Quiet with God
The first chapter of Mark’s Gospel functions almost like a preview that we might see for a movie. There are two kinds of previews. Sometimes, previews deliberately mask the point of the movie. Take Jerry Maguire. The previews made it look like it was a sports movie. You remember the catchphrase, “Show me the money!” That made guys want to go. But that’s not what the movie was about, was it? It was the second catchphrase that sums it up, “You had me at hello.”
But most previews give you a taste of the movie, a setup of what you’ll see in more detail and depth. Mark’s first chapter is like that, and we’ve been working our way through it. Today we continue the beginning of Jesus’ ministry at Capernaum. Jesus began by calling his first disciples, then teaching in the synagogue where he cast out a demon.
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Truth in Jesus
Today’s gospel picks up right where we left off last week. Jesus has called his first disciples and now he is starting his public ministry by teaching – or we might say preaching – in the synagogue at Capernaum. Capernaum was a fishing village on the north/northwest shore of the sea of Galilee. They began excavating it in 1968 and found a synagogue from the 4th or 5th century, and underneath it the much smaller one where Jesus taught.
Mark tells us the people were “astounded at his teaching,” because “he taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” What does it mean to teach with authority and who were the scribes?
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Meeting Jesus
When preparing to preach, a preacher studies the text and often finds an itch that needs to be scratched. In today’s Gospel, we heard Mark’s account of Jesus calling his first disciples. There are distinct differences from John’s Gospel account, which we heard just last Sunday. John says Jesus called Peter and Andrew down on the river Jordan with John the Baptist close by. Mark says they were on the shore of the Sea of Galilee after John the Baptist had been arrested. Matthew and Luke align with Mark but add more details and context. (Mark is very fast-paced.)
Six years ago, actually exactly six years and one week ago today, I preached here for the first time, filling in immediately after Fr. Tom Seitz retired. That was the second Sunday after Epiphany and I preached on John’s account of Jesus calling his first disciples. And I likened it to my first date with Meg, which was a “blind date” and, without going into all the details, I shared that by the end of the evening I had fallen in love. That was a first step in our relationship that has led to today, our 35th wedding anniversary.
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