfalls of polemical proof-texting.
Mk. 9:41 "whoever gives..."-- Suddenly now we're no longer dealing with a work of the Kingdom as impressive as exorcism, or with the bearers of the Messiah's name as ministers. In this saying, reinforced by the solemn amen lego hymin, Jesus moves into that world where his followers will be dependent upon the hospitality of others, where their work for the kingdom will be as recipients rather than as dispensers of charity. There is, I believe, an important thematic parallel with judgment passage in Matthew 25, where the critical function of Jesus' little brethren is to be the test of other's compassion.
Mk. 9:42-- Now indeed the focus shifts explicitly to concern for the "little ones" of the community. The warning is to the big ones, whose abuse of their status will lead the small to sin. The shift in focus parallels the beginning of this teaching section (9:33-36), but now Jesus' passion for the sake of the mikroi erupts in a rhetoric of wrath and violence. Note also that the crime condemned is not "personal" misdoing but rather causing another to sin.
Mk. 9:43-- The horror and reality of evil is now underscored with imagery of similar violence. The corruption of human life and relationships is worse than amputation.
Jesus' gut-felt concern here is of course for the whole of the community, but it may well be that his words are also to be taken to have a particular kind of communal application, namely to counsel excommunication ("cutting off"), as opposed to execution or assassination, as the way of dealing with those who would the community astray. Such metaphorical use of the language of limbs and body is, after all, not uncommon in early Christianity, and the problem of how to deal with offenders against the community has often proved a particularly difficult one for any counter-cultural movements, whether violent or radically non-violent.
Mk. 9:45 "hand... foot... eye"-- Each of these bodily members has been traditionally taken as the sign or locus of a different set of criminal acts, and it may be that the inclusion of all three is not just a rhetorical intensifier but a way of making sure that, for example, sins of the hand like embezzlement and fraud are taken as seriously as those of the eye, i.e. those which involve sexual misconduct.
Mk. 9:47-- The opposite of Gehenna, one might note, is not described as paradise or heaven, but as the basileia tou theou, and, in the parallel of the previous verses, as he zoe. The precise degree of realization in Mark's eschatology may long be debated, but the immediate effect of this language is to recall the Kingdom and the Life which the gospel proclaims to be at hand in the present kairos (Mk. 1:15).
Mk. 9:48 -- The confusion over the numbering of this pericope's verses arose because of later manuscripts' attachment of this verse also to the parallel locations in the preceding verses.
Mk. 9:49-50 -- The imagery of salt is resonant with themes of community and peace. One of the Old Testament symbols of the covenant (Lev. 2:13, Num. 18:19, II Chr. 13:5), it is also a token of hospitality, as well as literally a preservative and enhancer. Here Jesus connects those very positive themes and images with the purgative and threatening flames of judgment. Fire is not just the Stichwort which explains the appearance of these words in this location, it is also an image of that seriousness and urgency which marks Jesus' warning to his followers. The peace of the community depends on an awareness of accountability, on a sense of the terrible cost of betrayal. Here, then, is a sharp warning to the community, but with that warning also a reminder and an exhortation to "be at peace with one another."
3. STRATEGY: Mark 9:38--50
It would certainly be possible to pick up any one of the particular points among these apophthegmata of Jesus and to preach it in its current parochial and global relevance. Such might indeed be the most faithful application of the text in many situations.
I would, however, like to suggest an option which might be helpful to a number of confused Christians and questioners today. These sayings of Jesus may prompt a hermeneutical question: Just how are these words to be understood? How are we to hear Jesus when he is willing to cast the millstone- weighted offender into the sea, or when he counsels self-mutilation rather than sin? For that matter, how are we to hear the Word of God, when it pronounces judgment and the fires of Gehenna?
Some will of course deal with those questions by filtering out the words of threat and judgment, but such deafness or indifference is not an option for those who care about Christ, about the scriptures, and about the meaning of our lives. For them, the danger is rather that these words are heard exclusively as legislative pronouncements from eternity, spoken from on high. (The practice of some Bible publishers in using red letters to highlight the words of Jesus seems to me an illustration-- and aggravation-- of this way of reading and hearing.) There is an urgent necessity to hearing Jesus speaking in the narrative context of the gospel, speaking to real human beings with his own real love, fear, and anger.
This is to say that the sayings of Jesus are to be heard as rhetoric in the best and deepest sense of that word. They intend to warn, to threaten, to convince, and to inspire. They are words of caring about what happens to people, to the whole community and especially to its most vulnerable little ones. They are words of passionate fear about the harm that is done by the exclusivity and pride of "disciples" who have missed the point. Even if they come to us in the form of a poorly edited collection of pithy remarks, these words bespeak a burning desire to get through to those whom they address. In this sense, there may actually be some value to "red letter" editions of the text, for Jesus' words are often to be read as full-blooded or aflame (though sometimes refreshing waters or a gentler warmth should then also be suggested by the printer's ink.)
All this is to say that the word of wrath and judgment is real and urgent, but it does not make of Jesus, or of his God and ours, a figure of either general or narrow judgmentalism. These words, like the parallel warnings in the reading from James, are pointed. They are words of the deepest caring for us and for our little ones, and they are intended not to doom, but to save. (With the rest of us also, "Go to hell!" is sometimes spoken as a word of exasperated caring to those about whom we care deeply.) Jesus himself gives us an image for the corrective and challenging purpose of these fiery words: they are salt to preserve us, and to keep us in the way of peace.
Exegete: Rev. John Stendahl
Lutheran Ch. of the Newtons, Newton Centre, Massachusetts
_______________________________________________________
Michael and All Angels
September 29, 2009
Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3
Psalm 103:1-5, 20-22 (20-21)
Revelation 12:7-12
Luke 10:17-20
Prayer of the Day
Everlasting God, you have wonderfully established the ministries of angels and mortals. Mercifully grant that as Michael and the angels contend against the cosmic forces of evil, so by your direction they may help and defend us here on earth, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God whom we worship and praise with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, now and forever.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. Bless the | Lord, you angels,
you mighty ones who | do God's bidding. Alleluia. (Ps. 103:20)
Color: White
_____________________________________________________________
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 27, 2009 (Lectionary 26)
Complementary Series
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Psalm 19:7-14 (8)
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50
Semicontinuous Series
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
Psalm 124 (7)
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50
Prayer of the Day
Generous God, your Son gave his life that we might come to peace with you. Give us a share of your Spirit, and in all we do empower us to bear the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. You word, O | Lord, is truth;
sanctify us | in the truth. Alleluia. (John 17:7)
Color: Green
__________________________________________________________
1a. CONTEXT: Mark 9:38--50
This pericope is a continuation of the apothegmatic section which began at verse 33 in the midst of last Sunday's reading. This teaching section does not consist of parables or exhortations to the crowd, nor of explication of such public instruction for the sake of his disciples. Such proclamation and teaching was of course integral to Jesus' Galilean ministry, but this collection of the Lord's teaching is placed just following the dramatic turning of his mission in the direction of the Cross, i.e. after Peter's "confession", the Transfiguration, and three passion predictions in close succession. Even though they are momentarily resting at their home base in Capernaum, Jesus and his followers are already on the journey to Jerusalem.
Thus do we have here a particularly urgent concern for the ways in which the disciples will function as a messianic community. Given the opposition and persecution which lies ahead, will they rightly understand and witness to the Kingdom, or will they prove as good as the scribes at turning discipleship into an exercise in arrogance and competition?
1b. Text: Mark 9:38-50
NRSV:
9:38 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us."
9:39 But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
9:40 Whoever is not against us is for us.
9:41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
9:42 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.
9:43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
9:44 [Mark 9:44 and 9:46, which are identical with 9:48, are lacking in authority.]
9:45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.,
9:46 [Mark 9:44 and 9:46, which are identical with 9:48, are lacking in authority.]
9:47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,
9:48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
9:49 For everyone will be salted with fire.
9:50 Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."
GREEK:
38 Ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰωάννης, Διδάσκαλε, εἴδομέν τινα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐκβάλλοντα δαιμόνια, καὶ ἐκωλύομεν αὐτόν, ὅτι οὐκ ἠκολούθει ἡμῖν.
39 ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν, Μὴ κωλύετε αὐτόν, οὐδεὶς γάρ ἐστιν ὃς ποιήσει δύναμιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου καὶ δυνήσεται ταχὺ κακολογῆσαί με:
40 ὃς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν καθ' ἡμῶν, ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐστιν.
41 Ὃς γὰρ ἂν ποτίσῃ ὑμᾶς ποτήριον ὕδατος ἐν ὀνόματι ὅτι Χριστοῦ ἐστε, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσῃ τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ.
42 Καὶ ὃς ἂν σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων [εἰς ἐμέ], καλόν ἐστιν αὐτῷ μᾶλλον εἰ περίκειται μύλος ὀνικὸς περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ καὶ βέβληται εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν.
43 Καὶ ἐὰν σκανδαλίζῃ σε ἡ χείρ σου, ἀπόκοψον αὐτήν: καλόν ἐστίν σε κυλλὸν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν ἢ τὰς δύο χεῖρας ἔχοντα ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὴν γέενναν, εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἄσβεστον. 44 καὶ
45 ἐὰν ὁ πούς σου σκανδαλίζῃ σε, ἀπόκοψον αὐτόν: καλόν ἐστίν σε εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν χωλὸν ἢ τοὺς δύο πόδας ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὴν γέενναν. 46 καὶ
47 ἐὰν ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου σκανδαλίζῃ σε, ἔκβαλε αὐτόν: καλόν σέ ἐστιν μονόφθαλμον εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ δύο ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὴν γέενναν,
48 ὅπου ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτᾷ καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὐ σβέννυται:
49 πᾶς γὰρ πυρὶ ἁλισθήσεται.
50 Καλὸν τὸ ἅλας: ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας ἄναλον γένηται, ἐν τίνι αὐτὸ ἀρτύσετε; ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἅλα, καὶ εἰρηνεύετε ἐν ἀλλήλοις.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 26th edition © 1979, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart;
The Greek New Testament, 3rd edition © 1975, United Bible Societies, London
2. ANALYSIS: Mark 9:38-50
Mk. 9:38 "in your name"-- It is of course striking that we have here a reference not just to "competing" exorcists, but to the perception of such competition within the namers of Jesus. The implications of this as a comment on division and denominationalism in the early Christian community may be attenuated if one interprets the en to onomati sou as a mere reflection of the disciple's assumption that all such work would be done by the power of his master, but such an avoidance of the word's more immediate meaning seems both belabored and unnecessary. More likely is that the saying of Jesus in verse 39 is here intentionally pointed at divisions between Christians.
"not following us"-- Note how John's complaint arrogates the plural usage in regard to discipleship: the followers identify themselves
with Jesus in a way that demands that others follow them. What a striking image for subsequent political developments in the church!
Mk. 9:39 "Do not forbid him..."-- This language (me koluete) recalls the parallel story in Numbers 11:26-29, where Joshua asks Moses to forbid the unregistered prophets (koluson autous [LXX]). The jealousy and exclusivity of community leaders is not a new phenomenon among the people of God.
"for no one who does..."-- Jesus' rationale for not suppressing the alien exorcist not only involves solidarity in the common task of ministry (the "deed of power") whereby the kingdom is enacted, but also points ahead to the cost of that ministry to Jesus. The question is raised as to who will remain an ally of Jesus in the time of trial. John, Peter, and the others in the inner circle will not so qualify.
Mk. 9:40-- This proverbial saying has its opposite in Matthew 12:30, a word of equal dominical authority. We have here an instructive example of the importance of contextual analysis and the pitfalls of polemical proof-texting.
Mk. 9:41 "whoever gives..."-- Suddenly now we're no longer dealing with a work of the Kingdom as impressive as exorcism, or with the bearers of the Messiah's name as ministers. In this saying, reinforced by the solemn amen lego hymin, Jesus moves into that world where his followers will be dependent upon the hospitality of others, where their work for the kingdom will be as recipients rather than as dispensers of charity. There is, I believe, an important thematic parallel with judgment passage in Matthew 25, where the critical function of Jesus' little brethren is to be the test of other's compassion.
Mk. 9:42-- Now indeed the focus shifts explicitly to concern for the "little ones" of the community. The warning is to the big ones, whose abuse of their status will lead the small to sin. The shift in focus parallels the beginning of this teaching section (9:33-36), but now Jesus' passion for the sake of the mikroi erupts in a rhetoric of wrath and violence. Note also that the crime condemned is not "personal" misdoing but rather causing another to sin.
Mk. 9:43-- The horror and reality of evil is now underscored with imagery of similar violence. The corruption of human life and relationships is worse than amputation.
Jesus' gut-felt concern here is of course for the whole of the community, but it may well be that his words are also to be taken to have a particular kind of communal application, namely to counsel excommunication ("cutting off"), as opposed to execution or assassination, as the way of dealing with those who would the community astray. Such metaphorical use of the language of limbs and body is, after all, not uncommon in early Christianity, and the problem of how to deal with offenders against the community has often proved a particularly difficult one for any counter-cultural movements, whether violent or radically non-violent.
Mk. 9:45 "hand... foot... eye"-- Each of these bodily members has been traditionally taken as the sign or locus of a different set of criminal acts, and it may be that the inclusion of all three is not just a rhetorical intensifier but a way of making sure that, for example, sins of the hand like embezzlement and fraud are taken as seriously as those of the eye, i.e. those which involve sexual misconduct.
Mk. 9:47-- The opposite of Gehenna, one might note, is not described as paradise or heaven, but as the basileia tou theou, and, in the parallel of the previous verses, as he zoe. The precise degree of realization in Mark's eschatology may long be debated, but the immediate effect of this language is to recall the Kingdom and the Life which the gospel proclaims to be at hand in the present kairos (Mk. 1:15).
Mk. 9:48 -- The confusion over the numbering of this pericope's verses arose because of later manuscripts' attachment of this verse also to the parallel locations in the preceding verses.
Mk. 9:49-50 -- The imagery of salt is resonant with themes of community and peace. One of the Old Testament symbols of the covenant (Lev. 2:13, Num. 18:19, II Chr. 13:5), it is also a token of hospitality, as well as literally a preservative and enhancer. Here Jesus connects those very positive themes and images with the purgative and threatening flames of judgment. Fire is not just the Stichwort which explains the appearance of these words in this location, it is also an image of that seriousness and urgency which marks Jesus' warning to his followers. The peace of the community depends on an awareness of accountability, on a sense of the terrible cost of betrayal. Here, then, is a sharp warning to the community, but with that warning also a reminder and an exhortation to "be at peace with one another."
3. STRATEGY: Mark 9:38--50
It would certainly be possible to pick up any one of the particular points among these apophthegmata of Jesus and to preach it in its current parochial and global relevance. Such might indeed be the most faithful application of the text in many situations.
I would, however, like to suggest an option which might be helpful to a number of confused Christians and questioners today. These sayings of Jesus may prompt a hermeneutical question: Just how are these words to be understood? How are we to hear Jesus when he is willing to cast the millstone- weighted offender into the sea, or when he counsels self-mutilation rather than sin? For that matter, how are we to hear the Word of God, when it pronounces judgment and the fires of Gehenna?
Some will of course deal with those questions by filtering out the words of threat and judgment, but such deafness or indifference is not an option for those who care about Christ, about the scriptures, and about the meaning of our lives. For them, the danger is rather that these words are heard exclusively as legislative pronouncements from eternity, spoken from on high. (The practice of some Bible publishers in using red letters to highlight the words of Jesus seems to me an illustration-- and aggravation-- of this way of reading and hearing.) There is an urgent necessity to hearing Jesus speaking in the narrative context of the gospel, speaking to real human beings with his own real love, fear, and anger.
This is to say that the sayings of Jesus are to be heard as rhetoric in the best and deepest sense of that word. They intend to warn, to threaten, to convince, and to inspire. They are words of caring about what happens to people, to the whole community and especially to its most vulnerable little ones. They are words of passionate fear about the harm that is done by the exclusivity and pride of "disciples" who have missed the point. Even if they come to us in the form of a poorly edited collection of pithy remarks, these words bespeak a burning desire to get through to those whom they address. In this sense, there may actually be some value to "red letter" editions of the text, for Jesus' words are often to be read as full-blooded or aflame (though sometimes refreshing waters or a gentler warmth should then also be suggested by the printer's ink.)
All this is to say that the word of wrath and judgment is real and urgent, but it does not make of Jesus, or of his God and ours, a figure of either general or narrow judgmentalism. These words, like the parallel warnings in the reading from James, are pointed. They are words of the deepest caring for us and for our little ones, and they are intended not to doom, but to save. (With the rest of us also, "Go to hell!" is sometimes spoken as a word of exasperated caring to those about whom we care deeply.) Jesus himself gives us an image for the corrective and challenging purpose of these fiery words: they are salt to preserve us, and to keep us in the way of peace.
Exegete: Rev. John Stendahl
Lutheran Ch. of the Newtons, Newton Centre, Massachusetts
_______________________________________________________
Michael and All Angels
September 29, 2009
Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3
Psalm 103:1-5, 20-22 (20-21)
Revelation 12:7-12
Luke 10:17-20
Prayer of the Day
Everlasting God, you have wonderfully established the ministries of angels and mortals. Mercifully grant that as Michael and the angels contend against the cosmic forces of evil, so by your direction they may help and defend us here on earth, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God whom we worship and praise with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, now and forever.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. Bless the | Lord, you angels,
you mighty ones who | do God's bidding. Alleluia. (Ps. 103:20)
Color: White
+ PENTECOST XX + OCTOBER 18, 2009 +
LEXEGETE™ | YEAR B | ST. MARK
________________________________________________________________
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
October 18, 2009 (Lectionary 29)
Complementary Series
Isaiah 53:4-12
Psalm 91:9-16
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark 10:35-45
Semicontinuous Series
Job 38:1-7 [34-41]
Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35b (24)
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark 10:35-45
Prayer of the Day
Sovereign God, you turn your greatness into goodness for all the peoples on earth. Shape us into willing servants of your kingdom, and make us desire always and only your will, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. The Son of Man came not to be served | but to serve,
and to give his life as a ran- | som for many. Alleluia. (Mark 10:45)
Color: Green
1. CONTEXT: Mark 10:35-45
This striking incident, paralleled in Matthew 20:20-28, gives a picture of the meaning of discipleship. It undoubtedly circulated in more than one form, since Mark's version has James and John approaching Jesus directly, while Matthew softens the picture of the two disciples by having the approach made by their ambitious mother. The reaction of the other disciples is a clear picture of their humanity and leads us to suspect that these qualities were not foreign to James and John. Indeed, it is a testimony to the integrity of the Markan author, as many scholars agree, that he has not concealed the very human realities of the apostolic band.
C. S. Mann, whose Anchor Bible commentary holds that Mark is written after Matthew and Luke, is at pains to suggest that Mark obviously has based his version on a source earlier than theirs or at least has quoted it with more integrity, as the use of the disciples' names would indicate.
The placement of this story in the Markan account is not without significance. It comes very late in Jesus ministry, right on the edge of the final days in Jerusalem. Already many followers have "fallen away." It is a tribute to the disciples that, despite their misunderstanding of Jesus' purpose and destiny, they are still part of his entourage. Even though they many not understand what it means to drink of his cup, they are still ready to share it and they are still with him after they have heard (and perhaps again misunderstood) his explanation.
This is surely an appropriate moment to deal with the issues of Messiahship and the issues of discipleship. The drama of the Passion episodes is heightened by this theological stage-setting. While the vision of Messianic servanthood might never have occurred to the disciples at this point in time, it is clearly Jesus' intention to raise the issue and to look toward the role of the Suffering Servant. Simultaneously the opportunity presents itself to deal with the nature of discipleship. The disciples (and the early Church, for that matter) have a recurring all-to-human picture of hierarchical government and hierarchical honor. The incident and the reported words of Jesus bring an altogether different picture of church government and of the Christian's calling.
It is in this setting, then, that the story is told, and it is filled with very human elements: the ambitions of James and John, the ambitions of their fellow disciples, the quick and easy responses ("Lord, we are able"), and the sense, confirmed by the words of Jesus in the story, that these disciples will in the end pay something of the price proposed, the price of discipleship, even suffering and martyrdom.
1b. Text: Mark 10:35-45
NRSV:
10:35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
10:36 And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?"
10:37 And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."
10:38 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
10:39 They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
10:40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."
10:41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
10:42 So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.
10:43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 10:44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
10:45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
GREEK:
35 Καὶ προσπορεύονται αὐτῷ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης οἱ υἱοὶ Ζεβεδαίου λέγοντες αὐτῷ, Διδάσκαλε, θέλομεν ἵνα ὃ ἐὰν αἰτήσωμέν σε ποιήσῃς ἡμῖν.
36 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τί θέλετέ [με] ποιήσω ὑμῖν;
37 οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Δὸς ἡμῖν ἵνα εἷς σου ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ εἷς ἐξ ἀριστερῶν καθίσωμεν ἐν τῇ δόξῃ σου.
38 ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Οὐκ οἴδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε. δύνασθε πιεῖν τὸ ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ πίνω, ἢ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθῆναι;
39 οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Δυνάμεθα. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τὸ ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ πίνω πίεσθε καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθήσεσθε,
40 τὸ δὲ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἢ ἐξ εὐωνύμων οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι, ἀλλ' οἷς ἡτοίμασται.
41 Καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ δέκα ἤρξαντο ἀγανακτεῖν περὶ Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰωάννου.
42 καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς, Οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ δοκοῦντες ἄρχειν τῶν ἐθνῶν κατακυριεύουσιν αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ μεγάλοι αὐτῶν κατεξουσιάζουσιν αὐτῶν.
43 οὐχ οὕτως δέ ἐστιν ἐν ὑμῖν: ἀλλ' ὃς ἂν θέλῃ μέγας γενέσθαι ἐν ὑμῖν, ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος,
44 καὶ ὃς ἂν θέλῃ ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι πρῶτος, ἔσται πάντων δοῦλος:
45 καὶ γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 26th edition © 1979,
Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart;
The Greek New Testament, 3rd edition © 1975, United Bible Societies, London
2. ANALYSIS : Mark 10:35-45
Mk. 10:35 - "James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, 'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.'" - There is reflected here a typical Oriental approach to the asking of a favor; that is, the attempt to get the favor granted before the actual content of the favor is revealed. We may see here something of our modern tendency to wish to bargain with God, to attempt to escape the obvious consequences of our own misdeeds. Obviously James and John know what their compatriots among the disciples will think. But, being human, they try anyway.
10:37 -- "... Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." - The expectation of the disciples is that Jesus will ultimately be crowned as an earthly ruler. In their understanding, the chief associates of the ruler sat in the places of honor, first place on the right and second place on the left (even though sinistra or "left" ordinarily carried with it the suggestion of evil). That competition for place or for power is obviously not limited to the disciples. It is a manifestation often to be seen today, not only in the political arena but in basic human relationships and even in the church itself.
v. 38 - . - "You do not know what you are asking." Here is a phrase which characterizes much of the Christian practice of prayer. All sorts of requests are mouthed in prayer or even made in the greatest depth of sincerity and concern, but they are voiced without consideration of the consequences of answered prayer. Jesus suggests that the disciples have no understanding of the price of their request. He puts that very succinctly in his next sentence.
v. 38 - - "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" - Both of these terms, cup and baptism carry a freight of meaning quite beyond what the disciples seem to understand. To drink from a cup offered by a ruling monarch might indicate that one had been offered a great honor, a gift of prestige. But it can also mean to share in the cup of hemlock (remember Socrates) or of suffering. It may in this context carry with it the sense of the eucharistic cup which is shared at the Last Supper, "the new covenant in my blood." Likewise baptism, surely familiar to the disciples as a rite of symbolic cleansing, carries also the meaning suggested by John the Baptist, a baptism by fire. Here also is the load of possible martyrdom and suffering -- not what the disciples have hoped for. As C. S. Mann points out, Rom. 6:3 ("We have been baptized into his death") may very well be a reminiscence of this saying.
v. 40 - "but it is for those for who it has been prepared." - The entire verse deals with the question of precedence, and Jesus suggests that it is not his to award, but is to be given instead to those who are fitted for such a place. The issue here is not really one of predestination or even divine foreknowledge, but simply one of worth. There is a sense in which such a place is to be earned, and we need to remind ourselves that those who set out to earn it have already disqualified themselves. Only those who give themselves unreservedly and for no trivial reasons will be judged as worthy. Jesus' explanations in verse 45 will state this in the most positive fashion.
v. 44 - doulos - "slave". Notice the way in which Jesus goes beyond mere servanthood in describing the role of the Christian disciple. It is not just servant that is being described here, the commitment of the disciple goes to the point of slavery. The word "doulos" sometimes refers to the freed slave, who for love of master, might, in a little ceremony involving the piercing of the ear by an awl to the doorpost of the master's home, continue his slavery out of love, becoming therefore a "love slave" of the family. Surely no homiletical commentary is needed at this point.
v. 45 - - "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Here is the heart of our story, a clear statement attributed to Jesus very early in the life of the early Church, a statement which carries with it the sense of atonement, of the vision of Jesus as lutron or "ransom." The Greek is always used either for the price for the return of a captive (ransom) or for the purchase price for the manumission of slaves. We need not adopt a substitutionary theory of atonement to see the value of the analogy in understanding the picture of the Messiah's redemptive work. Side by side with this picture is to be gained a picture of that discipleship which shares Messiah's cup and Messiah's baptism. This is strong medicine indeed.
3. STRATEGY: Mark 10:35-45
The homilist is apt to be overwhelmed with the many possibilities presented by this pericope. One of course would deal with the cost of servanthood, some reexamination of what it means to be a Christian disciple. There is also the opportunity for political commentary with meditation upon the current emphasis on power (to the point of corruption) and unimpeded leadership from above with unquestioning obedience from the lower levels of the citizenry.
Still another emphasis might look upon the "preferential option" for the poor and the dispossessed. Surely the picture of Jesus who gives his life as a ransom for the many leads in such a direction. The implied criticism of the powerful and the mighty in Jesus' description of his own calling would also point in this direction.
Or there could be found here the source of powerful preaching dealing with the sin of pride and the perils of overweening ambition. The spectacle of the entire company of the disciples making such an emphasis upon place in the coming Kingdom on the very eve of the Passion and the Crucifixion can surely be the source of real inspiration at this point. There are parallels in our own time, not only outside the church in the arenas of business and politics, but within the community of faith. How many local churches have been destroyed by this kind of interior pushing and shoving to achieve some relatively trivial place of perceived power!
4. References: Mark 10:35-45
Mann, C. S., The Anchor Bible: Mark, Translation, Introduction and Commentary. Doubleday & Co., Garden City, New York, 1986, pp. 410-420.
Tannehill, Robert C., A Mirror for Disciples, A Study of the Gospel of Mark. Discipleship Resources, Nashville, Tennessee, 1977, pp. 85-90.
5. Music Suggestions: Mark 10:35-45
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (ELW 392, HB 460/1, LBW 158)
God, who stretched the spangled heavens (ELW 771. HB 580, LBW 463)
Hail, thou once despised Jesus (HB 495, st. 1-2 )
My song is love unknown (ELW 343, HB 458, LBW 94)
O, Master let me walk with thee (ELW 818, HB 659/60, LBW 492)
The head that once was crowned in thorns (ELW 432, HB 483, LBW 173)
When I survey the wondrous cross (ELW 803, HB 474, LBW 482)
Exegetes - Rev. David B. Sageser & Rev. Walt Craig.
REV. DAVID SAGESER IS MISSIONS PASTOR OF Faith United Methodist Church, 15690 McGregor Blvd, Fort Myers FL; REV. WALT CRAIG is a retire Pastor in the United Methodist Church in the USA.
________________________________________
Lexegete © 2009
Tischrede Software
Dartmouth, MA 02747-1925
www.yourobdtsvt.blogspot.com
________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
October 18, 2009 (Lectionary 29)
Complementary Series
Isaiah 53:4-12
Psalm 91:9-16
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark 10:35-45
Semicontinuous Series
Job 38:1-7 [34-41]
Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35b (24)
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark 10:35-45
Prayer of the Day
Sovereign God, you turn your greatness into goodness for all the peoples on earth. Shape us into willing servants of your kingdom, and make us desire always and only your will, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. The Son of Man came not to be served | but to serve,
and to give his life as a ran- | som for many. Alleluia. (Mark 10:45)
Color: Green
1. CONTEXT: Mark 10:35-45
This striking incident, paralleled in Matthew 20:20-28, gives a picture of the meaning of discipleship. It undoubtedly circulated in more than one form, since Mark's version has James and John approaching Jesus directly, while Matthew softens the picture of the two disciples by having the approach made by their ambitious mother. The reaction of the other disciples is a clear picture of their humanity and leads us to suspect that these qualities were not foreign to James and John. Indeed, it is a testimony to the integrity of the Markan author, as many scholars agree, that he has not concealed the very human realities of the apostolic band.
C. S. Mann, whose Anchor Bible commentary holds that Mark is written after Matthew and Luke, is at pains to suggest that Mark obviously has based his version on a source earlier than theirs or at least has quoted it with more integrity, as the use of the disciples' names would indicate.
The placement of this story in the Markan account is not without significance. It comes very late in Jesus ministry, right on the edge of the final days in Jerusalem. Already many followers have "fallen away." It is a tribute to the disciples that, despite their misunderstanding of Jesus' purpose and destiny, they are still part of his entourage. Even though they many not understand what it means to drink of his cup, they are still ready to share it and they are still with him after they have heard (and perhaps again misunderstood) his explanation.
This is surely an appropriate moment to deal with the issues of Messiahship and the issues of discipleship. The drama of the Passion episodes is heightened by this theological stage-setting. While the vision of Messianic servanthood might never have occurred to the disciples at this point in time, it is clearly Jesus' intention to raise the issue and to look toward the role of the Suffering Servant. Simultaneously the opportunity presents itself to deal with the nature of discipleship. The disciples (and the early Church, for that matter) have a recurring all-to-human picture of hierarchical government and hierarchical honor. The incident and the reported words of Jesus bring an altogether different picture of church government and of the Christian's calling.
It is in this setting, then, that the story is told, and it is filled with very human elements: the ambitions of James and John, the ambitions of their fellow disciples, the quick and easy responses ("Lord, we are able"), and the sense, confirmed by the words of Jesus in the story, that these disciples will in the end pay something of the price proposed, the price of discipleship, even suffering and martyrdom.
1b. Text: Mark 10:35-45
NRSV:
10:35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
10:36 And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?"
10:37 And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."
10:38 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
10:39 They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
10:40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."
10:41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
10:42 So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.
10:43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 10:44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
10:45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
GREEK:
35 Καὶ προσπορεύονται αὐτῷ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης οἱ υἱοὶ Ζεβεδαίου λέγοντες αὐτῷ, Διδάσκαλε, θέλομεν ἵνα ὃ ἐὰν αἰτήσωμέν σε ποιήσῃς ἡμῖν.
36 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τί θέλετέ [με] ποιήσω ὑμῖν;
37 οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Δὸς ἡμῖν ἵνα εἷς σου ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ εἷς ἐξ ἀριστερῶν καθίσωμεν ἐν τῇ δόξῃ σου.
38 ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Οὐκ οἴδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε. δύνασθε πιεῖν τὸ ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ πίνω, ἢ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθῆναι;
39 οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Δυνάμεθα. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τὸ ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ πίνω πίεσθε καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθήσεσθε,
40 τὸ δὲ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἢ ἐξ εὐωνύμων οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι, ἀλλ' οἷς ἡτοίμασται.
41 Καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ δέκα ἤρξαντο ἀγανακτεῖν περὶ Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰωάννου.
42 καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς, Οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ δοκοῦντες ἄρχειν τῶν ἐθνῶν κατακυριεύουσιν αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ μεγάλοι αὐτῶν κατεξουσιάζουσιν αὐτῶν.
43 οὐχ οὕτως δέ ἐστιν ἐν ὑμῖν: ἀλλ' ὃς ἂν θέλῃ μέγας γενέσθαι ἐν ὑμῖν, ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος,
44 καὶ ὃς ἂν θέλῃ ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι πρῶτος, ἔσται πάντων δοῦλος:
45 καὶ γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 26th edition © 1979,
Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart;
The Greek New Testament, 3rd edition © 1975, United Bible Societies, London
2. ANALYSIS : Mark 10:35-45
Mk. 10:35 - "James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, 'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.'" - There is reflected here a typical Oriental approach to the asking of a favor; that is, the attempt to get the favor granted before the actual content of the favor is revealed. We may see here something of our modern tendency to wish to bargain with God, to attempt to escape the obvious consequences of our own misdeeds. Obviously James and John know what their compatriots among the disciples will think. But, being human, they try anyway.
10:37 -- "... Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." - The expectation of the disciples is that Jesus will ultimately be crowned as an earthly ruler. In their understanding, the chief associates of the ruler sat in the places of honor, first place on the right and second place on the left (even though sinistra or "left" ordinarily carried with it the suggestion of evil). That competition for place or for power is obviously not limited to the disciples. It is a manifestation often to be seen today, not only in the political arena but in basic human relationships and even in the church itself.
v. 38 - . - "You do not know what you are asking." Here is a phrase which characterizes much of the Christian practice of prayer. All sorts of requests are mouthed in prayer or even made in the greatest depth of sincerity and concern, but they are voiced without consideration of the consequences of answered prayer. Jesus suggests that the disciples have no understanding of the price of their request. He puts that very succinctly in his next sentence.
v. 38 - - "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" - Both of these terms, cup and baptism carry a freight of meaning quite beyond what the disciples seem to understand. To drink from a cup offered by a ruling monarch might indicate that one had been offered a great honor, a gift of prestige. But it can also mean to share in the cup of hemlock (remember Socrates) or of suffering. It may in this context carry with it the sense of the eucharistic cup which is shared at the Last Supper, "the new covenant in my blood." Likewise baptism, surely familiar to the disciples as a rite of symbolic cleansing, carries also the meaning suggested by John the Baptist, a baptism by fire. Here also is the load of possible martyrdom and suffering -- not what the disciples have hoped for. As C. S. Mann points out, Rom. 6:3 ("We have been baptized into his death") may very well be a reminiscence of this saying.
v. 40 - "but it is for those for who it has been prepared." - The entire verse deals with the question of precedence, and Jesus suggests that it is not his to award, but is to be given instead to those who are fitted for such a place. The issue here is not really one of predestination or even divine foreknowledge, but simply one of worth. There is a sense in which such a place is to be earned, and we need to remind ourselves that those who set out to earn it have already disqualified themselves. Only those who give themselves unreservedly and for no trivial reasons will be judged as worthy. Jesus' explanations in verse 45 will state this in the most positive fashion.
v. 44 - doulos - "slave". Notice the way in which Jesus goes beyond mere servanthood in describing the role of the Christian disciple. It is not just servant that is being described here, the commitment of the disciple goes to the point of slavery. The word "doulos" sometimes refers to the freed slave, who for love of master, might, in a little ceremony involving the piercing of the ear by an awl to the doorpost of the master's home, continue his slavery out of love, becoming therefore a "love slave" of the family. Surely no homiletical commentary is needed at this point.
v. 45 - - "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Here is the heart of our story, a clear statement attributed to Jesus very early in the life of the early Church, a statement which carries with it the sense of atonement, of the vision of Jesus as lutron or "ransom." The Greek is always used either for the price for the return of a captive (ransom) or for the purchase price for the manumission of slaves. We need not adopt a substitutionary theory of atonement to see the value of the analogy in understanding the picture of the Messiah's redemptive work. Side by side with this picture is to be gained a picture of that discipleship which shares Messiah's cup and Messiah's baptism. This is strong medicine indeed.
3. STRATEGY: Mark 10:35-45
The homilist is apt to be overwhelmed with the many possibilities presented by this pericope. One of course would deal with the cost of servanthood, some reexamination of what it means to be a Christian disciple. There is also the opportunity for political commentary with meditation upon the current emphasis on power (to the point of corruption) and unimpeded leadership from above with unquestioning obedience from the lower levels of the citizenry.
Still another emphasis might look upon the "preferential option" for the poor and the dispossessed. Surely the picture of Jesus who gives his life as a ransom for the many leads in such a direction. The implied criticism of the powerful and the mighty in Jesus' description of his own calling would also point in this direction.
Or there could be found here the source of powerful preaching dealing with the sin of pride and the perils of overweening ambition. The spectacle of the entire company of the disciples making such an emphasis upon place in the coming Kingdom on the very eve of the Passion and the Crucifixion can surely be the source of real inspiration at this point. There are parallels in our own time, not only outside the church in the arenas of business and politics, but within the community of faith. How many local churches have been destroyed by this kind of interior pushing and shoving to achieve some relatively trivial place of perceived power!
4. References: Mark 10:35-45
Mann, C. S., The Anchor Bible: Mark, Translation, Introduction and Commentary. Doubleday & Co., Garden City, New York, 1986, pp. 410-420.
Tannehill, Robert C., A Mirror for Disciples, A Study of the Gospel of Mark. Discipleship Resources, Nashville, Tennessee, 1977, pp. 85-90.
5. Music Suggestions: Mark 10:35-45
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (ELW 392, HB 460/1, LBW 158)
God, who stretched the spangled heavens (ELW 771. HB 580, LBW 463)
Hail, thou once despised Jesus (HB 495, st. 1-2 )
My song is love unknown (ELW 343, HB 458, LBW 94)
O, Master let me walk with thee (ELW 818, HB 659/60, LBW 492)
The head that once was crowned in thorns (ELW 432, HB 483, LBW 173)
When I survey the wondrous cross (ELW 803, HB 474, LBW 482)
Exegetes - Rev. David B. Sageser & Rev. Walt Craig.
REV. DAVID SAGESER IS MISSIONS PASTOR OF Faith United Methodist Church, 15690 McGregor Blvd, Fort Myers FL; REV. WALT CRAIG is a retire Pastor in the United Methodist Church in the USA.
________________________________________
Lexegete © 2009
Tischrede Software
Dartmouth, MA 02747-1925
www.yourobdtsvt.blogspot.com
________________________________________
+ PENTECOST XVIII + OCTOBER 4, 2009 +
LEXEGETE™ | YEAR B | ST. MARK
________________________________________________________________
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 4, 2009 (Lectionary 27)
Complementary Series
Genesis 2:18-24
Psalm 8 (5)
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16
Semicontinuous Series
Job 1:1; 2:1-10
Psalm 26 (3)
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16
Prayer of the Day
Sovereign God, you have created us to live in loving community with one another. Form us for life that is faithful and steadfast, and teach us to trust like little children, that we may reflect the image of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. If we love one another, God | lives in us
and God’s love is perfect-| ed in us. Alleluia. (1 John 4:12)
1. CONTEXT: Mark 10:35-45
This striking incident, paralleled in Matthew 20:20-28, gives a picture of the meaning of discipleship. It undoubtedly circulated in more than one form, since Mark's version has James and John approaching Jesus directly, while Matthew softens the picture of the two disciples by having the approach made by their ambitious mother. The reaction of the other disciples is a clear picture of their humanity and leads us to suspect that these qualities were not foreign to James and John. Indeed, it is a testimony to the integrity of the Markan author, as many scholars agree, that he has not concealed the very human realities of the apostolic band.
C. S. Mann, whose Anchor Bible commentary holds that Mark is written after Matthew and Luke, is at pains to suggest that Mark obviously has based his version on a source earlier than theirs or at least has quoted it with more integrity, as the use of the disciples' names would indicate.
The placement of this story in the Markan account is not without significance. It comes very late in Jesus ministry, right on the edge of the final days in Jerusalem. Already many followers have "fallen away." It is a tribute to the disciples that, despite their misunderstanding of Jesus' purpose and destiny, they are still part of his entourage. Even though they many not understand what it means to drink of his cup, they are still ready to share it and they are still with him after they have heard (and perhaps again misunderstood) his explanation.
This is surely an appropriate moment to deal with the issues of Messiahship and the issues of discipleship. The drama of the Passion episodes is heightened by this theological stage-setting. While the vision of Messianic servanthood might never have occurred to the disciples at this point in time, it is clearly Jesus' intention to raise the issue and to look toward the role of the Suffering Servant. Simultaneously the opportunity presents itself to deal with the nature of discipleship. The disciples (and the early Church, for that matter) have a recurring all-to-human picture of hierarchical government and hierarchical honor. The incident and the reported words of Jesus bring an altogether different picture of church government and of the Christian's calling.
It is in this setting, then, that the story is told, and it is filled with very human elements: the ambitions of James and John, the ambitions of their fellow disciples, the quick and easy responses ("Lord, we are able"), and the sense, confirmed by the words of Jesus in the story, that these disciples will in the end pay something of the price proposed, the price of discipleship, even suffering and martyrdom.
1b. Text: Mark 10:35-45
NRSV:
10:35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
10:36 And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?"
10:37 And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."
10:38 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
10:39 They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
10:40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."
10:41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
10:42 So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.
10:43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 10:44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
10:45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
GREEK:
35 Καὶ προσπορεύονται αὐτῷ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης οἱ υἱοὶ Ζεβεδαίου λέγοντες αὐτῷ, Διδάσκαλε, θέλομεν ἵνα ὃ ἐὰν αἰτήσωμέν σε ποιήσῃς ἡμῖν.
36 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τί θέλετέ [με] ποιήσω ὑμῖν;
37 οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Δὸς ἡμῖν ἵνα εἷς σου ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ εἷς ἐξ ἀριστερῶν καθίσωμεν ἐν τῇ δόξῃ σου.
38 ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Οὐκ οἴδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε. δύνασθε πιεῖν τὸ ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ πίνω, ἢ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθῆναι;
39 οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Δυνάμεθα. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τὸ ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ πίνω πίεσθε καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθήσεσθε,
40 τὸ δὲ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἢ ἐξ εὐωνύμων οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι, ἀλλ' οἷς ἡτοίμασται.
41 Καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ δέκα ἤρξαντο ἀγανακτεῖν περὶ Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰωάννου.
42 καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς, Οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ δοκοῦντες ἄρχειν τῶν ἐθνῶν κατακυριεύουσιν αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ μεγάλοι αὐτῶν κατεξουσιάζουσιν αὐτῶν.
43 οὐχ οὕτως δέ ἐστιν ἐν ὑμῖν: ἀλλ' ὃς ἂν θέλῃ μέγας γενέσθαι ἐν ὑμῖν, ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος,
44 καὶ ὃς ἂν θέλῃ ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι πρῶτος, ἔσται πάντων δοῦλος:
45 καὶ γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 26th edition © 1979,
Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart;
The Greek New Testament, 3rd edition © 1975, United Bible Societies, London
2. ANALYSIS : Mark 10:35-45
Mk. 10:35 - "James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, 'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.'" - There is reflected here a typical Oriental approach to the asking of a favor; that is, the attempt to get the favor granted before the actual content of the favor is revealed. We may see here something of our modern tendency to wish to bargain with God, to attempt to escape the obvious consequences of our own misdeeds. Obviously James and John know what their compatriots among the disciples will think. But, being human, they try anyway.
10:37 -- "... Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." - The expectation of the disciples is that Jesus will ultimately be crowned as an earthly ruler. In their understanding, the chief associates of the ruler sat in the places of honor, first place on the right and second place on the left (even though sinistra or "left" ordinarily carried with it the suggestion of evil). That competition for place or for power is obviously not limited to the disciples. It is a manifestation often to be seen today, not only in the political arena but in basic human relationships and even in the church itself.
v. 38 - . - "You do not know what you are asking." Here is a phrase which characterizes much of the Christian practice of prayer. All sorts of requests are mouthed in prayer or even made in the greatest depth of sincerity and concern, but they are voiced without consideration of the consequences of answered prayer. Jesus suggests that the disciples have no understanding of the price of their request. He puts that very succinctly in his next sentence.
v. 38 - - "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" - Both of these terms, cup and baptism carry a freight of meaning quite beyond what the disciples seem to understand. To drink from a cup offered by a ruling monarch might indicate that one had been offered a great honor, a gift of prestige. But it can also mean to share in the cup of hemlock (remember Socrates) or of suffering. It may in this context carry with it the sense of the eucharistic cup which is shared at the Last Supper, "the new covenant in my blood." Likewise baptism, surely familiar to the disciples as a rite of symbolic cleansing, carries also the meaning suggested by John the Baptist, a baptism by fire. Here also is the load of possible martyrdom and suffering -- not what the disciples have hoped for. As C. S. Mann points out, Rom. 6:3 ("We have been baptized into his death") may very well be a reminiscence of this saying.
v. 40 - "but it is for those for who it has been prepared." - The entire verse deals with the question of precedence, and Jesus suggests that it is not his to award, but is to be given instead to those who are fitted for such a place. The issue here is not really one of predestination or even divine foreknowledge, but simply one of worth. There is a sense in which such a place is to be earned, and we need to remind ourselves that those who set out to earn it have already disqualified themselves. Only those who give themselves unreservedly and for no trivial reasons will be judged as worthy. Jesus' explanations in verse 45 will state this in the most positive fashion.
v. 44 - doulos - "slave". Notice the way in which Jesus goes beyond mere servanthood in describing the role of the Christian disciple. It is not just servant that is being described here, the commitment of the disciple goes to the point of slavery. The word "doulos" sometimes refers to the freed slave, who for love of master, might, in a little ceremony involving the piercing of the ear by an awl to the doorpost of the master's home, continue his slavery out of love, becoming therefore a "love slave" of the family. Surely no homiletical commentary is needed at this point.
v. 45 - - "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Here is the heart of our story, a clear statement attributed to Jesus very early in the life of the early Church, a statement which carries with it the sense of atonement, of the vision of Jesus as lutron or "ransom." The Greek is always used either for the price for the return of a captive (ransom) or for the purchase price for the manumission of slaves. We need not adopt a substitutionary theory of atonement to see the value of the analogy in understanding the picture of the Messiah's redemptive work. Side by side with this picture is to be gained a picture of that discipleship which shares Messiah's cup and Messiah's baptism. This is strong medicine indeed.
3. STRATEGY: Mark 10:35-45
The homilist is apt to be overwhelmed with the many possibilities presented by this pericope. One of course would deal with the cost of servanthood, some reexamination of what it means to be a Christian disciple. There is also the opportunity for political commentary with meditation upon the current emphasis on power (to the point of corruption) and unimpeded leadership from above with unquestioning obedience from the lower levels of the citizenry.
Still another emphasis might look upon the "preferential option" for the poor and the dispossessed. Surely the picture of Jesus who gives his life as a ransom for the many leads in such a direction. The implied criticism of the powerful and the mighty in Jesus' description of his own calling would also point in this direction.
Or there could be found here the source of powerful preaching dealing with the sin of pride and the perils of overweening ambition. The spectacle of the entire company of the disciples making such an emphasis upon place in the coming Kingdom on the very eve of the Passion and the Crucifixion can surely be the source of real inspiration at this point. There are parallels in our own time, not only outside the church in the arenas of business and politics, but within the community of faith. How many local churches have been destroyed by this kind of interior pushing and shoving to achieve some relatively trivial place of perceived power!
4. References: Mark 10:35-45
Mann, C. S., The Anchor Bible: Mark, Translation, Introduction and Commentary. Doubleday & Co., Garden City, New York, 1986, pp. 410-420.
Tannehill, Robert C., A Mirror for Disciples, A Study of the Gospel of Mark. Discipleship Resources, Nashville, Tennessee, 1977, pp. 85-90.
5. Music Suggestions: Mark 10:35-45
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (ELW 392, HB 460/1, LBW 158)
God, who stretched the spangled heavens (ELW 771. HB 580, LBW 463)
Hail, thou once despised Jesus (HB 495, st. 1-2 )
My song is love unknown (ELW 343, HB 458, LBW 94)
O, Master let me walk with thee (ELW 818, HB 659/60, LBW 492)
The head that once was crowned in thorns (ELW 432, HB 483, LBW 173)
When I survey the wondrous cross (ELW 803, HB 474, LBW 482)
Exegetes - Rev. David B. Sageser & Rev. Walt Craig.
REV. DAVID SAGESER IS MISSIONS PASTOR OF Faith United Methodist Church, 15690 McGregor Blvd, Fort Myers FL; REV. WALT CRAIG is a retire Pastor in the United Methodist Church in the USA.
________________________________________
Lexegete © 2009
Tischrede Software
Dartmouth, MA 02747-1925
www.yourobdtsvt.blogspot.com
________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 4, 2009 (Lectionary 27)
Complementary Series
Genesis 2:18-24
Psalm 8 (5)
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16
Semicontinuous Series
Job 1:1; 2:1-10
Psalm 26 (3)
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16
Prayer of the Day
Sovereign God, you have created us to live in loving community with one another. Form us for life that is faithful and steadfast, and teach us to trust like little children, that we may reflect the image of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. If we love one another, God | lives in us
and God’s love is perfect-| ed in us. Alleluia. (1 John 4:12)
1. CONTEXT: Mark 10:35-45
This striking incident, paralleled in Matthew 20:20-28, gives a picture of the meaning of discipleship. It undoubtedly circulated in more than one form, since Mark's version has James and John approaching Jesus directly, while Matthew softens the picture of the two disciples by having the approach made by their ambitious mother. The reaction of the other disciples is a clear picture of their humanity and leads us to suspect that these qualities were not foreign to James and John. Indeed, it is a testimony to the integrity of the Markan author, as many scholars agree, that he has not concealed the very human realities of the apostolic band.
C. S. Mann, whose Anchor Bible commentary holds that Mark is written after Matthew and Luke, is at pains to suggest that Mark obviously has based his version on a source earlier than theirs or at least has quoted it with more integrity, as the use of the disciples' names would indicate.
The placement of this story in the Markan account is not without significance. It comes very late in Jesus ministry, right on the edge of the final days in Jerusalem. Already many followers have "fallen away." It is a tribute to the disciples that, despite their misunderstanding of Jesus' purpose and destiny, they are still part of his entourage. Even though they many not understand what it means to drink of his cup, they are still ready to share it and they are still with him after they have heard (and perhaps again misunderstood) his explanation.
This is surely an appropriate moment to deal with the issues of Messiahship and the issues of discipleship. The drama of the Passion episodes is heightened by this theological stage-setting. While the vision of Messianic servanthood might never have occurred to the disciples at this point in time, it is clearly Jesus' intention to raise the issue and to look toward the role of the Suffering Servant. Simultaneously the opportunity presents itself to deal with the nature of discipleship. The disciples (and the early Church, for that matter) have a recurring all-to-human picture of hierarchical government and hierarchical honor. The incident and the reported words of Jesus bring an altogether different picture of church government and of the Christian's calling.
It is in this setting, then, that the story is told, and it is filled with very human elements: the ambitions of James and John, the ambitions of their fellow disciples, the quick and easy responses ("Lord, we are able"), and the sense, confirmed by the words of Jesus in the story, that these disciples will in the end pay something of the price proposed, the price of discipleship, even suffering and martyrdom.
1b. Text: Mark 10:35-45
NRSV:
10:35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
10:36 And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?"
10:37 And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."
10:38 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
10:39 They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
10:40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."
10:41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
10:42 So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.
10:43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 10:44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
10:45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
GREEK:
35 Καὶ προσπορεύονται αὐτῷ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης οἱ υἱοὶ Ζεβεδαίου λέγοντες αὐτῷ, Διδάσκαλε, θέλομεν ἵνα ὃ ἐὰν αἰτήσωμέν σε ποιήσῃς ἡμῖν.
36 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τί θέλετέ [με] ποιήσω ὑμῖν;
37 οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Δὸς ἡμῖν ἵνα εἷς σου ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ εἷς ἐξ ἀριστερῶν καθίσωμεν ἐν τῇ δόξῃ σου.
38 ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Οὐκ οἴδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε. δύνασθε πιεῖν τὸ ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ πίνω, ἢ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθῆναι;
39 οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Δυνάμεθα. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τὸ ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ πίνω πίεσθε καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθήσεσθε,
40 τὸ δὲ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἢ ἐξ εὐωνύμων οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι, ἀλλ' οἷς ἡτοίμασται.
41 Καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ δέκα ἤρξαντο ἀγανακτεῖν περὶ Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰωάννου.
42 καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς, Οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ δοκοῦντες ἄρχειν τῶν ἐθνῶν κατακυριεύουσιν αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ μεγάλοι αὐτῶν κατεξουσιάζουσιν αὐτῶν.
43 οὐχ οὕτως δέ ἐστιν ἐν ὑμῖν: ἀλλ' ὃς ἂν θέλῃ μέγας γενέσθαι ἐν ὑμῖν, ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος,
44 καὶ ὃς ἂν θέλῃ ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι πρῶτος, ἔσται πάντων δοῦλος:
45 καὶ γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 26th edition © 1979,
Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart;
The Greek New Testament, 3rd edition © 1975, United Bible Societies, London
2. ANALYSIS : Mark 10:35-45
Mk. 10:35 - "James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, 'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.'" - There is reflected here a typical Oriental approach to the asking of a favor; that is, the attempt to get the favor granted before the actual content of the favor is revealed. We may see here something of our modern tendency to wish to bargain with God, to attempt to escape the obvious consequences of our own misdeeds. Obviously James and John know what their compatriots among the disciples will think. But, being human, they try anyway.
10:37 -- "... Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." - The expectation of the disciples is that Jesus will ultimately be crowned as an earthly ruler. In their understanding, the chief associates of the ruler sat in the places of honor, first place on the right and second place on the left (even though sinistra or "left" ordinarily carried with it the suggestion of evil). That competition for place or for power is obviously not limited to the disciples. It is a manifestation often to be seen today, not only in the political arena but in basic human relationships and even in the church itself.
v. 38 - . - "You do not know what you are asking." Here is a phrase which characterizes much of the Christian practice of prayer. All sorts of requests are mouthed in prayer or even made in the greatest depth of sincerity and concern, but they are voiced without consideration of the consequences of answered prayer. Jesus suggests that the disciples have no understanding of the price of their request. He puts that very succinctly in his next sentence.
v. 38 - - "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" - Both of these terms, cup and baptism carry a freight of meaning quite beyond what the disciples seem to understand. To drink from a cup offered by a ruling monarch might indicate that one had been offered a great honor, a gift of prestige. But it can also mean to share in the cup of hemlock (remember Socrates) or of suffering. It may in this context carry with it the sense of the eucharistic cup which is shared at the Last Supper, "the new covenant in my blood." Likewise baptism, surely familiar to the disciples as a rite of symbolic cleansing, carries also the meaning suggested by John the Baptist, a baptism by fire. Here also is the load of possible martyrdom and suffering -- not what the disciples have hoped for. As C. S. Mann points out, Rom. 6:3 ("We have been baptized into his death") may very well be a reminiscence of this saying.
v. 40 - "but it is for those for who it has been prepared." - The entire verse deals with the question of precedence, and Jesus suggests that it is not his to award, but is to be given instead to those who are fitted for such a place. The issue here is not really one of predestination or even divine foreknowledge, but simply one of worth. There is a sense in which such a place is to be earned, and we need to remind ourselves that those who set out to earn it have already disqualified themselves. Only those who give themselves unreservedly and for no trivial reasons will be judged as worthy. Jesus' explanations in verse 45 will state this in the most positive fashion.
v. 44 - doulos - "slave". Notice the way in which Jesus goes beyond mere servanthood in describing the role of the Christian disciple. It is not just servant that is being described here, the commitment of the disciple goes to the point of slavery. The word "doulos" sometimes refers to the freed slave, who for love of master, might, in a little ceremony involving the piercing of the ear by an awl to the doorpost of the master's home, continue his slavery out of love, becoming therefore a "love slave" of the family. Surely no homiletical commentary is needed at this point.
v. 45 - - "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Here is the heart of our story, a clear statement attributed to Jesus very early in the life of the early Church, a statement which carries with it the sense of atonement, of the vision of Jesus as lutron or "ransom." The Greek is always used either for the price for the return of a captive (ransom) or for the purchase price for the manumission of slaves. We need not adopt a substitutionary theory of atonement to see the value of the analogy in understanding the picture of the Messiah's redemptive work. Side by side with this picture is to be gained a picture of that discipleship which shares Messiah's cup and Messiah's baptism. This is strong medicine indeed.
3. STRATEGY: Mark 10:35-45
The homilist is apt to be overwhelmed with the many possibilities presented by this pericope. One of course would deal with the cost of servanthood, some reexamination of what it means to be a Christian disciple. There is also the opportunity for political commentary with meditation upon the current emphasis on power (to the point of corruption) and unimpeded leadership from above with unquestioning obedience from the lower levels of the citizenry.
Still another emphasis might look upon the "preferential option" for the poor and the dispossessed. Surely the picture of Jesus who gives his life as a ransom for the many leads in such a direction. The implied criticism of the powerful and the mighty in Jesus' description of his own calling would also point in this direction.
Or there could be found here the source of powerful preaching dealing with the sin of pride and the perils of overweening ambition. The spectacle of the entire company of the disciples making such an emphasis upon place in the coming Kingdom on the very eve of the Passion and the Crucifixion can surely be the source of real inspiration at this point. There are parallels in our own time, not only outside the church in the arenas of business and politics, but within the community of faith. How many local churches have been destroyed by this kind of interior pushing and shoving to achieve some relatively trivial place of perceived power!
4. References: Mark 10:35-45
Mann, C. S., The Anchor Bible: Mark, Translation, Introduction and Commentary. Doubleday & Co., Garden City, New York, 1986, pp. 410-420.
Tannehill, Robert C., A Mirror for Disciples, A Study of the Gospel of Mark. Discipleship Resources, Nashville, Tennessee, 1977, pp. 85-90.
5. Music Suggestions: Mark 10:35-45
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (ELW 392, HB 460/1, LBW 158)
God, who stretched the spangled heavens (ELW 771. HB 580, LBW 463)
Hail, thou once despised Jesus (HB 495, st. 1-2 )
My song is love unknown (ELW 343, HB 458, LBW 94)
O, Master let me walk with thee (ELW 818, HB 659/60, LBW 492)
The head that once was crowned in thorns (ELW 432, HB 483, LBW 173)
When I survey the wondrous cross (ELW 803, HB 474, LBW 482)
Exegetes - Rev. David B. Sageser & Rev. Walt Craig.
REV. DAVID SAGESER IS MISSIONS PASTOR OF Faith United Methodist Church, 15690 McGregor Blvd, Fort Myers FL; REV. WALT CRAIG is a retire Pastor in the United Methodist Church in the USA.
________________________________________
Lexegete © 2009
Tischrede Software
Dartmouth, MA 02747-1925
www.yourobdtsvt.blogspot.com
________________________________________
Monday, September 14, 2009
+ P E N T E C O S T 16 + Sept. 20, 2009 +
L E X E G E T E ™ | Year B | St. Mark
Pentecost 16 | September 20, 2009 (Lectionary 25)
Complementary Series
Jeremiah 11:18-20 or Wisdom 1:16 – 2:1, 12-22
Psalm 54 (4)
James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a
Mark 9:30-37
Semicontinuous Series
Proverbs 31:10-31
Psalm 1 (3)
James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a
Mark 9:30-37
Prayer of the Day
O God, our teacher and guide, you draw us to yourself and welcome us as beloved children. Help us to lay aside all envy and selfish ambition, that we may walk in your ways of wisdom and understanding as servants of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. God has called us through the proclamation of | the good news,
that we may obtain the glory of our Lord | Jesus Christ. Alleluia. (2 Thess. 2:14)
______________________________________________________________________________
1a. Context: Mark 9:30-37
Mark's approach to sharing the Gospel was to take one life (Jesus of Nazareth),
use one phase of that life (Jesus' public ministry), and interpret it from one perspective
(Jesus' death on the cross).
• The Structure of Mark's Approach:
• The authority of Jesus revealed
•The authority of Jesus rejected
• The gathering of a new community
• The Journey to Jerusalem as the Way of the Cross
• The Judgment on Jerusalem
• The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus
The Journey to Jerusalem description provided Mark with a method of preparing for the events of the
Passion in Jerusalem. Mark does this in a fast-moving series:
• The First Prediction of his Death by Jesus
• Series of teachings (including the Transfiguration event and the healing of
the boy the disciples could not help)
• The Second Prediction of his Death by Jesus
- The Third Prediction of his Death by Jesus
- The Healing of a Blind Man
2
This lesson for Pentecost 18/ Proper 20 is The Second Prediction of His Death by Jesus in 9:30-37. Each of these
three "Prediction" sections follow the same format:
- Jesus' prediction of his death
- Misunderstanding by the disciples
- Jesus' teaching about the nature of discipleship
1b. Text: Translation / Mark 9:30-37:
They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to
know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The
Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after
three days he will rise." But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to
ask him about it. They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked
them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the
way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the
Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant
of all." He took a child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he
said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes
me; and ;whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."
- OR –
(NRSV)
9:30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it;
9:31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and
they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again."
9:32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
9:33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing
about on the way?"
9:34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest.
9:35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant
of all."
9:36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them,
9:37 "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."
Greek:
30Κἀκεῖθεν ἐξελθόντες παρεπορεύοντο διὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἵνα τις γνοῖ:
31ἐδίδασκεν γὰρ τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι Ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἀποκτενοῦσιν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀποκτανθεὶς μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἀναστήσεται.
32οἱ δὲ ἠγνόουν τὸ ῥῆμα, καὶ ἐφοβοῦντο αὐτὸν ἐπερωτῆσαι.
33Καὶ ἦλθον εἰς Καφαρναούμ. καὶ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ γενόμενος ἐπηρώτα αὐτούς, Τί ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ διελογίζεσθε;
34οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων, πρὸς ἀλλήλους γὰρ διελέχθησαν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ τίς μείζων.
35καὶ καθίσας ἐφώνησεν τοὺς δώδεκα καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Εἴ τις θέλει πρῶτος εἶναι ἔσται πάντων ἔσχατος καὶ πάντων διάκονος.
36καὶ λαβὼν παιδίον ἔστησεν αὐτὸ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν καὶ ἐναγκαλισάμενος αὐτὸ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς,
37 Ὃς ἂν ἓν τῶν τοιούτων παιδίων δέξηται ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἐμὲ δέχεται: καὶ ὃς ἂν ἐμὲ δέχηται, οὐκ ἐμὲ δέχεται ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀποστείλαντά με.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 26th edition © 1979, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart;
The Greek New Testament, 3rd edition© 1975, United Bible Societies, London
2. Analysis: Mark 9:30-37
In the previously reported healing of the boy, the disciples were unable to heal In the previously reported healing of the boy, the disciples were unable to heal him. Jesus did so quickly upon his return from the Mount of Transfiguration. When the disciples asked why he could do what they could not, Jesus had explained: "This kind
can come out only through prayer." While he had just come from prayer on the mountain, Jesus seemed to mean more. This kind of power was available only in a constant relation to God of prayer.
Jesus is then reported to give his second prediction of his death in Jerusalem.
He can talk of facing his death because of the ongoing relationship to God or prayer.
Mark wants it clear that the life of faithfulness to God--facing death on the cross--or
living in the early Church required that constant relationship to God of prayer.
To "welcome the little child" must be understood in the context of true greatness.
The disciples had argued over which was the most important, who was greater Jesus defined greatness, importance,
with another frame of reference. Instead of status, wealth, or power, Jesus offered the criteria of service. To
welcome and care for a child, or any who is helpless and requires a high level of care, is to be truly important in God's sight.
This passage juxtaposes Jesus' prediction that he would die in Jerusalem with
the disciples scrambling for honor and recognition. True greatness is not in fame or
power. True greatness is found in serving those in society who are weak, helpless,
demanding. To care more about a child is to welcome God into one's life.
Discipleship is found in serving others, not in achieving social prominence. Jesus will
provide the supreme example for his followers when he will go to the cross rather than
turn from his effort to win people to faith and fellowship with God.
vs. 31 - edidasken - teaching - Mark explains that the nature of the section (including
the prediction, the understanding, and the explanation) was teaching. While the
immediate context is Jesus' effort to help the disciples understand the meaning of his
death and resurrection and how to live in faithful discipleship, Mark's intention seems
to be to let Jesus' teaching become a guide of his contemporaries for living in faithful discipleship.
vs. 34 - meizon - greater, prominent - The term is used in reference to social rank or standing. The disciples were seeking social status according to the criteria of their society. Jesus offered standing in the community of faith that
used another criterion.
vs. 35 - protos - first, most important; most prominent - When used in reference to
social rank, it indicates most important; While the disciples sought social prominence
by community standards, Jesus offered a prominence that met divine criteria.
vs. 35 - eschatos - last; least important, insignificant - Ironically, the prominence in
the community of faith that Jesus offered is based on being what society judges to be
insignificant, unimportant. Servants filled the lowest ranks of the society of his day.
To serve the insignificant members of society was to be at the bottom. Yet this position
on the bottom, being last, made one important in the society of faith.
vs. 35 - diakonos - servant; Here the word is used in its common everyday meaning. It referred to one who function was to meet the needs of someone else.
vs. 36 - paidion - In a family context, the word referred to a minor. In a social context, the word was used to refer to servants, courtiers, attendants. Jesus took a child of one of the disciples as an illustration of the truth he sought to impart. The double meaning would not have been lost on his disciples or Mark's contemporaries. Welcoming and caring for a child was also welcoming or caring for others on the bottom rungs of society.
v.s 36 - evangelkalizomai - holding in arms - This word is used only twice in the Bible, both times in Mark, here and in 10:16 where we are told Jesus took the children in his arms and blessed them. While it can be used to refer to taking an adult in one's arms, or hugging, with a child it probably means to pick up and hold. Certainly it is a term of closeness and intimacy.
vs. 37 - dexeitai - receive, accept - It was often used to refer to receiving one in a
home or welcoming. To welcome the outcasts of society is to welcome Jesus. To
welcome Jesus is to welcome God.
3. STRATEGY: Mark 9:30-37
At least three themes suggest themselves in this pericope:
1. Faithful discipleship includes the care for children
We live in a world that is not kind to children. Worldwide poverty, war, and
forced labor take a heavy toll on the world's little ones. We could assume that the
situation is significantly better in the United States, but that could be a false assumption. One need only begin with a list of child abuse, deteriorating resources for our educational system, drugs, poverty, the "hurried child" syndrome, and the vast number of single-parent families to realize that being a child in our society is not
necessarily a pleasant or positive experience. We could point fingers at other agencies: schools, health organizations, and government. But more than finger-pointing is needed. The church, the community founded by Jesus, must include care about children in its agenda. To "welcome these little ones" we may need to become advocates for the wellbeing of children in our society. We can speak up in public debate about national priorities and budget decisions to ensure that children are not forgotten. It is not enough to raise society's consciousness about the needs of children. As long as our society spends its money and energy (what it holds "dear") for other priorities, children will be harmed. If God is to be welcome in our churches, we must care for children.
2. Faithful discipleship includes the care of those on the bottom of society
While our theory and ideas may proclaim America a "classless" society, reality
portrays another picture. During the last ten years, the number of people who exist at
the bottom of society has grown rapidly. More individuals and families have moved
into the group below the "poverty line." We have become increasingly aware that
large numbers of our citizens are homeless. Increasing numbers of people cannot
read. Large numbers of youth drop out of school every year--joining the ranks of the
illiterate and the underclass. More and more, the decisions that affect the lives of us
all are made by those at the topic of society--both politically and economically. Few
and few citizens even bother to vote. More and more feel left out of the society.
Ironically, the church which in its origins was made up of large numbers from the
lowest levels of the social order has now become comfortably identified with the
middle and upper classes. Increasingly, American church members have contact with
those on the bottom only at Thanksgiving and Christmas when the charity "basket" is
delivered. Few of the poor attend worship, join Sunday School classes, or are elected
to official Boards and committees. If God is to be welcome in our churches, we must
welcome and help those who have the least power and are most without support in
our society.
3. Prominence in the community of faith is based on a completely different standard than the one used for social prominence.
One can only wonder where Christ would fit in today's American
Churches? Where would the one who washed his disciples' dusty feet find such servant leadership? Would our churches be any different from those castigated in James' Epistle? Are our church suppers more like those of Christ or those of the Pharisees?
Our churches have learned well from our society. We evaluate people,
performance, and value by the standards of those around us. Seldom are we leaven--
in the church, much less in society. Those who are respected, given honor and
prominence in the churches look very much like those who are respected and given
honor in the secular domain. One may look in vain to find quiet, meek servantleadership-- whether among the clergy or the laity. If believers will not follow the
example of Christ, who will? If God is to be welcome in our churches, we must pattern
our lives and leadership on the way of Christ.
4. Music Suggestions
All depends on our possessing (ELW 589)
Blest are the pure in heart (HB 656)
Holy God, we praise thy name (HB 366, ELW 414)
Lord, whose love in humble service (HB 610, ELW 712)
O Love, how deep, how broad, how high (HB 448/9, ELW 322)
O Love of God, how strong and true (HB 455/6)
O Master Let me Walk with Thee (HB 659/60, ELW 818)
Lexegete - Brian A. Nelson, D.Min. St. Paul, Minnesota
==========================================
Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
September 21, 2009
Ezekiel 2:8—3:11
Psalm 119:33-40 (33)
Ephesians 2:4-10
Matthew 9:9-13
Prayer of the Day
Almighty God, your Son our Savior called a despised tax collector to become one of his apostles. Help us, like Matthew, to respond to the transforming call of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea | and Samaria,
and to the ends | of the earth. Alleluia. (Acts 1:8)
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L E X E G E T E ™
© 2009 Tischrede Software
Dartmouth, Massachusetts 02747-1925
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Monday, August 31, 2009
+ PENTECOST + FOURTEEN +
Lexegete ™ | Year B | Saint Mark
_____________________________________________________
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 6, 2009 (Lectionary 23)
Complementary Series
Isaiah 35:4-7a
Psalm 146 (2)
James 2:1-10 [11-13] 14-17
Mark 7:24-37
Semicontinuous Series
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Psalm 125 (1)
James 2:1-10 [11-13] 14-17
Mark 7:24-37
Prayer of the Day
Gracious God, throughout the ages you transform sickness into health and death into life. Open us to the power of your presence, and make us a people ready to proclaim your promises to the whole world, through Jesus Christ, our healer and Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. Rejoice in the | Lord always;
again I will | say, Rejoice. Alleluia. (Phil. 4:4)
________________________________________________________________________
1a. Context: Mark 7:24-37
It's hard to imagine how those who believe in the literal interpretation of scripture handle the geography of this passage. The itinerary is simply an unreasonable route through that particular territory. All attempts to explain the circuitous path are inadequate. But the geography merely sets the scene for the miracle story. Jesus has been expanding his territory, taking his message further from the Sea of Galilee where it began. The message has been one of the nature of the community (the parables of the sower, the mustard seed), the mission (healings, duties of the 12, the feeding of the multitude), and the rejection of the Law (the discussion about clean and unclean, the Canaanite woman). These discussions, the healings, the mission of the 12 disciples, the Transfiguration and the exorcisms, cast about the territory as widely as possible, come before Jesus sets out for Jerusalem. On two occasions (8:31-33, 9:30-32) he has predicted the passion. The episodic nature of this section -- with parables, healings, predictions, preaching and narratives jumbled together – suggests movement and urgency. The forms are much less structured than Mark's carefully-crafted passion narrative.
1b. Text: Mark 7:24-37
ESV:
The Syrophoenician Woman's Faith
24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. [1] And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.
25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.
26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”
28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.”
29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.”
30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf Man
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.
32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.
33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue.
34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”
35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus [2] charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.
37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
_________________________________
7:24 Some manuscripts omit and Sidon
7:36 Greek = “he”
Greek:
24Ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ἀναστὰς ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὰ ὅρια Τύρου. καὶ εἰσελθὼν εἰς οἰκίαν οὐδένα ἤθελεν γνῶναι, καὶ οὐκ ἠδυνήθη λαθεῖν:
25ἀλλ' εὐθὺς ἀκούσασα γυνὴ περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἧς εἶχεν τὸ θυγάτριον αὐτῆς πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον, ἐλθοῦσα προσέπεσεν πρὸς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ:
26ἡ δὲ γυνὴ ἦν Ἑλληνίς, Συροφοινίκισσα τῷ γένει: καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτὸν ἵνα τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐκβάλῃ ἐκ τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς.
27καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτῇ, Ἄφες πρῶτον χορτασθῆναι τὰ τέκνα, οὐ γάρ ἐστιν καλὸν λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καὶ τοῖς κυναρίοις βαλεῖν.
28ἡ δὲ ἀπεκρίθη καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ, Κύριε, καὶ τὰ κυνάρια ὑποκάτω τῆς τραπέζης ἐσθίουσιν ἀπὸ τῶν ψιχίων τῶν παιδίων.
29καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ, Διὰ τοῦτον τὸν λόγον ὕπαγε, ἐξελήλυθεν ἐκ τῆς θυγατρός σου τὸ δαιμόνιον.
30καὶ ἀπελθοῦσα εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς εὗρεν τὸ παιδίον βεβλημένον ἐπὶ τὴν κλίνην καὶ τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐξεληλυθός.
31Καὶ πάλιν ἐξελθὼν ἐκ τῶν ὁρίων Τύρου ἦλθεν διὰ Σιδῶνος εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ὁρίων Δεκαπόλεως.
32καὶ φέρουσιν αὐτῷ κωφὸν καὶ μογιλάλον, καὶ παρακαλοῦσιν αὐτὸν ἵνα ἐπιθῇ αὐτῷ τὴν χεῖρα.
33καὶ ἀπολαβόμενος αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄχλου κατ' ἰδίαν ἔβαλεν τοὺς δακτύλους αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰ ὦτα αὐτοῦ καὶ πτύσας ἥψατο τῆς γλώσσης αὐτοῦ,
34καὶ ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐστέναξεν, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ, Εφφαθα, ὅ ἐστιν, Διανοίχθητι.
35καὶ [εὐθέως] ἠνοίγησαν αὐτοῦ αἱ ἀκοαί, καὶ ἐλύθη ὁ δεσμὸς τῆς γλώσσης αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐλάλει ὀρθῶς.
36καὶ διεστείλατο αὐτοῖς ἵνα μηδενὶ λέγωσιν: ὅσον δὲ αὐτοῖς διεστέλλετο, αὐτοὶ μᾶλλον περισσότερον ἐκήρυσσον.
37καὶ ὑπερπερισσῶς ἐξεπλήσσοντο λέγοντες, Καλῶς πάντα πεποίηκεν: καὶ τοὺς κωφοὺς ποιεῖ ἀκούειν καὶ [τοὺς] ἀλάλους λαλεῖν.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 26 ed. © 1979, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart;
The Greek New Testament, 3rd edition © 1975, United Bible Societies, London
2. Analysis: Mark 7:31-37
7:24 ὅρια Τύρου – the region of Tyre….for map and photos, see article by
Daniel Herman: http://www.dannythedigger.com/articles/tyre_sidon.html
7:27 κυναρίοις – “dogs” [occurs rarely in the New Testament (Mt. 15:27)] ;
contrast with Luke 16:21, “ κύνες ” who licked at the sores of Lazarus
7:32 "deaf" (kophos) might mean impaired hearing, the speech
impediment may have been that of one who never hears words clearly
and is therefore unable to pronounce them properly.
7:33 Taking the sufferer away from the crowd makes this a private
healing, not done for show. It is hard, therefore, to explain the
reason for the detail with which Mark tells the story.
The ritual acts of putting fingers in the man's ears and spittle on
the tongue may be merely symbolic; yet spittle was used by folk
healers and miracle workers.
7:34 "Ephphatha!" One wonders who the hearer of this
Greek-transliterated, apparently Aramaic word might be. The looking
upwards toward Heaven and sighing may have also been ritualistic acts.
7:35 The cure is apparently instantaneous. But we are not told of
the man's own response.
7:36 Commanding silence regarding the cure seems absurd, a deaf man
went away with Jesus and came back speaking; the news could hardly
not have been spoken throughout the crowd and the community. The
phrasing "the more he charged them to tell no one," suggests that
Jesus made several attempts to silence the talk of the healing. By
playing down his role as a wonder-worker, Jesus is stressing the
kingdom-oriented message.
7:37 The astonishment of the crowd at the healing, and the phrasing
"he has done all things well; he -even- makes the deaf hear and the
dumb speak," suggest that the crowd had already been impressed with
Jesus, before the miracle.
3. Strategy: Mark 7:31-37
A. The structure-movement axis of the story might provide a
homiletical base. Jesus is on the move. Someone brings the man to
him. He takes the man away, does things with him. The man speaks. The
crowd buzzes about the event. It is an action-based narrative.
Bringing afflictions, the afflictions of our sin, -to- the Lord,
letting the Lord -act-, then -telling others- is the dynamic of the believer.
Despite this action, however, there is a passiveness on the part of
the one healed. Others brought him. His response is not recorded.
Like nine of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19, the man may not have
even given thanks. The Word and action of the Lord is effective on
its own, not dependent upon definite or logical human validation.
B. The nature of the impediment may be a paradigm for an ailing
world. Unable to hear the Word, it is unable to speak it properly.
Or hearing it improperly -- strained through selfish desires,
heresies, or false prophets -- we are mute and unable to proclaim.
Hearing and speech are connected. Hearing the Word might even heal
the hearer, but have no effect on the community unless the event is
spoken of; unless others are amazed at the healing.
Jesus himself did not intend to proclaim this particular wonder.
Jesus is not physically present to proclaim the wonders in our lives,
and the only voice the Lord has is ours.
C. A third homiletical approach springs from reflection on what it is that stops ears and binds tongues. Why do ears not hear the cries
of the poor and needy, the calls for justice, the pleas for mercy?
Does geography or race or class stop our ears? If that is the case,
then we need to be brought to Jesus for healing. Here it is not faith
(there's no "your faith has made you whole") that affects the
healing, there is only the action of Jesus, God's desire and will
that the man be whole.
What is it that stops tongues, impedes speech? If the believer has
heard, but is unable to speak the Gospel, the believer is not yet
whole. Had Jesus cured the man's hearing, he -might- have learned to
speak distinctly; but Jesus die not leave this to chance. Clear
hearing and clear speaking came together in the encounter with
Christ.
4. Music & Worship: Mark 7:31-37
"O Son of God, in Galilee"(LBW 426) relates directly to Mark 7….
Other possibilities are:
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" LBW 562
"Lord, Speak to Us, that We May Speak" LBW 403
"Breathe on Me, Breath of God" LBW 488
"Your Hand, O Lord, in Days of Old" LBW 431
"O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" LBW 559
"Oh, that I Had a Thousand Voices" LBW 560
Exegete: Charles Austin, ELCA (Retired)
Prior to his retirement, “Chuck” Austin resided in Teaneck, NJ, home of the Lutheran Collegiate Bible Institute, and served as Pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07602. Chuck writes extensively for LCA and ELCA publications, including the Lutheran, Lutheran PARTNERS, and others, as well as for The Record newspaper in NJ. He is one of the pioneers of the Ecunet and online ministry in general, having been involved in setting up online communications in the formation of the ELCA.
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Lexegete ™
© 2009 Tischrede Software
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