The great commandment Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:28-34 Gospel reading for Sunday 4th November 2012

Three years on, I'm still trying to figure out what Jesus meant when He told the teacher of the law that he is "not far from the kingdom" See Gospel Reflections Oct 26 2009.

... but I have a theory ... and I think it is always good to have theories! (to quote a well-worn line from someone in our family!)

The religious expert knew all the facts. He was well versed in the rules and regulations of what was required under Old Testament law to be OK in God's sight. Generally though, the Jewish people simply did not get the fact that a new 'arrangement' was being ushered in before their very eyes. Given the man's reply and Jesus in a way giving him the thumbs up for his 'wise response', there is a suggestion that perhaps this guy is actually starting to get it.

But still we have the uncomfortable 'not far from' suggesting that he was not yet in! Why was he not in? What did he have to do to be in? My theory is that while Jesus commends him for having the right knowledge in his head, there is not yet the evidence through his spontaneous actions, that he understands what this means in practice.

So there lies the problem ... he was fixed on what it was that he had to DO. The irony is, that while he continued to focus on what it is that he HAD TO DO ...  he was always going to still be 'not far from' (but never quite in).

For us today, if WE are preoccupied with what it is that WE HAVE TO DO ... we are in exactly the same situation as the religious expert. We need to realize that 'What do we have to do?' is actually the wrong question! A better question is surely 'How can we celebrate what HAS BEEN DONE for us?' 

If you think my theory is a touch fanciful, flick over into Matthew 25, (which chronologically speaking, occurred only a matter of a day or two later). The hard hitting stories near the end of Matthew's Gospel, culminating in 'The parable of the sheep and goats' I think support the 'NOT FAR FROM because there was NOT YET SPONTANEOUS ACTION' theory.

The final judgement story is NOT a statement about being saved by good works. Rather our good works are evidence that we have been saved!

Are we in our Lutheran schools NOT FAR FROM the kingdom? Or are we celebrating that we are ALREADY IN THE SHEEP PEN, just  naturally and spontaneously serving those about us without even realizing we are doing it?

That's it from me!

Blessings,
Nev

Jesus heals a blind man Mark 10:46-5

Mark 10:46-52 Gospel reading for Sunday 28th October 2012

This event, the healing of Bartimaeus, occurs immediately prior to Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. On the surface it seems to be all rather ho-hum, just another routine healing miracle, but there is something that is easily lost in this story if we are not careful. It is only recently that I have seen another side to this story that I had not noticed in listening to the details probably dozens of times over the years.

So there is more to it than first meets the eye. It is arguably best viewed as an acted parable, through which God continues to show us how His grace really works.

Right to the end, Jesus continues to hammer His agenda of the kingdom being available to all. Jewish culture would have written off this poor unfortunate blind man. In their eyes, Bartimaeus must have done something terribly wrong to have been punished so severely by God and therefore he could not possibly be acceptable in God's sight. We see a hint of this is in verse 48 where the crowd tries  to silence the man.

A critical phrase in the reading comes in verse 52 "your faith has healed you" ... and this is where we need to be careful, for the real message of what Jesus said to Bartimaeus has been to a large extent, literally lost in translation. Jesus uses exactly the same wording here as He did in speaking to the one (Samaritan) leper who returned to thank Jesus. The more accurate translation in both cases is "your faith has saved you". Just like the Samaritan, this obviously sinful blind man, who could not possibly be OK with God, is declared to be saved! How dare Jesus make such a contentious and controversial claim! It is no wonder that He got Himself crucified!

... but that folks is the stark reality and the outrageous nature of the Gospel ... classic saved by grace. The blind man is saved purely and simply through his acknowledgement of who Jesus is. That was totally uncharted territory for the Jews.

Do we keep the Gospel that outrageously simply today, or are there some sub-conscious performance strings attached?

If anyone is looking for some additional threads to further explore, I'll just mention a couple:

1. The name Bartimaeus in Aramaic literally means 'son of' Timaeus, or further loosely translated Son of the precious or worth one. Many commentators point out that this, together with the 'son of David' terminology used in the reading is more than a coincidental connection to the similar phrase used in the next scene as Jesus enters Jerusalem.
2. Jesus asks the question: "What do you want me to do for you"? ... now that's a question loaded with opportunity for personal reflection for us today!

Nev

Seating request Mark 10:35-45

Mark 10:35-45 Gospel reading for Sunday October 21st

For what it's worth, you can check out my reflections from three years ago under the heading of the REQUEST OF JAMES and JOHN. (We have been the full circle since I started writing Gospel Reflections in 2009 ... so maybe it is time to move on!) In order to make full sense of what appears below though,  it is probably worth reading the earlier reflections ... and of course the Gospel reading itself before proceeding.