Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. (Mark 7: 31-35)

To be open is to be vulnerable. To be open is to invite change. To be open is to hear and empathise, even when we may be frightened.

We often prefer to be closed, separated, and - we hope - protected. But certainly over the long-term and often in the near term this separation actually increases our vulnerability.

The Canaanite woman asked Jesus to be open to her. Jesus tells the deaf ears to open. If I would listen more carefully I would often hear Jesus sighing and telling me "ephphatha."

Above is a piece from the Hollow Man series by Robert Motherwell.

From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. (Mark 7: 24-30)

Even Jesus had expectations that were limiting. His mission, as he perceived it, was restricted to the Children of Abraham. He had left eretz Israel to get away from the crowds - and perhaps the threats of the Pharisees - not to extend his ministry to a people even less likely to understand his message.

But what Matthew calls a "Canaanite woman" altered his expectations. The encounter suggests that empathy may be a helpful corrective to expectation. What we expect is often an artifact of a self-generated intellectual process imposed on experience. Empathy is to experience another's reality.

Empathy takes us out of ourselves and helps us encounter reality with fresh eyes and ears. In authentic relationship with others we can step outside our expectations. Very often what reality offers extends far beyond what we expect. On our life's journey empathy is a more trust worthy guide than expectation.

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, ‘Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, ‘It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’ (Mark 7: 17-23)

For Jesus our essential character - our heart - is invulnerable to external influence. Our fundamental character, which we share with God, is inclined toward the good, true, and beautiful.

But we can make choices that twist and tear this essential character. Just as good food is transformed by our stomach and bowels, we can take what is good and make it disgusting.

Our internal motivations - the intention behind our choosing - can compromise and confuse the good with which we begin. Sex is good as an expression of love, but if we use it to assert power we have made it disgusting.

Admiring what another has honors them and can help us better understand our own needs. Theft occurs when an attitude of delight is replaced by the desire to control.

In all that we do our motivations and intentions either strengthen what we share with God or serve to separate us from God. What we intend will determine whether our actions are creative or destructive.

Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ (Mark 7: 14-15)

This was an unambiguous and public challenge to the Pharisees. Elaborate rules and restrictions on what could be eaten, how food should be prepared, and how meals should be consumed were the most widely recognized aspect of Pharisee belief.

The liturgy of the temple had become a liturgy of eating together. What was chosen for the meal and how it was prepared served to make it sacred: put aside for God. The meal became a ritual by which the sacredness of those eating was emphasized.

The English word defile is not in our everyday vocabulary, but it carries a strong connotation. It means to make foul, dirty, or unclean. The Greek with which Jesus is translated seems to me a bit anemic in comparison. He says nothing ingested can koinoo - that is "make common."

Humanity is not more or less sacred by what we eat or drink, hear or see, or the result of any external influence. The extent to which we are in relationship with God cannot be determined by external or ritualistic evidence.

Rather our relationship with God is determined by things that come out. The Greek is ekporeuomai. This means that which emerges from a journey. As we live each day where are we aiming, what are we seeking, why have we chosen this path?

Above is Sunset Ride by Stephen Morath.

Then he said to them, ‘You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, “Honour your father and your mother”; and, “Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.” But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, “Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban” (that is, an offering to God)— then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.’ (Mark 7: 9-13)

One aspect of applying Temple rules to daily life was to treat all of one's goods as a sacrifice to God. Just as the Temple priests would derive their needs from what had been given in sacrifice, so the Pharisee's dedicated all they had to God.

That which was given to God could only be used for the purposes of God (or God's priests). At times this was evidently used as an excuse for not helping others. The ritual was observed, while the principles or purposes behind the ritual were neglected.

Jesus reminds us to be attentive to the purpose behind the ritual. In the Books of Moses God has clearly instructed us to honor and care for mother and father, widow, orphan, and stranger. What has been dedicated to God can certainly be used for these purposes.

Some perceive Jesus was himself a Pharisee. He was clearly on friendly terms with some Pharisees. There is a suggestion that Jesus found the rituals of the Pharisees overly complicated. But he does not condemn the rituals themselves.

Rather, Jesus accuses many Pharisees of bringing self-justifying intentions to the practice of their rituals. Korban - a gift or sacrifice to God - is to bring us close to God. If this is not the outcome, it is not truly Korban.

So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,“This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.” You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’ Then he said to them, ‘You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! (Mark 7: 5-9)

The Pharisees were scrupulous in their piety and earnest in their beliefs. They were, according to contemporary commentators, the most popular of the contending schools of thought in First Century Palestine.

But Jesus calls them hypocrites. This is from the Greek word hupokrites that means a stage actor or someone who uses the words of others or a pretender. Hebrew does not have a word of equivalent meaning. Jesus might have used the Greek.

To clarify his meaning Jesus quotes from Isaiah 29. Here the prophet criticizes empty religious practice. Isaiah explains that God will radically transform the people's faith and understanding through a process compared to a nightmare... or it might be a piece of theater.

Isaiah explains that religious tradition has actually "turned things around." We would say, turned things upside down. The tradition has put the last things first and first things last. Isaiah promises that that through the work of God things will be made right side up.

In answer to the Pharisees' criticism Jesus almost certainly intended for them to recall the final words of Isaiah 29: "Those who err in mind will know the truth, and those who criticize will accept instruction."

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) (Mark 7: 1-4)

Jesus was almost always patient, forgiving, and loving. But he was often impatient, critical, and harshly condemning of the Pharisees.

The Pharisees were religious reformers who sought to preserve Jewish life and faith from Hellenistic influences. To do this the Pharisees adapted Temple regulations to daily life. A Pharisee organized his life to reflect the rituals and rites of priests. In this way daily existence was to be suffused with spiritual purpose. The Pharisees believed the people of Israel should be as a nation of priests.

The rituals and rites of the Temple priests were principally an oral tradition. This unwritten law was understood by the Pharisees to constitute a second Torah having at least equal authority to the written law of Moses.

Above is Purificaiton a sculpture by Thomas Matsuda.

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the market-places, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed. (Mark 6: 53-56)

Chapter Six began with Jesus at Nazareth where he could do no deed of power because the people rejected him. He offended their expectations.

He moves on to teaching before a great crowd who did not understand what he said and misunderstood a miracle. Jesus did not bring the expected message.

When Jesus was finally able to communicate at least part of his message it was so far outside their expectations many of his followers left him.

People who had no notion of his mission rushed about, asked, and expected to be healed. Jesus fulfilled their expectation.

The expectatons we bring to Jesus will in many ways determine what we find.

But immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. (Mark 6: 50-52)

He had taught and none of the disciples had been sufficiently impressed to later recall what he said.

So Jesus responded to their need with a dramatic - truly miraculous - example. Still, they did not understand.

The gospel of Mark moves on without further explanation. But the gospel of John suggests Jesus made a third consecutive attempt to explain.

"Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh... Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. " (John 6: 47-51, 53)

According to the fourth gospel this teaching was at least partially understood. It was also so offensive that many of those who had followed Jesus left him.

In order to live fully - to live as God intended - we must embrace, engage, and entwine our lives with the identity of Jesus. Just as we need daily bread to sustain our physical existence, we must partake of the identity of Jesus to sustain our spiritual existence.

The identity of Jesus - his spiritual flesh and blood - is of the same essence as God. With Jesus we encounter God and reclaim the spirit of God that is also our essential identity.

In John we have translated as life what in Greek is the feminine noun zoe. This is derived from a primary verb zao. For the Greeks this is already more than mere survival, it is a genuine, vigorous, abundant life. The verb is to be strong, efficient, effective, and endless.

When evening came, the boat was out on the lake, and he was alone on the land. When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the lake. He intended to pass them by. But when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. (Mark 6: 47-50)

Jesus is - typically - unexpected. Instead of conquering king, he arrives as vulnerable child. Rather than vengeance, he brings love. We expect death. He promises eternal life.

The more we fit Jesus to our expectations, the more likely Jesus will surprise and even terrify us. We cannot fully define what is infinite.

The scriptures help us understand that this is not because Jesus is unpredictable. He has an integrity and consistency in which we can have great confidence.

The problem is with our expectations. We work to conform Jesus to our experience, rather than transform our experience through Jesus.

Expect and experience are both derived from the Latin. Expect is to look at. Experience is to try. Jesus doesn't want us to just look at life. He wants us to live boldy.

Above is a color enhancement by Tobin James Mueller of a 16th Century woodblock print.

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray. (Mark 6: 45-46)

After travel, crowds, teaching, and a miracle Jesus finally has a moment of rest and peace. I wonder about his thoughts.

Many have celebrated the feeding of the 5000 as the greatest of miracles. The Gospels suggest Jesus may not have considered it a success.

Mark comments that the disciples did not understand about the loaves. John provides a whole second act where the crowd that had been fed catches up with Jesus the next day.

In John's gospel Jesus says, "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves."

Both the disciples and the crowd had missed what Jesus was trying to teach. It is very difficult for God's intention to break through our preexisting expectations.

Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men. (Mark 6: 39-44)

We are offered a land overflowing with milk and honey. When wine is wanted for a wedding Jesus provides 120 gallons of the very best. At the end of a long day a picnic is provided that goes far beyond what is needed.

God's intention is abundant. To participate in this abundance we must learn to see beyond the practical limitations of time, place, and resource. We must choose to reach beyond this kingdom and begin living in the Kingdom of God.

We must also understand the sort of abundance that God intends. In the gospel of John the 5000 present at the miracle did not understand. They wanted Jesus to become an earthly king and they asked him to provide free bread.

Jesus responded that he was the bread of life and he taught, "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." (John 6: 27)

Dear God give us this day our daily bread: both physical and spiritual. Help us to become agents of your abundance in this kingdom and in this way learn to abide more and more in your heavenly kingdom.

When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ (Mark 6: 35-38)

The disciples perceived the limitations of their time, place, and resource. The time was late. The place was deserted. The resources were meager.

Jesus was keenly aware of a potential that transcended time, place, and resource. For Jesus the greater reality was the abundance of God's intention.

Both the disciples and Jesus were realists. But the reality in which Jesus resided was not - yet - understood by his disciples. Nor - yet - fully by me.

Jesus had spent the day teaching many things. He realized the teachings had not been well understood. It was time for a demonstration.

Jesus might have asked himself, How can I show that God is here, that divine love is real, that the limitations you perceive are not the only reality?

Above is cover-art from That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis.

Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. (Mark 6: 33-34)

But Mark does not tell us what Jesus taught. In this case Matthew, Luke, and John are also silent. We are certainly told of the miracle Jesus is about to perform. But our witnesses totally neglect to tell us of the teaching in which Jesus, presumably, was addressing the principles that empowered his miracle-working.

The eyes often overcome the ears. We are so distracted by what we see it is as if we cannot hear. We can be impressed by results but often fail to given attention to how the results were produced. We do not - sometimes its seems we cannot - embrace the whole. We each become preoccupied by a part.

Jesus engaged and demonstrated the whole of human potential. He was physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. He was fully attentive to the needs, motivations, and aspirations of others. He knew and understood the limitations of our usual mode of living. Jesus came to help us transcend these limitations and experience the abundance of God's intention.

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. (Mark 6: 30-32)

In Matthew leaving for a deserted place is motivated by news of John's death. In Luke the deserted place is identified as being across the Sea of Galilee beyond the rule of Antipas. Based on these gospels many scholars perceive that Jesus responded to the execution of his baptizer by trying to step out of public view.

But in Mark the motivation is the return of the apostles from their two-by-two mission. The purpose is to rest and to escape the expectations of the crowd. In this gospel the trip across the lake is yet to come.

Motivation is difficult to assess. Some see fear. Others perceive leisure. But the gospels agree that Jesus and a few of his disciples sought out a quiet place apart. The gospels also agree that while they intended - for whatever reason - to engage in a retreat, this intention would not be achieved.

Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’ The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb. (Mark 6: 25-29)

Pride is an awful master. For fear of being embarrassed before his courtiers Antipas feels forced to do what he does not want to do and what he ought not.

Self-interest, self-esteem, and pride are not enough... or perhaps too much... or probably just the wrong measure all together.

We do not find the self in serving it. The self is found and fulfilled by being the unique expression of God originally intended at our creation.

Above is a drawing done for Oscar Wilde's Salome by Aubrey Beardsley.

But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the baptizer.’ (Mark 6: 21-24)

If Solome is remembered at all she is usually seen as a belly-dancer, almost as stripper, a co-conspirator in murder, and for those familiar with the Oscar Wilde play or Richard Strauss opera of the same name she kisses the severed head of the prophet.

But Antipas tended to be a rather proper Hellenistic ruler. In a modern context Solome's dance would be seen almost as a kind of classical ballet. In Mark's account she is so innocent that she cannot even ask for what she wants without consulting with her mother.

Many of us might benefit from considering Solome's question: "What should I ask for?" The story suggests we should exercise considerable care in who's advice we seek and for what we ask.

Both English and French versions of the Oscar Wilde play are available from the University of Virginia.

For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. (Mark 6: 17-20)

Herod Antipas married his niece (not a problem at the time) who had quite recently been his sister-in-law. Marrying a sister-in-law - except in special circumstances after a brother's death - was considered incest.

John the Baptist caused political unrest by criticizing the incestuous marriage. John was arrested to quiet this criticism. But otherwise Antipas seems to have appreciated John. The intense integrity of John probably intriqued Antipas.

Some of the most poignant figures in history and literature are self-aware realists. They are considered "realists" because they unstintingly pursue self-interest. But they bring to this self-interest a dispassionate even self-critical detachment.

Antipas held no grudge against John's criticism. He simply needed to quiet the criticism. Antipas protected John from his less-restrained wife. It is even possible that he came to see John as a kind of alter-ego.

What would motivate an intelligent and capable man to consistently behave against his self-interest? John pursued a purpose that seemed to contradict self-interest. That must truly have perplexed Herod Antipas.

King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, ‘John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ But others said, ‘It is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’ But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’ (Mark 6: 14-16)

The complete identity of Jesus is beyond full understanding. Whether trinitarian, unitarian, intellectual, spiritual, or the follower of some other framework for understanding, Jesus remains - at least in part - a mystery.

Herod Antipas - one of the sons of Herod the Great - was further separated from Jesus by his guilt. He knew that his execution of John the Baptist was unjust. Antipas brought his deepest shame and fear to Jesus.

But instead of giving this shame and fear to Jesus, Antipas projected it on Jesus. Rather than seeking forgiveness, Antipas expected vengeance. He could not escape remaking Jesus in his own image.

Above is Mirror Image by Doug Hoppes.

He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. (Mark 6: 10-13)

Two by two they went out. We know the Twelve did not fully understand the mission of Jesus. They could be as proud, fearful, and confused as any of us. Yet, according to Mark they succeeded in an ambitious mission.

In Matthew's gospel Jesus gives them this instruction. "Go and announce the Kingdom of Heaven is closing in. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons." (Matthew 10: 8)

Mark says they preached repentence which was John the Baptist's preparation for the New Age. The Greek for repentence is metanoeo or to change one's mind. The Hebrew concept was probably either nacham or shuwb. Nacham is to recognize error, experience regret, and be comforted. Schuwb is to turn back to God's intention.

Jesus was especially attached to the prophecy of Isaiah. That text draws heavily on the concept of shuwb, as in "Return to Him from whom you have deeply defected, O sons of Israel." (Isaiah 31: 6)

Repent: God's loving intention for you is close at hand. Return to that intention. Return to that purpose. Return to that for which you were created.

Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. (Mark 6: 6-9)

In Matthew's gospel Jesus instructs that even sandals and staff be left behind.

They are to make no practical preparations. They are to depend entirely on the hospitality of strangers and the love of God.

This is contrary to our common sense. The teaching contradicts my experience. The result is unnecessary vulnerabilty.

But in making a spiritual journey increased vulnerability may be an essential aspect of achieving the goal.

We cultivate the illusion of control. This illusion is often our greatest impediment to being in full relationship with God.

We are always vulnerable. What we do to reduce our vulnerability barely adjusts the margins of risk.

Purposefully increasing our vulnerabilty is a choice to move outside the illusion. It allows us to see what is fundamentally real: our risks, our opportunities, and - if we are attentive - God's intention.

And they took offence at him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. (Mark 6: 4-6)

Especially in the context of Mark's gospel it is startling to read, "And he could do no deed of power there..." Mark's action hero has encountered his kryptonite.

Jesus is a bridge between us and God's love. If we fail to see the bridge, refuse to use the bridge, or insist it does not exist we will not get across.

Luke's longer account of this hometown encounter (Luke 4: 14-30) helps us better understand the offense felt in Nazareth.

According to Luke, Jesus was at first proudly and well-received in his home synagogue. But then Jesus challenged his old friends by suggesting his mission - and God's love - did not give special place to those listening. Jesus was being critical of those who believed they owned the bridge.

Mark helps us understand that God's abilty to work with us depends on our faith and cooperation. Jesus invites, he does not insist.

Luke helps us understand that even in faith our expectations can complicate God's ability to work with us. When we insist on our righteousness and cast aspersions on the worthiness of others we have lost our way to the bridge.

Above is Free Bridge to Ciudad Juarez by Robin Ora Hood.

He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ (Mark 6: 1-3)

Every small town I have ever known - every authentic community - is founded on the same premise: we will care for you, support you, and love you as long as you conform to our expectations.

The expectations are heavily weighted toward local values, family origins, and "not getting too big for your britches." Eccentricity, especially of the weaker sort, is accepted. But any suggestion of pride is rejected.

Too often what we call love is only comforting conformance. True love will empower and transform. God's love encourages exploration and usually results in the unexpected. Do not fear, only believe.

He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. (Mark 5: 37-43)

"Get her something to eat," Jesus instructed. He had raised the little girl from the dead or the edge of death by holding her hand and speaking two words. But she was still in need of daily necessities.

There are times when I seem suspended between two parallel worlds: one overflowing with miracles, the other scorched with fear. One is as real as the other, but they are almost entirely separate.

Jesus is a pathway between these two realities. He brings rain to the desert. But after the rain it is still necessary to gather food, stoke the fire, mend the roof, and - occasionally - recover from the flood.

While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ (Mark 5: 35-36)

The parables can be subtle. Jesus was fond of paradox. He pushes us to a deeper understanding than usual.

But he could also be very clear. "Do not fear, only believe."

Faith and fear do not travel well together. Believe, have confidence, keep faith that God loves you.

Above is Red Sea I by Robert Motherwell.

Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ He looked all round to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’ (Mark 5: 30-34)

Given the nature of her affliction the woman would not have been allowed in the temple or synagogue. She could not participate in disciplines of formal worship.

Given the nature of her affliction most good works would not have been possible. There is no suggestion of merit, only need.

As the passage above makes clear her faith was far from fearless. Nor does her response to the call of Jesus suggest she was especially insightful regarding his character.

She simply believed in the power of Jesus to make her whole. I am tempted to perceive she would have brought the same desperate belief to any alledged holy man.

But her need was real. Her faith was real. God's mercy was real. My secular friends find my faith a great mystery. This woman's faith is far beyond mine in power and mystery.

_________________________

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 04, 2006

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. (Mark 5: 24-29)

This particular disease, whatever it's physical origin, caused the woman to be in a perpetual state of spiritual pollution. She was ill. She was also unclean. (Leviticus 15: 23-30)

Anyone who touched her or anything she touched became spiritually unclean. She would have been unable to marry or to eat with others. She would have been totally separated from the community.

Somehow she came to believe that Jesus could restore her to wholeness. She did not ask. It is not reported that she prayed. It is suggested that she simply and honestly believed and reached out to Jesus.

She had faith - confidence - that God would receive her with compassion and that Jesus was a means by which that compassion would be experienced.

This may be the foundation and culmination of the gospels. Whatever else might arise from faith - good works or great error - our only hope of arriving finally at some semblance of God's intention is to depend on the grace of God.

For some reason my Saturday post has disappeared. This may be slightly different from my original writing.

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ So he went with him. (Mark 5: 21-24)

Is there an occasion when Jesus does not do what he is asked directly to do?

I can think of discussions that dissuade the one making the request, as when James and John sought pride of place with Jesus. (Matthew 20).

There are also occasions when Jesus seems disinclined but is persuaded, as with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).

There are times when Jesus is delayed. This is about to happen in this story. It happens later with Lazarus. But the delay does not seemingly change the outcome.

It is worth further study. But it would seem that when - as with the father here - the request is made in faith, hope, and love Jesus does as he is asked.

Above is Asking for Rain by Christine Healy.

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed. (Mark 5: 18-20)

He went to the Decapolis. These were ten Greek trading cities along the edge of the great desert.

Was this unnamed Gentile, former demoniac - someone so thoroughly lost he did not ask for healing - the first evangelist?

The man was commissioned to tell of God's mercy. The Greek is eleeo or eleos. Outside the Bible this is most often translated as pity or compassion.

In the present generation both mercy and pity can be burdened with seriously negative connotations. Compassion may also be sliding into a sadly shallow meaning.

In his Rhetoric Aristotle offered, "Compassion may be defined as a feeling of pain caused by the sight of some evil - destructive or painful - which befalls one who does not deserve it, and which we might expect to befall ourselves or some friend of ours, and moreover to befall us soon."

In compassion we recognize ourselves in others, we love others as ourselves, we act on behalf of others as we act on our own behalf.

Jesus instructed the man to tell of God's compassion.

The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighbourhood. (Mark 5: 14-17)

When our expectations are overturned we often react in fear. Even if our expectations were bad and the results are good.

We are comforted by repeating patterns. We are entertained by slight variations in pattern. We are troubled when a pattern does not behave to form.

Jesus offers a new pattern. It is radically unlike what we have known. Will we be as those in the story who ask Jesus to leave?