In art, the gospel of Mark is often represented as a lion. It is fast and always seems to be rushing. Mark uses the term “immediately” a lot and seems to be moving us quickly along a road. And that road leads to the last week of Christ’s life. One third of the book is dedicated to that single week. That week must have been important to Peter. Why Peter? Because it’s probably from his sermons in Rome that Mark gets his account.
And it’s from this account that we see Jesus heading out of Nazareth, escaping because he dared to be something more than his hometown thought he should be. It’s right after this that Christ sends out his twelve disciples. He basically sends them out with nothing but a staff and a pair of sandals. Well, not entire true. Christ gave them his authority. He gave them the power to perform these Messianic signs in order to show the culture the present Messiah. Someone they had never met before.
In a society that has a rooted faith, we are to walk by faith and not by sight. Those who see and believe are blessed but how much more so those who do not see and believe. Even Christ would stop giving signs. We are to trust in God, no demand miracles. And we are not asked to have blind faith. Neither were the disciples. They had Christ’s example. Now not everything that is said in the Bible is said to us and we should be careful when applying a verse to ourselves. But I do believe that this idea is for the disciples then and for the Church now. We are to rely on the faith of what has come before, heed the call to righteousness of the moment, and cling to the hope of what will come.
It must have been quite unnerving for the 12 when Jesus started listing off the things they couldn’t bring with them. Don’t take food or money or a bag or an extra tunic. It think what he was trying to get them to understand was that they would not be able to plan for every situation they would face. So often we are paralyzed by continual preparation. We never think we are quite ready enough so we never venture out. But we can’t prepare for every situation, problem or contingency either. We aren’t meant to.
Not only did Christ send them out with his power, he sent them out with each other. They didn’t have to go through this alone. In fact, they were never meant to do it by themselves. We aren’t supposed to either. We are the Church and are meant to live this life out together. We are going to encounter places and people that are accepting of the message and people and places that reject it. Not everything can be conformed to the culture or the desires of the people in it. This is why we do this together.
And it’s from this account that we see Jesus heading out of Nazareth, escaping because he dared to be something more than his hometown thought he should be. It’s right after this that Christ sends out his twelve disciples. He basically sends them out with nothing but a staff and a pair of sandals. Well, not entire true. Christ gave them his authority. He gave them the power to perform these Messianic signs in order to show the culture the present Messiah. Someone they had never met before.
In a society that has a rooted faith, we are to walk by faith and not by sight. Those who see and believe are blessed but how much more so those who do not see and believe. Even Christ would stop giving signs. We are to trust in God, no demand miracles. And we are not asked to have blind faith. Neither were the disciples. They had Christ’s example. Now not everything that is said in the Bible is said to us and we should be careful when applying a verse to ourselves. But I do believe that this idea is for the disciples then and for the Church now. We are to rely on the faith of what has come before, heed the call to righteousness of the moment, and cling to the hope of what will come.
It must have been quite unnerving for the 12 when Jesus started listing off the things they couldn’t bring with them. Don’t take food or money or a bag or an extra tunic. It think what he was trying to get them to understand was that they would not be able to plan for every situation they would face. So often we are paralyzed by continual preparation. We never think we are quite ready enough so we never venture out. But we can’t prepare for every situation, problem or contingency either. We aren’t meant to.
Not only did Christ send them out with his power, he sent them out with each other. They didn’t have to go through this alone. In fact, they were never meant to do it by themselves. We aren’t supposed to either. We are the Church and are meant to live this life out together. We are going to encounter places and people that are accepting of the message and people and places that reject it. Not everything can be conformed to the culture or the desires of the people in it. This is why we do this together.