November 02nd, 2024

On the previous Sunday, the Reformation was celebrated. And on this Sunday, All Saints Day is celebrated. At many points in the church year, the focus can turn toward one saint, usually on the day of that person’s death. On this special Sunday, ALL saints are the focus. At various times and for various reasons, one particular saint, whether recent or ancient, may stand out in the mind of a Christian. But I do not consider it out of place to say that the saint, given that the person is in a MUCH better place, that person would much rather have our main focus be on the One who made the ETERNAL difference in his or her life.

I believe that is why the Gospel Reading for this Sunday is Matthew 5:1-12. Within that text, there is the importance of Jesus’ words, and especially his words of blessing. Jesus in this text uses the word ‘blessed’ many times. Jesus makes a difference with both his words and his actions, as is seen by the fact that he is both fully God and fully man, and that, most importantly, he died on the cross for all sin.

Throughout this past church year, we have been going through the Gospel according to Mark, and that has also been the focus of these website writings. We recently went through that entire account, as it was laid out by the writer, and now we are going back to look at some of the more unique things of that account, particularly the historical presents (when a past-tense verb should be expected, but a present-tense verb appears in the text). We have also been connecting the historical presents to the living creature of the Lord’s throne that has been frequently connected to the Gospel according to Mark, the lion.

Certainly within the Gospel according to John, there are a LOT of historical presents. With the connection of that Gospel account to the living creature of the eagle, there are a lot of things that are seen, and the perspective is significant. Within that Gospel account, there is a strong reference to the present time near the end of that account, near the resurrection appearances. These are the words of John 20:31, and these words could not be clearer: “Now these things have been written that YOU may believe that the Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the God, and that, believing, life you have in the name of Him.” (The translation is somewhat literal; and perhaps you noticed that the word “life” is early in that part of the sentence; and that makes it even more emphatic.)

The largest concentration of historical presents within the Gospel according to Mark comes at an interesting time. It comes at the time of a resurrection from the dead. Now it is not Jesus’ resurrection that has the connection. You may remember that there is not much of a resurrection account within this Gospel account. At the very end of the account, the women show up at the empty tomb, and the angel assures them that Jesus rose from the dead as he promised. And the women leave the tomb afraid, not telling anyone. How could such an end occur?

The words make a difference. Words continue to make a significant difference. The angel assures the women that they will see Jesus, JUST AS HE SAID, just as he promised. Jesus said some words, and those words were true.

The largest and most frequent concentration of historical presents in the Gospel according to Mark is when Jesus is about to raise the daughter of the arch-synagogue ruler from the dead. Here they are, all the historical presents from Mark 5:38-41 (with the historical presents themselves in capital letters):

THEY COME into the house of the arch-synagogue….
HE BEHOLDS an uproar….
Having entered, HE SAYS to them, “Why an uproar…?”
Now he, himself, throwing out [notice that the action of being thrown out comes up again] all, HE TAKES ALONG the father of the child….
HE GOES INTO where she was, the child….
HE SAYS to her….

You might have noticed the variety of verbs that occur as well. Jesus comes—with others, and he also goes. He says something to those who were alive. And he says something to the one who was dead. He both speaks and does some actions, much like a lion would do.

God had some things to say to people a long time ago. And those things still make a BIG difference. And, one day in the future, God will have some important things to say again. And those will make an ETERNAL difference.