tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post8362520083748809775..comments2024-03-28T02:24:59.003-07:00Comments on Left Behind and Loving It: Edgy Conversations of a Vulnerable ChristD. Mark Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-15631291247591384462021-09-19T06:46:32.983-07:002021-09-19T06:46:32.983-07:00Well said, Russell.
Thanks,
MDWell said, Russell. <br />Thanks,<br />MDD. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-65732268468016305272021-09-19T04:35:33.977-07:002021-09-19T04:35:33.977-07:00Mark, your commentary distinguishing disciples as ...Mark, your commentary distinguishing disciples as participants rather than spectators in the Reign of God is timely. I think this is the "new" divide in the faith. Popular praise worship settles nicely in the spectator category and decries the social justice reflections of participant disciples. As COVID races through schools and children fill ICUs, participants and spectators face off over masks. The child Jesus places before us now is on a ventilator. <br /><br />No lack of suffering and betrayal by human hands in this story. The twelve (ie the whole church) is summoned by Jesus to welcome the child - vulnerability. In the current national conversation over freedom to chose we have lost the gospel's commitment to mutual vulnerability - which is the one truly great aspect of humanity.<br />Pr. Russell Meyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02031730484296901616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-88280885252984962842021-09-16T12:33:01.802-07:002021-09-16T12:33:01.802-07:00Those are great questions, MK. Let's find out ...Those are great questions, MK. Let's find out as we journey with the one true guide.D. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-16183943440444745232021-09-16T06:31:51.487-07:002021-09-16T06:31:51.487-07:00I resonate with your "edgy" reading of t...I resonate with your "edgy" reading of this text. God was doing something big then in a way that was turning their understanding upside down, and I think that we are in the midst of great change now, too. What will the church look like after we get through all of this? (Will we ever be through all of this?)mkrabbehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02963703709239200941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-80834241993029916002021-09-14T06:04:47.254-07:002021-09-14T06:04:47.254-07:00Hi Bex. It certainly fits the gospel to see follow...Hi Bex. It certainly fits the gospel to see followers of Jesus facing trials and obstacles. The reign of Nero is an early dating, prior to the actual destruction of the temple, but perhaps not before people could see Nero's response to the Jewish rebellion moving in that direction. It's been a long discussion over whether Mark's gospel was written before, during, or after the destruction of the temple. However one feels about that question, the stories would have been cultivated, remembered, and passed along orally during Nero's regime. <br />MDD. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-64548749359021561862021-09-13T12:50:10.070-07:002021-09-13T12:50:10.070-07:00One way to look at the gospel of Mark, according t...One way to look at the gospel of Mark, according to Alexander Shaia, is "how do you face great trial and obstacles through the life and resurrection of Jesus?" He describes Mark being written during Nero's persecution of Jewish-Christians, starting with John the Baptist's story that shows "they are probably not going to get out of this alive" and that men, women and children will suffer greatly. Mark uses Ps. 22 (the prayer prayed by devout Jews on their death-beds) that starts with anguish and ends in praise and resurrection. This is what true disciples must accept and practice.Bexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16498610092741343727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-79983534508557845802018-09-28T14:33:17.279-07:002018-09-28T14:33:17.279-07:00Thanks, Caryn. Always good to hear from you.
MDThanks, Caryn. Always good to hear from you.<br />MDD. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-18397594642788837502018-09-28T14:32:51.320-07:002018-09-28T14:32:51.320-07:00Great observation, Russell. Thank you.Great observation, Russell. Thank you.D. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-66403281077691617692018-09-23T09:25:00.914-07:002018-09-23T09:25:00.914-07:00You said so many helpful things that I have more i...You said so many helpful things that I have more in here highlighted than not! Your idea about the disciples discussing "greatness" is intriguing. Thanks,always,for your translations and commentary.CarynWhttps://carynw.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-40701165639695535112018-09-23T04:21:37.742-07:002018-09-23T04:21:37.742-07:00Suffering is not included in the second teaching, ...Suffering is not included in the second teaching, nor the cross. It's as though Jesus senses the crowd will kill him, that he will be handed over to humanity who in a fit of rage will reject his way. Yet the son of man will rise again. So the option before the disciples is the risen son man or the conquering messiah. It seems the child represents that rising, welcoming the child welcomes the resurrection. I appreciate the focus on greatness rather the ego of the disciples (which is such an Enlightenment reading). Thanks! Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09415487073002839607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-81427405519308142602018-09-22T06:24:06.365-07:002018-09-22T06:24:06.365-07:00William Placher published a book, Narratives of a ...William Placher published a book, Narratives of a Vulnerable God, which I have found incredibly helpful. Your title would be a nice mashup between Placher's book and Jonathan Edwards' famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Nice. D. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-37448993321486679792018-09-20T12:31:09.503-07:002018-09-20T12:31:09.503-07:00I wonder where this sermon title might lead: Disci...I wonder where this sermon title might lead: Disciples in the hands of a vulnerable God?Dr. Kayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00593593481767268078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-24571582855054420292015-09-20T08:06:28.577-07:002015-09-20T08:06:28.577-07:00'Son of Man' has a different take in Ezeki...'Son of Man' has a different take in Ezekiel vs. Daniel. The Daniel read is the 'coming in the clouds with glory' while Ezekiel seems more the one hostile to and attacked by the religious leadership. How do you read this?Bill Schlesingerhttp://www.pvida.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-89493826034441675582012-09-22T19:32:35.427-07:002012-09-22T19:32:35.427-07:00Great, great work. Edgy if you mean the Christ is ...Great, great work. Edgy if you mean the Christ is edgy. Not if you mean that you are pushing the interpretive boundary. You have definitely hit the middle of this text.<br /><br />Thank you for your work, tonight and every week.P Shannon Mullennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-89167270437133139632012-09-22T13:10:10.519-07:002012-09-22T13:10:10.519-07:00I was referring to the Jewish Annotated New Testam...I was referring to the Jewish Annotated New Testament, and its comment on this passage adds to the edginess. It ties the child reference to the servant reference in vs. 35. The commentary indicates that the child does not represent innocence (as we tend to interpret it) but a secondary status as a lesser human, saying "Symbolically, accepting a child 'in my name', as a true human representative, is analogous to receiving Jesus as sent from God." This would tend to emphasize the radical idea of servant to those who think they are somehow set apart for greater things. Barbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15049672440399034641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-9877296229844209652012-09-20T08:44:50.876-07:002012-09-20T08:44:50.876-07:00Deirdre,
I too found the notion of embracing or h...Deirdre, <br />I too found the notion of embracing or holding to be very endearing and gentle terms, quite different from what I feel in the 'handed over to human hands' and 'kill' terms. This story has words that are tactile in both the gentle and violent senses.<br />Thanks for the note.Marknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-24501067078314487702012-09-20T08:42:45.298-07:002012-09-20T08:42:45.298-07:00I should have been clearer. The human hands that w...I should have been clearer. The human hands that will kill Jesus are signified by an active verb, "they will kill him," with 'human hands' as the antecedent of the implied agent. That part does not seem ambiguous at all, like the agency of the passive and middle voices. Marknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-44555732940336015322012-09-20T08:40:09.459-07:002012-09-20T08:40:09.459-07:00Kirsten, the passive verbs in v.31 are remarkable....Kirsten, the passive verbs in v.31 are remarkable. <br />First, "is being handed over" παραδίδοται is a key verb in the gospels, often connected with death (either Jesus, John the Baptist, or disciples in the future.) Then, the verb "will be raised" ἀναστήσεται is in the middle voice, since the dead cannot raise themselves (so far as I know.) <br />The actual agent of who will hand the Son of Man over is not given. Is it the religious leadership in Jerusalem who will hand Jesus over? Is it God? Is it both? <br />Likewise, who will raise? We assume that one is God, since we don't think of others as capable of raising the dead, generally. <br />Likewise, it is the human hands that will kill Jesus. <br />Theologically, I've always wondered if the gospel writers are trying to stake out a middle position - It is God's plan (per the prayer in Mk.14) that Jesus takes the road that leads to suffering, death, and rising. But, that does not exclude both the agency and responsibility of those who reject and kill. <br />I like the possibilities of thinking both thoughts simultaneously. Marknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-47469825422691704252012-09-20T08:16:29.390-07:002012-09-20T08:16:29.390-07:00These are very helpful notes on the gospel for thi...These are very helpful notes on the gospel for this coming Sunday. Thank you. I am struck by the tactile elements of the passage--handed into human hands--taking the child into his arms--and the implications of flesh and vulnerability here and elsewhere in the gospel. Deirdrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02106311465508277283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-64826678378642705022012-09-19T03:27:04.407-07:002012-09-19T03:27:04.407-07:00Thanks, Sarah. Thanks, Sarah. Marknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-71944616372760909472012-09-18T17:46:07.844-07:002012-09-18T17:46:07.844-07:00I have to tell you I think this is very edgy! Spe...I have to tell you I think this is very edgy! Specially in light of what preceded in lieu of Jesus taking Peter aside, and putting his understanding of what the Messiah is on its head. As well, the idea that one must deny oneself, is about the way we think -- not from our perspective -- but God's!!!!! That's the challenge of being a disciple! Bless you!!! It's great!!!Sarahnoreply@blogger.com