Week beginning 26 November 2018
Gospel Readings:
Mark 4:34-41
Mark 5:1-20
Mark 5:21-43
Genesis 2:4-25
Devotion 1
Wait: Take time to sit in silence together, allowing space for God’s voice to be heard.
Read: Mark 4:34-41
This episode begins as Jesus and the disciples embark on a journey to the other side of Lake Galilee. It is a journey to the non-Jewish side of the lake—to the foreign, the unfamiliar, and perhaps the dangerous.
On the course of the journey, challenge indeed arises. The sea threatens the boat, leaving the disciples in fear of their lives. In the ancient world the sea was associated with evil and the unknown. It was the domain of mysterious and uncontrollable sea monsters. Yet in the mythology of imperial Rome, Caesar was said to have power over the sea.
Here, however, it is another “Son of God”—Jesus of Nazareth, who demonstrates real power over the waters, commanding the wind and the waves. Jesus’ actions are an invitation to the disciples to leave their fear. Just as the Israelites by the Red Sea were told by Moses, “Do not be afraid” (Exodus 14:13) in the liberation from slavery in Egypt, Jesus speaks the same word to the disciples under Roman domination. It is an invitation to faith—to live as though they believe that Jesus, not Caesar, is God.
Reflect
- What do strikes you in today’s reading?
- In what ways do you identify with the disciples’ fear?
- In what ways is God’s Spirit inviting you to respond to this story?
Pray
Share Communion
Close with the Lord’s Prayer
Devotion 2
Wait: Take time to sit in silence together, aware of God’s presence in a broken world.
Read:Mark 5:1-20
Once on the other side of the lake, Jesus and his disciples encounter a man with “an unclean spirit” who is un-restrainable. Jesus confronts the spirit, eventually sending them into the lake, evoking the grateful response of the man and the fear of the onlookers.
Yet there are a number of indicators in this story which point to the conclusion that there is much more going on in Mark’s narrative than we might initially see. When Jesus presses the spirit for its name, it reveals itself as Legion, “for we are many”. For Mark’s hearers, the name could only mean a unit of Roman soldiers—up to 6000. In Mark’s world the tenth Fretensis legion were based not too far to the north, and around about the time that the gospel was written they destroyed Jerusalem. Significantly, their mascot was the pig. With this in mind, Mark’s picture of the unclean forces “charging”1 down into the sea to drown evokes the story of the exodus as Pharaoh’s army met a similar fate.
In this story there is a clear link between domination and violent, un-restrainable responses of the dominated. Yet, Jesus’ enactment of God’s reign brings liberation to those on the underside of domination, and prophetically enacts God’s liberation.
Reflect
- What responses to domination do you see in your world?
- How does the proclamation and practice of God’s reign speak into those on the underside of domination in this story?
- In what ways is God’s Spirit inviting you to live out this story?
Pray for one another.
Share Communion
Close with the Lord’s Prayer
1 Mark’s use of the term ōrmēsen (charge), as well as epetrepsen (he dismissed them) and agelē (herd) are military terms, used, it seems, to evoke military imagery. See Myers, Binding the Strongman, 191.
Devotion 3
Wait: Take time to sit in the silence of repentance together, aware of our inadequacy and God’s grace.
Read: Mark 5:21-43
At the outset of this episode Jesus is approached by the ruler of a synagogue, whose name we’re told is Jairus. He approaches Jesus on behalf of his daughter, who is twelve years old, and near death. However, Jesus’ encounter with Jairus is soon interrupted by another, whose juxtaposition with the synagogue ruler’s daughter could not be more stark.
This woman is unnamed, highlighting her marginal status. Unlike the daughter, whose powerful father can speak on her behalf, this woman has no one to speak for her in a patriarchal culture where women are known only by relation to husbands or fathers. The unnamed woman is unclean, having been bleeding continually for the whole of the daughter’s twelve-year lifetime. What is more, whatever financial resources she once had is gone, leaving her destitute. She is in Avery sense marginalised.
Yet, this woman, with no one to speak for her, with a mixture of courage and fear, takes matters into her hands. She touches Jesus—and thus secretly renders him unclean—in the hope of healing. She is not disappointed. Yet her hopes of going unnoticed are soon dashed, as Jesus turns around and, with the matter of Jairus’ daughter becoming more and more urgent, stops. Jesus’ question, “Who touched my clothes?” Is an invitation to the woman to bring all that she is to the table. He hears her story. He affirms that this woman, who has no relationship to be known by, is a daughter—just like Jairus’s little girl. Jesus acknowledges her faith.
In this encounter, two people are wonderfully healed. Yet perhaps just as great miracle is the faith of this marginal woman, whose God-image, long since forgotten, is beautifully reaffirmed by Jesus.
Reflect
- Reflect on the relationships you have in your neighbourhood. Where do you see the God-image of people forgotten or trampled?
- Invite God to help you recognise the image of God in others you encounter this week.
Pray
Share Communion
Close with the Lord’s Prayer
Devotion 4
Wait: Take time to sit in the silence of gratitude together, giving thanks for the ways you’ve experienced God’s loving kindness.
This week’s Common Value: Empowering partnership.
Read: Genesis 2:4-25
Ask
- How might we partner with God and with our neighbours in participating in God’s shalom, justice and hope this week?
Pray
Share Communion
Close with the Lord’s Prayer