Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
1-5 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
6-8 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”
14-15 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”
21-23 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?
REFLECTIONS:
Thoughts from Scott:
Sometimes we forget that a pretty big chunk of the Bible’s four accounts of Jesus’ life (Gospels) are about all the trouble and conflict that Jesus stirs up with religious people. In a word, Jesus is constantly being SUBVERSIVE: someone who intends to undermine an established system, authority or set of beliefs. We see Jesus doing this throughout the Gospels, but it’s in this passage that Jesus spells it out: “…why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?” The love of God is doing something wonderful, but people are throwing a fit because Jesus is breaking all their rules.
When I come to think of it, Jesus might be the least “religious” person in the whole Bible. Jesus loves the people who are the most messed up, challenges the most sacred of traditions, and finds holiness in the things most of us reject. Subversive. Holy? Absolutely. Religious? Not so much.
At C@P, we strive to be “a banquet of love and acceptance for those who need it the most.” To do this requires daily acts of Holy subversion. It’s risky. It stretches us. It disrupts the way some think things should be. And it is absolutely the way of Jesus.
PRACTICE:
Outward Mindset Application
When experiencing a difference or conflict with someone, consider the set of “life rules” they are operating from. Consider that they are being “stretched” to think or act outside of their worldview. How might that impact the way you engage with them?
Non-Violent Communication Question of the Week
“I wonder if we are coming from different perspectives on this issue. I would really like to hear how you see this. What do you think is important for me to understand?”
Pathways toward Centeredness
What types of dissonance or discomfort might you be experiencing these days? What is stretching your view of how life should be? Consider sitting with this discomfort as a reflection or meditation practice. What about it feels like death? What about it feels like life coming out? What is the discomfort teaching you?
Questions for Reflection
What image of Jesus do you get from this text? How does it resonate with or challenge how you have seen Jesus?
Jesus says that the religious establishment has a problem with him over “healing…on the Sabbath?” What might that look like in today’s context?
“Liturgy” refers to the habits and practices humans use to form community around shared values and meaning. At Church at the Park, we desire to be a community of practice, becoming people who see the world through the eyes of the marginalized, making meaning through the lens of pain and suffering, and committing ourselves to non-violence in a wounded world. This weekly email is intended to provide pathways of practice for becoming the type of people who embody these values.
Many of our reflections on each week's text come from other sources. If you're interested in reading more of what inspires us, here our our two favorite reflections.
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