Mark’s Gospel, Ch. 8: Jesus + Wrong Interest = Incorrect Jesus?

Here’s a popular passage that many Christians should be familiar with (Mark 8:27-29):

Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”  They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”  Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” [1]

Peter’s confession here is a major declaration in the lens of orthodox Christian doctrine and church history.  This is the second time in Mark’s Gospel (the first being at the beginning of the Gospel) where Jesus is indicated to be the Messiah.  This is also one high point in Mark’s Gospel in terms of narrative and character formation (for both Jesus and the disciples).  Peter, speaking for the disciples, finally get who Jesus is (despite having trouble understanding his parables).  Jesus is blatantly declared to be the Messiah by characters within the story, not just the narrator.  This sets the tone for the rest of the Gospel - Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem and what it means to follow the Messiah.

But Wait!  There’s More…

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aabyegrace: The idea of “personal” Bible study is such a funny little thing, isn’t it? At least among Evangelical Christianity, there’s a huge amount of stress placed on every single Christian reading the Bible for him or herself. We’ve got hundreds of themed Bible reading plans and devotionals, and we’re pressured to have our daily “quiet time in the Word.” This is not necessarily a bad thing. If I say I believe the Bible, I better know what it says, right? Paul famously wrote to Timothy to “be diligent to present [himself] approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB). Whether Paul is referring specifically to Scripture or to the gospel in general does not bear much argument here… either way, the Bible as the Word of God plays a huge role in the life of a Christian. However, there are a few things that we should consider before we try to start guilt-tripping ourselves into a renewed reading routine.Read More Abbie is a dear friend of mine who has put up with two years of conversation with me about Jesus, Scripture and Theology.  Go follow her!
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aabyegrace:

The idea of “personal” Bible study is such a funny little thing, isn’t it?

At least among Evangelical Christianity, there’s a huge amount of stress placed on every single Christian reading the Bible for him or herself. We’ve got hundreds of themed Bible reading plans and devotionals, and we’re pressured to have our daily “quiet time in the Word.”

This is not necessarily a bad thing. If I say I believe the Bible, I better know what it says, right? Paul famously wrote to Timothy to “be diligent to present [himself] approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB). Whether Paul is referring specifically to Scripture or to the gospel in general does not bear much argument here… either way, the Bible as the Word of God plays a huge role in the life of a Christian.

However, there are a few things that we should consider before we try to start guilt-tripping ourselves into a renewed reading routine.

Read More

Abbie is a dear friend of mine who has put up with two years of conversation with me about Jesus, Scripture and Theology.  Go follow her!

Jesus in Mark’s Gospel, 3:1-6

Jesus is having a lot of back-and-forth with the Pharisees since Mark 2.  The author of this Gospel puts two Sabbath episodes together.  The previous (2:23-28) is about how the Sabbath was made for man and how the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath (fighting words to the Pharisees).  In this particular Sabbath episode, Jesus asks an interesting ethical question:  “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” (3:4)  An odd question, given the context.  It’s the Sabbath, Jesus is in the synagogue and He just asked a man with a shriveled hand to stand.  Surely, no one was killing anyone else.

However,  no one was exactly seeming to do good, either.  Jesus was probably invoking a form of hyperbole here, but His lesson becomes clear.  Jesus restores the man’s hand on the Sabbath.  Rather than using one’s day of rest to do the Lord’s work, the Pharisees saw fit to do as little as possible - even helping those in need.  But Christ was not abiding by their laws, so Jesus needed to be eliminated.  The Pharisees began a plot to kill because this one man healed.

Jesus turns the question of ethics into a double-edged sword.  You are either saving lives or killing.  If, especially in our quest for holiness, we are not actively restoring the lives of others, then we are no better than Pharisees.  In short:  Doing nothing about what should be done is evil.  So on our Sabbaths (whether you have one ritualistically or sporadically), when we are so focused on becoming more of our idea of holy, we need to ask ourselves:

 “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”

Jesus in the Mark’s Gospel, Ch. 1-2

So, I’ve finished Isaiah and have now started the Gospel of Mark.  This Gospel hits the ground running - it takes no time to get into the ministry of Christ.  One thing I try to be aware of when I read Scripture is comparing my practice, and the practice of the church culture around me, to the actions of Christ.  Finding difference between how we act and how Christ acts exposes to us how we are not “Christ-like”.  And this hit me pretty strongly in the first two chapters of Mark.  Two relational/missional ideas run in the actions of Christ in the first two chapters:  (1) Jesus doesn’t settle for “I’ll pray for you” and (2) Jesus actually spends time with sinners.

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