Marginal Christianity

Jesus: Lord of the Sabbath (12:1-8) Jesus’ closing statement in the last section about his “yoke” sets the stage for this next scene. He leads his entourage through a grainfield on the sabbath. His disciples began to pick the heads off the grain and eat it because they are hungry. Pharisees see this and confront him with this legal violation of the Sabbath. Sabbath was one of the “big three” laws (along with food laws and circumcision) that set Israel apart from the pagan nations. Along with the law and the temple these formed a core set of realities at the heart of 1 st century Judaism. Jesus has just finished asserting his authority over the law as its giver. It is not surprising, then, that conflict over the sabbath and the temple follow on its heels. The Pharisees, whom N. T. Wright likens to today’s investigative journalists on the heels of a prominent figure they’d like to bring down, [1] raise the danger flag when Jesus’ disciples plucked the heads of grain and fe...

No doubt family is important to humanity. So important that it is one of the two things almost every human being would kill and die for. The other is, of course, the nation-state. Interestingly, neither merit that kind of commitment according to Jesus. One’s nation is way down the list of priorities for God’s people. Family is a lot higher but not high enough to kill or die for. Only God is atop the priority list meriting such level of commitment. And while Jesus does promote the possibility of giving one’s life for God, he never supports, indeed, rejects in the clearest and strongest manner, the taking of life. Even for the family. That’s why Jesus talks about “hating” mother and father. It’s hyperbole, to be sure, but the reality is Jesus will not accept or tolerate any other commitment or relationship that dilutes, distorts, or denies the ultimate priority of following him. And why he foresaw family members rising up against each other before the authorities on account of him. ...

A Sandwich to Chew On Mark has a habit of telling stories “sandwich” style. He often starts one (one piece of sandwich bread), interrupts its telling to relate another story (the meat), and then return to finish the first story (another piece of sandwich bread). And just like we eat the bread and meat of a sandwich together, Mark intends us to interpret these two stories together. The bread of this sandwich story is about Jesus and his family. His natural family, having heard about his strange exploits with the supernatural (exorcisms) worry about his mental stability and their own family reputation in the community “Exorcists often invoked a higher spirit to get rid of a lower one, so Jesus’ opponents accuse him of gaining his power for exorcism from sorcery-relying on Satan himself. Insanity (3:21) was often associated with demon possession (3:22). Because false teachers were sometimes thought to be inspired by demons and the official penalty for misleading God’s people this w...

Sep 14, 2013 @ 9:15 By Scot McKnight Leave a Comment   How the West Really Lost God by Mary Eberstadt, Review by David Moore Several theories have been proposed as to the cause(s) of secularization.  Mary Eberstadt’s book, How the West Really Lost God , is an important new addition to the debate. From the outset it is critical to pick up on the spirit of Eberstadt’s book.  Her subtitle, A New Theory of Secularization , highlights her approach.  The author has a particular view and argues it with intelligence and conviction, but she is not making a dogmatic pronouncement.  According to my count, Eberstadt mentions at least three times (pages 101, 103, and 215) that “speculation” can’t be avoided in the argument she is making.  So hers is a modest proposal.  It should be added that speculation can be informed or simply “spitting in the wind.”  Eberstadt’s is clearly the former. So what is this “new” theory of seculari...

http://mediarostra.com/2012/09/11/idolatry-of-the-family/ September 11, 2012 By Ben Ponder, Editor-at-Large Leave a Comment Jesus didn’t die on a God-forsaken cross to preserve your horn-rimmed vision of 1950s Americana. He did not go through hell and back to secure the keys to an exclusive gated community. And he didn’t suffer lacerations so that your nuclear family could be photographed beside the tulips in matching shiny egg-white shoes. Jesus had a family. They were his scraggly followers. Yes, he had flesh-and-blood siblings, but they thought big brother was a fake and that mom must have been crazy for buying into all of his religious ranting. They told him to shut up, so Jesus ignored and disregarded them. As he was gurgling his last bloody breath at Golgotha, he wheezed to John—“the disciple whom Jesus loved”—that Mary was to be his mother and he, her son. Jesus never married. He liked weddings, though, and he even tended bar at a reception once. But gett...