Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Mark 8,31-38. Quinquagesima

Friday, March 4, 2022

Mark 8,31-38. Quinquagesima

Mark 8,31-38 1522

Quinquagesima 23

Gelasius, actor, Martyr 297

27. Februar 2022

1. ℣ Be Thou my Strong Rock: for an house to defense to save me.

℟ Thou art my Rock and my Fortress: therefore for Thy Name’s sake lead me and guide me (Psalm 31,2-3).

O Lord Jesus, the chosen Christ of Your Father; cover our sins, and kindle in us such love, so that by our good works we may please our neighbor, and in doing so we do as You do, O Son of God. Amen. (Ein wahrer Glaube Gotts Zorn stillt elkg 646,8 2021 A True Faith Quiets God’s Wrath).

2. »And Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He said this plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning and seeing His disciples, Jesus rebuked Peter and said: „Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.“ And He called to Him the crowd with His disciples and said to them: „If anyone would go after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He arrives in the Glory of His Father with the holy angels.“«

3. The Gospel according to Mark highlights the signs and miracles Jesus performed and has less of the lengthy teaching pericopes found in Matthew and Luke. So when Mark writes down something lengthy Jesus said, it is a case to stop and ponder those words. In the 8. Chapter he writes that Jesus plainly spoke of His Passion. He did not use a parable, a metaphor or symbolism, rather He told it to His disciples straight and true. He must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after 3 days rise again.

4. This plain speak was a teaching in response to a question He had just asked His disciples: Who do you say that I am (8,29). Answering for all the disciples, Peter confessed: You are the Christ (8,29).Jesus then informs them that the Christ must suffer, die and rise again.

5. This teaching surprised and shocked His disciples. There is no outright hostility to Jesus at this point in the Gospel, at least none that His disciples seem to be aware of. Yes, there has been disagreements between Jesus and the Pharisees over the interpretation of the law of Moses, but that was common among Pharisaical debates. Yes, the Nazarenes drove Jesus from their synagogue, but that could be expected as a prophet was rarely well-received in his hometown. The only extreme response thus far in Mark occurred in Chapter 3, where the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against Him, how to destroy/kill Him (3,6). This was in response to a disagreement between Jesus and those Pharisees in regards to the Sabbath and work. But was this meeting between the Pharisees and the Herodians common knowledge or a secret known only by the Pharisees and the Herodians? Were the disciples aware of this meeting and its decision? Mark is silent here.

6. The Pharisees and the scribes controlled the synagogues and regulated the interpretation and teaching of the Torah. Their chief teaching was that a person is declared by God to be righteous based on their obedience to the Commandments, and they did not believe they were sinners in need of repentance because they were zealous in obeying those Commandments. The Herodians are only mentioned 3 times in the New Testament (Matthew 22,16; Mark 3,6; and 12,13-17). they were probably a faction that supported the policies and the government of the Herodian family, particularly Tetrarch (ruler of 0ne-quarter) Herod Antipas who ruled Galilee and Perea from 4 bc - ad 39. The machinations of the Pharisees and the Herodians culminated in the arrest, trial and condemnation of Jesus.

7. But Jesus’ disciples were shocked that the Pharisees and the Herodians would conspire against Jesus, for they saw Him as one who upheld the Torah, interpreted it rightly and was respectful to His king, Herod Antipas. Jesus, however, was not as naive as His disciples. He knew His messianic claim would threaten Herod Antipas, and He knew His proper interpretation of the Sinai covenant would offend many of the Pharisees. This confrontation could only end in suffering and death.

8. Jesus calls upon us to take up our cross and follow Him. We must be willing to suffer and be persecuted for our faith in Jesus. Those who are opposed to Jesus will oppose us too, and they will persecute us. Those who are ashamed of Jesus, of them will He also be ashamed. Those who are steadfast to Jesus, of them will He also be steadfast, and He is steadfast to those who believe in Him. By night or by day, in youth and in old age, drifting or doubting, in good times and in bad, Jesus is daily with us, beside and carrying us when need be.

9. Christ be my Savior in calm as in strife;

Death cannot hold me, for He is the life.

Nor darkness nor doubting nor sin and its stain

Can touch my salvation: with Jesus I reign (Christ Be My Leader lsb 861,3).

This is most certainly true.

12. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, since that evil spirit, the Devil, always prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour us, You want to shield us by Your dear holy angels from all his cunning and terror, for Your dear Son’s sake. Through Your Holy Spirit, give us repentant hearts, so that we may serve You in all soberness and vigilance. Amen. (Die pommersche Kirchen-Ordnung und Agenda 287.2; Stratman 35).

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Friday, March 4, 2022

Mark 8,31-38. Quinquagesima

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