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.

Tuesday, Holy Week: Everything on its ear (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Yesterday, Jesus encountered a fig tree on his way to the Temple. Although it isn’t the season for figs, he went looking for figs anyway. Not finding any, he cursed the tree saying, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” Then, he turned everything in the Temple on its ear.

After a raucous Monday, Jesus and his disciples return to the Temple Mount. They pass the tree Jesus curse and find it has withered to its roots. Now the disciples take note of what he said to the tree yesterday.

In the Temple courtyard, the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the people begin to ask Jesus all sorts of questions to trip him up. They question his authority and his teaching, but he answers them in parables and riddles. He quotes scripture in ways that make no sense to them.

On the side, he teaches his disciples about forgiveness. He points out the example of a poor widow who gives to the Temple treasury from her whole self; all she has to live on. He warns them to be wary of those with power.

As they leave the Temple Mount, the disciples turn and admire the buildings of Jerusalem and the Temple looming large on the horizon.

Jesus says these buildings are nothing at all, and will one day be left in rubble. He speaks again about his coming death and the signs of the end of things. These things are nearer than anyone realizes, yet no one seems to notice.

Jesus speaks from the heart of the city about what it means to be spiritual in economic, political, and social realms. Like the fig tree, people are expected to produce fruit out of season. Specifically, they are expected to forgive and to give everything they have for the sake of others. They are expected to live as citizens of God’s empire, even as they navigate life in Caesar’s empire. If they don’t, they and the whole world will be a cursed place. No one understands what he’s saying. The Temple courtyard has been cleared, and he has explained everything well, but that doesn’t mean people’s minds and hearts have been cleansed.

Text for the day:

Mark 11:20-14:2

Things to think about:

We are called to produce fruit out of season.

Things to do:

Go out of your way to do something kind and selfless for someone else today.

Jesus, move me to action.

Friday, week five: What Peter knows (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Jesus and his disciples are on a short healing tour. From Bethsaida, north of the lake, they cross the Jordan River and head into the small villages clustered along the water’s edge.

Along the way, Jesus asks them, “Who do people say that I am?”

The disciples answer him, according to what they have heard.

Some people are saying that he is John the Baptist. He is teaching and healing. He hangs out in deserted places like John did. Maybe John escaped Herod’s jail. Maybe he didn’t, and is now resurrected. That could explain his increased power and authority.

Some people are saying that he is Elijah, who escaped death and ascended into the heavens on a chariot. Jesus certainly speaks like him. If Elijah had returned from the heavens, wouldn’t his ministry look like this?

Other people are saying he is one of the other prophets. He is mighty in words and deed and his teaching calls for repentance. Maybe Jesus is a new prophet.

Jesus takes it all in and pauses before asking, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answers, “You are the Messiah.”

It’s a correct answer, but with an incorrect understanding. Peter answers rightly, but he thinks Jesus is going to topple the Roman government. Peter has been witnessing the beginning of a new empire. He has a front row seat for this euangellion, this imperial edict, as it unfolds and he is convinced it’s going to run like a steamroller right through the heart of Jerusalem.

“Don’t tell anyone else that,” Jesus says. The last thing he needs is a crowd riled up and ready for revolution. He’s the Messiah, all right, but he hasn’t come to take the world by force.

Text for the day:

Mark 8:27-30

Things to think about:

Jesus is starting a revolution, but it doesn’t have the characteristics of any revolution that has come before it.

Things to do:

Consider the attributes of Jesus’ empire. Notice how those attributes are still alive in the church, two millennia later.

Jesus, lead your revolution in all the places I have power.

Saturday, week four: The traditions of the elders and faith of a stranger (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

The religious leaders in Jesus’ time are no different than other people in power. They want to hold onto their position and authority. Jesus is a threat. After all, massive crowds are following him, looking to him for teaching and authority, instead of them.

They’ve taken to watching Jesus and his disciples closely. Every move, every choice, every word holds the potential for discrediting him and simultaneously turning the crowd. So they confront Jesus about defilement and cleanliness. Jesus puts them in their place.

Contrast these religious leaders with the woman from Syrophoenicia. She has no pretense about power, authority, or even the right to be in Jesus’ presence. She doesn’t care about religious convention. She doesn’t care about anything except the healing of her child and she knows Jesus can deliver. She’s desperate enough to beg.

This woman is smart enough to know she doesn’t stand a chance of Jesus helping her when anyone Jewish is around. He has been healing Jews left and right since his ministry began. But Gentiles? Even if the demoniac in Garasa was a Gentile, that makes the count of Gentiles healed just one. What makes her think he’ll help?

To be fair, Jesus is in the region of Tyre. Technically, it is in the land of Israel, but the people there never really behaved themselves. They never submitted to Jewish practices. The land was not only considered Gentile, but downright hostile.

In other words, Jesus, having just berated the Jewish religious leaders for misunderstanding religious cleanliness, heads off to a defiled place. No Jew in their right mind would follow him there. Perhaps Jesus goes there to get a break from it all, or just to check it out. Who knows? But there he is.

This is the Syrophoenician woman’s chance. She waits for an opportune moment, then she goes right to the source of healing, enduring every lash of his tongue for disrupting his rest. She begs to find out if his gifts might be for the Gentiles, too.

Text for the day:

Mark 7:1-30

Things to think about:

What is the limit of Jesus’ desire to heal?

Things to do:

Ask someone in your life about their impression of Jesus. You might find a more interesting answer if you ask someone who is not Christian.

God, challenge my boundaries.

Tuesday, week three: Six pairs of two (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

When Jesus began his ministry, he entered the synagogue in Capernaum and cast out an unclean spirit. He then crossed the street, entered the home of Simon’s mother-in-law, and cured her of a fever.

A lot has happened in Jesus’ ministry between then and now.  He has made a big, big impression in Jewish circles. Everywhere he has been, with the exception of his own hometown, he has taught with power and authority. He has demonstrated that his interpretation of the ancient scriptures is backed with action. Crowds of people have responded.

Now Jesus gives his power and influence away.

He sends his twelve closest followers out in pairs and orders them to take nothing on their journey. He entrusts them with his power to cast out unclean spirits and heal, telling them the people they meet on the way will provide.

Jesus wants it to be clear that effectiveness depends upon nothing except Jesus’ power and authority and their own willingness to go. He wants them to experience success and failure, welcome and rejection, accolades and jeers. He wants them to experience the fullness of ministry firsthand.

Like any apprenticeship, important skills are honed by doing.

They set out, having first been taught, and then having witnessed the power in Jesus’ actions. They have heard and seen, now it’s time to do.

They go off in pairs, proclaiming the same message Jesus proclaimed, ordering unclean spirits around just as Jesus did, and bringing healing just as Jesus did.

Same message, same actions, same results.

Text for the day:

Mark 6:6b-13

Things to think about:

The message and power of Jesus resides with him. It also resides with the ones Jesus empowers. Can we rely upon one another the way we rely upon Jesus?

Things to do:

Pray for the power of Jesus’ teaching and actions to be present in the church.

Jesus, empower your church.