Monday, March 8, 2010
J2
As you read the first chapter of the gospel of Mark this week, convince your mind that these few paragraphs are the only words that you will ever read about Jesus. Ever. Feel free to comment several times during the week. Write down whatever observations come to your mind – no matter how insignificant you may think it is. Let's use this to encourage, inspire and challenge one another so we can look more like the One we claim follow.
Just as a reminder the 3 questions are:
1. What is the author trying to tell us about Jesus?
2. How can this transform our everyday life?
3. What does this mean for the greenroom?
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18 comments:
Hey!!! I am going to start on that tonight. Very excited about the journey. I was doing my David study the other day and it was when David had finally made it to the cedar palace that God had for him. After waiting and suffering, he was finally able to rest in What God has for him, to be king. Then looked outside and saw that the Ark was in a tent. David thought this to be ridiculous and ordered a nice temple to be built for the ark. God sent Nathan to David to say, "I do not need the nice building made of cedar. I have always lived in a tent. I traveled in a tent when the Israelites left Egypt." God said all this to say that he travels with us wherever we go and he doesn't need a big light show or mega church building.
Taylor
Oh and you can find the passage in 2 Samuel. I think 8 but not 100 percent sure because I don't have my Bible with me.
1. The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus.
Jesus will be very great, the Son of the Most High.
He will be given by the LORD God the throne of His ancestor David.
He will reign over Israel forever; His Kingdom will never end!
He will be holy.
2. Jesus is not just another famous person, religious leader, or cult leader. He is the holy Son of God and He will rule forever. We are following and seeking to emulate the King of kings!
3. We are not engaged in organized religion but a movement of the Almighty.
Great insight Taylor. Throughout the bible we see God using some of the most simplest forms to lead the world to himself. Jesus is no different. The King of the universe arrives into the world as a defenseless child (not mentioned in Mark but in Matthew and Luke) He identifies with the ones he came to save by going through the familiar Jewish ritual of water baptism (cleansing). He chooses common, uneducated fisherman to be his closest friends and to ultimately spread the good news of God to the world. Jesus heals people, not by using any mysterious formulas and magical paraphernalia (as the Jewish priests would) but instead through the simple yet powerful authority of his words. And all this just in the first chapter!
Jesus draws people to himself simply by being himself and compassionately identifying with the world that he deeply loves.
Great points Kirk. Right at the start of Mark, the author is, no doubt, painting a picture of the majesty, righteousness and justice of Jesus the Christ (the anointed one). Jesus is the great ruler from God that the Jewish people had been waiting and longing for. He had been written and spoken about for over 700 years. His long awaited arrival was seen as a powerful, Holy, political event that would free the Jewish people from their enslavement and occupation of the Romans.
What's amazing to me is how Mark sets up this scene. After painting a picture of Jesus as an Almighty ruler, he immediately records Jesus doing things that are uncharacteristic and, frankly, unbecoming of a mighty conquering King. After being baptized by a crazy man who eats bugs and lives in the dessert, Jesus willingly allows himself to be tempted by the Evil one (the temptation of power). After that he begins his quest not by gathering around him an army of the rich and powerful, but instead he calls young, uneducated, everyday fisherman to be his closest confidants and apprentices. He begins to heal those who have been taken over by sickness and evil spirits, but instead of using his miracles as an advertising method, he tells them to refrain from telling others who he is. Instead of ignoring the powerless, and 'unclean' (as most religious men would) he touches them and shows a kind of compassion that they had never experienced. The list goes on and on. And like I said before, this is just in the first chapter. I think the author, right from the beginning, is making it clear that this Jesus will force us to change our preconceived ideas of what it means to be Holy.
By the way, I love that phrase; "a movement of the Almighty"
“Here begins the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” As I read the first sentence in the book of Mark (New Living Translation) I can’t help but be excited for this journey with you all. It is as if Mark is saying “get ready” With just over 6 months until the greenroom launch, I am excited for the impact we can have if we take the Jesus journey (16 weeks) seriously. To all be on the same page as we step into this God sized endeavor together…the possibilities are endless. WE can be a creative force for the Creator God in the city of A2 and beyond. “Here begins the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God”…get ready…September 2010!
Other (somewhat random) thoughts: I have studied the book of Mark before and I am intrigued how often Jesus “went out alone…”(1:35) or (1:45) had to stay out in secluded/lonely places. It continues through most of the 16 chapters. And you’ll notice he often did this after he has healed/performed miracles. Being an extreme extrovert myself…I always was baffled by those who got “recharged” by space. Until I married one. When Scott and I were first dating, I asked “what do you look for in a relationship?” and within 3 seconds he actually said “SPACE”. SO foreign to me…but I have always tried to respect that AND if we at the greenroom want to “walk as Jesus walked” than my Babe (Scott) is one step ahead of me!
Thanks babe! Your words are both encouraging and challenging. As I read over that passage again (Mark 1:35), it's clear Jesus understood that the only way to accomplish his mission was to spend a large portion of his life alone and in prayer with his Father. I'm humbled by how often I don't take the opportunity to spend "alone time" with God- (unless of course I need something). If the Son of God could not accomplish his purpose without continual prayer, it should compel me all the more to want to pray without ceasing. We have been called to a God-sized mission that cannot be realized without living our lives in constant contact with the one who has brought us here. Thanks for the reminder.
A-ight. Here's my opinion. Looking at this chapter with "new eyes," as if it's the first thing I've ever read about Jesus, I get this. Jesus is a Superhero. He calls people, strangers, to follow Him, and they do "at once" and "without delay!" He heals the sick, drives out demons, and even has heaven "torn open" so that God can tell everybody how sweet He is. And to tell them WHO he is. God's Son. The author, in my opinion, also makes it very clear what this Superhero's mission is. To spread the Good News. As a new Christian, once I learned that "gospel" meant "good news," I really wanted to figure out what the "good news" was. And here it is, in the first chapter of the first book written. "The time is at hand...The Kingdom of God is near." I think that wrapping our heads around that message, dissecting what it means, how it affects our lives, and how to continue His mission of spreading the message is KEY to looking like Him and key to what it means to be a part of the greenroom. And even though I have grown closer to Him, day by day, that key message, "The Kingdom of God is near," still remains elusive. Near how? Near to what? And how does that message relate to a society that doesn't understand or feel any connection to "the Kingdom of God." What is "the Kingdom?" And if it's near, how near? Where is it? So I guess, as I read this with fresh eyes, I'm left with two distinct feelings. Excitement about this super-human healing "Son of God," and honestly, confusion about His mission.
1. I really like how the author used words such as "desert", "wilderness", "lonliness", "fishermen", and "diseases". Jesus was simple and looked for what would have been considered the "black sheep" of the day. Jesus sought out fishermen to follow Him. I learned that boys would either become Rabbis, or they would follow in their father's trade. Fishermen were not considered to be the loftiest or smartest men of the day, but Christ saw something GREAT in them. He did seek out kings to follow him. He wanted the outcasts.
Christ also came to the people who society said had no hope. He touch and healed lepers. Lepers were considered to be extremely unclean, but Christ didn't care. He did some unlikely things.
2. As Christians, we can look at the 1st gospel of Mark and learn many new things about Christ. Sometimes we get tied up into the drama of organizing a church program. We aren't content unless we see a big light show or are entertained. Christ could have spent most of his time in the Synagogues, but he made himself to the people who didn't go to Synagogues or who were turned off by Synagogues. Maybe we need to just go out into the wilderness and the desert to find those in need instead of the seat of our mega churches.
3. Like I mentioned in my comment about David and the Ark of the Covenant, the Greenroom is like a tent for Christ. He would rather spend time in an unlikely place then a nice "cliche" building.
Hey Gribz, I think you hit on something that has the potential to completely blow everything out of the water. Jesus' first recorded words set the stage for not only his life, but the whole reason he came to earth in the first place. And if we are willing to listen to his words as if we were living in that culture and at that time in history, we may be surprised at the conclusions we arrive at.
Taylor, As I read your challenging words, I'm reminded of the radical simplicity of Jesus. I'm reminded of why searching people were compelled to drop everything and follow Jesus in the first place. Jesus offered something so counter-culture that it could not be manufactured or manipulated. The radical nature of his message (and the ones he brought his message to) was enough to cause the world to want to know more.
In the NIV translation I read, I couldn't help but notice the brevity of segments in the first chapter - building up a tremendous amount of momentum. Within the space of about 10 paragraphs, we go from John baptising Jesus to Jesus becoming a magnetic force; "...as a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him form everywhere" (Mark 1:45)
What I leave with from that is how much of Jesus's ministry was active, hands-on ministry as opposed to speaking to groups. While both have their place, one without the other isn't a complete picture of who Jesus is.
K, here it goes. What I was first drawn to when reading this chapter was the way Mark narrated his account of Jesus. He writes from a non-dramatized, limited external (he only follows the life of Jesus and cannot tell what he is thinking) viewpoint. Just from reading this first chapter we cannot derive any information about the author, only Jesus. That's not to say Mark doesn't have an identity. If the greenroom is going to look like Jesus and tell his story, then we must always make sure that our identity is in the background, while placing Christ in the foreground as Mark did. That's all for now.
Daryl, you bring up an important point that we've been wrestling with for a while now. How do we make our methods look like the Messenger? In other words, how do we "do church" in a way that mirrors the one who brought his church into existence?
You're right. It was Jesus’ active personal touch to the broken and forgotten that made him such a unique and compelling figure.
Maggie, you have an amazing way of seeing things from a unique angle.
Your creative writing background will play (and has already played) an essential part in our development as a God centered movement.
Thanks for reminding us that all this can never be about us. It must always be about pointing people to thier creator.
One thing that strikes me about Jesus' ministry is how little he asked people to repent, THEN healed them. Jesus always healed and then brought people to repentance.
As followers of Christ we have this instinct to evangelize, to get people to cross the line of faith, to tell them about Jesus, what He's done in our lives and what He can do in theirs. We care desperately for their spiritual needs, but how often do we have the same persistence to care for someone's physical needs? I understand that someone's salvation is eternal, but that didn't stop Jesus for caring for someone's physical needs first.
Obviously, one can't go without the other, but if we are to follow Jesus' example its clear that we must (in the language that Mark uses) "immediately," "suddenly" care for the physical needs of others.
Right on, Joelle. It begs the question, how do we, as artists, use the gifts God has given us to physically help people, specifically the community of Ann Arbor?
Aral, that's a really good question that I've had to think a lot about. Of course the obvious answer would be to say that as people in a creative movement, we can think of creative ways to raise money to solve peoples' physical needs, which is so good, and biblical in the sense that we would do so out of love for our neighbors, but if we are to go back to Jesus and the earliest Christians, what do we see happening and how, as artists, do we do THAT?
Some of us sing, some act. Others of us paint, contruct or design, but the thing that makes all of us artists is our desire and ability to pour out our hearts before others. I don't know where anyone else stands on this, but I believe in miraculous healing and provision through prayer. I believe that our God is a God that multiplies food, that makes the blind see, and the deaf hear, but it requires us to pour out our hearts before God in prayer with the people we're praying for and fully believe that God's sovreign will IS (present, not future tense) done.
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