It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

No Salt Substitutes, a Reflection on Mark 9:42-50

What happened to that sweet and mild Jesus image so often held up for us? The next time we try to malign the OT by talking about the violence in it, we need to remember this passage from Mark that includes some wrathful talk.

Was Mark speaking to the early church in terms that they would recognize from their own lives; i.e., were mutilation and drowning punishments used by Romans? Was he warning them that disobedience to Christ would have an even more severe punishment? (I've been reading Morna Hooker).

The punishments listed are dire. Consider the crime--impeding someone's progress. And let us remember verses 38-40--Jesus has a pretty loose definition of following.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)