Lectionary 317 and 318, Jan 24, 25

Scripture: Lectionary 317. Hebrews 9:15.24-28. Psalm 98:1.2-3.3-4.5-6. Mark
3:22-30:

Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?" He did not wait for answer nor did
Jesus give him one. From what we learn about truth in the Hebrew
Scriptures and then in the New Testament is that is described more in
metaphorical language than in philosophical or even in a religious idiom.
Jesus, however, in one of his "I AM" statements declares that he as a
Person united to God and to us is Truth, the Way, and the Life (John14:6).

In Mark we see Jesus confronting the demons and driving them away from
persons who are in need of release from the grasp of the spirits of the
lie. He is opposed to anything that is false, deceptive, and out and out
lying as the demons are capable of doing. We learn this already in the
first pages of the Bible where the serpent deceives our first parents
through one another as well as a direct deception of Eve. We therefore
should not be alarmed that he rejects and confronts those who are saying he
has been possessed by the prince of demons. Truth over against Lies; Truth
personified in Jesus; lies in the Devil.

Jesus dialogues with those who confront him as a possessed person--even his
own relatives may have thought this in saying, "he is out of his mind."
His reasoning is balanced and logical as he reminds those who are opposing
him by telling them they are blaspheming the Holy Spirit when they say he
is possessed.

We hear of the unforgiveable sin against the Holy Spirit and struggle with
what that means. "
Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven." The
scholar C.C.Black comments,"To link the Holy Spirit of the Spirit's agent
with demons is to be guilty of an unforgiveable sin (cf.I John 5:16). In
the New Jerusalem Bible a footnote on this verse has it this way: "To
attribute to the Evil One what is in fact the work of the Holy Spirit
amounts to shutting oneself off from divine grace and the forgiveness that
flows from it. In its very nature such an attitude makes salvation
impossible. But grace can change this attitude, so that a return to
salvation remains possible." We are never abandoned by God even though we
may be led to deny God or to sin against the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Scripture: Lectionary 318. Jan.25. Hebrews 10:1-10. Psalm 40:2.4.7-8.10.11.
Mark 3:31-35:

Some critics say that Mark is anti-marian in the two passages where Mary
the mother of Jesus is mentioned. We are listening to the first of those
passages in Mark 3:31-35; the second is found in Mark 6:1-6a. If we look at
the passages from a Christological view, perhaps, we could say the passage
contains a Christology of relationships. Relatives are mentioned,
"brothers, sisters, mother." The passage may have been tacked on to the
Gospel in the light of the beginning of chapter three where it is said that
those who were with him (his family) were saying, "He is out of his mind."

The context of the whole chapter has to be kept in mind in our reflecting
upon this passage and also that of its relationship to Mark 6:1-6a, the
implicit mention of Mary through Mark's title for Jesus as "son of Mary."
This is a title of relationship of a mother with her son. It could also
mean, if we interpret the passages as positive and negative about Mary, as
another way of saying Jesus is totally human as the "Son of Man" and Son of
David--two Christological titles used by Mark to show Jesus is human. The
reference is important for it is the earlies recorded mention of the name
of Mary since Mark wrote almost a generation before Luke who takes us into
the early life of Mary.

We already have seen that discipleship is a key theme for the Evangelist
Mark. And what also is being said in this passage is that even though we
may not be blood brothers and sisters of Jesus, nor his mother, we are
still his brothers and sisters and mother in the spiritual call of
discipleship. Mary as we know lived up to that call all her life and
merited to be called a woman of promise. She fulfilled all the criteria of
discipleship according to Luke. While thinking of her as a disciple of the
Lord we note that Mark tells us she is the mother of the Lord--a fact of
history. Her title as mother is fundamental to the incarnation and to what
Mark is saying when he calls Jesus the son of Mary. That title as we have
seen forms a constellation of other titles that speak of the humanity of
Christ, a theme emphasized by Mark.

We are therefore called like Mary to be her sons in the spiritual realm and
not to be jealous of our Jewish brothers and sisters who are related by
blood to the person of Jesus, son of David, son of Abraham. In our own
relationships we are to be immersed in Christ, therefore, to respect our
dignity as brothers and sister of Christ in that relationship with him and
with one another. While not being able to boast of a flesh and blood
relationship to the Jewishness of Jesus we are summoned to appreciate who
we are int he communion of saints. Let us be then brothers, sisters, and
even a mother to those who are Christ oriented people in our lives. Amen.