Sunday 20 September 2009

#mce_temp_url#Background

This passage begins with Jesus rushing through Galilee, sofocused on teaching his disciples that he doesn't want to stop incase he is interrupted by followers. He repeats to the disciplesthat the Son of Man will be betrayed, killed and will rise againafter three days (see Mark 8:31). Sincehis disciple Peter acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah (we readthis in Mark8:27-29), Jesus seems to have been intent on getting thismessage across.

So, why did he keep on at this? Were the disciples a bit slow offthe mark? Did Jesus think they were ignoring his key teachingpoint? Or perhaps they were struggling to get their heads aroundthe fact that their Messiah was not going to be the one to usher ina new political or military regime? Perhaps he wasn't turning outto be the leader they had hoped he might be?

John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, put it like this:"They [the disciples] did not understand how to reconcile the deathof our Saviour with their notions of his temporal kingdom."

The disciples' reaction to this was to argue about who was top dog- 'the greatest' - among the 12 of them. In response, Jesusexplains the upside-down nature of the kingdom, where "the firstmust be last of all and servant of all". Which is perhaps not quitethe end result you might have been hoping for when you had leftbehind your job, community and town in order to travel, pennilessand property-less, with the man who you believed to be the anointedleader of the Jewish nation (messiah means 'anointed one'). Thiswas another jolt to the disciples' expectations and theirpreconceived ideas about status, worth and identity.

Verses 36 and 37 see Jesus giving a child a hug and explaining thatwhoever welcomes "one of these" welcomes Jesus himself and the onewho sent him (meaning God). It is helpful to remember that, duringthis period, both children and servants were without status. So, indoing this, Jesus communicates that our attitude to those who aremarginalised says something particular about our attitude towardshim and his father.

To Ponder

This passage got me thinking about the differencebetween the Jesus I read about and the Jesus I'd like him to be,the Jesus of my wishes, if you like. Have you ever found thatJesus' justice or love, for example, challenges your expectationsand preconceptions? In what ways?

How open and welcoming are you towards people whowe label as 'worthless'?