Marginal Christianity

  Jesus comes to Jerusalem. The narrative draws to its climax. Forces swirl around Jesus thicker and faster. Theologically speaking, mystery, majesty, and majesty interlock and weave a tapestry within which readers must work to understand Jesus. It’s too easy and rationalizing to suggest that Jesus has previously arranged for the use of the colt with its owners. Mark does not suggest this. Instead vv.1-6 reek of mystery. Jesus anticipates the question his disciples will get about why they are untying the colt: “The Lord needs it and will send it back immediately” (v.3). Who is this “Lord” and whence his authority to take this animal? There’s abundant mystery here. Mystery Mark does not try to penetrate. Jesus enters the city unusually – seated on a garment-covered never-ridden colt and with cloaks and branches providing a “red carpet” welcome for him (vv.8-10). This is an entrance fit for a king. But what kind of king is this whose majesty is proclaimed by a borrowed c...

Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 Peter offers a compelling yet mystifying image for Advent in the reading from 2 Peter 3:8-15a for this second week of Advent 2017. That image of believers “waiting for and hastening the day of the Lord.” What can this paradoxical saying mean for us? Fritz Bauerschmidt prones this image for us. “Waiting and hastening. These two things might seem incompatible. How is it that we can patiently wait for something and yet still impatiently seek to hasten its arrival? Even more, how can we, by acting with holiness and devotion, do both things at the same time: both waiting and hastening? In answer to his own question of what people we ought to be in the face of God’s coming transformation of the world, Peter says our lives should be a hastening that waits and a waiting that hastens. “We need somehow to work for the world’s transformation while at the same time waiting for that transformation...

The “Way” to Galilee (8:22-10:52): Spiritual Sight 8:22-26         Healing Blind Man at Bethsaida (Two Touches) ---------- 8:27-30        Peter’s Confession (Insight/Misunderstanding) 8:31-33           First Passion Prediction            8:34- 9:1       Call to Cross-bearing 9:2-8             Transfiguration 9:9-13           Coming of Elijah ---------- 9:14-29          Exorcism of a Boy with Unclean Spirit (Openness of the Kingdom) 9:30-32           Second Passion Prediction 9:33-37          Who is Greatest?        ...

This story about the healing of blind Bartimaeus caps off the journey to Jerusalem. It forms a bookend with the healing in 8:22-26. Between these healing stories lie all the material between them largely concerned with Jesus’ identity and the character of the New Exodus people. Bartimaeus’ story serves as a recap of the story so far and a transition to Holy Week. The rich man and James and John could become disciples. The one because the rich man could not divest himself of his wealth to help the poor; the others because they could not embrace Jesus’ path of downward nobility. Bartimaeus, however, can because he is blind, poor, and does not pretend to see. -the disciples are in Jesus’ band of followers/Bartimaeus is sitting by the “way” (the path of discipleship) -the disciples (Peter) know Jesus is Messiah (8:26) but don’t understand that/Bartimaeus doesn’t know his right name (see 12:35-37 on “Son of David”) but ends up following Jesus “on the way” (of discipleship, v...

Recovering the integrity of Christmas is easy to diagnose but hard to convince anyone to plan for and practice. The season of Christmas is twelve day beginning on Dec.25 and running through Jan.6. The culture is in the post-holiday doldrums. The space is wide open. We've probably lost Advent to our culture. And we lose Christmas too when we try to do it around all the folderol, family traditions, etc. It gets drowned in sentimentality and consumerism. The twelve days of Christmas is the proper time and a culturally open space for us to find faithful ways to celebrate this season.

After this section on “Stuff” Jesus issues the third prediction of his suffering, death, and resurrection to the disciples. We’ll look at the three as a group here and trace out their commonalities and developments (keep your Bible open to refer to each of the passion predictions in chs.8,9,10). A first commonality is that all occur on the way to Jerusalem. But they occur at different stages on the journey. The first happens at Caesarea Philippi, the second passing “through Galilee,” and the third drawing near to Jerusalem. All along the way on this journey Jesus presses this truth upon them. It is clearly the heart of his message. In the first and third predictions Mark says Jesus “began” to teach his disciples. Apparently, they are always “beginning” to try and grasp what he is telling them. And they always fail. Though he taught “quite openly” the disciples think they understand, do not understand, and are afraid. Mark demonstrates this by posturing the disciples as being al...

10:17-22 We draw near to the threshold of Jerusalem (ch.11). This set of teachings rounds out Jesus’ essential teaching on discipleship. A deferential man accosts him with a question: “ Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He’s not asking about salvation as we tend to. It’s not post-mortem life in another sphere (“heaven”) he’s interested in (he would not have known about that because it did not exist as a part of Jewish faith). Rather, it’s the new age here on earth after God intervenes to judge evil and set all things right that he asks about. Why does the man call Jesus good and Jesus reject this appellation? Remember that Jesus was in conflict and competition with the four other views offering guidance for how Israel should be the Israel God wanted it to be: the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Essenes, and the Zealots. This seeker perhaps knows Jesus’ reputation as a teacher and come to find out what his vision for Israel is in light of the coming cl...