Mark 7:1-13

“Notice what you notice.” Once again, Mark with his details…, spending two verses (3 and 4) highlighting the marketplace as a source of uncleanness – much more vivid, especially if you’ve visited Middle Eastern marketplaces!!

Jesus’ focus on tradition in this passage calls to mind our Anglican history of “Scripture, tradition, and reason”, first attributed to an Anglican priest, Richard Hooker, in the late 16^th century. When I first heard this triad I remember thinking that the Catholic Church held strongly to the first two, but did not encourage reason among the laity. If there was any reasoning to be done, let it be done by the clergy and their higher authorities. But I also felt that Protestant churches had their own problems, with what seemed to me their rejecting (or reducing) the importance of tradition in our Christian heritage. There is value in holding to all three, Scripture being the most prominent, but not elevating tradition over reason or reason over tradition.

Tradition became really important to me when the Episcopal Church was faced with the divisive issue of the election and consecration of a homosexual Bishop. This “icing on the cake”, this “straw that broke the camel’s back” served to move our local body away from the Episcopal Church into forming our own congregation, St. Andrew’s, now part of ACNA – the Anglican Church in North America. And as both “sides” sought to reason their way through Scripture to justify or reject this New Hampshire outcome, I remember the phrase that brought peace to my soul – that our St. Andrew’s position was to embrace the truth of Scripture and “our traditional, historical faith”. We need tradition; we just can’t let it overwhelm Scripture or reason.

Blessings!

Matthew 15:1-50

“Notice what you notice.” This schedule of readings has really opened my eyes to Jesus’ Galilean ministry compared to His time in Jerusalem. For example, today’s reading begins with Pharisees and Scribes coming to Galilee from Jerusalem specifically to monitor and test Jesus. That’s about a 70-80 mile trip. Yet these emissaries are sent by the Jewish leaders because of Jesus’ growing reputation. Accounts of His teachings and miracles have spread far and wide. They want to know whether His Messiahship claims are real or fake – but they have a strong bias for the latter! I hope Carol will share some insights she has picked up as to why the Jewish authorities were so interested in this distant rabbi. I defer to her.

I was intrigued by Matthew’s Isaiah quote in verses 8 and 9. Here is the full text: … this people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment taught by men… (Isaiah 29:13). In my early born-again years I studied my new-found faith in part by way of comparison with what I had learned as a youngster in the Catholic Church. One conclusion that I came to was that there was a dramatic difference between what the Catholic Church was teaching from Scripture and what they were teaching from tradition or from some “church law” that had been established. Some examples include (1) not eating meat on Fridays, (2) strict requirements of church attendance on Sundays, (3) additional “Holy Days of Obligation”, (4) the role of the Pope and his infallibility on particular issues, (5) indulgences, and (6) the Apocrypha as inspired Scripture. I am not ascribing to the Catholic Church the same criticism that Jesus laid on the Jewish leaders for their “commandments of men” (v. 9). But I have often felt that many Catholics today are “enslaved” by church rules and are “seeking” God by following these church rules. They miss the blessings available to them from knowing God more personally. And it’s not just the Catholic Church; it’s “nominal” Christians everywhere. I fear that I sound judgmental, but in reality I feel sorry for them because they do not really know “Him in Whom they have believed” (II Timothy 1:12, edited).

Slava Bohu!

John 6:60-71

“Notice what you notice.” Today we finish the exchange between Jesus and “the crowd” that follows John’s account of Jesus walking on the water. I have always loved Peter’s response to Jesus’ teaching and His challenge to them that some might leave Him. Peter responded, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life… (v. 68). For some reason, maybe from an earlier Catholic translation, I always had the second half of that verse as “You ALONE have the words of eternal life”. “Alone” is implied in the first half of that verse, but not explicitly stated. This seems a small point, but it’s really not. It is Jesus, alone, who is our salvation; Jesus, alone, to whom we can turn; Jesus, alone, who has words of eternal life. Jesus is the only way!

I’m a bit confused by Jesus’ words in verse 65, no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father. (See also John 6:44.) Yet earlier in this chapter (John 6:37-40) it seems that Jesus has said that the Father wants all people to come to Him, through Jesus. I can’t imagine that the Father is being exclusive in who He chooses. So verse 65 leaves me confused.

One final note, Judas the son of Simon Iscariot… (v. 71). My Study Bible indicates that “Iscariot” means “a man from Kerioth”. Online I found Kerioth either east of the Dead Sea or south of Jerusalem. For either of these, that Study Bible mentions that Judas was the only non-Galilean among the twelve. Interesting…

Slava Bohu!

John 6:41-59

“Notice what you notice.” Today we continue the exchange between Jesus and “the crowd” that follows John’s account of Jesus walking on the water. As is often true for me in John’s accounts of Jesus’ conversations with Jewish leaders and others, I find it hard to see how Jesus is answering the questions they are asking. And I can fully understand the confusion reflected in their questions based on His prior responses, as in Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’? (their question in v. 42 based on His words in vv. 35-40) or in How can this man give us His flesh to eat? (their questions in v. 52b based on His words in vv. 48-51). To me there are always some transition sentences missing in Jesus’ replies!

Following the conversations is less important than reading Jesus’ spoken word. Today’s verse that hit me was verse 44, No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. That verse is particularly relevant today, in that Carol and I just left my younger brother Dickie (Richard) a few hours ago, whose prostate cancer has spread to his lymph nodes and who has fundamental problems with Jesus because no one can prove to him that God exists. And if there is no God, then Jesus is no different than Buddha or Confucius or even Ghandi. We spent a good deal of time with him in pleasant conversation trying to find the right words to say. He is facing possible end-of-life issues and his salvation is more important to us than his health. But clearly we don’t want to lose him, especially in his current faith state. We need the Father and His Holy Spirit to forcefully draw him. Could you please pray with us?

Slava Bohu!

John 6:22-40

“Notice what you notice.” Today’s reading is one that is always special to me. After the initial conversation between Jesus and the townspeople, we get to Jesus speaking in John 6:37-40, repeated here in full: All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.

This section of Scripture leapt off the pages at me when I first read them. Here’s the story. I was born again in May, 1975. In June of 1976 I attended a month-long Campus Crusade “Bible camp” in Fort Collins, Colorado. After about a week there I was called into the office in the middle of the afternoon to take a person-to-person phone call. It was my sister telling me that our mother (stepmother) had been killed in a car-train accident. She was not your iconic “stepmother”; she had been “Mom” for 21 years and we had a good relationship. The leaders at the camp took care immediately to get me plane reservations and take me to the airport; they also arranged for my family to pick me up (in St. Louis). My younger brother had been in the car with Mom and was in the hospital with broken ribs, a punctured lung, and burns over 25% of his body. He survived and is alive today – but that’s another story.

I stayed home (Illinois) for a week or so until things had settled down a bit. Since I had driven out to Colorado, I had to go back, at a minimum to retrieve my car. Depending on my feelings and my reception back at the camp, I would either finish out the camp or come right back home. So I got a bus ticket and headed back to Colorado on July 4, 1976 – our nation’s Bicentennial birthday. Since I was not yet certain as to whether I would be staying at the camp or coming back home, I decided to catch up on my reading of the Gospel of John – one of the courses I was taking. It was on this bus ride that the verses above jumped off the page at me.

I had been raised in a strong Catholic faith. Now I was involved in this more Protestant born-again environment. On hearing the news of her death I had wondered if my mother was in heaven or hell. I voiced that concern to the camp leaders as we drove to the airport. As I recounted my family’s faith, they assured me that Mom was in heaven. While it was reassuring to hear that from them, I still wondered. Then those verses…!! All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. … This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. Those verses told me that my mother was in heaven. Moreover, they told me that my brother was not killed because he was not yet ready to die. As I said above, that’s another story. He, too, is now born again.

So, bottom line, folks. God is at work in our lives and in the lives of everyone we know. And He will not bring us to our end until He is certain that we are either devoted to Him or that we have a full, complete rejection of Him. I remember reading a conversation between God and someone on earth in a simple little book, The Singer by Calvin Miller. The person asked God, “How can you condemn people to hell for all eternity?” And God responds, “I don’t condemn them, Pilgrim, I can’t keep them out!” So that unbeliever in your life – keep praying and sharing!

Slava Bohu!

Mark 6:53-56

“Notice what you notice.” Mark on Jesus landing at Gennesaret… Whenever we have passages in double or triple tradition, I try not to read ahead in the readings schedule, except to read notes from my Study Bible from all the writers. Following that pattern yesterday, I had not read Mark’s account when I reported on Matthew’s account of the landing at Gennesaret. True to form, Mark’s account goes into much more detail than Matthew’s. And that increased detail confirms and enhances some items that I shared yesterday. For example, Matthew writes …they sent around to all that region and brought to Him all who were sick (Matthew 14:35b). Mark writes …the people … ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. (vv. 54-55) Those last six words, to wherever they heard he was, add substantial specificity and a more personal touch in Mark’s account! In addition, Mark has the people “running” compared to Matthew’s “sent around”.

Or consider the second half of Matthew 14:35b quoted above, they … brought to Him all who were sick as compared to Mark’s they laid the sick in the marketplaces (v. 56b). Again, Mark just seems more complete, more personal to picture “patients” lying on the ground or sitting in chairs in the center of town. Finally, Matthew writes they came to land at Gennesaret (Matthew 14:34b) while Mark has they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore (v. 53b). “Mooring to the shore” seems much more vivid than “came to land”.

It’s not a lot of depth that I write today, but I keep finding that I am loving Mark’s Gospel in a way that I never had before. And that’s special!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 14:34-36

“Notice what you notice.” After Jesus walking on the water, Matthew has them landing at Gennesaret, some 3-4 miles from Capernaum, down the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Reading into the story a bit clarifies some things for me. Being only 3-4 miles from where Jesus had centered his Galilean ministry, presumably there was some measure of familiarity between residents of Gennesaret and Capernaum, but also some separation. Verse 34 begins with And when the men of that place recognized Him…, implying that Jesus was known to them, possibly from them traveling to Capernaum to see Him, but that He was not frequent among them. In addition, verse 36 notes that the people …implored Him that they might only touch the fringe of His garment, calling to mind the healing of the woman with a hemorrhage, an incident that had taken place in Capernaum, an incident that had become known to the residents of Gennesaret. Finally, because Jesus was not a frequent visitor to Gennesaret, when the men recognized Him …they sent around to all that region and brought to Him all who were sick (v. 35b). Not unlike today – word gets around that someone famous has come to town and people come from all around to see him/her. So Gennesaret is at the fringe of Capernaum, nearby but not at the center of what’s going on.

Which brings me to our “concentric circle churches”… It seems that most churches have an inner core of “leaders”, a nearby circle of “insiders”, a couple layers of “actives”, and an outer layer of “outliers”. Most new attendees come to a church as a visitor, initially an “outlier”. Depending on their level of Christian maturity and the gifts that they can offer, they may or may not choose to move forward, first to become more “active”, then eventually to move more inward to that level of “insiders”. But it is not simply an outcome dependent on that one person’s maturity and gifts, it is also a function of the “leaders” and “insiders” – their welcoming or their resistance to new people becoming more involved.

I don’t have St. Andrew’s or any other congregation in mind as I write these words. What I do have in mind is the mindset of individual parishioners. I would think that any dedicated, discipled Christian would naturally want to move toward the center, not because of any desire to be one of the movers/shakers, but to be closer to those who are in the business of seeking the Lord’s wisdom for the entire congregation. Not to be “in the know”, but to be “in the flow”… Not with a desire to lead, but with a desire to serve…

Thankfully, St. Andrew’s has a lot of “insiders”. We’ve all heard of those churches where 20% of the people do 80% of the work. That’s not us!! Glory!!

Slava Bohu!

John 6:16-21

“Notice what you notice.” John’s account of Jesus walking on the water… Strange that Luke would not write about this incident when the other three Gospel writers did…

It dawned on me to look at the adjectives in this passage – dark, rough, strong, frightened, afraid, glad – and I wondered about those times in our lives when Jesus came “walking on the water” to save us from harm. No doubt, they are countless every day – if not Jesus personally, then His guardian angels. Mark Bruner and I drove eight hours yesterday, reversing that today. And we were kept from harm, I’m sure, countless times – and we didn’t even know it! I fear that we too easily just took it for granted that we would arrive at our destinations safely.

Or maybe not “harm” as such, but disappointment, anxiety, grief. Again, not Jesus personally, but He has sent His Holy Spirit – our Counselor, Helper, Advocate. And while those times are real, with His help they can be mercifully shortened.

Hearkening back to my comments yesterday, is Jesus waiting for us to call on Him before He gets into our boat? For yesterday’s first-century passage, I think not. But for our everyday circumstances today, I think – most certainly!

“Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3, NASB)

Slava Bohu!

Mark 6:45-52

“Notice what you notice.” Mark’s account of Jesus walking on the water… We read these passages with an intent to “notice what we notice”. And today I would suggest that everyone reading this passage noticed verse 48b, …He meant to pass them by. And we all wonder, why would Jesus want to pass them by? The wind was against them, they thought He was a ghost, and they were terrified. Why would He intend to pass them by??!! I have no answer and as I looked it up online I didn’t find any satisfactory answer. Here are two edited samples: (1) He had a mission and a direction and intended to move directly to His target. (2) He wanted them to see their need for Him and call out for Him to help. There were a lot of words written in support of these two positions, but the authors and their commentators did not convince me as to a reasonable understanding of His intended action. So in the end, I don’t know. I claim “blessed ignorance”.

So, what else? The last sentence in this passage is almost as equally confusing: And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. (v. 51b-52) I can see that the disciples would be “utterly astounded” and I can imagine that they would be confused as to what had happened with the loaves, but the last four words – their hearts were hardened. When I think of hardened hearts, I think of Pharaoh in Exodus. Earlier in this chapter the disciples had been sent out to preach and to heal and to cast out demons. They had seen Jesus’ power at work in them. How could their hearts now be hardened, just a few days or weeks later? Twice I am confused. I quit!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 14:22-33

“Notice what you notice.” Being intrigued as I am with the geography, I glanced one verse beyond our reading and saw that they came to the land of Gennesaret (Matthew 14:34), which is on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, only a few miles down the coast from Capernaum. That region is just north of the first-century town of Magdala, likely the home of Mary Magdalene. Just connecting the dots…!

Gennesaret seems not to have been the disciples’ (and Jesus’) target destination. Matthew is silent as to where they were headed, while Mark has them going to Bethsaida and Luke puts their target as Capernaum. Presumably the wind on the Sea drove them in a direction such that they overshot both their Mark and Luke targets. More on Gennesaret in the next few days…

Matthew writes in verse 23, And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. My Study Bible notes that this prayer time is the only time Matthew mentions Jesus praying, other than Gethsemane. By contrast Mark and Luke seem to have him praying much more regularly!

My mind wanders and I often want to read between the lines. Jesus sends the disciples off in the boat and He goes the opposite direction, up to the mountain to pray. So did He have a pre-arranged plan, as in “I’ll meet you at Peter’s house”? Or did He send them off in the boat simply because they had arrived by boat and needed to get the boat back to its normal mooring? Then He would have walked the shore line to meet them. But while praying He heard from His father that the disciples were in trouble on the water and the only way He could reach them was by walking on the water. So if I read between the lines a bit, now I can understand why Jesus would be walking on the water in the middle of the night. Somehow, that’s satisfying!

Today’s last verse reads And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (v. 33). “Worship” is a concept that has long confused me. The best understanding I ever got for the concept was when I heard someone say that worship is simply agreeing with God as to Who He is. This verse confirms that suggestion. Re-read it. This time the disciples got it! But unfortunately they would lose it again – and again and again!! I’ve long heard the phrase, “There are no atheists in a foxhole.” And yes it seems that danger and deliverance bring us closer to Jesus. And that’s good, but we need to be close to Him without danger lurking nearby! “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”

Slava Bohu!