Good Friday: Ending it all (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

On the day of Jesus’ baptism, a schism opened in the heavens and a voice came to Jesus,  “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

On the first Friday of Jesus’ ministry, he entered the synagogue, the world of Jewish men, and cast out an unclean spirit. They said of him, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” He then crossed the street, entered a home, the world of Jewish women, and lifted up a woman sick with a fever. As the Sabbath ended, the whole city gathered at his door.

At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus couldn’t have been alone if he tried. Everyone wanted him. Then he crossed every boundary and entered every forbidden realm imaginable: sickness, religion, law, nature, gender, age, profession, ethnicity, geography. He has healed everyone and he has done all things well.

Now, on the last Friday of his ministry, he is tried, convicted, whipped, and crucified.  He dies, despised by everyone.

Now a new schism opens. The seventy-foot-high curtain in the Temple, separating the outer courtyard from the Holy of Holies where the ark of the covenant containing the stone tablets of the ten commandments is stored, rips from high in the air all the way to the ground, never to be mended again.

As the Sabbath begins today, instead of being surrounded by friends and people clamoring for his gifts and attention, Jesus is alone in a tomb. But he is not finished.

He is still crossing boundaries and entering forbidden realms. This time, he enters the heart of the empire. He enters the seat of power that keeps every citizen in his or her place. He enters the places the empire uses as a threat to everyone who might think of stepping out of line. He enters intimidation, trial, shame, torture, fear, and death itself.

While the world rests, he is at work.

Text for the day:

Mark 15:1-47

Things to think about:

Love and healing shatter barriers and boundaries.

Things to do:

Find something in common with everyone you meet.

Jesus, although we have done the worst, continue to do your best.

Maundy Thursday: Love and betrayal (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

The Passover is about to begin. On this night, Jesus and his friends will eat the most important meal of the year and recount together God’s saving acts in the history of their people. They will remember slavery in Egypt, the ten plagues, and how God released their people from bondage. They will remember God’s protection from the angel of death, escaping from the Egyptian army, and God’s provision in the wilderness. They will remember that they are God’s chosen people and that God, who acted so mightily on their behalf in the past, can and will act again. They will remember they are blessed.

As expected, they gather together in a small room and share a feast.

When the feast is done and everyone is full and satisfied, Jesus reaches for a loaf of bread. Who could eat another bite? And if anyone could, why would they eat that? He breaks the bread, saying it is his body. “Take it.”

He takes a cup of wine, maybe even the cup poured out for the prophet Elijah, poured in case he would return, and says, “This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many.”

He tells them that they will all desert him.

He has given everything. They will not return the favor.

They won’t even stay awake and pray with him. They will give in to the after-meal tiredness and fall asleep in the garden.

Of course, they are still thinking he has come to conquer the empire and take the Temple. When Judas arrives with thugs in the garden, one of the disciples rises to defend Jesus. He cuts off someone’s ear as if to say, “Finally! The revolution begins!” When he is silenced by Jesus, he doesn’t have any idea what to do next. Without weapons, what power do any of them have?

They all scatter, just as Jesus has said they would.

Text for the day:

Mark 14:12-72

Things to think about:

When does violence seem like the only option?

Things to do:

Lay down your weapons and pray.

Jesus, lead me still.

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.

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.