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May 25th, 2024

5/25/2024

This Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost, and for many centuries the theme of this Sunday has been ‘Holy Trinity’. The focus has been the awesome situation of there being God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three persons, and yet one God. The Gospel reading fits very well into this amazing doctrine by having a text from the Gospel according to John [3:1-17], where Jesus eventually gets Nicodemus to confess (in John 3:9), ‘How can these things be?’

The writings of this website are going through the Gospel according to Mark, and it is being done in the way in which the writer has laid it out. In this particular installment we are continuing with what is usually called chapter eleven, and we will actually continue on into chapter twelve as well. The chapter divisions, like the history of Trinity Sunday, have been around for a long time, and they are helpful for pointing out some important things, but they are not so helpful in providing a structure for the various sections.

In the text below, Jesus is in Jerusalem for his last few days before his death. And the tension is heightening. The words in bold print are called ‘historical presents’, and they exist when a type of past-tense verb is expected, but instead a present tense is given. In the text below, it is usually happening when Jesus is around his enemies. This emphasis on a conflict fits well with the living creature of this gospel account being the lion—a fighter, and these historical presents will continue to happen for a few more verses after the text that is below, and then they will essentially disappear (while Jesus does a lot of talking) until very close to Jesus’ arrest.

Please notice that Jesus does not resolve the conflict that shows itself in his opponents’ question by him giving them another question. (And, of course, God the Father did not, at that moment, say in a big booming voice, “BY MY AUTHORITY!!!’) Asking difficult questions is usually not the best way to make peace with others. Jesus is ultimately battling against sin. And you could also say that, with this battle, he is making peace between us and God.

In last week’s section, it was the ‘archpriests and the scribes’ who were trying to destroy him (see 11:18). Now, in this section, you might notice that another group has been added to the list. The following is a somewhat-literal translation of the text [Mark 11:27-12:12; and you may find it helpful to look other translations or a study bible to aid in your understanding of the text]:

And they come again into Jerusalem, and in the temple, walking around, he, they come toward him, the archpriests and the scribes and the presbyters, and they were saying to him, “In what authority, these things, are you doing? Or who, to you, gave the authority, this, that these things you may do?”

Now the Jesus said to them, “I will question you one word, and answer me, and I will tell you in what authority, these things, I am doing: The baptism of the John, from heaven was it, or from men? Answer me.”

And they were dialoguing toward themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven’, he will say, ‘On account of what, therefore, did you not believe him?’ But on the contrary, we may say, ‘From men…,’ they were fearing the crowd. For all were having the John, being that a prophet he was. And having answered, the Jesus, they say, “Not we know.”

And the Jesus, he says to them, “Neither I, myself, am saying to you in what authority, these things I am doing.”

And he began to them, in parables, to speak: A vineyard, a man planted, and he put around, a fence, and he dug a winepress, and he built a tower, and he gave out it, to farmers, and he went away. And he sent toward the farmers at the time, a slave, that from the farmers he might receive from the fruits of the vineyard; and having taken him, they beat, and they sent empty. And again, he sent toward them another slave. And that one they wounded in the head, and they dishonored. And another he sent. And that one they killed, and many others, some, on the one hand, beating, others, on the other hand, killing. Still one he had, a son, loved. He sent him, last, toward them, saying, ‘They will reverence the son of me.’ Now those, the farmers toward themselves, they said, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and ours, it will be, the inheritance.’ And having taken, they killed him, and they threw out him, outside the vineyard. What, therefore, will he do, the lord of the vineyard? He will come, and he will destroy the farmers, and he will give the vineyard to others. Not the scripture, this, did you read? ‘A stone which they rejected, the ones building; this became into head of corner; from Lord became this, and it is marvelous in eyes of us’?”

And they were seeking him, to seize, and they feared the crowd, for they knew that, toward them, the parable he said. And having left him, they came away.

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May 18th, 2024

5/18/2024

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This Sunday is Pentecost, the start of the Pentecost season. The Gospel reading is John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15. And the writings of this website are going through the Gospel according to Mark, in the way in which the author laid it out. We are currently beginning what is usually called chapter eleven. And the following could be called a somewhat-literal translation of the text [Mark 11:1-26; it may be helpful to look other translations or a study bible to aid in the understanding]:

And when they draw near into Jerusalem, into Bethphage and Bethany, toward the Mount of the Olives, he sends out two of the disciples of him, and he says to them, “Go away into the village, the opposite of you, and immediately entering into it, you will find a colt, having been tied, upon which no one, not yet of men, he sat; loosen it and bring. And if anyone to you he says, 'Why are you doing this?' say: 'The Lord of it, need, he has.' And immediately, it he sends, again here."

And they came away, and they found a colt, having been tied toward a door, outside upon the open street, and they loosen it. And some of the ones there, standing, they were saying to them, “Why are you doing, loosening the colt?” Now the ones said to them as he said, the Jesus; and they allowed them. And they bring the colt toward the Jesus, and they throw upon it the garments of them, and he sat upon it.

And many, the garments of them, they spread into the way, now others, leafy branches, having cut from the fields. And the ones going before and the ones following, they were screaming, “Hosanna; blessed the one coming in name of Lord; having been blessed, the coming kingdom of the father of us, of David; hosanna in the highest.” And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple, and having looked around at everything, late already being the hour, he came out into Bethany with the twelve.

And in the next day, having come out, they, from Bethany, he hungered. And having seen a fig tree from far away, having leaves, he came, if perhaps anything he will find it in it, and having come upon it, nothing he found, if not leaves; for the time, not it was of figs. And having answered, he said to it, “No longer into the age, from you, no one, fruit may eat.” And they were hearing, the disciples of him.

And they come into Jerusalem. And having entered into the temple, he began to throw out the ones selling and the ones buying in the temple, and the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of the ones selling the pigeons, he overturned, and not did he allow that anyone should carry through a vessel through the temple, and he was teaching, and he was saying to them, “It has, has it not been written that the house of the house of me, a house of prayer, it will be called for all the nations? Now you, yourselves, have made it a cave of robbers.”

And they heard, the archpriests and the scribes, and they were seeking how, him, they might destroy; for they were fearing him, for all the crowd was struck out upon the teaching of him. And when, late, it became, they were going out, out of the city.

And going by, early, they saw the fig tree, having withered up from roots. And having remembered, the Peter, he says to him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered up.”

And having answered, the Jesus, he says to them, “Have faith of God. Amen, I am saying to you that whoever says to the mountain, this, ‘Be lifted and be thrown into the sea,’ and not doubts in the heart of him, but on the contrary, he believes that what he says happens, it will be to him. On account of this I am saying to you, all things which you pray and you ask, believe that you received, and it will be to you. And when you stand praying, forgive if anything you have against anyone, that also the Father of you, the one in the heavens, may forgive you, the trespasses of you.”

The text was a bit longer than usual, to be able to get the two parts of the event surrounding the fig tree. In much the same way, the coming of Jesus the first time is connected to his coming the second time. Both events are extremely far away in our terms, but they are extremely close from God’s perspective.

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May 11th, 2024

5/11/2024

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This Sunday is ‘The Seventh Sunday of Easter’, and next week starts the Pentecost season. The Gospel reading for this week is John 17:11b-19 (the middle portion of what is usually called Jesus’ high priestly prayer. And with these writings we continue through the middle of the Gospel according to Mark), and with this particular writing, we are finishing up what could be called the middle portion of the Gospel according to Mark, and we are getting close to Jesus’ end—since we are getting EXTREMELY close to Jerusalem. In these writings we are at the point that is usually called chapter ten.

The following could be called a somewhat-literal translation of the text [Mark 10:32-52; it is given in this way to help the reader see what is being emphasized in the text. In general, the sooner the word, the more emphasis that it has; an emphasis is also given with the historical presents—when a verb is usually in a past tense, but it appears in this situation in the present—these verbs will appear in bold print; and to get an even better perspective, studying other translations or a study bible may be also helpful]:

Now they were in the way, going up into Jerusalem, and he was going before them, the Jesus, and they were amazed; now the ones following, they were afraid, and having taken aside, again, the twelve, he began, them, to tell, the things being about, to him, to happen, “Look, we are going up into Jerusalem, and the Son of the Man will be handed over to the archpriests and to the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and they will hand over him to the nations, and they will mock him, and they will spit at him, and they will whip him, and they will kill, and after three days, he will rise back up.”

And they approach him, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, saying to him, “Teacher, we want that, whatever we may ask you, you would do for us.”

Now the one said to them, “What do you want me, I should do for you?”

Now the ones said to him, “Give to us that one of you, from right, and one from left, we may sit in the glory of you.”

Now the Jesus said to them, “Not you do know what you are asking. Can you, to drink the cup, which I, myself, am drinking, or the baptism which I, myself, am baptized, to be baptized?”

Now the ones said to him, “We can.”

Now the Jesus said to them, “The cup which I, myself, am drinking, you will drink, and the baptism which I, myself, am baptized, you will be baptized; now to sit from right of me or from left, not it is mine to give, but on the contrary, for whom it has been prepared.”

And, having heard, the ten, they began to be angry about James and John. And having called to himself them, the Jesus, he says to them, “You know that the ones, thinking to rule the nations, they lord over them, and the great ones of them exercise authority over them. Now not so, it is in you; but on the contrary, whoever wants, great, to become in you, he will be, of you, a servant; and whoever wants, in you, to be first, he will be, of all, slave; for even the Son of the Man, not he came to be served, but on the contrary, to serve and to give the life of him, a ransom instead of many.”

And they come into Jericho. And going out, he, from Jericho, and the disciples of him, and a crowd, sufficient; the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, he was sitting by the way. And having heard that Jesus, the Nazarene it is, he began to scream and to say, “Son of David, Jesus, pity me.” And they were rebuking him, many, that he should be quiet. Now the one, much more he was screaming, “Son of David, pity me.”

And having stood, the Jesus said, “Call him.”

And they call the blind man, saying to him, “Courage; rise; he is calling you.”

Now the one, having thrown away the garment of him, having leaped up, he came toward the Jesus. And having answered him, the Jesus said, “What for you, do you want I do?”

Now the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, that I may see again.”

And the Jesus said to him, “Go, the faith of you has saved you.” And immediately he saw again, and he was following him in the way.

There are a couple of the verbs in bold print that have to do with movement, and that is not surprising since Jesus is very close to his infamous entry into Jerusalem. What is a bit surprising is that the majority of the verbs have more than one person doing the action, and the only one that has Jesus doing the action, in that verb he is talking to his disciples, and what he is doing is settling a problem amongst his followers. (And hopefully you noted at the beginning of the section that some were amazed and the followers were afraid; and although those reactions are different, they are both not very positive.) All of these issues, actions, and emotions certainly cannot be compared to Jesus’ action of going on to the cross for ALL—for all people, for all sin, for all time.

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May 4th, 2024

5/4/2024

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This Sunday’s title is ‘The Sixth Sunday of Easter’, and this Sunday’s Gospel reading (for the three-year series) continues where we left off last Sunday [with this Sunday’s text being John 15:9-17]. And with these writings we are also continuing our walk through the Gospel according to Mark, where we left off with the last writing (not at verse 17 of chapter ten as was wrongfully indicated in last week’s submission, but at verse 16).

With this sixth Sunday of Easter, we are nearing the Ascension of Our Lord and the end of the Easter season; but, in a way, it does not end, since every Sunday is a small Easter celebration. And in this so-called tenth chapter of this Gospel account, we are definitely past the midpoint, and there are starting to appear some hints that we are coming close to the end. Jesus told the disciples what was ahead of him with his death and resurrection.

On the Mount of Transfiguration, that could definitely be called a highpoint. And when Jesus was getting close to Jerusalem, that was also a significant point. And the historical presents [where a past-tense verb is expected, but a present tense is given] were significantly different at those times. But now we are getting back to a much more common word, that of the verb ‘to say’.

For the Son of God to say something at any time is still significant. And, as an historical present, the importance of Jesus’ word continues even today. This has to do with his kingdom and not ours.

This Jesus-centeredness may be helpful when a Christian begins to think that God is not involved enough in the things that go on within this sinful world. Jesus’ two-thousand-year-old words continue to say important things that matter today. It could be said that the three sections below that follow the historical presents take the person from the Law to the Gospel, from the active to the passive, from self to Savior.

What follows is the next step in our trip through this gospel account, a somewhat-literal translation of Mark 10:17-31; and the words in bold print are the historical presents within the text (and you may also wish to look at what other translations say or perhaps a study bible to examine the text more carefully):

And going out, he, into a way, having run toward, one, and having knelt to him, he was questioning him, “Teacher, good, what may I do that life eternal, I may inherit?”

Now the Jesus said to him, “Why me, you say good? No one good, if not one, the God. The commandments you know: Not murder; Not commit adultery; not steal; not pseudo-witness; not deprive; honor the father of you and the mother.”

Now the one responded to him, “Teacher, these things, all, I have guarded from youth of me.”

Now the Jesus, having looked at him, he loved him, and he said to him, “One, you, is lacking; go, what you have, sell and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Now the one, having become gloomy upon the word, he went away, being sad, for he was having possessions, many.

And having looked around, the Jesus, he says to the disciples of him, “How difficult, the ones, the riches having, into the kingdom of the God they will enter.” Now the disciples were amazed upon the words of him. Now the Jesus, again, having answered, he says to them, “Children, how difficult it is, into the kingdom of the God, to enter into; easier it is, a camel, through the eye of the needle, to come through, than a rich man, into the kingdom of the God to enter.”

Now the ones, exceedingly, they were pounded out, saying toward themselves, “And who is able to be saved?”

Having looked at them, the Jesus, he says: “With men, impossible; but on the contrary, not with the God; for all things, possible, with the God.”

He began to say, the Peter, to him, “Look, we, ourselves, have left all things, and we have followed you.”

The Jesus responded: “Amen, I am saying to you, no one there is, who left a house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for the sake of me and for the sake of the Gospel, if not he receives a hundredfold presently in the time, this, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, with persecutions, and in the age, the coming, life eternal. Now many will be first, last, and the last, first.”

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