Peter remembers some of the parables Jesus shared with him. Having recounted the Parable of the Good Soil, Peter rattles off a whole list of them in quick succession: lamp, providence of the farmer, mustard seed. Then he adds, that Jesus always explained to them in private, so they could understand.
The Parable of the Sower might more appropriately be called The Parable of the Good Soil. The sower is foolishly extravagant, he has so much seed he scatters it everywhere. The word of God is the seed and God showers all of us with it. The question for us is what kind of soil are …
February is Black History month. All churches have been wrestling with how best to do online worship during the pandemic. In my discussion with Cedrick Bridgeforth of Grace UMC Los Angeles, we talked about the struggle and how Grace Church evolved their worship while staying authentic to their Black Church roots.
Two dramatic events take place today: Jesus has a run in with the family and he arrogantly taunts the Scribes who have come to denounce him. I both cases Jesus is not bowing down to people who would like to wield some authority over him. His words about family must have hurt Mary, but they …
Jesus selects twelve apostles. Unsaid is that there were so many followers of Jesus that he had to select the twelve from the many. Each Gospel has a slightly different list of the twelve, indicating that maybe the list changed over time, or it wasn’t as hard and fast as some might think.
Today Jesus continues his “Amazing Healing Show” but also continues to infuriate the authorities. The God of Laws the authorities believe in is dramatically different than the God of Love that Jesus is teaching. Today’s healing of the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath is a head on confrontation of these two concepts.
Jesus calls Levi the tax collector to follow him. Levi invites Jesus to dinner with other notorious rich sinners, which upsets the Scribes. Then the scribes get upset about eating wheat on the sabbath, too. But Jesus isn’t taking the bait and explains every event to them.
Peter continues the story of Jesus Healing people in his early ministry. The local scribes raise issues about Jesus authority, but Jesus always stymies them. When he heals the man who was lowered through the roof the place explodes with amazement and praise.
What does it take for you to grant that someone is au authority? What characteristics do you look for in an authority?
Ash Wednesday 2021, our Lenten Journey begins. For Lent this year I am presenting the “A Talk with Peter”, a retelling of the Gospel of Mark in the first person, as if Peter himself was telling us about his best friend, Jesus. I will post a new passage everyday during Lent, and ending on Easter. …