Daily Office

Proper 9, Saturday

Today's Readings:

• 1 Samuel 17:31-49 -- Link to NRSV Text
• Acts 11:1-18 -- Link to NRSV Text
• Mark 1:14-28 -- Link to NRSV Text

David volunteers to fight Goliath. Saul gives him his armor, but it is so bulky that David cannot move. Goliath laughs at the unarmored boy who challenges him. David claims that he will kill Goliath and the world will see that the Lord does not save by the sword nor the spear. David hits Goliath on the head with a stone.
Peter recounts his recent activites to the apostles in Jerusalem. They see the light, as it were, and accept the fact that the gentiles have been given redemption. (Interesting side note. Tradition holds that Peter was the first Pope, the first ultimate authority after Jesus, but here Peter must account for himself to the rest of the group. This community is goverened by a group of men, and maybe women.)
After John is arrested, Jesus takes up the mission of proclaiming the good news. He calls Simon and Andrew (brothers) and James and John (sons of Zebedee) to follow him. IN Capernaum, a man posessed by a demon recognized Jesus and calls him the son of God, but Jesus orders the man to keep silent. The unclean spirit leaves him.
There is a casualness in the mention of John's arrest. Again, the audience Mark was writing to knew this stuff already, they knew the context of the story. Jesus takes up the message of John, that baptism and repentance leads to forgiveness. To mix a metaphor, it appears that Jesus took up John's cross, not his own. Jesus has been introduced to his divinity, but is still uncomfortable with it. Did Jesus consider this a compromise with God? "Okay, Lord, Abba, I won't save Israel, because I am just a carpenter, but I will preach John's truth for him."
On the flip side, why would four men drop everything to follow Jesus if they didn't see in Jesus some sort of divinity. Was the actual conversation on the beach as simple as Mark makes it? I can't imagine it that way, but if Simon, Andrew, James, and John all knew Jesus, it would make this a less difficult idea to swallow.
Right now, I am reading Jesus' journey and mission as one of self discovery.

posted by Josh English @ 11:28 AM