Reading through Mark: Jesus vs. Satan (Mark 3:20-35)

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(During Lent 2024, I'm encouraging my congregation to join in reading through the Gospel of Mark. I'm posting occasional reflections and insights to guide reading.)

Jesus' teaching and actions convince some people that he is crazy while some others suggest that he is in cahoots with the devil (vv. 21-22). Jesus argues back that he can't oppose Satan in the name of Satan and then shares an odd sentence: "No one can enter the house of a strong man and take his possessions unless he first binds up the strong man. Then he can rob the house."

Huh? 

This strange phrase is actually helpful for understanding Jesus in Mark's Gospel. The "strong man" Jesus refers to is likely Satan (or evil, or Sin -- more on that in a moment). In coming to earth as human, Jesus is entering a "house" claimed by Satan for himself. In order to set people free from Sin and Death (that is, "rob the house"), he first needs to defeat Satan by binding him up. So Jesus is coming to defeat Satan/Sin/Evil so that the people Satan claims as his own can be taken and returned to God, where they belong.

This is where I find that some modern readers run into a problem, usually because many people are more comfortable believing in a loving God than in a wicked devil. I don't know if it's because Americans tend to avoid negativity (think happy thoughts!), that the caricature of the devil is kind of silly (the Bible does NOT say Satan is a red goat-man with horns and a pitchfork), or something else, but I find many people are uncomfortable with the idea of an evil being working against God in our lives. 

I'm not going to argue that you have to believe in the literal devil (especially not the red goat-man). Even the Bible is never totally clear on what or who Satan is. But it's important to recognize that the writers of the Bible DO believe there are evil beings/forces/spirits/demons at work in the world that oppose God and God's love. At various times, the Bible calls that evil Satan, the devil, Beelzebul, Sin, Death, or other names. 

If you are uncomfortable with the idea of evil spirits, it might be easier to think of whatever you are most afraid of that you can't control. A disease? Economic collapse? A war? A nasty neighbor or coworker? Our own habits? Jesus tells the crowds that whatever we call it, he has come to disarm and bind up the evil we fear, to assure us that it has no real power, and we are free. 

Evil is the interloper in God's creation and Jesus wants to steal us back.

From the Gray,
Pastor Ari

“If vision is the only validation, then most of my life isn’t real.” -Sam Sparro, “Black and Gold”

Reading Through Mark: What are Rules for, Really? (Mark 3:1-19)

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(During Lent 2024, I'm encouraging my congregation to join in reading through the Gospel of Mark. I'm posting occasional reflections and insights to guide reading.)

In Chapter 2 of Mark, Jesus begins a series of debates with religious leaders because he doesn't follow their rules for being holy. He says a man's sins are forgiven (2:5), eats with social rejects (2:16), and plucks grain for a snack on the Sabbath holy day (2:23-24). 

(The Sabbath day [or Shabbat, or Saturday] is the primary holy day for Jewish believers because it is the day God finished creating and rested. In the 10 Commandments, God orders faithful people to "do no work" on the Sabbath. Leaders like the Pharisees labeled a lot of things as "work" to prevent anyone accidentally offending God.)

Chapter 3 begins with another debate about following the commandments and Jesus asks a question that drives to the heart of their differences: “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” (3:4). The answer should be simple, right? The sabbath is meant to honor God, and what better way is there to honor God than showing care and compassion to someone in need? 

But the Pharisees balk at the question. God clearly says, "Don't work on the Sabbath" and doesn't say "unless someone is injured." Therefore, healing on the Sabbath breaks the commandment. 

Jesus' question and actions, though, show the problem with the thinking. God's commands are meant "to do good" and "to save life." That's the whole reason God gave them. So if your following a command actually does harm or kills, that isn't what God wants from you. 

In churches, we often get caught up on rules about what is appropriate -- what we should wear, how loud or quiet we should be, what kind of music we can sing, etc. -- and enforcing those rules can sometimes cause pain and shame for many people. We then excuse the hurt we cause because we believe we're doing what God wants from us. But as we will see throughout the Gospel, Jesus isn't as interested in us obeying the details of the rules as much as he cares about us knowing the purpose for them: 

• God is love. 
• God loves us to create new life. 
• God wants us to love as we've been loved to create new life in others. 

Commands and rules are good for providing order and clarifying expectations, but if following those rules does not reinforce the reason they exist -- God's love -- then they aren't serving their purpose. For if "holiness" is being more like God, and God is love, then love and compassion is the holiest thing we can do. 

From the Gray,

Pastor Ari

“There is no doubt about it: it was the myth of fingerprints. That’s what that old army base was for.” -Paul Simon, “The Myth of Fingerprints”

Reading Through Mark: Chapter 1 - Start with a Bang

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(During Lent 2023, I'm encouraging my congregation to join in reading through the Gospel of Mark. I'm posting occasional reflections and insights to guide reading.)

I've heard Mark's Gospel aptly described as the "concentrated" version of the Gospels: it's short, but action packed. The first chapter of the book is perhaps the best example of that. Depending on how one counts, there are 8 to 11 different episodes here, including four major plot points in the first twenty verses: John the Baptizer's ministry, the baptism of Jesus, the testing of Jesus, and the calling of the first disciples. By contrast, John's Gospel averages only one story per chapter.

Given the condensed pace, Mark doesn't have a lot of details the other Gospels include about names and places. The details Mark does include are often the words and actions of Jesus and how people respond to them. In this first chapter, we find Jesus mostly healing people and praying. He heals evil spirits, illness, and leprosy. At this time, most people respond with wonder and excitement. In the next chapter, we will see religious leaders start to challenge and question him; they are not excited about what Jesus is doing. 

We also see Jesus proclaiming that "God's Kingdom has come near" and people should "repent and believe the good news" because the "time has come." This phrase is a summary of what Jesus is doing throughout the Gospel, but it is one we can easily misunderstand because so many of the words -- Kingdom, believe, repent, gospel -- have taken on meanings that they didn't have when Mark wrote this. A better translation would be: "A new day is dawning because God is on the move. New life is here if you let go of the past and hold on to God's future."

As we continue through Mark's Gospel, it will be helpful to pay attention to what new things are happening around Jesus, how are they alternatives to life then and now, and what happens when people receive or reject them. Mark is telling a story that he thinks has changed the world and he wants it to change you, but unless you pay attention, you may not see it.

From the Gray,
Pastor Ari

Improper Amputations

"[Jesus said,] 'If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire'" (Mark 9:43).

Last Sunday, the assigned gospel lesson in the Revised Common Lectionary included this happy line along with orders to remove your feet and eyes if they cause you to sin, as well. Jesus is commanding his followers to remove sources of sin and evil in their lives, but as far as I know, no one has ever taken this passage literally and maimed themselves in the name of holiness. (Which is good!) 

But the more I thought about this passage, the more I think we carry that out in ways that may not be literal, but are still destructive and unhealthy. 

I was thinking about it while watching the news of our politicians belittling each other or calling each other unAmerican, hateful, or even evil. 

I was thinking about it in Bible study where people shared stories of being rejected or shamed by someone in the Church sometime in their past. 


I was thinking about it in conversations where people talk about unfriending loved ones or removing themselves from from a social circle because of a disagreement about politics or religion.

And I was thinking that far too often (especially in this divided age of history), we see the sources of sin and evil in our lives as other people. Jesus warns about the evils within ourselves, but instead, we attempt to amputate the people we think are problems. 

This is the very problem Jesus is addressing in this passage, which begins with his disciples saying, "There was someone healing in your name, but he wasn't one of us, so we told him to get lost." That person was different. He was a problem. We had to get rid of him. 

But Jesus says, "No." And then he talks about hands and feet and eyes as a way of saying, "Don't look for evil in other people without seeing it in yourself, too." Whenever we silence, ignore, cast off, or dehumanize others because of differences, we fail to be faithful to Jesus. Whenever we see people as bad instead of their actions or words, we are likely ignoring the faults within ourselves. 

Sadly, history is filled with examples of people attempting to cut off those they saw as a problem by silencing, alienating, or even killing them. We've seen it done to monarchies and peasants, Jews and Muslims, Catholics and Protestants, foreigners and minorities, political radicals and moderates, leftists and right wingers, communists and capitalists, and on and on... All of these efforts have involved hatred or violence and are rarely remembered as high points in human story. 

In this era of division, Jesus' words here and to love my enemies challenge me that we can disagree but not dehumanize, we can be different but not belittle.

And if we seek to reduce evil in the world, we may need to start by removing our hatred, our prejudice, and our own pointing fingers. 

From the Gray,
Pastor Ari

“Scars are souvenirs you never lose.” -Goo Goo Dolls, “Name”

Farming, Faith, Persistence, and Hope

"[Jesus] also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.'" -Mark 4:26-27

“We can do no great things — only small things with great love.” -Mother Teresa

I've been thinking a lot recently about what it means to be a Christian in our daily lives. How do we live in a chaotic world where so much seems to be out of our control?

So I was struck by the passage from Mark when I read it recently. Though the farmer scatters seed and tends the earth, there is still a mystery to growth. But she trusts that if she waters and cares for the field, there will be growth. There is no one grand gesture that creates growth, but sustained, patient, repeated attention to the seeds.

Jesus says that God's kingdom of grace and love acts in the same way. There is a mystery to the actions of God in this world that we cannot fully understand; we can simply trust that adding our labor will assist in the growth of new life. 

We are like farmers, tending the earth, sowing the seed, but not knowing exactly how it works, nor knowing which seeds will sprout and grow, but trusting that if we continue to seed the world with justice, tend the earth with love, and water it with generosity, a harvest of grace will come forth. 

Patience and persistence in small acts of love may not be sexy or exciting, but they are the tools of God's conquest.

From the Gray,
Pastor Ari

“Faith and guts to guide you; wander ‘til you find you.” -Jars of Clay, “Inland”