Mark 9:33-41

By Letitia McConnell

I actually found these passages really hard to write on! Seriously, I had been trying to come up with something that wasn’t just retelling the story or copying what another bible resource had said that sounded super awesome. I asked people’s thoughts but I still couldn’t grasp it even though I knew there were great points to be grasped!

In regards to the first passage I get that in our quests for personal success we sometimes, if not often, strive for status of the greatest among whoever or whatever we long to be greatest among, but that Jesus’ life perfectly models that of a servant. So why do we allow pride to tell us otherwise? Why is there so many people labelled as a minority (in this passage represented by the child) all around us that we are yet to embrace and be of service to?

In regards to the second passage I get that as Christians belonging to a particular community, denomination or no denomination, we can become more concerned about our own groups position than in helping others. Yet Jesus welcomes in people from everywhere and anywhere understanding that they share a common goal of building up the kingdom of God and differences should not interfere with this goal. So why do we have feelings of indifference rise in us at times when we feel threatened by others success in growing God’s kingdom just because they aren’t a part of what we are doing or they do things different to how we would have them done?

I realised why this was so hard to write on...because it’s so challenging and freaks me out! Yes we fall short of the glory of God. But it is so awesome to see when these things go right! When communities embrace and encourage in Jesus’ name. I found that In what was such a struggle to see into I’m now super challenged to follow Christ’s example, stoked that it’s not an unpathed road we are called to walk on, and thankful that we don’t go it alone, but with Christ and each other.

Psalm 107:1-3

Oh give thanks to the Lord , for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever!

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

whom he has redeemed from trouble

3 and gathered in from the lands,

from the east and from the west,

from the north and from the south.

John 3:14-21

By Jackie Olliver

In these verses Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, a highly respected religious teacher. He was probably an elderly man and belonged to a strict sect of the Pharisees. He was also a member of the Sanhedrin – the national religious council of the Jews – and must have known a thing or two.

However, something he did not know was who Jesus really was. So, he sought him out in the darkness. Nicodemus could have chosen to stay in the darkness like so many others do. Risky business that, as the ability to see clearly gradually diminishes, until even a chink of light becomes irritating – something to avoid. Anyway, he did what was right in coming to the Light of the World. Ultimately the conversation resulted in his conversion. Then he really did know a thing or two!

Thing One:

John 3:16

“God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

You cannot know thing one unless you know thing two…

Thing Two:

Jesus is the Son of God, the Saviour of the World. He is the source of all wisdom, truth and light.

John 3:21

‘Those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

An elderly, well to do gentleman sought Jesus ought in the dark. A child of God, rich beyond measure left in the light.

Mark 9:2-13

By Amy Whiting

There is this photo of me from my first birthday – I am sitting in my highchair and there is a huge duck cake in front of me...the cake is almost bigger than I am – and the photo is snapped right at my first reaction – arms flung out and face a mixture of horror/lack of comprehension/wonder.

It happens to us humans – moments where we have never seen/heard anything like it before and we react without thought!

I guess that is Peter right here (and several other times in the gospel record) – he is one of my favourite disciples because he so often speaks or acts without thinking...I love his genuineness – his authenticity – his trying to do the best in understanding a Jesus who constantly surprises him.

I love that in these moments Peter often says or does the “wrong”or “inappropriate”thing.
Yet, Jesus has him as one of his close circle – one of his three.

Us Western Christians sometimes struggle with this aspect of God – he does things that surprise us, that we can’t explain, that puzzle us. In a world where we like to figure things out this can be disconcerting. What do we do with that? How do we deal with a God that won’t be domesticated?

Or is our faith only based around the things we can concretely explain...and ignore the other bits?

Maybe the invitation today is not to be a follower who always has to understand or always respond “correctly”, maybe that’s not what Jesus is really looking for – maybe he is looking for followers who will embrace the challenge of the unexpected, the incomprehensible, who will puzzle and wrestle and not understand all of it...but still stay connected.

Mark 8:22-32

By Josh Taylor

This passage is rather unique in that Jesus heals the blind man in two stages.

At first the blind mans vision is fuzzy and to him people look like "walking trees".

Why does Mark mention that there are two stages? One biblical scholar suggests this:

-As the healing of the blind man requires two stages, we see also in the understanding of the disciples two stages:

1) That Jesus is the Messiah.

2) That Jesus must suffer.

(Ira Brent Driggers cited in Mark by William C. Placher)

Miracles such as this healing of the blind man that Jesus performs are signs of the kingdom: a breaking in of God's rule and reign which brings restoration and healing to this good yet broken creation.

The surprise is that this kingdom that Jesus announces and enacts is brought through Jesus' death on a cross. Mark continually points us toward the cross. Here in this passage we are reminded that like the disciples we don't always comprehend God's way of doing things: like the blind man our vision is blurred.

Lent is a time where we seek to receive clarity about what it meant for Jesus to suffer and die.

One understanding of what Jesus did on the cross (theological term= atonement) is that of his substitutionary death: The one who represents true humanity, was slain and presented before God on behalf of all humanity so that we may be reconciled to God.

A poem for clarity of vision:

Present, by Luci Shaw (taken from Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross: Contemporary Images of Atonement, edited by Mark D. Baker, page 160)

At light-speed, God-speed,

time collapses into now so that

we may see Christ’s wounds as

still bleeding, his torso,

that ready sponge, still

absorbing our vice, our toxic shame.

He is still being pierced

by every hateful nail

we hammer home. In this

Golgotha moment his body-

chalice for the dark tears

of the whole world-brims

spilling over as his lifeblood

drains. His dying into the earth

begins the great reversal-

as blood from a vein leaps

into the needle, so with his rising,

we surge into the light.

Mark 7:24-30

By Craig Wenmoth

Here we have a nice simple story, Jesus tries to have some quiet time away from the crowd, and a determined woman wants (needs) his help to heal her daughter, isn’t put off when challenged, and Jesus comes through for her.

The only complicated part of the story is when Jesus compares this woman, a Gentile, to a ‘dog’, and the Jews to ‘children’. Isn’t that insulting? Would you feel insulted if you were compared to a dog? Wow. What’s going on here? In the cultural belief of the time, this woman belonged to a group of people that Jews referred to as ‘dogs’ in a derogatory manner. What Jesus was saying here was that he had come to firstly feed ‘his people’ (the Jews) and bring them enlightenment. But He agreed with her belief that even the crumbs of bread that fell from the ‘children’s’ table (knowledge, teaching, understanding, etc etc) was of huge value and she wanted to ‘scoop up’ whatever she could, as she knew that everything that came from Jesus would be enough to bring healing to her daughter. And it was.

There are many surprises in this story:

· Surprise # 1. Jesus says something that sounds offensive to our ears (refers to her as a dog), and he says it to someone who is seeking his help.

· Surprise # 2 The Woman chose not to be offended.

· Surprise # 3 She understood what Jesus meant. She understood that she was not a Jew, that she was not one of the “children of God” but from a group of people that the Jews referred to as “dogs” . Most of Jesus’ listeners up to this point are always missing Jesus’ meaning. They didn’t get the implications with regard to the miraculous provision of bread. But this woman understood that Jesus gave out bread (good things). She was willing to stoop merely for the crumbs she knew she didn’t deserve. She appealed to his mercy, not his justice! Pride appeals to justice. Humility appeals to mercy! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the justice of God (however I’m sure that I will experience it at some point). I do want and need his mercy. So did this woman.

· Surprise # 4: She accepts what Jesus implies yet is persistent: (she is asking for something that she doesn’t deserve, and is out of order but this doesn’t stop her faith, or persistence.) She is not embittered. In fact she is the first person to speak to Jesus constructively about his mission. Jesus is talking about his mission, and the woman brings out clearly that what Jesus brings will bless everyone—Jew and Gentile. And what she was insisting is that the Gentile doesn’t need to wait. He was there now. All she wanted where the leftovers - the crumbs, the pieces that where tossed away, the pieces the ‘children’ wouldn’t miss at all.

· Surprise # 5: Jesus honours this Gentile’s faith and persistence

She was saying, "Lord, I know that I don’t deserve Your love; just give me a few scraps of blessings that have fallen from the children’s table, crumbs that they won’t miss." Jesus saw the woman’s faith and healed her daughter instantly.

Jesus will test you, but we take heart knowing he sent nobody away empty handed except for those who were so full of themselves they could receive nothing from him.

Jesus still offends the proud, and he still tests the humble. But the humble learn something from his tests.

There’s so much to learn from this. This woman was despised by the Jews, but she did not give up and pushed on to achieve what she knew was good, even though the religious people where being offensive. We now know that Jesus came and died for everyone, but at that time he was directing his teaching toward the Jews. This was God’s plan. She understood this and did not expect a place at the head of the table to get first pickings. She convinced Jesus that she was happy to be in his presence and receive whatever crumbs of his blessing that came her way. She was a humble person, but knew of Jesus’s greatness, and had faith in Him. And He honoured that.

How humble are we to go outside our comfort zones? How willing are we to wait (under the table) for Gods attention? How offended by these religious people would we have been in her situation? In what way may we be offending people today by our religious language and customs? How confident would we be to ‘discuss’ our wishes with Jesus, and not give up at the first sign of a barrier?

Prayer: Lord, I can identify with this woman. I have sought my own ways, limited myself to my own understanding, have done my own thing, and come before you guilty. While I don’t deserve it, I thank you so much for your mercy. You have given me the bread of life, not just the crumbs off the table. Thank you that I can bring my needs and talk to you about them. Thank you that you love me. I am truly humbled by the wonder of your grace.

Mark 7:24-30

By Amber Long

So is it just me or does this all sound waaaayyyyy too familiar? The Pharisees were out to catch Jesus and The Disciples. If you read this chapter from the start, you can see the Disciples ate without washing their hands. Shock horror! They are clearly breaking the most sacred of laws and eating before they had been through a ceremonious hand-washing. This involved the washing of the person and plates and vessels to be used in the meal. I don’t know much about these ceremonies but I can imagine the Pharisees had them down to a fine art. I’m sure they were long, drawn-out, painful processes designed to make them look extra holy. And for the Pharisees that’s all that counted. What it looked like.

This seems all too familiar for me. I wish I could say that this was a situation unique to the time of the Pharisees. Its not. People are very good at putting other people down to make themselves look and feel better. We have all been in the firing line of some nasty comment, a snide remark, a cutting raise of the eyebrow, a blatant ignore. These things can be even more prolific in the church. We can be very quick to judge each other. Its too easy to put on our Sunday mask of “Good is great, brother! Lovely to see you Sister”. We are an odd group of people that are together in unique setting – our faith. But that’s also what unites us. Our faith. Our common ground. When we look at our CNLC values, we have authenticity at the very start. If we make the deliberate choice to be authentic in our faith, our faults will become blindingly obvious. But so will our support crew. We will be in the best of company – a God who can enable us to become a whole person and a family who can help us along our way.

God isn’t interested in what we look like or how we compare to the people around us. He is interested in our hearts. Look again at verse 21 - For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come

Let’s take our eyes of each other’s faults, look inside at our own faults and look to God who can fix our faults.