Mark 4:21-29 Today, Jesus continues His teaching on how the Kingdom grows, which is to say the process of discipleship. The secret to the Kingdom of God and its mysterious and wonderful growth is the growth of the Church, which is to say the growth of Christians, which is to say discipleship: “The Kingdom of Heaven = the Church = the people of God = disciples of Jesus Christ” I think that sometimes we misunderstand Jesus’ words: “With the same... Read more
Mark 4:1-20 How appropriate that the parable of the sower and the seed occurs in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent. The Book of Common Prayer collect (prayer for the week) is: “Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast,... Read more
Mark 3:20-34 Today’s lesson is a lesson about family. What is a family? We all know the answer to this question, but at its heart a family is a group of people who are related to one another. The most immediate kind of family is, of course, the biological families we live in. But the notion of family is larger than what we often think it is. For example, my brother and his wife have adopted two bi-racial children. Are... Read more
Mark 3:7-19 “And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.” In verses 14-16 of Mark 3, we have a picture of God’s work in our lives. Never forget that it is the work of the Lord. It... Read more
Mark 2:23-3:6 Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God incarnated. Though we already know this, it’s good to have an illustration of it from the life and words of Jesus Himself. And that is exactly what Jesus gives us today – a teaching on the meaning of wisdom. Biblically speaking, wisdom is knowing God and doing His will. But there is a secondary kind of wisdom that Jesus deals with here (the two are related) – the human wisdom... Read more
Mark 2:13-22 Most who have read and studied the Bible at all know that the parable of the new wine into old wineskins is Jesus’ teaching on the coming of the New Covenant and the necessity of the Old Covenant being abolished. Because of the radically new nature of the New Covenant (even though there is remarkable continuity as well), the New Covenant manifests itself in new ways that the Old Covenant was not capable of containing. Most importantly, the... Read more
Mark 2:1-12 It’s easy to think of the miracles of Jesus as being ordinary occurrences. After all, we’re only halfway through Mark 2, and already we’ve heard about 4 specific miracles, as well as references to multiple miracles. The New Testament is so saturated with miracles, especially the Gospels where Jesus lives, that at times I wonder if I live in the same world where Jesus lived. I wonder, “Where are all the miracles in my life?” But such... Read more
Mark 1:40-45 Imagine that you are a leper. Imagine that you have a disease which began several years ago with a chronic fatigue and pains in the joints. This part of the disease was something like fibromyalgia – but it gets worse. Parts of your skin become discolored, and little nodules form on this discolored skin. First they are pink and then brown, and they begin to populate especially your cheeks, your nose, your lips, and your forehead – essentially... Read more
Mark 1:29-39 Why did Jesus Christ come into the world? Sometimes we think it was only to die on the Cross, and of course the Crucifixion and Resurrection are central to understanding the ministry of our Lord. But if all He did was come to die on the Cross, then why did He spend three years ministering publicly before then? It’s important in the work of Jesus our Lord that we don’t separate one part of His ministry from the... Read more
Mark 1:14-28 It’s here! The time is fulfilled! The Kingdom of God is at hand! He’s here! The Messiah has come! The King of kings is at hand! This is the message of Advent and Christmas, the message of the New Covenant, and the message of our lives. Sometimes we seem to believe only in the eschatological coming of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. We know that Jesus will come again, and we know that He came and lived on... Read more
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