The Tomb is Empty: Fear vs. Faith

 

Mark 16:1-8 (NRSV) says this: "When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.  And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.  They had been saying to one another, 'Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?'  When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, 'Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has been raised; he is not here.  Look, there is the place they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.'  So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."

We're told that just after the sun had risen, the women went to the tomb.  At this point, they had no idea that it wasn't just the sun which had peaked above the horizon, but the true son, the Son of God had risen from the dead.  And it wasn't just the first day of the week, it was the first day of a brand new age - the new creation had begun!  The most important part of God's rescue operation had been completed with the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah - Jesus the Son of the living God.  These women had not only followed Jesus all the way to his death on the cross, they had followed him all the way to the grave as he was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.  And now they had come to complete his burial; to wrap his body with aromatic perfumes and spices.  They, far more than Jesus' male companions, had been loyal to the end.  Yet, they must have by this point realized that Jesus' messianic movement had ended in failure - a crucified messiah being an oxymoron for a Jew of the first century.     

But, if somehow, as the empty tomb and the man in white claimed, God had raised him from the dead, then that would have been the sign of God's vindication.  He was in fact who he had claimed to be. In fact, he was even greater than anyone could have imagined him to be.  He wasn't just the Messiah, he was the risen Lord, the Savior of the world!

It's interesting that it was a group of women who were the first to arrive at the tomb.  Women weren't considered to be credible witnesses in the ancient world.  If someone was going to make this story up, they wouldn't have chosen a bunch of ladies for this important role.  But, here again, we're reminded that God's ways are not our ways.

Verse 6 tells us that the women had come to the tomb looking for Jesus.  But they came looking in the wrong place.  Death could not keep him - death could not defeat him.  The tomb was empty.  The tomb is empty.  Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified has been raised from the dead!  Some stories are too good to be true.  This story, and the difference that it makes for the whole world, is too good not to be true.

But where does Mark's gospel end?  Have a look in your Bible and you'll see a footnote telling you that the oldest Greek manuscripts end at verse 8.  It's safe to say that verses 9-20 were not original to Mark.  They seem to be a summary of the resurrection narratives from the other gospels.  They must have been added onto what we call verse 8 by a later scribe who couldn't figure out why Mark's gospel would end so abruptly.  That leaves us with two options regarding the ending of Mark.  Either, Mark's original ending was somehow lost.  Or, Mark intentionally ended his gospel at verse 8.  I personally believe the latter; that Mark ends his story of Jesus with the women fleeing the tomb in fear.  Why?

Fear is a major theme in the gospel of Mark.  In fact, fear, not doubt is the enemy of faith according to Mark.  After stilling the storm, Jesus in Mark 4:40 said, "Why are you afraid?  Have you still no faith?"  In the next chapter, after he had exorcised the demoniac's demons, the local townspeople asked Jesus to depart from their region because they were afraid.  Later in the same chapter, a woman suffering from a bleeding condition touched Jesus' cloak and was healed.  Jesus, realizing that power had gone forth from him, asked, "Who touched my clothes?"  The woman came and fell at Jesus' feet in fear and trembling.  His response to her was, "Daughter, your faith has made you well."  Jesus was on the way to attend to the sick daughter of a man named Jairus.  Right after healing the bleeding woman, some people arrived and informed Jairus that his daughter had died.  Jesus said to Jairus, "Do not fear, only believe."  Jesus then proceeded to raise Jairus' daughter from the dead.  Later in the gospel, as Jesus walked on the water, we're told that his disciples were terrified.  Peter, James, and John were also terrified on the Mountain of Transfiguration.  Later, when Jesus spoke of his impending death and resurrection, his disciples did not understand what he was talking about, but were too afraid to ask him what he meant.  And when they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, his disciples followed him, but they were afraid.  The disciples must have been afraid when they abandoned Jesus at his arrest.  It must have been his fear that led Peter to deny Jesus three times. 

And so Mark's gospel ends at chapter 16 verse 8 with the women fleeing the tomb, "for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."  The reader is left to wonder - will the women through faith overcome their fear?  Will they obey the command to go and tell the disciples that Jesus has been raised?  It's obvious that the women, through faith, must have overcome their fears.  Mark's gospel and the rest of the New Testament testify to this fact.  But the question remains for Mark's original audience and the question remains for us.  Do we have faith that the tomb is empty?  Is Jesus really risen from the dead?  And if we do believe, is our faith greater than our fear?  Will we go and tell?  Will we live our lives as if the tomb stands empty?  Will we, through our lives of  faith proclaim to the world that sin and death have been defeated, that Jesus has been raised from the dead, and that eternal life is found in him?  And as we are reminded each Christmas, as the world celebrates the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, let's make sure we remind our world that though Jesus was born to die, he didn't stay dead.  The tomb is empty! - Shay

The Most Significant Event in History

 I have noticed that the big events in my life never quite seem to live up to the expectations that I might place on them.  It's not that the events are bad or that they fall short in any real sense, it's just that they come and go, leaving memories, but not much more.  Even the very big events like weddings and births of children never quite turn out like we might have expected.  Again, that is not to say that the events are insignificant or that they don't measure up to some pre-conceived "hype", but ultimately, they are merely moments, and life quickly continues on its forward trajectory into the future that soon becomes the past.  These significant moments do make a mark, but in the moment, they may not "feel" as significant as the finally are.

One gets that same kind of feeling when reading the sparse narrative of the crucifixion in Mark's gospel, chapter 15.  Here the writer describes the most significant event (well, the second most significant event - we'll cover the most significant one in the next blog) in human history, in 47 verses.  In less than 5 minutes, one can read the account of Jesus' death and then move on with the rest of their day.  But what makes the execution of Jesus of Nazareth so significant is not how it happened, how long it took, or even the gruesome details (which Mark doesn't elaborate on) that a writer could gorily describe with horrifying description.  What makes the crucifixion of Jesus so significant is what God accomplished through Jesus' sacrificial death.  It is a significance that far exceeds what seemingly transpired on that Friday two millennia ago.  

But before we reflect on what the death of Jesus accomplished, let's briefly consider what the death of Jesus is not.

Jesus' Death Is Not the Appeasement of a Wrathful God 

The way some writers describe the death of Jesus, one might come away believing that God the Father was a child abuser and murderer.  Some have believed that God's wrath must be poured out upon sinful humanity and that Jesus essentially stepped in and endured God's wrath in our place.  This view makes the death of Jesus "punishment" for our sins.  Those who hold to this view believe that justice was finally served through the crucifixion of the Son of God.  But it is a strange kind of justice that punishes an innocent person for the wrongs of another.  And this view makes the sacrifice of Jesus more like the human sacrifice to pagan gods than the self-giving, loving sacrifice of our savior.  Afterall, John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, not that God so hated the world that he tortured and killed his only Son.  God's wrath was not poured out on humanity, much less on his innocent Son.  No, God's wrath was poured out on the death and destruction that sin unleashes in the world.  Jesus' death brought about the redemption of humanity and the entire creation.  

Jesus Died for Our Sins 

One thing that is crystal clear in the scriptures is that Jesus died for our sins.  Romans 6:23 tells us that the wage of sin is death.  Because of our sin, death should be permanent - eternal.  But as Romans 6:23 goes on to say, the free gift given to us through Christ is eternal life.  Paul goes onto explain later in Romans (chapter 8) that one day, those who are in Christ will be raised bodily from the dead, just as Jesus was.  That's what eternal life is - the bodily resurrection from the dead into eternal bodily life in God's renewed creation.

In another letter (1 Cor), Paul writes that "Christ died for our sins...".  So, what does he mean by this?  He doesn't mean that we were naughty and so Jesus stepped in and was punished on our behalf.  Rather, what Christ did through his death was to defeat sin.  He bore our sins on the cross, defeating and destroying evil and sin and the consequences of sin in the process.  This sacrifice not only frees us from our sins (if we accept this free gift through faith), but it also sets us free to overcome our sin (as Paul explains throughout the entirety of Romans chapter 6).  Only one person, Jesus, was able to deal with our sins through his death, and thankfully, he graciously offered himself up for the sins of the whole world.  That means that all of our sins - past, present, and future have been taken care of through Jesus' death (and resurrection).  He offers the benefit of this to any and to all who will accept his free gift.  Isn't that amazing?!!!

Jesus Defeated Forces of Evil Through His Death (and Resurrection) 

The Biblical narrative is not 100% clear on the nature of the forces of evil that have invaded the universe.  The Satan (literally accuser) and other demonic forces are referenced more often in the New Testament than in the Old Testament.  Why?  The cultural influences of the New Testament writers obviously played a role, and there is room in interpretation to understand these forces in a variety of ways.  Are they simply the "personification" of evil, or are they evil entities with "minds" of their own?  The Bible isn't entirely clear, but what is beyond a shadow of a doubt is the fact that evil forces exist in the universe, and these evil forces have been clearly and decisively defeated through the death (and resurrection) of Christ! These forces no doubt were what "inspired" the arrest, conviction, and execution of Jesus and for three days it seemed that these forces had won the battle over the Son of God.  But like an expert martial artist using an opponent's offense against himself, God allowed these demonic powers to seal their own fate through the death of his Son.  On the third day, their ultimate destruction was made evident as the tomb was found empty.  The power of death that these forces could hold over their victims was completely disarmed when Jesus rose from the dead.

Subtlety Does Not Diminish Substance 

In only 47 sparse verses, Mark describes the most significant event in human history.  But his lack of detail does not diminish the substance found in this most profound act of love and sacrifice.  In fact, the second and most important part of this event is told with even fewer details in Mark 16.  But that's for the next blog. - Shay 
 

Take and Eat

The following is based on reflections from Mark 14:22-25.

Many of us will celebrate Thanksgiving in a few weeks.  We will gather around tables with family and loved ones, we'll give thanks, we'll brake bread, we'll slice and eat turkey, and we will celebrate the good life that God has so bountifully provided for us all.  There’s something deeply satisfying about holidays and special occasions.  Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, anniversaries, or birthdays, nothing marks these occasions quite as well as food, family, and fellowship.  For thousands of years of human history, feasts have been the way we recognize significant events in our lives.  We probably don’t do it as much as we should.

Sharing any meal in the ancient world carried with it a great significance.  To share food with another meant that you were sharing life and sharing relationship.  It’s why Jesus’ willingness to eat with tax collectors and sinners was so scandalous.  By sitting down at the table with these outcasts and outsiders, Jesus was proclaiming that though they were on the margins of respectable society, they were to be offered a seat of honor within the broader borders of God’s Kingdom.

So, it makes sense that as Jesus approached the climax of his mission that he would choose to mark the occasion with his disciples through a meal – and not just any meal, the Passover meal.

 The Passover was the most significant of all Jewish festivals and more than any other ritual or action, it defined and marked out those who were the people of God.  As important as the giving of the Law was, God’s deliverance and rescue of his people from Egyptian slavery is what formed the nation of Israel to begin with.  The Law did not make Israel God’s people; the Law was given to Israel as a gift because they had already been redeemed as his people through the sacrifice of the Passover lamb and the miracle at the sea.

 Each year when the people would gather to celebrate this foundational meal, they were reminded that YHWH, the God who had acted in the Exodus, who had provided for them in the wilderness, who had given them the Promised Land, who had established the Davidic Kingdom, who had chosen to dwell in the Temple in Jerusalem, and who had brought his people back from exile would one day act again in a dramatic way to free his people from their current bondage under pagan rulers.  The God who had acted in the past, would act again in the future.  When that great day occurred, then the glory of this one true God, YHWH would extend from Jerusalem to the very ends of the earth.  Isaiah 66 looked forward to that time and described it in the following way. “I will send survivors to the nations…to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.  They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord…to my holy mountain, Jerusalem…For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says the Lord; so shall your descendants and your name remain.  From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord.”

 Many Jews of the first century believed that God’s deliverance would come to them through a descendant of David who would establish God’s Kingdom on earth in ways that it had previously not been realized.  The pagans would be defeated and kicked out of the land.  True worship would once again be established in the temple.  The heathen nations around the world would either be destroyed or would submit to the one true God, YHWH, and his representative on earth, the Messiah, the Davidic King.  Those who acknowledged God and his Messiah would stream to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice and worship.  Then the world itself would be transformed, and God’s will would finally be done on earth as it was already being done in heaven.  For Jews of the first century, when they celebrated Passover, they not only looked back at YHWH’s past deliverance, but they also looked forward to such a time as this.

 Of course, the chief priests and many of the other religious and civil leaders in Jerusalem were quite happy with the status quo.  They had a sweet deal in place with the Romans and any “kingdom of God” talk that threatened Rome’s control inevitably threatened their own position and status.  So, they, like the Romans, were on high alert each year at the time of Passover.  This is why Jesus had to so stealthily make arrangements to celebrate the Passover with his disciples.  He was already public enemy number one in the eyes of the Jerusalem establishment, so if they became aware of his whereabouts during the Passover meal, his arrest might have occured before the appointed time.       

 So, how ironic it was that as Jesus sat down to feast with his closest companions, he was surrounded by a betrayer, a denier, and 10 deserters.  But despite the fact that these flawed and fallen followers were to soon abandon him in his darkest hour, Jesus unreservedly extended grace and understanding to these mostly well-meaning, though naïve and fearful friends. 

 It is with this Passover that Jesus inaugurated the first celebration of what we call communion, or the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper.  The recollection of God’s past deliverance bled into the imminent expectation of God’s present and future redemption of his people.  The hopes, dreams, and expectations of a Messiah, a King, a deliverer would finally be accomplished, but in ways that no one, not even his own disciples could imagine.  A new exodus and a new covenant would be established through his death and resurrection.  It would only be in hindsight that his disciples could look back on this moment and understand its full significance.

 As would be done just a few hours later with his own physical body, Jesus took a loaf of bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take; this is my body.”  And knowing that his own blood would be violently spilled the following day, Jesus took a cup and shared it with his friends, saying, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”  Actions speak louder than words and Jesus’ actions here would have continued to speak loudly to his followers after the dark hours of this moment cleared and the light of the resurrection shone brightly in their hearts.

 And his actions were not just for the 12 in that upper room; his actions on that night continue to resonate some 2,000 years later.  Like his first disciples, our participation in the Lord’s meal continues to be a rehearsal of all God has done for us, in and through Jesus Christ.  As we share this feast each week, it’s an expression of our relationship with Jesus and with each other.  When we share communion, the Lord’s Supper, we are sharing in the person of Jesus of Nazareth – his life and his mission.  Jesus is spiritually present with us in the meal and so we not only remember what he accomplished in his death and resurrection, we also celebrate his continued presence among us. 

But Mark’s account of the Last Supper serves as a warning for us too.  Like Judas, we can sit down to eat with Jesus and turn around and betray him.  Like Peter, we might find ourselves moving from fellowship with the Master to outright denial.  Or like the other 10, rather than conquering our fears through faith, we may simply run away.  If we find ourselves failing Jesus in any of these or other ways, we can be sure that the Savior is still willing to extend us grace and understanding despite our many flaws – he’s faithful, even when we’re not.  But the meal ultimately anticipates victory, not defeat.  There’s a reason that the early Christians celebrated the Supper in a special way on Sundays and not on the Sabbath.  The tomb is empty, and though, as disciples, we’re to live lives under the shadow of the cross, we are always moving towards the light of the resurrection. 

 The new creation has broken in on this present age through Jesus’ resurrection, but the fullness of the age to come is still to come.  God’s will has not fully and completely been done on earth as it is done in heaven.  Christ’s already reigning as King at the right hand of the Father, but the final consummation of God’s Kingdom is still in the future.  As we break the bread and sip from the cup as citizens in Christ’s Kingdom, we look forward to that day when God will come and make his home among us again.  He will dwell with us, and we will be his people.  He’ll wipe every tear from our eyes, because death, mourning, crying, and pain will be no more.  He’ll make all things new, and Jesus will drink new wine with us in the Kingdom of God.  We anticipate this Messianic banquet every time we commune with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Jesus invites us to this meal and to eternal life in the age to come with these simple words: “Take; this is my body…take; this is my blood.” - Shay

Anticipation and Patience

 

As I type this blog, I am anxiously waiting to learn when I will begin training for a new job I was recently hired for.  It is hinted that the training will begin sometime around the end of the first quarter of the year, but the actual confirmation is yet to arrive.  I trust that the confirmation (and the training itself) is not in doubt, but until I receive the email, I am left to wonder in eager expectation. 

Throughout the Biblical narrative, God's people were often left in a similar limbo.  God made promises to renew and restore not only his people, but his entire creation.  But the fulfilment of those promises came painfully slowly, and usually in phases and stages, rather than all at once.  In fact, as we can all see, the final restoration and renewal of all things has yet to be realized.  

So, when in Mark 13, Jesus informs his disciples that the magnificent temple, recently enlarged and renovated by Herod the Great, was to within the present generation be destroyed, this could only mean that the end of the world as they knew it, was also soon to be realized.  And if this was to go down in their own lifetimes, the curious disciples were anxious to know when this would be and what signs might signal its imminent fulfillment.  Most of Mark 13 is Jesus' teaching on the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (which occurred in 70 AD).  Jesus doesn't give his disciples an exact timeline or super-detailed descriptions of the "desolating sacrilege" but gives them just enough information to be ready if they happen to be around Jerusalem when "stuff begins to go down."    

There's debate amongst scholars and Biblical interpreters if the teaching in Mark 13 only concerns the destruction of the temple, or if it might also contain even more distant horizons.  I think it is obvious that much, and possibly all of this teaching concerns only the coming destruction of the temple, which was realized about forty years after Jesus' passion.  Jesus says in verse 30, "Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place."  But even if Jesus also hints at the final restoration of all things, when he will return to make all things new, he certainly does not give us any details that should turn us into modern day Nostradamus like fortune tellers.  Like God's people who have come before us, we are called to walk by faith and not by sight.  It's enough for us to trust that God will be faithful to his promises in the future, just has he has been faithful to his promises in the past.  

Jesus' teaching in Mark 13 ends this way, "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Beware, and keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.  It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on watch.  Therefore, keep awake - for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.  And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake." (Mark 13:32-37, NRSV).

Jesus' disciples did not know the exact day, month, or year when the Roman legions would sack Jerusalem and destroy the temple.  But we know from historical records that when it occurred, many Christians living in the area took suitable precautions.  Though even Jesus himself was unsure of the exact timeline, he knew that this was bound to transpire in the immediate generation - and it did occur while many of his disciples were still alive.  If the final verses of Mark 13 (and as I mentioned earlier, there is debate about this) are referring more generally to Jesus' re-appearing and the eschatological restoration of the cosmos, then even Jesus himself does not know the exact day when this will occur (unless God the Father has since revealed this information to God the Son - read again verse 32).  But like all God's promises, this day will come, and God will bring to consummation his work in creation.  Our task is not to decipher the exact time when God's Kingdom will fully come, but to busy ourselves with Christ's anticipatory Kingdom work until he comes.

As followers of Jesus, we are forced to live in tension and with a healthy sense of anticipation.  We eagerly await the new heavens and the new earth, but we patiently live in between the time of Jesus' resurrection/exaltation, and the time when his Lordship will be revealed to all of creation.  Rather than becoming overly obsessed with Jesus' teaching in Mark 13, the most important thing we can all do in the meantime is to focus on Jesus' teaching in Mark 12:28-30.  "One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he (Jesus) answered them well, he asked him, 'Which commandment is the first of all?'  Jesus answered, 'The first is 'Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these.'" (NRSV).   Amen.  Maranatha - Come Lord Jesus! - Shay 

Faith and Imagination

The other day I was giving a climate scientist a ride to the airport where she was to catch a plane to attend a conference at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  Over the half-hour journey, I quizzed my passenger about the impact of climate change, possible solutions for the future, and both the benefits and limitations to the scientific endeavor.  As our conversation meandered here and there, we eventually stumbled upon the topic of faith.  I explained that I am 100% open to what science may teach us, but that I also hold to a faith in a creator God.  Theology and science both ask and seek to answer important questions, but they are not necessarily asking the same questions, nor are they seeking to answer them in the same way.  She agreed with this general statement, though it became obvious to me that we were not singing from the same hymn sheet and probably not even humming the same tune.  I love these kinds of conversations.   I learn so much and I also hope to plant a few seeds along the way.  

As we neared the terminal, I explained how the central tenet of my faith is not something that can be verified by science, or even standard historical analysis, though I do believe that history as we know it would not have unfolded the way it did, if this event had not taken place.  The central tenet of my faith is the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.  I believe that the creator of the universe entered into our time and space in the person of Jesus and that on the third day after dying on a Roman execution instrument, he was raised from the dead and was thus proclaimed to be the Son of God and the Lord of all.  But this is not simply a one-off event.  The resurrection of Jesus is the first fruits of God's plan for all humanity.  What happened to Jesus on that first Easter morning will one day happen to all the faithful departed.  The Christian hope for eternal life is not rooted in some ethereal, non-physical, non-bodily existence in heaven, but is eternal life lived in a resurrection body in this present creation renewed.  Sadly, many modern followers of Jesus are ignorant of this hope.  I guess that shouldn't surprise us.  Though resurrection of the dead into God's new heavens and new earth was the standard, mainstream eschatological belief for many, if not most 1st Century Jews, not all Jews believed.  The Sadducees were one such sect who denied the resurrection (as well as any kind of "after-life").  Jesus confronted their unbelief in Mark 12:18-27 (NRSV).

"Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, saying, 'Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first married and, when he died, left no children; and the second married the widow and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise; none of the seven left children.  Last of all the woman herself died.  In the resurrection whose wife will she be?  For the seven had married her.'

"Jesus said to them, 'Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?  For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?  He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.'" 

The Sadducees were the religious conservatives of their day.  They only acknowledged the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures as divinely authoritative, and in those five books, known as the books of Moses, there is not one mention of the resurrection of the dead.  In fact, there are very few mentions of resurrection in the whole of the Hebrew scriptures, namely Daniel 12, Isaiah 25-26, Ezekiel 37 (metaphorically speaking), and a few other scattered indirect references in some of the other writings.  To embrace the theology of resurrection, one would have needed to not only have scoured the entirety of what Christians call the Old Testament, but one would also have needed to open oneself up to the possibility that the God of the patriarchs was not only still involved in his creation but would continue to be so in the future.  It would require not only faith, but maybe just a little bit of imagination too.

In this conversation with Jesus, the Sadducees believed that their invented scenario pointed out the absurdity of the concept of resurrection.  If the same woman had married seven different brothers in this life, who gets to be her husband in the age to come?  Good question.  And Jesus had the answer.  The Sadducees had failed to understand that though there would be continuity in the age to come, there would also be discontinuity.  In the resurrection, some of the relationships that we enjoy in this life, will be transformed.  The "institution" of marriage, that is the bedrock of human community in the present world, will no longer hold the same function in that society of the future.  Jesus does not go into all the details of why this is or what that future will exactly look like, but he acknowledges that there will be changes.  

But more than anything else, he calls out the Sadducees for their lack of imagination.  He criticizes them for their lack of faith in the power of God!  If the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is in fact the creator of all that we see and enjoy in this life, then why is it hard to imagine that he might extend that life - even to the dead?  If the living God is also the giving God, then one day, life will conquer death!  Blaise Pascal put it this way.  "Which is more difficult, to be born or to rise again; that what has never been should be, or that what has been should be again?"  

There has been no figure in all of human history who has impacted our world as much as Jesus of Nazareth.  And I believe that if he had not been raised from the dead, then most, if not all of us would never have even heard his name.  He would have been nothing more than a buried footnote in the forgotten annals of history.  But he is not buried in history because he is no longer buried in his tomb - the tomb is empty!  And I believe with all my heart that what is true of Jesus will one day be true of all God's people.  The gospel of John says it like this.  "Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."  Imagine that! - Shay   

For All the Nations

When I lived in Dublin, Ireland, I found myself eating at Subway almost every week.  Sometimes I would eat there two or three times a week.  It wasn't so much that I loved Subway, though I didn't mind it, but it was a fairly inexpensive meal that sustained me as I taught immigrants English, as I led Bible studies, as I went for occasional walks, and as I facilitated "Theology on Tap."  I ate Subway so often in Ireland that I eventually got to the point where I could no longer stand it.  I very rarely would eat there after returning to the States.  I've only recently begun to eat there again.  A sandwich isn't my favorite food, but it gets the job done, packing meat, cheese, and vegetables in between two slices of bread.  

In Mark's gospel, sandwiches also get the job done.  What job, might you ask?  The job of allowing a narrative to teach important truths, without having to blatantly spell the message out.  What literary critics call interpolations, is a technique whereby an author inserts one story into the middle of another one.  The two stories then mutually interpret one another, and usually the story in the middle illuminates the most important aspects of the narrative.  You can call it a literary sandwich.  

In Mark 11:12-26, we clearly see this technique at work.  "On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he (Jesus) was hungry.  Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it.  When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  He said to it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.'  And his disciples heard it.

"Then they came to Jerusalem.  And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, 'Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'?  But you have made it a den of robbers.'  And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.  And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.  

"In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.  Then Peter remembered and said to him, 'Rabbi, look!  The fig tree that you cursed has withered.'  Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God.  Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea', and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.  So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.'" (NRSV).

To quote Nacho Libre, let's get down to the nitty gritty.  We'll start in the middle of Mark's sandwich.  For many people, Jesus' "cleansing" of the temple seems out of character.  For others, their focus seems to be on the "market" or "trade" aspect of this demonstration.  But these actions are neither out of character, nor do they have anything to do with religion and commerce.  What Jesus is doing is brought to light when we consider the larger context of the scripture he quotes.  After kicking butt and taking names, Jesus references the prophet Isaiah.  About 500 years earlier, a writing that scholars sometimes refer to as Trito or Third Isaiah, foresaw a time when God's love and promises would be extended to not only foreigners (Gentiles), but even to those who were physically maimed and excluded from temple worship (Isaiah 56:1-8).  God's heart had always been for the outsider, and Jesus' quotation of Isaiah 56:7 reminds his audience, and the later readers of Mark's gospel, many of whom were Gentiles, that the gospel is for everyone.  

So, what was Jesus actually doing when he disrupted the buying and selling of animals for sacrifice?  Well, he wasn't making a statement about the practice of buying and selling animals for sacrifice.  This was an important and necessary service provided to diaspora Jews who would have been unable to bring their own animals from great distances.  What Jesus was doing was to judge the place that this exchange occurred.  The buying and selling took place in the court of the Gentiles, which was the only place a non-Jew could worship at the temple.  Imagine making a pilgrimage to worship the God of Israel, the God of the Jews in the temple on Mount Zion, only to arrive at the court of the Gentiles and be forced to pray and worship in the midst of the distraction of all the buying and selling.  Many of the Jews had forgotten that they were to serve as a light to the nations.  But their selfish and inconsiderate actions were obscuring the glory of the God of Israel.  

Now, then what does the "cleansing" of the temple have to do with the cursing and withering of the fig tree?  Just as a fig tree in leaf, but out of season might appear to be fruitful and yet barren, so God's people had become good at producing a lot of religious activity, while failing to produce the kinds of fruit that God desired.  On the surface, things looked good, but when one dug deeper, the religious activity was rotten to its core.  Israel had been warned time and time again by God's prophets but had failed to heed those warnings.  They had been called to be a light to the nations but had become completely insular in their religious devotion.  So, the only thing left to do was to curse the tree and let it wither to its roots.  In fact, as Jesus established his kingdom, it wasn't the religious leaders in Jerusalem who would be called to lead, but Jesus' disciples, like Peter, James, and John.  That's what Jesus' statement about "casting this mountain into the sea" is about.  This mountain is none other than Mount Zion and if Jesus' disciples have faith, they will be at the center of God's kingdom coming on earth as in heaven, not the Jerusalem establishment.    

Jesus' final words also offer food for thought.  The disciples, and the later readers of Mark's gospel (including us) were not to react to the religious leader's rejection of Jesus with a vindictive spirit, but rather in humility and grace.  We only stand before the Father through his mercy and so we must extend that forgiveness to others too - even those who reject God's kingdom.  

And that's really what this story is all about.  God offers grace, mercy, and forgiveness freely, but he does not tolerate it when others would obscure that grace.  As Jesus had said earlier (Mark 4:22), the secret of the gospel isn't to remain a secret for long.  Like a lamp, it is to be brought into the center of everything to give light to all, including those of the house of Israel, and even Gentiles like me (Isaiah 56:7-8). - Shay   

Visionary

We've heard of visionary leaders, but what is meant by this description of a person?  What do visionaries see that others miss, either due to inattention or "blindness"?  Why are some people's intuitions more intuitive than others?  How is it that some people proactively anticipate, while others simply react?   In short, visionaries see not what has been or what is, but what is possible and maybe inevitable.  But they don't ignore the past and the present, rather they are those who have a gift of analyzing the past, of understanding the present, and then put that knowledge to work as they plan their future.  Visionaries see in three dimensions - the dimensions of the past, the present, and the future.

But visionaries are often not the smartest people in the room.  They don't necessarily possess the most dynamic gifts.  They might even lack some of the most basic of skills.  Though they are well aware of their limitations, they don't allow those limitations to limit their dreams.  Because, at their heart, visionaries are dreamers.  But they don't live in fantasyland.  Their visions are the kinds of dreams that sometimes come true.  And even when their dreams do not pan out the way they had envisioned, they file those unrealized dreams away and utilize the information for another day.  

Who might we label a visionary in Mark's gospel?  Of all the characters who come and go, of all the actors who grace Mark's stage, who sees clearly, where others see with less than 20/20 accuracy?  Who has perfect vision, where others fail to see at all?  

"They came to Jericho.  As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside.  When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!'  Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'  Jesus stood still and said, 'Call him here.'  And they called the blind man, saying to him, 'Take heart; get up, he is calling you.'  So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.  Then Jesus said to him, 'What do you want for me to do for you?'  The blind man said to him, 'My teacher, let me see again.'  Jesus said to him, 'Go; your faith has made you well.'  Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way." (Mark 10:46-52, NRSV).

Though his 12 disciples had been hand-picked and had followed him for most of Mark's gospel, they often misunderstood Jesus.  They failed to grasp the nuances of Jesus' kingdom mission and though they had physical sight, they usually failed to see clearly.  Their vision was blurry.  They were not what we would call visionaries.  

Mark 8 makes this clear in narrative form.  While sailing across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus scolds his followers for failing to understand that the political and religious leaders in Israel had it all wrong.  After disembarking from the boat, Jesus then heals a blind man, but he seemingly gets the healing all wrong.  The blind man regains his sight, but all that he sees are globs and blotches, instead of the finely contoured lines of people and objects.  The blind man requires a second touch to see clearly.  Instead of speaking in parables, in this instance Jesus enacts a parable.  The blind man represents the disciples.  They are blind but are slowly gaining at least limited vision.  But they require Jesus' continual presence and touch if they are to see clearly.  

Then, in Mark 10 as Jesus approaches Jericho, the blind beggar Bartimaeus sees what the sighted disciples have failed to see.  Though living his life in darkness, ironically, he sees the light of Jesus' ministry and mission.  He has the foresight to see where Jesus' path is taking him and what the kingdom of God is all about.  He has faith that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah - that's why he calls him the 'Son of David'.  He believes that Jesus has the power to heal him, because from the time of Isaiah, God's people had been promised that when God came back to them, he would do a new thing.  And that new thing would include not only the lame walking, the deaf hearing, the mute speaking, but also the blind seeing.  And Bartimaeus could also see that Jesus' healing touch required a response.  It was the beginning of a journey - a journey to Jerusalem where God's kingdom would be established (Isaiah 35:5-10).  This journey later became known as The Way.  It was the way of discipleship and it always included following Jesus, but it did not necessarily have Jerusalem as its destination.  Sometimes following Jesus along The Way meant following Jesus all the way to Rome (as in the Apostle Paul's case) or maybe to the ends of the earth (Matt 28:19-20).  Wherever the destination, it always included moving through death, before discovering life (Mark 8:34-35).  In a sense, to truly see, one first had to become "blind".  Blind Bartimaeus was the true visionary in Mark's gospel!

What prevents us from seeing clearly in our world?  What blinds us from the truth that Jesus wants us to see?  How do we become a visionary like Bartimaeus?  

I don't know the specifics in any person's story, but I think there are a few general things that hinder us.  Chief among them is a lack of perspective.  Like walking through a canyon with steep walls on all sides, a lack of perspective limits our ability to see beyond our present circumstances.  We might require a rope to pull us out of that steep canyon so that we might see further.  But once we're at the top of the canyon, where should we look first?  I suggest backwards.

Despite all of today's modern advancements, we are not the first humans to have ever lived and we are not the smartest people to have walked the face of the earth.  All of our modern achievements have been built on the accomplishments of those who have come before us. Christians have a canon of scripture that dates back thousands of years to the ancient Israelites, was compiled by and contributed to by the Jews of the second temple period, and was brought to canonical completion by the early disciples of Jesus.  We also have hundreds of years of church history and theology from which to learn.  I believe that we better glimpse our present, when we have gazed upon the past.   

But we cannot exclusively fixate on the past.  We also have to take time to reflect upon the present.  As T.S. Eliot so prophetically wrote in the early 20th century; it is easy to be "distracted from distraction by distraction."  Eliot went onto write in Burnt Norton that we are "filled with fancies and empty of meaning - tumid apathy with no concentration...in this twittering world."  It may feel like we are fully engaged in the present when we jump from texting to Twitter (or X) to Facebook to Instagram to TikTok to whatever the next thing will be.  But while we are busy taking selfies - we are missing the others, both things and people.  As we fixate on our devices - we miss the larger world outside just waiting to be discovered.  To more clearly see the present - we must be present.

With an appreciation of the past and a depth of understanding in the present, we gain a platform to dream our way into the future.  We learn to see not only what has been and what is, but what might be possible.  For the visionary, the future isn't predetermined, its waiting to be written.  The "seer" sees with creativity.  She is both realistic and idealistic.  He is not bound by limitations, but rather motivated and inspired by challenges.  The visionary dreams of what could be, what might be, and what surely must be.  To quote one such "seer", the visionary "dreams of the world he wants to live in - he dreams out loud." - Shay