Tag Archives: Mark in Lent 2018

The harrowing business is a late addition trying to shape something of Saturday. Why was Jesus resurrected Sunday at the first light of dawn, except to make sunrise services popular with those who do not like all the Easter fuss? … Continue reading →

Details were remembered – thorn of crowns, sponge with vinegar the first meeting with Rufus and Alexander whom they would know later, the cry, a psalm confused with Elijah, and the torn curtain. They were picked out, like the final … Continue reading →

We are the cocks crowing – we clergy. It doesn’t really matter what we say in all the sermons we plan so long and shape so carefully to inspire, not to offend, and to illuminate the old stories. We need … Continue reading →

The testimony is sketchy at best, and the prosecution stretches for a capital charge. There’s the hanging judge, and the one who would rather not, forever remembered for the blood on his hands. We mostly remember the two men – … Continue reading →

I wonder whether the disciples were really sleeping, or whether they said after everything – “we must have been sleeping,” because this is the story that breaks and heals the heart of those of us whose children, whose friends, whose … Continue reading →

“Follow the man with a water jar,” Jesus said. That is a queer thing to say, in a country where women carry water. Ever since that time, we follow the outsider to find  a guest room for Jesus. “This is … Continue reading →

After Jesus said it … about the woman who broke the jar (you are what you break), and poured the ointment on his head (you are what you pour), and wasted her most precious thing (you are what you give), … Continue reading →

I am fairly sure Mark, whose congregation were survivors of utter and absolute destruction in Jerusalem, not a stone left on a stone, and everyone grieving someone, decided to bundle all the prophecies Jesus ever spoke about the violent ends … Continue reading →

There are questions. They ask about what is in their pockets because they want to keep it. They ask about what is in their future because they want to cheat it. One asks about commandments in hopes of being safe. … Continue reading →

So there is a parable about tenant farming and it always makes churches uncomfortable. God creates a world for love a fruitful place, well protected with a pit for pressing grapes and a tower for seeing the whole sky, and … Continue reading →