Month: March 2024

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid [Mark 16:8]. As you likely know, over the past 1600 years or so, countless hours have been spent in study and barrels of ink have been spilled by Christians trying to discern the ending of the oldest Gospel. That is, of course, because the oldest manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel end abruptly with the verse noted above. Mark gives us no word about Mary Magdalene’s mistaking the risen Lord for a gardener [John 20:15]. Mark tells us nothing about “doubting Thomas [John 20:25].” With Mark, we don’t get to walk…

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it [Mark 11:1-2]. It has often been observed that Mark’s is the “impatient” Gospel. For example, it has no Advent story. We don’t see any shepherds. There are no gifts brought by the Magi. Luke’s Gospel gives us the story about the 12-year-old Jesus giving his parents a scare when he lingers in the Temple after Joseph…

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor [John 12:24-25]. For the past five weeks, I’ve done what doesn’t come easy: I’ve tried to experience less. That is to say that, prior to Lent, I’d spent more than a year watching the prices…

Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. [Numbers 21:6]. In the OT reading appointed for this upcoming Sunday—Numbers 21:4-9 [the Fourth Sunday in Lent, RCL, Year B]—we encounter a story that many see as “weird with a capital W.” It’s one of those stories that can make one scratch his or her head. Does it truly depict the God we worship? You likely recall the story. It’s from the 40-year period during which the Israelites, having been released from Egyptian bondage, follow what appears to be a wandering Yahweh through the wilderness. And, as the Israelites are wont,…