is hurry through Mark (Mark 2-14)

For reasons that should become obvious, I am going to take just two more posts to finish Mark.

Another interesting difference between Matthew and Mark is the omission of the Sermon on the Mount by Mark.  Considering that this sermon was the first public pronouncement of Jesus in Matthew’s story, I am surprised that it was not included in Mark’s gospel.  Apparently Mark was written before Matthew so it makes sense that Mark’s gospel will contain less information, but it is interesting that some really important differences occur.

After that Mark and Mathew follow a similar pattern.  Jesus gathers his disciples, preaches, heals, associates with outcasts and performs miracles.  Most of the highlights from Matthew can be found in Mark.   He heals the paralyzed man on the Sabbath.  He teaches with the parables of the sower and the tenants in the vineyard and the mustard seed and the fig tree.  He calms a storm. He drives the demon out of the possessed man and into the pigs that drown.   He brings the girl back from death.   He walks on water.  He feeds the 5000 with five loaves and two fish and then the 4000 with seven loaves and a few fish.   He meets Elijah and Moses.   He warns of the suffering that he will face as well as the persecutions of those who follow him.  He says that he will rise from the dead.  He warns against false prophets.   He blesses the children and tells the rich man that he has to give up everything to enter the Kingdom.

He makes a triumphant entry into Jerusalem where he attacks the moneychangers in the temple.  He warns against the teachers of the law.  He teaches the two great commandments of loving god and loving your neighbour as yourself.  He warns about the coming horrors before the Son of Man returns when the angels will gather up all the righteous.   And just like some of the other scenes in Mark, the depiction of the Kingdom and who will enter and what will happen to those who don’t doesn’t have the same detail as was found in Matthew.

Finally, as in Matthew, Judas agrees to betray Jesus.  They have the Last Supper with the eating of the bread and wine and where Jesus predicts that someone will betray him and that Peter will deny him.   They retire to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prays that the suffering will be taken from him.  Judas arrives and kisses Jesus to let them know who to arrest and Jesus is taken away.

is begin Mark (Mark 1)

The first thing we notice about Mark is the absence of the genealogies and the Christmas story that began Matthew.   Instead it begins with the preaching of John the Baptist, his baptism of Jesus and the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.  And, that leads to a problem.

Why doesn’t Mark include the story of Mary and the conception by the Holy Spirit?  Did he not know of it and why not?  Did he not believe it and why not?  Remarkable people have a childhood and we want to know what it was like.  The story of the angel coming to Mary stretches our credulity at the best of times.  When one of the gospel writers leaves it out completely, my reaction is that the omission is the more accurate story.   Matthew wanting to make Jesus even more extraordinary includes a birth story that defies belief.   On top of that Matthew notes that a lot of the Christmas story fulfilled various prophecies making it even more likely that somebody was making it up for that purpose alone.

Does Jesus have to be divinely born?  If God did send Jesus was it necessary for him to be sent as a child who grew up in a human family or could God have just inspired a person (Jesus) to begin a ministry as an adult?

Mark is also missing some details from the temptations in the desert.  Matthew has Satan tempt Jesus three times and includes conversation.  Mark just says that Jesus was tempted and that angels were there to help.  I am not sure why a divine Jesus would need the help of angels but I also don’t understand why a divine Jesus would need to be baptized.

And what is interesting here is that the only witness to the temptation story is Jesus.  He would have to have told the story to somebody for it to be written down.  So, why didn’t Mark include the temptation details that Matthew did.   It just seems that Matthew is trying too hard to make Jesus more than maybe he is.  If we read the beginning of Mark, it sounds like Jesus is more human and less divine than what Matthew has portrayed.   

My question to the believers:  How important is the divinity of Jesus?  Can we accept his teachings without believing that he is in any way divine?  Could he just have been an ordinary guy who was inspired in some way to spread a special message?   And I ask the question seriously because in both gospels we have the scene where the people of Nazareth reject Jesus because he came from this ordinary family.  If anybody should have known about his special birth and history wouldn’t it be the people of his home town? 

share my running playlist

I missed last week, so this was my first time on the road and I sure enjoyed it.  Most of the time I was by myself but I was never alone.  Without the group I know there were times when it would have been easy for me to quit before the time, but there was always someone ahead of me or behind me that made me push myself along. 

Now that we are running on the road and we spread out more, it is almost imperative for me to have some kind of music going through my head.  Last year, I made a 33 minute playlist of what I considered running related songs for the 5K Cannery Run.  My goal was to finish the 5K before the music ran out.  I finished at 32:05.  Now that we are aiming for 10K I had to update my playlist.  It is just under 67 minutes which I hope to beat.

The list:

Start Me Up (obvious first song) - The Rolling Stones
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Runaway - Bon Jovi
Run to You - Bryan Adams
I Run to You (see the theme developing) - Lady Antebellum
Run For Your Life (sure it's misogynist but it has a great beat)- The Beatles
Runnin' Down a Dream - Tom Petty
Run Run Run - The Velvet Underground 
Comfortably Numb (should be about this time) - Pink Floyd
Walking Man (in case I need to catch my breath) - James Taylor
The Old Man Down the Road (might only apply to me)- John Fogerty
As Fast As I Can - Great Big Sea
Long May You Run - Neil Young
The Long and Winding Road - The Beatles
Not Dark Yet - Bob Dylan
It's Over - Roy Orbison

is conclude Matthew (Matthew 28)

Mary Magdalene and another Mary arrive at the tomb.  An earthquake occurs and an angel arrives to roll back the stone.  The angel tells them not to be afraid, that Jesus has been raised from the dead and gone to Galilee.  They see that the tomb is empty and race to Galilee where they meet Jesus on the road.  Jesus tells them to go to Galilee where he will meet with the disciples.

While the women are doing that, the guards go to the priests and tell them what has happened.  The priests bribe them to say that the disciples stole the body while they were sleeping.  They do so and Matthew makes note that the Jews continue to tell this story.  

Jesus meets his disciples and tells them that he has been given all authority over heaven and earth.  He tells them to baptize others and to spread his message and that he will be with them forever.

So ends Matthew, and we can quickly summarize.  Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  He taught compassion, love, forgiveness, and generosity.  He performed miracles and healed people.  His teachings threatened the church authorities.  He was arrested, charged with blasphemy, and crucified.  As he predicted, he rose from the dead.

As a reader, I am trying to figure how much I am moved by the story.  And let’s face it; it is a pretty good story. I can appreciate the passion that Jesus had for the people and the lessons he hoped to pass on.  I can sympathize with the fact that he died attempting to do good.  But I cannot accept the fact that he was divine or that he was chosen by god or that he rose again.  In other words, for me, this is a good fictionalized account of a life based on some history.

Recently a friend lent me Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom.  I had read two of Albom’s books other books.  One dealt with a man’s chance to spend one more day with his long dead mother and the other described the five people that one man meets when he enters heaven.  Both books had ideas that might help people live a more compassionate, fulfilling life.  I had no problem with what Albom was attempting but the message was somewhat diminished because I kept questioning the premise.  “That wouldn’t happen.  Why’s he doing that?  That’s just silly.”

So when I borrowed Tuesdays with Morrie, I was worried about how I would respond to it especially knowing how deeply the book had affected my friend.  There was no need to worry.  Like Jesus, Morrie suffered and not just for a few hours but for several months from a debilitating, degenerative disease (ALS).  Morrie has a lot of lessons for us, but his real lesson is how to approach our own deaths and how we should lead our own lives knowing that we are dying.  This, in a sense, is what Jesus was trying to do.  But at no time did I get bogged down by the concepts of a divine birth or supernatural episodes, or a judgmental god or a resurrected body.  Just a man dying (living) with dignity. 

But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from Matthew. Do unto others and love thy neighbour are obvious but this is my favourite. Matthew 25: 34-40

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Whether you believe in God or Jesus or a Kingdom or a Judgment Day, it is still a good sentiment to live by.

is figure out more questions (Matthew 27)

Jesus is taken to Pilate for execution.  While this is happening Judas repents his betrayal and tries to give the money back.  This is another scene that I don’t understand.  I didn’t know why he betrayed Jesus in the first place and now he is sorry that he did betray him.  I suppose he was expecting something more from Jesus at his trial but none of that seems clear.  As a result Judas hangs himself.  A Judas is the worst possible insult yet I am saddened by his death.  Unlike Peter who denied Jesus, Judas takes full responsibility for his actions.  Maybe killing himself is an easy way out but clearly he feels guilt and would ask forgiveness.  Would Jesus offer it to him?

Pilate does not understand the problem with Jesus and, especially after being warned by his wife to have nothing to do with Jesus, he tries to avoid punishing him.  He questions Jesus but Jesus remains silent.  Pilate offers the crowd a choice between Jesus and another prisoner, Barabbas.  They select Barabbas.  Pilate asks what crime Jesus has committed and the crowd just demands that Jesus be crucified.  Pilate then washes his hands of the whole affair (literally as well as figuratively) and tells the crowd that they are responsible.  The crowd says that it will full on them and their children.  (This must be the excuse for the persecution of Jews in later centuries.)

This scene also confuses me because Jesus seemed to have the crowd on his side up to this point.  Where were all the people that caused the scribes and priests to fear arresting Jesus at other times?

Jesus is whipped and crowned with thorns as the crowd mocks the idea that he is King of the Jews.  While on the cross, people ask why he was able to save others and not himself.  Jesus cries out to God asking “Why have you forsaken me?”  Crucifixion had to be a horrible death and the pain over several hours must be unimaginable, so anything anybody says while dying in this way can’t be questioned.  But, Jesus either knows what is happening and what must happen for his life to mean something to his followers or he doesn’t.  What does he mean that God has forsaken him?  Has he lost faith?  Perhaps I am reading this incorrectly.

When Jesus dies, there is an earthquake and graves open and some people come back to life.  At this point, many people think that Jesus may in fact be the Son of God.

Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man who followed Jesus, asks for the body and places it in his own tomb and blocks the entrance with a large stone.  The priests, knowing that Jesus predicted his resurrection, ask Pilate to place guards around the tomb so that Jesus’ followers do not steal the body. 

is figure out the motive (Matthew 26)

Now the priests are ready to have Jesus arrested and killed.  Judas goes to the priests and asks what they will give him for betraying Jesus.  They offer 30 pieces of silver.

This confuses me.  What possible motive does Judas have for betraying Jesus?  Has he lost faith in Jesus and his teaching?  Does he figure the arrest of Jesus will push the people to revolt?  After all, the priests have feared arresting Jesus for that very reason.  Has Jesus convinced him that the Kingdom is near and that the death of Jesus is needed for that to happen?  Judas has gone down in history as the poster boy for traitors but it would be very interesting to know what was in his mind at the time. 

Next Jesus eats the last supper with his disciples.  The eating of the bread and the drinking of the wine is supposed to symbolize Jesus’ body and blood.  The wine is especially mentioned for the forgiveness of sins.   At the supper Jesus predicts that somebody will betray him and also predicts that Peter will deny him.  Peter insists that he will remain true to Jesus.

Jesus and the disciples move to Gethsemane where Jesus prays asking God to let him be free of the predicted punishment although he does say he will accept God’s decision.  I find this interesting as well.  Again I wonder how much Jesus was complicit in this whole ordeal.  If he is divine then wouldn’t he know what was supposed to happen?  If he is just a teacher – a very human teacher – then he is obviously misguided and could and should have walked away.  If he was human and knew that God had chosen him then I can certainly feel his dilemma and at the same time wonder about God’s reason for choosing to work in this way.  But we have been told that Jesus is divine and therefore I am confused at why he would be praying for release.

Next Judas arrives with a group of soldiers and kisses Jesus so they know whom to arrest.   Jesus is taken to the High Priest.  Jesus is asked if he is the Messiah and when he replies “so you say I am” and then describes what will happen when the Son of Man returns, he is charged with blasphemy, spat on and hit and then taken away.  As he is being taken away, Peter is accused of being a disciple and three times he denies it.

question some parables (Matthew 25)

As we close on the ending, Jesus has three more parables.  In the first, 10 girls are given lamps.  Five save enough oil and five do not.  When the bridegroom arrives the five without oil ask for some from the others.  They are refused, and while they run off to get more oil the five with oil are let in to the feast.   By the time the others return they are told it is too late to enter because they need to know when the time will come.

In the next parable, three servants are given money.  Two invest and make more and one just buries it in the ground.  When the owner returns he rewards the two servants who made more and throws the other one into the darkness.

Finally Jesus talks about the coming of the Son of Man.  He talks about a King coming and dividing the people into two groups.  One group is rewarded because they helped the King when he was hungry and thirsty and when he was sick and in prison.  When the group asks when did we help you, the King replies ``When you did it for the least important, you did it for me.`` And he punishes the other group for their refusal to help.  They will receive eternal punishment while the righteous receive eternal life.

I totally get the last one.  Treat everybody – even the lowliest – with love and respect and you will be rewarded.  If you don`t you receive punishment.  But this is also where I get confused.  The five dumb girls who didn't have enough oil where ignored by the five wise girls who did.  Shouldn't they have been kinder to the foolish girls and helped them out.  Shouldn't the king have been kinder to the servant who buried the money.  Sure the girls were foolish not to be ready and yes the servant was foolish not to use what he had, but if that is their only crime, eternal punishment hardly seems fair.