BREAKTHROUGH
MK 6: 14-29 ...5th / 6th S. after
Pentecost
NOTES:
1] We know that well into the Christian era there were those who
remained disciples of John the Baptiser in rivalry to the followers of
Jesus. 2] Jesus models his
ministry more on Moses, Ellijah, & Elisha than on JB. 3]
Josephus, a Jewish historian & contemporary of MK tells us Herod
Antipas, ruler of Galilee & Perea from 4BCE to 39CE saw JB as a
political threat.{Antiquities 18 / 2 }.
WARMING UP: Have we ever had some fear that
someone might come back from the dead & haunt us?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
14-16 Do we ever find ourself looking back
apprehensively at someone from our past in case they 'bring us undone'
in some way through what they know about us? If Herod got it wrong, to
what do we attribute Jesus'
powers? What kind of power does Jesus have today, & what evidence
of his power have we seen lately?
17-28 Do we ever
find ourself, like Herod & his family getting tangled up in some
web we've woven around our own extended family? Is anyone exempt from
getting caught up in 'tangled webs' they or someone else weaves? Given
the old English Prayer Book provided a table of relatives others were
not allowed to marry, & that under Australian law there are still
certain prohibitions in this regard, do such limitations - of any kind
- still make sense in today's world? Can anyone really legislate
effective for or against relationships of any kind? Should they?
Are self-interest & self-centredness taking over from other
long-held concerns as threats in & to our society? Or is the issue
today more one of valuing a community over an economy? How are we to
strike the right balance there? Are we as aware as we might be of
people in our community today who, like JB have become victims of
others' broken or suspect relationships? (If this is too close to
the bone, it's OK to leave it.) Are Herod's obviously mixed &
confused feelings about JB & his message any more mixed &
confused that feelings we might have towards Jesus & his message
for today? How would we summarise that message anyway? When the chips
are down, are we ever tempted to 'sentence Jesus to death' by
dismissing him - not so much locking him up as locking him out of our
life? Does executing someone by any method ever solve anyone's problems?
29
How important is it to us that we have a decent burial or cremation? Is
such an attitude important for the maintenance of 'decency' in society?
Or, doesn't it / shouldn't it matter? Does decency itself still matter?
What is
decency? Is 'When you're dead you're dead' a helpful attitude, a
useless one, a silly one...........? Who decides whether an attitude is
helpful or unhelpful these days? As a church, how difficult do we find
it to have Jesus' attitude to relationships, decency, discipline, etc.
heard & accepted in our community? Is it so hard we've simply given
up? Can we do better than that?
You
may like to visit www.angelfire.com/journal2/marginallymark for more on
this passage.
