Saturday, week two: The faith of friends (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Jesus returns to Capernaum after proclaiming the message in synagogues and casting out unclean spirits throughout the Galilee region. He draws a crowd wherever he goes, and his own hometown is no exception. Once word gets out he’s there, it’s standing room only at Jesus’ house. The crowd is so large that the entrance is blocked. No one is getting in or out.

Some friends of a paralyzed man approach the house, four of them carrying him on a mat. Seeing no way to get near Jesus, these friends climb onto the house, dig a hole through the clay and thatched roof, and lower their friend down to Jesus.

Jesus looks up at the man’s friends. Seeing their faith, he says to the man on the mat, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

What a miraculous moment. Jesus doesn’t forgive the man’s sins because of his faith; he forgives them because of the faith of his friends. It’s a miraculous moment for everyone who believes, because this moment tells us that our faith matters. This moment tells us that when we pray and act faithfully on behalf of others, Jesus is moved to make a difference for them. That is a miracle indeed.

The religious leaders in Jesus’ day miss this entirely. They argue about authority and blasphemy. They get bent out of shape because Jesus is talking like God.

Of course, Jesus sees right through them. If it’s rhetoric they want, it’s rhetoric they’ll get. Jesus can play that game, too. He responds by calling himself “the Son of Man,” a title the prophet Daniel used to speak about the One given eternal dominion by God. Then, to demonstrate the extent of his power, he tells the paralyzed man to get up and walk. The man gets up and makes his way out of the house. That shuts everyone up.

In total amazement, they begin to praise God.

Text for the day:

Mark 2:1-12

Things to think about:

Daniel has a vision of the Son of Man interacting with the Ancient of Days. Read about it in Daniel 7.  In chapter 1, Mark calls Jesus “Son of God.” In chapter 2, Jesus calls himself “Son of Man.” What does this mean?

Things to do:

Pray for your friends. Pray for your enemies. Keep faith.

Jesus, be king and God in our world.

Friday, week two: Touching the untouchable (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

A leper approaches Jesus. He kneels before Jesus, begging, “If you choose, you can make me clean.”

Lepers were outcasts. They were Jews considered unclean and forbidden from entering every place people gathered. Keeping them outside of community was one way to keep the rest of the people well.

Jesus has healed those in the inner circles of the Jewish towns around Galilee. He has demonstrated power and authority in the world of Jewish men and women in community.

Now he is moved to pity one who is excluded from that community. Jesus is moved with pity for one who lives on the fringe. And he does the unthinkable. Jesus reaches out and touches him. He risks his own health and status in the community to restore the leper to all that has been lost.

Upon touching him, Jesus warns him not to tell anyone, but to follow the community’s procedure for being restored to fellowship. He tells him to submit to examination by the priest and follow the rituals for cleansing. Instead, he goes out and proclaims what Jesus has done to anyone and everyone who will listen.

The leper’s proclamation makes it impossible for Jesus to enter any town. There are two possible reasons for this: First, he may be unable to enter any town because he is so popular that everyone flocks to him to hear his teaching and be healed and restored. The other possibility is that touching the leper had made him unclean.

People flock to him anyway, even if he is unclean.  They simply don’t care. He stays out in the country, like one unclean, whether he is or not, and people come to him from every direction. He has power and authority over everything in their religious world and they want what he has to offer.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:40-45

Things to think about:

Every religion has rules that keep people in and out. Jesus lives in both places.

Things to do:

Who do you consider outcast? Who isn’t welcome in your church? Have a conversation with someone who comes to mind. Ask them to share their story with you. Can you withhold your judgments?

Jesus, help me break the rules for someone else’s sake.

Thursday, week two: The crowds gather (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

As soon as the sun sets and the Sabbath rest ends, everyone gathers at the door of the house. Clearly, the men from the synagogue have been talking and that talk has been compelling.

The men were first-hand witnesses of Jesus’ mastery of the holy scriptures. With their own eyes, they saw a new teaching with power and authority that expelled an unclean spirit from their holy place of study. Jesus demonstrated that he is worthy of being their Rabbi.

Now, it’s one thing to demonstrate that you are worthy. It’s another when people actually grant you authority and are actually moved to action.

Jesus has so captivated the men of this small Jewish town that they move decisively.

At the first possible opportunity, they demonstrate that Jesus has authority. They flock to the place they last saw him, bringing with them everyone they know who is sick or troubled with unclean spirits. The whole town, in fact, is gathered at the door. The whole town hopes Jesus will do for them what he has done for one.

“Wholeness” is a big deal to Mark. He’s not interested in those who follow half-way or half-heartedly. Mark is interested in the Kingdom of God, a new empire ripping apart old schemes (remember the schism from Jesus’ baptism?) in ways that cause decisive moves to wholeness, and in ways that cause the whole community to move decisively. He heals them all. He moves throughout the whole region, doing the same in every town around Galilee.

In Mark’s gospel, people will move decisively, some toward Jesus, and some against him. There is no wishy-washiness here, only decisiveness in one direction or another. It all leads to complete healing or complete breakdowns. Either way, the Kingdom of God is near, and the call to repentance stands.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:32-39

Things to think about:

Jesus casts out one unclean spirit and the whole community moves decisively. What causes a community to move decisively today? Are those things worthy of the kind of movement they garner?

Things to do:

Talk with someone today about brokenness, wholeness, and decisiveness. Notice how your conversation binds you to each other.

Jesus help us move together toward wholeness.

Wednesday, week two: The healings begin (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Simon’s mother-in-law has a fever and things aren’t looking good.

In our time, a fever is generally no big deal. We take two fever reducers, bundle up, hunker down, and wait it out. If that doesn’t work, we consult someone capable of making an accurate diagnosis and begin treatment.

But in Jesus’ time, a fever was a big deal. A fever could knock you out, and because Jesus lived in the time before the discovery of germs and the invention of vaccinations, advanced medications, and surgical procedures, a fever was often the first sign of the beginning of the end.

Upon entering the house, they tell Jesus about her at once. Most likely they are not worried about their dinner. They are worried because her life is in danger.

What happens next happens quickly. No consultations, tests, lab results, or waiting for medications to take effect. Jesus takes her by the hand and lifts her up. The fever leaves and Sabbath life resumes.

Jesus had demonstrated a new teaching with power and authority just moments before in synagogue, the world of Jewish men. He does so again here, right across the street from the synagogue, in the world of Jewish women. He is Lord of the Sabbath, synagogue, holy scriptures, and those who study them. And he is Lord of the home, Sabbath meal, and those who prepare it.

Unlike Caesar, who calls himself “The Son of God,” Jesus exhibits power and authority in the places that matter most to people, in the heart of their worship and in the places they live and rest. Unlike Caesar, he exhibits a kind of power that demands nothing from anyone; not taxes, not military service, not even allegiance. He demonstrates that he is an emperor worth following.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:29-31

Things to think about:

In Capernaum of Galilee today, you can visit the ruins of the first century synagogue and the house of Simon’s mother-in-law, which are directly across the street from one another. It is possible to stand in the places where Jesus’ power and authority were first displayed, and noticed that he didn’t travel far to change worlds.

Things to do:

Take a self-inventory. Are there any places in your life where you are unwilling to have Jesus demonstrate power and authority?

Jesus, demonstrate power in my heart and home.

Tuesday, week one: The exorcisms begin (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

These fishermen may have dropped their nets and followed Jesus, but they didn’t stray far from home. The newly formed band of five (Jesus, Simon and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John) goes to Capernaum, Peter’s hometown, very close to the Sea of Galilee. When the Sabbath comes, they go into the synagogue to study scripture with the local men. These guys are Jewish; on the Sabbath, they do Jewish things.

Jewish men in the first century only study scripture if they are in a group of 12 or more, so the synagogue is at least that full. There, in that study circle, Jesus smells a rat. And the rat smells him.

There is a man with an unclean spirit right there in the place of study and worship, and he confronts Jesus. “What have you to do with us, Jesus, of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” The man knows where Jesus is from, recognizes his power even though that power has not been demonstrated, and calls Jesus by a divine title. The man with the unclean spirit knows more than we do, and perhaps even more than Jesus’ new followers.

Jesus’ response? He orders the unclean spirit to shut up. He doesn’t want the spirit to talk about him. To ensure the unclean spirit stays quiet, Jesus orders it to come out of the man. If you want a spirit to be quiet, take away its voice.

Jesus impresses everyone. He is not like every other teacher, commenting and expounding on the words in scripture. He actually does something. He backs his teaching with authoritative action, and his action is aligned with the teachings in scripture.

Mark then says, “Immediately, what had happened concerning him spread through the whole region of Galilee.” Immediacy and wholeness, these are two major themes with Mark. For now, it’s sufficient to remember that people know a good thing when they see it. People have been yearning for the right thing to come along, and when it does, they recognize it instantly and latch onto it whole heartedly.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:21-28

Things to think about:

In 16 chapters, Mark uses the word “immediately” 42 times.

For his first deed of power, Jesus expels an unclean spirit.

Things to do:

Consider the ways your spirit of worship and study might also be unclean.

Jesus, exorcist of the whole world, cast out what is unclean in me.

Monday, week one: Calling, calling, calling… (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee with a proclamation and then heads lakeside. There he finds two sets of brothers casting and mending nets. They are fishermen, skilled in their craft and accustomed to working side by side.

Jesus tells them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”

Then, they leave nets, boats, hired hands, and father. They leave everything and follow Jesus.

It’s not their following Jesus that bothers us so much as the fact that they leave everything immediately. These few verses cause us to wonder, “Do I lack the stamina and faith to do what Jesus asks?” However, it’s not very helpful to compare ourselves to them; at this point in the story, they are strangers to us and their relationship with Jesus is a complete unknown. Who knows why they drop their nets and follow?

What we do know is that Jesus has made a highly controversial political statement; offered himself for baptism as a sign of repentance; was driven into the wild where he was tempted, faced danger, and was waited on by angels; and now asks four fishermen to follow him and fish for people.

Two things are worthy of our attention. First, this is a compelling call. Jesus calls these fishermen to fish, to keep doing what they already know how to do, but to do it in an entirely different way, for an entirely different purpose. And second, following him will change them. Jesus will make them do something they haven’t done before. He will make them into something they haven’t been before.

Perhaps that is why they follow.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:16-20

Things to think about:

What feelings do these verses stir in you?

How is Jesus calling you to use your current skills and talents in an entirely different way?

Consider what you must leave behind in order to follow where Jesus leads.

Things to do:

Pray for the people who will be touched because Jesus has called you.

Jesus, make me use my skill and talents for people.

Sunday, week one: The beginning of Jesus’ ministry (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Once John has been removed from Galilee, Jesus takes his place center stage in Mark’s story.

He is an angellos (see Thursday, week one, to refresh your memory), but not an angellos of the ruling authorities. He hasn’t come with a trumpeter or an edict from the emperor. He has come alone, with the edict of God. He comes proclaiming a new world order, to which the whole world must bend its will.

Make no mistake. Jesus’ proclamation is not about sin. It’s not about spiritual righteousness. It’s not about guilt, shame, or right religion. It’s not about asking God to cleanse our auras and put a right spirit within us. It’s not even about individuals. Jesus’ proclamation is about empire. It’s about world order. It’s about everyone, altogether. Mark writes about Jesus using empire language and puts a message of empire proclamation in his mouth.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the euagellion.” Believe not in the messages heralded by trumpeter’s and announced from unrolled scrolls from Caesar. Believe not in taxes, control, force, or earthly rule of any kind.

Jesus calls people to bend their wills on their own. Away from Caesar. Away from Herod. Away from Pilate. Away from them and toward someone else. The empire of God, which trumps the Roman Empire, and all other empires, is near.

Jesus’ ministry is a ministry of proclamation. He hasn’t come to teach, or heal, or cast out unclean spirits. He has come to proclaim. He will reiterate that. He has come to tell everyone to align their loyalties with the One who just split the heavens open.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:14-15

Things to think about:

Jesus has come to proclaim, and not to teach or heal. What do you think of that?

How much power and promise do proclamation hold?

How much authority do you give to earthly authorities? Which parts are appropriate and which are inappropriate?

Have you relegated Jesus to the spiritual realm?

Things to do:

Spend some time in prayer for the world’s political leaders, especially the ones you don’t like.

Spend some time in prayer for those who suffer at the hands of political powers.

Jesus Christ, proclaim the euangellion to all the world.

Saturday, week one: Jesus’ repentance and formation (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. He would have walked 8 ½ hours, from inland city to lakeshore to river inlet, covering the terrain across which word of John’s powerful presence had spread.

Apparently Jesus thinks that he, too, needs the word from the wild, that reordering of mind and soul that sets the creation in right relationship with the Creator. But something surprising happens as Jesus emerges from the waters of the Jordan. He sees the heavens ripped apart, a schism opening between the divine and the earthly, never to be mended. Across the divide, the Spirit like a dove, the smallest of creatures used for sacrifice in God’s holy Temple, wafts downward upon him. And from heaven a voice only he can hear blesses him, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” It’s unclear that anyone else witnesses what he does.

Then, the same Spirit that descended like a dove drives him immediately into the wild places John knows so well. This Spirit has both gentleness and power. From city, to lakeside, to river, to wilderness, Jesus now knows what John knows. Wild places are not necessarily kind. Mark does not tell us exactly what Jesus encounters in the wild, only that it is satanic and dangerous; wild and yet still infused with divinity. Mark does, however, tell us how long he is there, forty days. Forty days calls to mind other 40s from sacred story:

40 days and nights the earth flooded while Noah found safety in the ark

40 days Joseph spent embalming his father Jacob’s body

40 years the wandering Israelites ate manna in the wilderness

40 days and nights Moses spent atop Mount Horeb with God

40 days the Israelite spies scoped out the promised land

40 years the Israelites spent captive to the Philistines

40 days Goliath takes his stand and issues his challenge to the Israelite army

40 years of David, Solomon, and Joash’s kingly reigns

40 days and nights Elijah fled from Jezebel’s wrath

40 days God grants Ninevah to repent

In sacred story, forty is significant. In every case, it represents a time of spiritual cleansing, a really long time of contemplation and re-ordering.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:9-13

Things to think about:

What could it mean that a schism opened between heaven and earth?

What significance can forty days of Lent hold for you?

Things to do:

Hold these forty days as a time of spiritual cleansing for you, your communities, and world. During these days, look for modern sacred story.

God, re-order things according to your will.

Friday, week one: The proclamation of John (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

John appears in the wilderness dressed like a wild man. He is not wild in the sense of being out of his mind or untouchable, but in the sense of having spent a great amount of time in wild and untamed places. He has been living close to the land, feasting on all the things the land provides.

John certainly knows the struggle to find enough food for each day. He has learned to forage. He knows the edible plants around him, takes his protein from an abundance of flying locust, and has a source for honey. He shelters in local caves, finding respite there from rain and cold, and basks in the sun at river and wadi edge. He is skilled in the tanning of animal hides, and clothes himself in camel skin.

In tune with flower, bee, insect, animal, day, night, season, and terrain, John is a man of the land, a man close to creation, and one who knows how to flourish from the provision of the earth alone.

Our prophets all come from such places, in tune with the wild nature of creation and having spent time close to the earth in solitude. There, without any distraction from the civilized world, they clear their heads and gain perspective. They re-learn the created order: There is God, the Creator; and us, the creation. They suffer no illusion about power or greed.

Then they come to us, clear in heart and soul, with proclamation and action.

John comes proclaiming an examination of conscience and offering baptism for the forgiveness of sin. He calls people to a new way of life, ordered less from civilization and more from the wild. People flock to him, understanding that he knows something they don’t. There is something holy and even right about this wild man.

And then he says, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie his sandal strap.” Don’t come to me, but to him.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:2-8

Things to think about:

What happens in you when you spend time in the wild or thinking about the wild?

What kind of life do you think God is calling you to live? What will it require of you?

Things to do:

Begin the day by remembering your baptism. Take some water, ask God to bless it with the power of the wild and the power of repentance, and mark yourself with the sign of the cross on your forehead, hands, and feet.

God, send One more powerful than a prophet from the wild.

Thursday, week one: The beginning of the euangellion (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Mark’s gospel begins with a sentence fragment, “The beginning of the euangellion of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

That word, euangellion, has become for us the word “gospel” or “good news.” A derivative form of the word, angellos, has become for us the word “angel.” We associate both of these with heavenly revelations, lofty aspirations, and divine callings. Angels bring a saving word to us, a word with the power to grace and transform a broken world.

Mark’s hearers, however, would have heard these words quite differently. An angellos was quite simply a messenger. And euagellion? That was an edict from the emperor or other ruler over a particular territory.

To put things in the context of Mark’s hearers, we might think of the messenger with a scroll, accompanied by a trumpeter. The trumpet sounds, the people gather, the scroll is unrolled, and the official messenger begins, “Hear ye, hear ye….” What follows is not necessarily good news, but rather a pronouncement of how things are going to be from now on. Military drafts, increased taxes, moral and social standards, obligatory tributes and festivals, and more were all announced in this way. A euangellion was carried to the people by an angellos, as a primary communication from an empire exerting its authority, yet again.

If there were any doubt about Mark’s intent here, one could look closely at the title he uses for Jesus. Mark makes it abundantly clear that what follows is an edict from the empire when he calls Jesus “Son of God.” That title in Mark’s time was a title for Caesar, and Caesar alone.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:1

Things to think about:

How would the ruling empire have reacted to this pronouncement of Mark’s?

How do you react?

The word evangelical also comes from this root word euangellion. What does that word mean to you? What could it mean?

Things to do:

Hallow out a space in you for the euangellion of Jesus Christ, emperor. How might you do this? Rest, pray, intentionally take some quiet moments, recover your lost art, meditate, do yoga…. There are as many ways as there are people. Make a beginning today as part of your Lenten journey.

Ask Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to give you a euangellion during these Lenten days.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, help me to hear and understand.

Ash Wednesday: We begin…and end (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

The Gospel of Mark is the earliest and shortest of the four gospels.

It is a ground-breaking literary work, the first in a new genre of literature. The gospel writer (hereafter called “Mark”) draws upon the structure of the epic Greek tales of his era, stories of gods, demi-gods and heroes who overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, usually in the form of natural disasters, angry gods, and/or terrifying beasts, to rescue the lost, forsaken, innocent, or defenseless. In this way, a “gospel” is true to the epic Greek form. In another way entirely, Mark gives us new literature. His “gospel” is new piece of art. His “hero” is not a god, demi-god, nor one with super-human intellect and power fighting supernatural forces of one sort or another, but Jesus, the flesh and blood of the one true God. This Jesus comes not to save us from powers outside ourselves, but from ourselves.

Mark’s gospel begins with a sentence fragment, “The beginning of the euangellion of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” and ends-mid sentence, “And they said nothing to anyone; fear seized them, for….” Both the beginning and the ending of Mark’s gospel have been massaged and smoothed over for modern readers, as translators worked to make sense of ancient document fragments and puzzled over Mark’s motives.  For sure, this is a weird way to start and a weird way to end. More about that as we go.

This Lenten journey will work with the entire gospel of Mark, asking questions of his style, choice of words, characters, and intent. We will look at his original words and wonder together. Along the way, perhaps, this story will live in us, as Mark intended.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:1 and Mark 16:8b

Things to think about:

What have you massaged or smoothed over to make things more palatable for yourself and the people around you?

What have you been idolizing instead of God?

Things to do:

Receive ashes today, as a reminder of the disciplines of Lent and the possibility of being restored to right relationship with God and your true self.

God, remind me who you are. Remind me who I am.