Let the Holy Spirit take over.
Dear God, I am ready to let you take control of my life. Come Lord Jesus open my eyes and heal my heart. Amen
On March 17th my choir group held a mini retreat at the house of one of our members. A good time was had by all and a lot of growth took place. we talked about what music ministry means to us and how important being apart of something outside ourselves was important to our spiritual growth. This is a group of people who came together as strangers and bonded to become more than friends. This is a group that likes to sing and likes to sing with one another there is no competition among the members and that in it self is refreshing. We come together with a common purpose and that is to give back to God and share with our fellow christians the Love that we feel for our Lord and Savior. This group keeps me grounded and strong in my faith because they are such positive examples in my life. I was chosen to give a talk about our theme for the retreat which was based on the song Open My Eyes, I like this song very much and often use it as a prayer meditation so I was elated when I was asked to give the bible part of the day. I found that the song was based on the Gospel of Mark and I began my search for the deeper meaning of the text. What I found was truly an eye opener. And I will share what I discovered here; Mark wraps his presentation of Jesus in the robe of Christological significance already in the opening line of the Gospel: The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Son of God, as it was written in the prophet Isaiah. . .
Mark was concerned with Jesus' identity, the meaning of his person and work against a backdrop of the story of Israel, especially the proclamation of the prophet Isaiah. The message that Jesus proclaims is nothing less than "The Good News of God" Mark was concerned with God's intervention in history to bring to fruition the promise of Scripture and to inaugaurate God's reign and rule, his kingdom. So the Gospel of Mark is about God.
Marks view is that the ministry of Jesus cannot be understood apart from the cross.
The importance of discipleship; disciples rarely present themselves in any fashion that would invite emulation instead they show themselves to be concerned with issues of status and boundry drawing as those who have not banded together with Jesus. At the point of their travels together into Jerusalem their relationship with Jesus has deteriorated significantly. Mark shows us through the healing of the blind man that this healing takes on parabolic significance within the Gospel. Touched by Jesus, this blind man is able to see somewhat, but he mistakes human beings for walking trees. He requires further intervention on Jesus' part, just as the disciples will require more if they will be able to see clearly the nature of God's activity in the ministry of Jesus. Discipleship is organically related to Christology, Peter knows who Jesus is but misunderstands his divine destiny.
"The son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
The suffering of the church in history is intimately related to the birth pangs of the coming of God's dominion.
Zech 13:7 cited in Mark 14:27
Narrative of Mark in 3 discrete sections; the first 8:27-10:52 is bordered at the beginning and end by accounts of the healing of blind persons. Before the beginning of the journey, the blind man from Bethsaida is healed-from him we learn of the need of a second touch if genuine insite is to be achieved-end Bartimaeus both recieves his sight and joins Jesus "on the way".
The disciples too, require a second touch if they are to lose their fuzziness of perception and recieve eye-opening perceptiveness into Jesus' identity and the nature of discipleship. Through out the Gospel the followers have repeatedly fallen short in their own practices as disciples, how will the reader react to the message?Like the disciples did in fear, or will they embrace it with confidence and boldness and invite others to do the same.
Is 61:1 giving sight to the blind will mark his days
Is 35:5-6 then the eyes of the blind will be opened the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Is 29:18--Is42:7--Is 32:3 references to the blind,deaf,and lame
The little people of Mark's Gospel who exercise insight into Jesus true station and mission: The least, the lost and the left out; the woman who anoints his body for burial 14:3-9
Simon of Cyrene, who "takes up his cross" 15:21f
women who remain at the cross after the disciples have fled 15:40-41
These that belong to the company of others;
A gentile demoniac 5:19-20
an unclean woman 5:25-34
a syrophoenicain woman 7:24-30
roles that are relatively minor, yet who have flashes of insight that mark them as Jesus' true family 10:46-52
And then there is my favorite passage 10:51 Jesus said to him in reply "What do you want me to do for you?" the blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
This is the crux of the whole text. I want to see. It doesn't get any better than for us to see the truth and know and understand it.
Unlike the first blind man who did not follow Jesus Bartimacus does immediately the bible says he sprang up. Sprand up! you can't get more immediate than that.
The healing of the deaf man in 7:31-37
7:33 he took him off by himself away from the crowd,he put his fingers into the man's ears and, spitting touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven ----
immediately the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed.
My references for this material came from the following sources;
Introducing the New Testament; It's Literature and Theology by Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B.Green, Marianne Meye Thompson
The New Jerome Biblial Commentary
New Testament reading Guide "The Gospel of Saint Mark" by Gerard S Sloyan
and the RSV Catholic Bible
I hope you enjoy what I have discovered and that it is as meaningful to you as it is to me.
Lord Jesus Open my eyes,ears,heart,and mouth to your word and let me proclaim it boldly and without fear. I ask this in your name.
May the Lord Bless us, Protect us from evil and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen
On March 17th my choir group held a mini retreat at the house of one of our members. A good time was had by all and a lot of growth took place. we talked about what music ministry means to us and how important being apart of something outside ourselves was important to our spiritual growth. This is a group of people who came together as strangers and bonded to become more than friends. This is a group that likes to sing and likes to sing with one another there is no competition among the members and that in it self is refreshing. We come together with a common purpose and that is to give back to God and share with our fellow christians the Love that we feel for our Lord and Savior. This group keeps me grounded and strong in my faith because they are such positive examples in my life. I was chosen to give a talk about our theme for the retreat which was based on the song Open My Eyes, I like this song very much and often use it as a prayer meditation so I was elated when I was asked to give the bible part of the day. I found that the song was based on the Gospel of Mark and I began my search for the deeper meaning of the text. What I found was truly an eye opener. And I will share what I discovered here; Mark wraps his presentation of Jesus in the robe of Christological significance already in the opening line of the Gospel: The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Son of God, as it was written in the prophet Isaiah. . .
Mark was concerned with Jesus' identity, the meaning of his person and work against a backdrop of the story of Israel, especially the proclamation of the prophet Isaiah. The message that Jesus proclaims is nothing less than "The Good News of God" Mark was concerned with God's intervention in history to bring to fruition the promise of Scripture and to inaugaurate God's reign and rule, his kingdom. So the Gospel of Mark is about God.
Marks view is that the ministry of Jesus cannot be understood apart from the cross.
The importance of discipleship; disciples rarely present themselves in any fashion that would invite emulation instead they show themselves to be concerned with issues of status and boundry drawing as those who have not banded together with Jesus. At the point of their travels together into Jerusalem their relationship with Jesus has deteriorated significantly. Mark shows us through the healing of the blind man that this healing takes on parabolic significance within the Gospel. Touched by Jesus, this blind man is able to see somewhat, but he mistakes human beings for walking trees. He requires further intervention on Jesus' part, just as the disciples will require more if they will be able to see clearly the nature of God's activity in the ministry of Jesus. Discipleship is organically related to Christology, Peter knows who Jesus is but misunderstands his divine destiny.
"The son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
The suffering of the church in history is intimately related to the birth pangs of the coming of God's dominion.
Zech 13:7 cited in Mark 14:27
Narrative of Mark in 3 discrete sections; the first 8:27-10:52 is bordered at the beginning and end by accounts of the healing of blind persons. Before the beginning of the journey, the blind man from Bethsaida is healed-from him we learn of the need of a second touch if genuine insite is to be achieved-end Bartimaeus both recieves his sight and joins Jesus "on the way".
The disciples too, require a second touch if they are to lose their fuzziness of perception and recieve eye-opening perceptiveness into Jesus' identity and the nature of discipleship. Through out the Gospel the followers have repeatedly fallen short in their own practices as disciples, how will the reader react to the message?Like the disciples did in fear, or will they embrace it with confidence and boldness and invite others to do the same.
Is 61:1 giving sight to the blind will mark his days
Is 35:5-6 then the eyes of the blind will be opened the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Is 29:18--Is42:7--Is 32:3 references to the blind,deaf,and lame
The little people of Mark's Gospel who exercise insight into Jesus true station and mission: The least, the lost and the left out; the woman who anoints his body for burial 14:3-9
Simon of Cyrene, who "takes up his cross" 15:21f
women who remain at the cross after the disciples have fled 15:40-41
These that belong to the company of others;
A gentile demoniac 5:19-20
an unclean woman 5:25-34
a syrophoenicain woman 7:24-30
roles that are relatively minor, yet who have flashes of insight that mark them as Jesus' true family 10:46-52
And then there is my favorite passage 10:51 Jesus said to him in reply "What do you want me to do for you?" the blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
This is the crux of the whole text. I want to see. It doesn't get any better than for us to see the truth and know and understand it.
Unlike the first blind man who did not follow Jesus Bartimacus does immediately the bible says he sprang up. Sprand up! you can't get more immediate than that.
The healing of the deaf man in 7:31-37
7:33 he took him off by himself away from the crowd,he put his fingers into the man's ears and, spitting touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven ----
immediately the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed.
My references for this material came from the following sources;
Introducing the New Testament; It's Literature and Theology by Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B.Green, Marianne Meye Thompson
The New Jerome Biblial Commentary
New Testament reading Guide "The Gospel of Saint Mark" by Gerard S Sloyan
and the RSV Catholic Bible
I hope you enjoy what I have discovered and that it is as meaningful to you as it is to me.
Lord Jesus Open my eyes,ears,heart,and mouth to your word and let me proclaim it boldly and without fear. I ask this in your name.
May the Lord Bless us, Protect us from evil and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen
posted by Nancy Garland | 12:46 PM
1 Comments:
Well said.
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