Deserters, a Reflection on Mark 14:26-42

In Mark's Gospel, the last words that Jesus speaks to his disciples are, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand" (14:41-42).

When I was an accounting professor, I would warn my students that the persons likely to embezzle would be trusted employees--after all, they would be the ones most likely to have access.

This phenomenon is not new. Read Zechariah 13:1-7.

The men that Jesus chose as guards were three of his closest associates. They went to the sleep on the job. The one who sold him out to the Romans was also one of the twelve.

The work of the resurrected Christ continues. Who's sleeping on the job? Who is betraying the message?

Betrayal and Communion, a reflection on Mark 14:22-25

Jesus is living under threat--and not just from external enemies. In a Passover meal with his closest disciples, Jesus tells them that one of them is going to betray him.

Then he takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them, saying "This is my body." He takes a cup, gives thanks, and gives it to them, saying, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many." We continue to remember this supper as disciples continue to gather.

Overcoming, a reflection on Psalm 118:21-27

This is the day, a Reflection on Psalm 118:24-29
I often used to begin the worship service by quoting the first part of 24, "This is the day the Lord has made," and the congregation would immediately respond, "let us rejoice and be glad in it."

The "us" is important. Everyone in that congregation had known some kind of pain or rejection. Yet, they could rejoice.

But, even in that rejoicing over what had been overcome, we still need the strength and support that God gives us. This is the day. Every day is this day.

We wouldn't need victory if we didn't already know rejection, but our lives have both. As we look toward Easter, we don't have to pretend that our lives haven't had and don't have grave difficulties. But, in Easter, as well as the rest of the year, we can remember and be thankful what the Lord has done and continues to do for us.

Anointment, Betrayal, Communion, Reflection on Mark 14:3-9

Jesus is living under threat. As he is sitting at supper, a woman approaches him with a jar filled with an expensive ointment. She breaks the jar and anoints his head with the ointment. When Israel had kings, they had been anointed by prophets (See 1 Samuel 16; 1 Kings 19:16). The word we translate as "Messiah" means anointed.

The other dinner guests do not do this scriptural exegesis. They don't think, "She must be a prophet. Ergo, he must be a king." Rather, they focus on what seems to them to be the foolish waste. And the contents of the jar were expensive--almost a year's pay.

Jesus reminds them of what they surely already knew--they are going to have many opportunities to use resources in what seems to be the right way--taking care of the poor. After all, the poor are not going away. Circumstances will continue to foster poverty.

Jesus points out to them that what this woman has done in this place on this day is is to prepare his body for burial. Yes, kings were anointed, but also are those persons who are to be buried.

The irony in Mark's version is that Jesus then says that wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will be told in remembrance of her. Yet, Mark doesn't tell us her name.

Hope beyond Hope, a reflection on Psalm 102:12-17

When I looked up commentary on this psalm, I came across discussions of when this psalm was written; i.e., what particular national crisis had happened, which foreign power had overtaken them. And I could see that. Zion--the name for the whole country.

Yet, we can read this psalm as a model for prayer for more particular circumstances, including a personal crisis. The psalmist's argument (rationale) for asking God for help is that God has provide help before and can provide help again.

A second yet--Back to the national, God has and can provide help for a nation.

Keep Awake, a Reflection on Mark 13:32-37

Looking back at the beginning of chapter 13, we see that Jesus is talking privately to four of his disciples--Peter, James, John, and Andrew. They are sitting on the Mount of Olives looking at the temple. By the time that Mark wrote this gospel, the temple had been destroyed. His first audience would have recognized the allusions to the destruction of the first temple and their exile.

Jesus said "Keep awake."' These words are meant for them, and they continue to be intended for us.

God had created a good world. We human beings had failed at our responsibilities. The old ways have to go. A new way is coming. God desires for us to live in a world transformed. Keep awake.

Disaster and Rescue, a reflection on Mark 13:24-31

They would have recognized the imagery of earthquakes and wars being triggered by the failure of the sun and moon (again quoting  from Morna Hooker who posits that Mark is quoting Isaiah 13:10 and 34:4. She also cites Ezekiel 32:7;; Joel 2:10; 5:15; Amos 8:9).

She raises the question of whether these signs are to be taken metaphorically or literally.

In any case, we are promised that at the time of disaster, our rescuer will appear. And that appearance will be as inevitable--forseeable--as figs ripening on a blossoming fig tree.

Destruction is coming and deserves to be, a reflection on Mark 13:1-8

Destruction of the temple seems inevitable. Morna Hooker in her excellent The Gospel according to Mark, suggests two possibilities: one, Rome will get fed up with the threats of revolt by the Jews; or, two, Divine judgment will punish the Jews because they have not been listening to what this messenger has been telling them (for other examples, see Jeremiah 7:14; 26:6; Micah 3:10).

Jesus warns them, "People claiming to be followers will say things that are not true to what I've been telling you." and "Wars will come, as will earthquakes and famine." Hooker points out that these catastrophes were understood as a model of divine punishment (wars: Jeremiah 4:17-22); Zechariah 14:2; earthquakes: Isaiah 13:13; Jeremiah 4:23-27; famines: Isaiah 14:30; Joel 1:1-12).

Remember and Remind, a Reflection on Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18

Psalm 89 begins with a promise to the Lord, "I'll sing of your steadfast love forever. I'll tell everybody. I'll tell them, old and young, that what you've been doing for us, you'll keep doing for them."

When do we need to hear this reminder? What prompts us to remember to give it?

Do we have to be living in bad times to be able to appreciate good ones?

Whom do we trust enough to receive comfort from what they tell us?

The original psalm may have been helpful to people living during the Babylonian Exile. They were dislocated, their king had been ousted, but they could hear reassurance that the Lord was still in charge, and the outcome for them was going to be all right.

And knowing this, believing this means telling what we know and believe:

Happy are the people who know you. They exult in your name all day long, and extol your righteousness (89:16).

Piety without Love, a Reflection on Mark 12:35-44

Jesus' harshest criticism is not against heretics but against hypocrites.

He's describing religious people who parade their piety around but certainly show no love for neighbor--poor neighbors, anyway.

He calls us to look at what the rich contribute and compares it to one poor widow who's giving all she has.

On what basis do we tend to make decisions about whom to admire?