Helpful Background
In the lesson today, Jesus refers, in a brief summary form, to a story about David when he asked the priest for the ‘bread of Presence’ (1 Samuel 21:1-6).  Mark’s version adds one thing not in Samuel—that David brought his young men with him and they were hungry.  This addition fits with Mark’s story since Jesus was with his ‘young men’ (disciples).  The ‘bread of the Presence’ refers to the bread that was daily placed in the Tabernacle (and later the Temple) as a reminder of the ‘bread’ (manna) with which God fed the Israelites in their wilderness journey from Egypt to Canaan.  It was eaten only by priests when it was replaced with fresh bread the next day.  This allusion to the Old Testament story reminds us that the mission (death and resurrection) of Jesus is “in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3 where ‘scriptures’ refers to the OT only); not a few isolated texts, but the whole of the Old Testament.
 
Prepare to listen.  Sit still, take a few deep breaths then pray: Lord God, open my ears and let me hear your words today.  Amen.
 
Read Mark 2:23-28
23One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.  24The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’  25And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food?  26He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’  27Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’
 
Meditation
The story begins with a vague “one sabbath,” reminding us that Mark wasn’t concerned with a literally correct order of events in Jesus’ life.  However, this isn’t a random assortment of stories either.  They are linked together by the conflict between Jesus and the religious rulers who question Jesus in an unfriendly manner.  In today’s lesson the Pharisees attack Jesus for allowing his disciples to ‘work’ on the sabbath by plucking ears of grain for food.  While the Mosaic Law permitted travelers to pluck a few ears of grain from the fields as they walked passed (see Deuteronomy 23:25), it was considered ‘work’ by the religious rulers of Jesus’ day and prohibited on the sabbath.
 
Jesus responded to them with a story from David when he was on the run from Saul, prior to becoming king.  The implication seems to be that David, with his followers, was on an important mission and ‘commandeered’ the holy bread reserved for priests.  There are similarities with Jesus’ story.  He too was with his followers and on an important mission.  He had the same right (in fact even more so) as David to ‘commandeer’ grain (bread) on a holy day.  In doing so, Jesus exercised an authority inaccessible to the religious rulers who confronted and accused him.  They realized this and weren’t happy with Jesus!  To make matters worse, Jesus claimed to have power over the Sabbath, stating that he (the Son of Man) “is lord even of the sabbath.”
 
The Pharisees did what many do today, let their legalistic adherence to the rules and regulations control them and dictate their relations with others.  This made them incapable of accepting people who broke the rules, and incapable of showing mercy to those couldn’t keep their rules in the same strict sense they did.  Today, we have our own rules and regulations about different issues—sexual orientation, theological beliefs and standards, conservative/liberal agendas, etc.  The question we must ask ourselves is this: Does our adherence to our views and principles control us or do we control them?  Are we able to ignore our ‘rules’ and show mercy to one who is not able to keep them in the same way we can?  Can we live the truth that “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath?”  And remember that “the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath?”
 
Reflection Question
Sabbath keeping may not be an issue you insist on keeping.  Substitute whatever your issue may be (gender orientation, abortion, political position, moral principle) and then say: Jesus is Lord even of that issue (name it).
 
Matthew, in his similar account, includes a saying that Jesus adapted from Hosea (6:6): “I desire mercy not sacrifice” (Mt 12:7).  Rigidity to the laws makes a person hard and unmerciful.  In what ways can you be merciful and compassionate to those who don’t keep the ‘law’ your way or who have moral and political opinions that conflict with yours?
 
Respond to Jesus in prayer
Lord of the Sabbath, show me where I’m rigid, where I’ve fallen into the same trap as the Pharisees, and help me be more flexible and thus more merciful and compassionate to others today.  Amen.
 
Go and live obediently in the world following the ‘lord of the Sabbath.’

Prepare to listen.  Be still and silent in preparation to hear the Gospel.  When ready, pray: I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.  (Psalm 119:15)
 
Read Mark 2:18-22
18Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’  19Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.  20The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.  21‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.  22And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’
 
Meditation
In this passage, Jesus speaks his longest discourse yet in Mark’s Gospel.  It’s in response to a question about fasting, and how often one should fast.  The Law of Moses stipulated only one day a year for fasting by the entire nation—the Day of Atonement.  Additional fasts were added later for various reasons.  The Pharisees added two weekly fasts, probably to show off their piety.  We know nothing about the reasons why John’s disciples chose to fast.  I think we can assume that Jesus’ response is attacking the pharisaical piety that kept the average person under oppression—they could never live their lives the way the Pharisees demanded.  Weekly fasting is only possible for the wealthy and well-fed.  The poor know about involuntary fasting and hunger on a regular basis.  They didn’t have the luxury to choose whether to eat or fast on most days. 
 
You may have noticed that Jesus doesn’t answer the question directly or plainly!  Instead, he uses figurative language filled with images that hint at the end towards which God is moving all things and also at the dramatic changes that Jesus came to bring.  The first image is bridegroom and wedding.  Jesus seems to be saying that the ‘wedding’ has to do with his presence and, since he was present, that was the time for rejoicing and feasting.  When he (the bridegroom) left (a veiled reference to his death) then fasting would be appropriate.  It is very likely that no one then understood Jesus’ image, not even his disciples.
 
The two mini-parables are puzzling and seem to have little to do with the question about fasting.  It could be that Mark has added them here even though Jesus didn’t actually say them at this time.  However, there is a definite link between them and the previous saying about the bridegroom.  There is more going on than merely a warning that old and new don’t really mix.  It’s very likely that Jesus was again directing his words against the Pharisees who held onto the status quo in order to maintain power over the people.  The ‘new’, a Greek word that usually connotes totally new as in a re-creation, looks forward to the ‘new’ day that Jesus came to bring in.
 
Reflection Question
What puzzles you or gets your attention in this lesson?  What question are you being called to live with today?
 
Respond to Jesus in prayer
There are times, Lord when I’m like the scribes and want to keep things the way they are.  I know there are good things that I should conserve, but there are many things where being conservative isn’t good enough.  Give me the discernment and courage I need to give up the old in order to take on the totally new you offer.  Amen.
 
Go and live obediently in the world accepting the new in Jesus.

Helpful Background
“Tax collectors and sinners” are in today’s text.  ‘Tax collectors’ were social outcasts because of their reputation for dishonesty and because they represented the oppressive Roman government.  They were shunned by the masses as well as the religious elite.  ‘Sinners’ was the designation by the scribes (and other religious rulers) for people who failed to live according to their standards and interpretations of the Law.  Like tax collectors, the scribes considered them unclean outcasts.  The ‘crowd’ around Jesus was made up of such people.
 
There are two more firsts in this passage.  1) Mark’s use of the term ‘disciples’ to designate the ones Jesus specifically called.  2) The Pharisees.  ‘The scribes of the Pharisees’ is an odd phrase, only used in this passage.  It introduces a new set of opponents to Jesus, linked with the scribes in the previous story and related to the Pharisees.
 
Prepare to listen.  Be still and silent in preparation to hear the Gospel.  When ready, pray: I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.  (Psalm 119:15)
 
Read Mark 2:13-17
13Jesus went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them.  14As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’  And he got up and followed him.  15And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him.  16When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’  17When Jesus heard this, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’
 
Meditation
Like the four fishermen before him, Levi doesn’t hesitate, ask questions, request time to ‘pray about it,’ he simply got up, leaving his business, and followed Jesus.  And, as in the first call narrative (1:16-20) when Jesus went to Peter and Andrew’s home, he also goes to Levi’s house for dinner.  At table were his disciples (those few Jesus had specifically called), the tax collecting colleagues of Levi and ‘sinners’.  In other words, being a disciple of Jesus meant eating at table, an intimate setting, with people who were outcasts and avoided by the devout.  The fact that Mark has introduced the term disciples in this story stresses “that Jesus’ disciples may freely mix with ‘sinners’” (Myers.  2015, p. 157).  This is both good news and bad news; it surprises those who follow him and annoys those who don’t.  It’s good news for the poor and marginalized, whoever they may be.  They’re welcomed and not condemned in Jesus’ community (think Church).  It’s bad news, but only for those who think they should separate themselves from the people they designate as outcasts because of race, or gender orientation or social status or theology or political leanings.
 
Jesus’ welcome to ‘sinners’ was bad news to the Pharisees.  They were more concerned for their own class and status and not the welfare of the masses.  They lacked the courage to confront Jesus and so confront the disciples instead.  You can imagine how the disciples must have felt.  The Pharisees were, to some extent, their religious leaders and teachers.  And here they were with one of whom Pharisees were deeply critical.  Since they probably didn’t know what to say, it was a good thing Jesus stepped in.  “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”  This was a direct indictment of the Pharisees, who considered themselves ‘righteous’.  There is, no doubt, some sarcasm in Jesus’ use of the word ‘righteous’ in this verse.  He boldly claims that ‘sinners’ are welcomed at his table.  He has associated himself fully with the ‘outcast’ groups and thus made himself a despised and marked man with the religious rulers.  And his disciples are expected to follow him in his rebuke of the Pharisees and his welcome of the marginalized and disenfranchised.
 
The good news of the gospel is this: Sinners, outcasts, the despised and rejected as they are, are welcome.
 
Reflection Question
This is a challenging story for many of us, especially those of us from white privilege.  Who are the ‘outcasts’ and ‘sinners’ in your community and what does Jesus want you to do?
 
Jesus came to save sinners not the ‘righteous’.  Only once we’ve admitted and owned our own sin will we experience full salvation.  What sin do you need to name and give up today?
 
Respond to Jesus in prayer
I love the idea of Jesus welcoming all peoples, but, Jesus, sometimes I find it difficult to follow your example.  Help me today be true to your mission, reaching out to those on the periphery of society.  Amen

Helpful Background
There is no sense of chronological order in the stories of Mark 2 and each one is introduced with a generic statement that sometimes states where Jesus was—Capernaum, by the lake, Levi’s house—but when and for how long isn’t even hinted at.  In the story today, Jesus returns, unannounced to Capernaum, probably to the home of Peter and Andrew.
 
There are some ‘firsts’ in this story.  1) The use of the term ‘crowd’ to refer to the people who gather around Jesus and aren’t part of his closer group of disciples and friends.  It’s a term used primarily to refer to the masses rather than the ruling classes; it can also have the connotation of ‘sinners and outcast’, which is how the religious leaders refer to the ‘crowd’ (as in 2:16).  2) The first verbal confrontation with the scribes.  3) The first time Jesus is accused of blasphemy.  It is this accusation that the religious leaders will use in the end to condemn Jesus to crucifixion.  4) The first time Jesus uses ‘the Son of Man’ as a self-designation.  Prior to Peter making the confession that Jesus is Messiah (8:29), ‘Son of Man’ is used only twice, here and 2:28.  After Peter’s confession the title is used 12 times and always by Jesus.  The title is taken from Daniel 7:13 but, whatever it meant then, Jesus redefines it through his life and mission.
 
Prepare to listen.  Be still and silent in preparation to hear the Gospel.  When ready, pray: I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.  (Psalm 119:15)
 
Read Mark 2:1-12
When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.  2So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them.  3Then some people came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them.  4And when they could not bring him to jJesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay.  5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’  6Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7‘Why does this fellow speak in this way?  It is blasphemy!  Who can forgive sins but God alone?’  8At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts?  9Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”?  10But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic--11‘I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’  12And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’
 
Meditation
A long time ago I was enthralled with this story as a good storyteller acted it out for us.  His dramatized telling made the story come alive, turning it into a delightful story of friends helping their paralytic friend, of Jesus healing and forgiving sins and confounding the scribes, and of a crowd glorifying God as a result.  What the storyteller left out were the ‘dark’ signs (not so pleasant things) in the story, which is where I want to begin our reflection.
 
First, there are a few signs of poverty.  The home where Jesus stayed was typical of poor people.  It most likely consisted of one room with a mud roof.  Hence, the four friends could easily remove and dig it up.  The paralytic lay on a ‘mat’, a term used to designate the bed of a poor person.  The good news to lighten this ‘dark sign is that Jesus willingly associated himself with the poor and welcomed them.  His welcome of the poor is in stark contrast to the scribes and other religious leaders who insulated themselves from the poor to avoid being made unclean.
 
A second ‘dark’ sign in the story is the confrontation with the scribes, Jesus’ first open and verbal one.  They used the strongest possible language to rebuke Jesus for ‘forgiving sins’: “Why does this fellow speak in this way?  It is blasphemy!  Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  The scribes had a point.  In their understanding, based on the Mosaic Law, sins could only be forgiven through sacrifices made at the Temple by priests.  The Temple was the symbol of God’s presence, the place where God’s presence intersected with humans.  Jesus was nowhere near the temple.  N. T. Wright in his book, Simply Jesus, suggests, “Jesus seems to be claiming that God is doing, up close and personal through him, something that you’d normally expect to happen at the Temple” (2011, p. 79)
 
Let’s go back in the story.  The friends had great faith that Jesus could and would heal their paralyzed friend.  We can only presume they were shocked when, instead of healing him, Jesus pronounced forgiveness of sins there in a simple home in Capernaum.  It would be easy at this stage to jump to the conclusion, as many have, that Jesus believed the man was paralyzed because of sin and thus forgiveness would heal him.  But, notice that the man wasn’t physically healed after Jesus’ pronouncement of forgiveness.  He continued to lie, helplessly on the mat.  So why did Jesus not immediately offer healing?
 
Jesus came to do far more than perform miracles and make people happy.  He came to inaugurate God’s kingdom.  In pronouncing forgiveness, he was deliberately taking on the scribes and their control over the people.  They insisted that forgiveness could only happen at the Temple, thus excluding many who couldn’t get there.  Jesus brought the man into God’s presence, his helpless and unclean condition notwithstanding.  He then proved his power to forgive by healing the man.
 
At this point, the scribes drop into the background of Mark’s story and the crowd (mostly from poverty situations) glorify God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’  Since, they had seen Jesus perform healing miracles before, what were they surprised by and amazed at?  Mark doesn’t specify.
 
Reflection Question
Reflect over the story, especially the confrontation with the scribes, imagine being there yourself.  What would amaze you and cause you to glorify God?
 
Notice how often the phrase ‘sins are forgiven’ is used.  Why do you think this is so important in this story and in the larger Story of Jesus?
 
Respond to Jesus in prayer
Lord Jesus, you forgive sins, you heal lives, you set people free from oppression.  Forgive, heal and set me free today.  Help me forgive, heal and set free people I meet today who need this too.  Amen.
 
Go and live obediently in the world forgiving and setting others free.

Helpful background
Leprosy in Scripture isn’t the same as the disease we know by that name today.  It was some form of chronic skin disorder.  There were two primary regulations in the Mosaic Law regarding lepers and the disease, both of which Jesus challenged in the story you’re going to read.  First, because leprosy was a communicable disease, people were forbidden to touch lepers.  If they did, they would become unclean and unfit to participate religious rituals in the temple or synagogue.  Second, if a leper was cured, a priest had to verify the healing and pronounce the person clean.  (See Leviticus 13:2-14:57.)  Jesus disregards, even defies these two regulations.  The story at this point in the Gospel marks the beginning of Jesus’ attack on the religious leaders of his day.
 
Prepare to listen.  Be still and silent in preparation to hear the Gospel.  When ready, pray: I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.  (Psalm 119:15)
 
Read Mark 1:40-45
40A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’  41Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose.  Be made clean!’  42Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.  43After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, 44saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’  45But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
 
Meditation
‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’  This seems an odd request, implying two things.  First, the leper believed Jesus had the power to cleanse him.  Second, he wasn’t sure Jesus would be willing to do so.  Notice that the leper asked Jesus, not for healing, but to be made clean, or ‘declared clean’.
 
Because leprosy was an unclean disease, lepers were forced to live on the fringes of society to avoid touching people.  They were to warn the public with a loud cry of ‘unclean, unclean’ (Leviticus 13:45).  Take a moment to imagine living without human touch.  It will give you a sense of the horror lepers were forced to live every day.  Only a priest had the authority to declare a healed leper clean.  Jesus’ wasn’t a recognized priest and thus had no right, according to the religious rulers, to declare this leper clean.  The leper knew this and thus the hesitancy of his request, giving Jesus a chance to refuse.  “It is almost as if he says, ‘You could declare me clean if only you would dare’, ” writes Ched Myers (2015, p. 153).  Jesus did dare.  He ‘broke’ two laws when he healed the man—he touched an unclean leper, the first touch the man had felt in a while, and he declared him clean.  The phrase ‘made [think declared] clean’ is an important one in this story, appearing three times.
 
Jesus’ response to the leper is equally odd.  There are two times when Jesus is angry or uses strong language.  The translation I’ve used says Jesus ‘was moved with pity.’  Other translations use the word ‘compassion.’  This makes it sound wonderful.  But, the Greek word is more accurately translated as ‘indignant’ (as in the NIV) or even ‘angry.’  The second strong language is in Jesus’ instructions to the healed leper: “After sternly warning him he sent him away at once.”  The Greek is much stronger with some commentators suggesting that Jesus was “snorting with indignation” (as in Myers.  2015, p. 153).  Mark doesn’t explain with whom Jesus was angry; another mystery he wants us to ponder.
 
It is unlikely Jesus was angry with the leper.  This would be out of keeping with Jesus’ compassion and concern for those on the margins, the poor, the alien, the outcasts and lepers.  I think it would be safe to say Jesus was angry with the religious order and its failure to show compassion.  Religious rulers forced lepers to live on the margins without human contact.  We can wonder whether we’re in danger of doing the same thing ourselves, forcing some people who don’t behave according to the law (think gospel) as we understand it onto the margins, isolating them from Jesus’ compassion.
 
The story ends rather sadly.  Having warned the man to keep silent with strong emotive language, the man disobeyed, and Jesus was forced to the margins himself, staying outside the towns.  He’s now a ‘marked man,’ considered unclean by the religious authorities because he touched a leper and dared to declare the man ‘clean,’ usurping the role of priest.  He could no longer go into the towns and the synagogues to teach.  And teaching is what he came to do.
 
Reflection Question
How does Jesus’ anger and strong language make you feel?  Is your picture of Jesus being challenged in this story?  If so, in what ways?
 
Respond to Jesus in prayer
Lord Jesus you so often behave in ways that challenge my nice ideas about you and make me feel uncomfortable.  Help me know you, not as I want you to be but as you reveal yourself in your Word.  Amen.
 
Go and live obediently in the world faithful to Jesus even when pushed to the margins.

Prepare to listen.  Be still and silent in preparation to hear the Gospel.  When ready, pray: I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.  (Psalm 119:15)
 
Read Mark 1:35-39
35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.  36And Simon and his companions hunted for him.  37When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’  38He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’  39And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
 
Meditation
In these few verses we learn that Jesus engaged in three important practices.  The first is prayer.  Notice the detail of the first verse describing where and when he prayed—morning, still dark, he got up and went out, a deserted place.  End of detail.  Mark concludes with the simple words, ‘he prayed.’  Nothing is told about how Jesus prayed or what words, if any, he used.  This is an important omission highlighting the relational nature of prayer.  In its broadest understanding prayer is a relationship with the Living God and therefore, different for every person.  For some, words are important, both the words they speak and the ones they hear from God.  For others, silence is more meaningful.  The point is to find a ‘deserted place,’ a quiet hour (for Jesus that was early morning; it may not be the best for you) where you can be alone, with few distractions.  In the solitude and silence God meets the pray-er and the relationship deepens.
 
The second practice is ‘proclaiming the message.’  It is mentioned twice in these few verses.  Jesus responded to the disciples, who wanted him to return to Capernaum and continue performing miracles on the sick, saying that he came to ‘proclaim the message.’  We know the message he proclaimed was ‘the good news of the kingdom of God’ (1:15).  It would have been far easier to go back into the town to satisfy and amaze a crowd wanting miracles, but Jesus wouldn’t do it.  The message was more important than the miracles.  Indeed, the miracles proclaim the message.  If we but pay careful attention, we’ll get it.
 
The third practice is only mentioned briefly in the last words: ‘and casting out demons.’  The frequency with which the demonic is mentioned in Mark’s Gospel suggests that the devil continued his attack on Jesus begun the wilderness temptation.  Jesus was in constant conflict, not merely with earthly powers and people, but with all the spiritual forces of evil.  Casting out demons is also about confronting evil in the world in Jesus’ name, a discipline we can exercise today.
 
These three practices are identical to the three tasks that Jesus gave to the ones he called to be apostles (3:14-15).  In varying ways, they are still the tasks that we, who call ourselves followers of Jesus, are called to practice today.
 
Reflection Question
In what ways could you practice these three disciplines—prayerful solitude with Jesus, proclaiming his message and confronting evil—in your world today?
 
Respond to Jesus in prayer
Lord, you practiced three tasks that aren’t easy.  I know that I too must spend time in prayer, proclaim your message and confront evil, but I find all kinds of excuses to avoid one or all of them.  Help me today to start trying, once again.  Amen.
 
Go and live obediently in the world, praying, proclaiming the good news and confronting evil.

Prepare to listen.  Be still and silent in preparation to hear the Gospel.  When ready, pray: I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.  (Psalm 119:15)
 
Read Mark 1:32-34
32That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.  33And the whole city was gathered around the door.  34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
 
Meditation
The story continues with Jesus’ first ‘day’ of public ministry.  In Mark’s telling it’s been a full day, as Jesus moved from a public place, the Capernaum synagogue, to a private place, the home of Peter’s family.  Now, at the end of the day, “the whole city was gathered around the door” (a return to the public) bringing their sick and demon possessed.  I wonder how they knew Jesus could and would help them.
 
Two things deserve attention.  First, Mark begins this story with a seemingly redundant repetition— ‘that evening, at sunset.’  Since Mark never wastes words we can assume he had a reason for repeating the time of day.  Since the Jewish sabbath, a day of rest, ended at sunset, Mark has underlined that sabbath was over.  Healing, which the religious leaders of Jesus’ day considered as work, was forbidden on the sabbath.  (This wasn’t in the Mosaic law, but a later rigid interpretation.)  The people of the city waited for the sabbath to be over before seeking Jesus for healing.  Were they afraid of what their religious leaders would do if they came during the sabbath?  Jesus had already ‘broken’ this rigid sabbath rule by publicly healing the demon-possessed man and privately healing Peter’s mother-in-law, yet the people still waited until it was over.  Who were they afraid of?  They came to Jesus, not to worship and submit to their Messiah, but because he was a miracle worker.  They didn’t even know who Jesus was.  They came for the ‘goodies’ and not to sign up for Jesus’ mission or even hear his message.  Jesus came to preach the good news of the kingdom of God and all the people wanted was relief from pain and suffering in the present moment.
 
Second, in contrast to the ignorant city folk, the demons knew Jesus.  Instead of being delighted, Jesus “would not permit” them to speak.  Because they knew him, Jesus silenced them.  Mark doesn’t explain this, ending his story with this somewhat ‘mystery’ demand from Jesus.  We’re left wondering about it.  It doesn’t make sense for us today.  We know that we’ve been called to speak out about Jesus; to not be silent.  We sing, ‘Go tell it on the mountains, over the hills and everywhere that Jesus Christ is Lord.’  Why did Jesus insist on silence here?  We have to keep reading Mark, living with and wondering about another unexplained mystery, and unanswered question.  Keep wondering as we make our way through Mark.
 
Reflection Question
It’s a temptation to follow Jesus for the ‘goodies’ and not bother with the hard work of entering ever deeper into a relationship with him that will be costly.  Wonder about your reasons for following Jesus.  What confession do you need to make; what do you need to affirm that is good in your relationship?
 
Live your questions, make friends with them and perhaps you’ll eventually live into answers.
 
Respond to Jesus in prayer
It is easier to follow you for the ‘goodies’, Jesus and sometimes I’m tempted to take and take from you and never bother to grow in my relationship with you.  Guide me today to people and places that will take me beyond the ‘goodies’ and deeper into your way.  Amen.
 
Go and live obediently in the world because you truly know Jesus.

Prepare to listen.  Be still and silent in preparation to hear the Gospel.  When ready, pray: I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.  (Psalm 119:15)
 
Read Mark 1:29-31
29As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up.  Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
 
Meditation
From the Capernaum synagogue, Jesus goes into the family home of Peter and Andrew.  From this story we learn Peter was married with his own family.  Leaving the family fishing business to follow Jesus was costly, not just for Peter and Andrew, but for the extended family who relied on their steady daily income from the fishing trade.
 
Healing Peter’s mother-in-law is the first healing of a physically sick person in Mark’s Gospel.  You’d think attention would focus on Jesus, but, read again the end of the story and notice attention is on the healed older woman’s immediate act of service and not Jesus.  She did what disciples are supposed to do; she served Jesus and others, putting her needs to one side.  None of the four fishermen who obediently followed Jesus stepped up to serve, the way a disciple should.  She alone takes on the role of servant and thus of disciple.
 
Many people see the woman’s act of service as nothing more than a sign of total healing.  But I think Mark has highlighted her service deliberately, not merely to demonstrate her healing, but to put forward a woman who understood the rightful role of a disciple.  Women then (and still today) were marginalized and forced out to the periphery.  Mark gives us a picture of Jesus who acted against common practice by periodically turning the spotlight on women, and other marginalized folk, because they often appear to understand what Jesus’ male disciples failed to; that the disciple’s primary role was that of servant.  Peter’s mother-in-law, whom Mark doesn’t name, is the first example in his Gospel of one who grasped what it means to be a disciple of Jesus—“the fever left her, and she began to serve them.”
 
Reflection Question
The fact that we don’t know this woman’s name means we can put ourselves in her shoes.  I invite you to do so now.  Imagine being so feverish you can only lie about.  Jesus, at the request of your family, heals you.  What do you think your first act might be?
 
As in other healing miracles, the sick woman was brought to Jesus’ attention by others.  Notice this as you read further in Mark and wonder what challenge it presents to you today.
 
Respond to Jesus in prayer
This, Jesus, is one of many nameless women and men, who got discipleship right.  Help me today to hold her up as an example of how to live and so be your servant to day.  Amen.
 
Go and live obediently in the world as a servant of Jesus.

Note: This passage was included during Lent.  I’ve included it again since it is a very important one, helping us understand Jesus’ earthly struggle.  You may wish to skip my meditation or do your own.
 
Helpful Background
From vv 21-34, Mark describes the activity of Jesus in a twenty-four-hour period, beginning with the sabbath (1:21), through sunset (1:32) and ending early the next day (1:35).  The description and ordering of this rather busy day isn’t meant to be interpreted literally.  Mark isn’t merely recording historical details so we can pass some Bible history exam.  We must look beyond the literalness to discern Mark’s symbolism and intended meaning.  I’m not suggesting these events and miracles didn’t literally happen, but that there is also a symbolic meaning to them.  It seems we have in this single day a snapshot overview of Jesus’ public ministry.  This representative day, where Jesus alternates between public and private spaces, anonymous groups of people and small groups of friends/disciples, between community and solitude, will be Jesus’ pattern throughout.  The solitude for Jesus was no easier than it is for us today; just as he had to make it happen (as in 1:35), so too do we.
 
Prepare to listen.  Be silent for as long as you need.  Pray: Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.  (1 Samuel 3:9)
 
Read Mark 1:21-28
21They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught.  22They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  23Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24and he cried out, ‘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.’  25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’  26And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.  27They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this?  A new teaching—with authority!  He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’  28At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
 
Meditation
It’s not surprising that Mark has placed this story as Jesus’ first public act.  Symbolically, it gives, in a nut shell, the story of Jesus—conflict with the demonic and the religious authorities.  The setting is the synagogue (Jewish sacred space) in Capernaum (a very Jewish town in a mostly Gentile Galilee) and the day is the sabbath (Jewish sacred time).  Many stories of Jesus that involve conflict with the Jewish religious leaders happen on a sabbath in a synagogue.
 
The conflict is hinted at in two terms describing the reaction of the synagogue audience: ‘astounded’ (v22) and ‘amazed’ (v27).  They frame the story of exorcism, one at the beginning and one at the end.  The terms have negative tones, connoting “not just incredulity but a kind of panic associated with the disruption of the assumed order of things” (Myers. 2015, p. 142).  We meet the people who will be against Jesus all the way to the end.  As the story progresses we’ll learn that Jesus’ most active opponents are the Jewish religious leaders, although that’s only hinted at in this story.  What is clear is the symbolic meaning of this story as it portrays the ultimate conflict that wages between God and the satan.  The story also assures us of the ultimate victory by Jesus.  With a few words of command (‘Be silent, and come out of him!’), Jesus demonstrates his power over evil.  This story, in other words, gives us hope, preparing us for Jesus’ eventual triumph over those who oppose the way of God, both in the physical and spiritual worlds.  As the Story progresses and gets tense, especially towards its end, this is the story to which we can return for the assurance that Jesus has the power and authority to overcome and will, in the end, win.  It is also assurance for us now as we look at the state of the world and wonder about God’s power to achieve victory.  Read the story again, and be assured.
 
Reflection Question
What astounds and amazes you about Jesus—both in a negative and positive sense?  Can you still follow him?
 
Respond to Jesus in prayer
Lord Jesus, when I struggle and wonder whether you’re still in control, may this story be the assurance I need to stay true and loyal to the end.  Amen.
 
Go and live obediently in the world, assured of his power over evil.

Prepare to listen.  Be silent for as long as you need.  Pray: Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.  (1 Samuel 3:9)
 
Read Mark 1:16-20
16As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen.  17And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’  18And immediately they left their nets and followed him.  19As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets.  20Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
 
Meditation
The scene shifts to the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus often went.  His first act there was to summons the four fishermen to follow him.  Mark tells two parallel call stories, highlighting the importance of Jesus’ calling followers.  Most of us are familiar with these verses and tend to ignore them a bit today.  Some of us sang the children’s song, “I will make you fishers of men… if you follow me,” and were taught this meant we were to invite others to believe in Jesus, become a Christian.  We presumed that Jesus’ call to these fishermen was a call to evangelize the lost.  Unfortunately, our teachers weren’t entirely correct, as Ched Myers notes, writing, “There is perhaps no expression more traditionally misunderstood than Jesus’ invitation to these workers to become ‘fishers of men’.”
 
We therefore need to look to the Old Testament prophets to guide our understanding.  They used fishing and fishhooks as a warning of judgment (see Jeremiah 16:16 and Amos 4:2) not an invitation to ‘come to Jesus.’  Thus, when Jesus called those four fishermen to join him, it was a call to join in the operation to “overturn the existing order of power and privilege” (Myers.  2015, p. 132), to bring in judgment on the world rulers.  In other words, Mark is pointing us to the revolutionary role Jesus came to play, a role that meant the end for those with social and religious power and privilege.  There was a new order in town and the old must go.  This is a challenge for us to repent, ‘change our minds’ about what we think and believe about Jesus’ call to be ‘fishers of people.’
 
There is a second challenge for us to reflect on.  The word disciple literally means student, follower, servant.  It was normal in Jesus’ society for a would-be student, to take the initiative and seek out a rabbi they would like to follow and learn from.  The teaching and learning lasted until the student was ready to become a rabbi himself (they were all men in that culture).  Jesus overturned that common tradition and took the initiative himself.  He called four apparent strangers to follow and learn from him; they didn’t ask him first.  We don’t know whether they’d ever heard of Jesus before that invitation (more a command they dared not disobey) or even knew who he was.  They were fishermen, not aspiring rabbis.  Yet, their response was instantaneous.  They left their sole means of livelihood, their economic security, their families, and followed Jesus.  They never knew then that they’d never graduate from Jesus’ ‘school.’  They’d always be followers and learners of Rabbi Jesus.  Following Jesus, they discovered, isn’t about assent with the head or even the heart.  It’s about a fundamental change in how we live our lives and for whom.
 
Reflection Question
What effect does following Jesus each day have on the way you live now?  In what ways might it be affecting the ordering of power and privilege in your world?
 
What do you think it was about Jesus, a man they appear to know nothing about, that made the four fishermen immediately follow him?  What would make you follow, sacrificing everything you know and rely on?
 
Respond to Jesus in prayer
Following you, Lord, isn’t always comfortable and often takes me out of my comfort zones.  I need your grace to help me remain a true disciple to the end.  Amen.
 
Go and live obediently in the world, following behind Jesus.