Meditations In Mark – chapter 14 06/18/2023

Welcome and Prayer: Nancy Lopez

Welcome, friends! Happy Father’s Day; may you take joy in the perfect love that Your Heavenly
Father has for you.             He is with you!

One of the metaphors that is used for our personhood, our souls if you will, is that we are an instrument.  Many types of tools and devices can be labeled an instrument, and of course, one type is a device for playing or producing music. 

Can we imagine that we are each an instrument in an orchestra. During our lives, each one of us has been fine-tuning our instrument, learning skills, gaining an ear for our own style of music, and knowing what our instrument can do.  So, we’re playing together as an orchestra, and we notice that one instrument is off—off key, off the beat—and we’re distracted and annoyed by it, or maybe even upset and angry.  So, we put down our instrument to go over to the other person to correct him or her. 

And what if each one of us found someone else that wasn’t harmonizing with the music, and we each put down our instruments to go tell them how they should be playing?  Well, if we all put down our instruments, there would be no music at all!

The message is to “keep playing your instrument.” If we have learned to play by
The Spirit notes of kindness, gentleness, and goodness, then we must keep playing for there to be music.  Perhaps the instruments next to that other one will be enough for them to begin to resonate with the orchestra from their position.  If need be, we can take up our instrument and go sit beside them and keep playing…loud and clear so they can hear and be attuned.  Attunement is relational; to tune something, we need the relationship of a related instrument, human-to-human, for example.  One doesn’t tune a piano by talking to it.  You can’t tune a cello with a tree, nor a violin with a squirrel! 

When we are with someone who isn’t attuned, it’s difficult for sure.  Yet, don’t you think, especially in the body of Christ, that we’re built for it? Personally, I have to remember to play my instrument of patience and kindness with family members, goodness and faithfulness with friends, and remember that I am an instrument of love and peace, always.  I can’t stop making music.

Will you pray with me:

Though our mother and father forsake us, you will never forsake us, Father God.  The prayer Jesus made for our oneness is beyond our comprehension.  Yet the mystery attracts us, to live like You, always inviting, always making space for the new way of the Spirit.  Open our eyes and hearts to the particular ways we can participate in this new way and live without betraying the very precious privileges that we have as ambassadors of the new kingdom.  Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, for they said, “Not during the feast, less there be an uproar from the people.”
And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. Mark 14:1-11

Intro: This chapter is like a collage, a patchwork of people

The story moves from one group or person to another
– each one adds something to the unfolding plot
• e.g., the chapter begins with familiar faces (priests and scribes)
My meditation: My first thought is that this is Jesus these religious leaders want to eliminate. He has done only good; he has opened windows to the kingdom of God; he has advocated for spiritual and humanitarian reforms; and he has healed countless people.
My second thought is the devious approach the religious teams use to eliminate him. There is something about injustice that disturbs me so intensely it keeps me awake at night. My feelings are intensified if the injustice is intentional, perpetrated through deceit, and manipulates the court. In the most horrific cases, the victim is not only innocent, but a good person.
A third thought is that God allowed this to happen to his Son! He allowed the bad guys to win.
Does this mean I have to give up my outrage at injustice? Not if it is in my power to ensure justice for someone else. However, when it comes to an injustice against myself, then quite possibly I must lay down my sword—and at the same time let go of the intense feelings that rise within me. I will need to stand close to Jesus. That is where I’ll find the grace to be at peace.
– in my next meditation I introduce the theme I want to develop today: “a beautiful thing”
My meditation: “Every phrase in verses 6-9 is a rich resource for meditation. The line I hear this morning is ‘a beautiful thing.’ The story of Jesus and this woman is framed by ugly things. Beforehand, religious leaders were plotting to arrest and kill Jesus, and afterward, Judas showed up to betray Jesus to them.
Jesus knew beauty. Doing beautiful things for others had been his trademark. Now this woman does a beautiful thing to Jesus.
I’m trying to recall a time when anyone else had done a beautiful thing for him. Perhaps the women who traveled with Jesus and his disciples, providing ‘for them out of their means’ (Lk. 8:3). Otherwise, who else among the thousands, came to Jesus to give him something rather than to get something from him?
Previously, Jesus had sent disciples on errands. Two of them fetched a donkey and two others located and prepared a room to celebrate Passover. On both occasions, these men were given clear instructions regarding what to do. No one told this woman what to do. She came up with the idea of this beautiful thing on her own, and went about it in her own way.
Love does beautiful things!
Obedience to a command, or doing one’s duty, or stepping up when work is required—these actions may get things done, but there may or may not be any beauty in them. There may not be any love in them either.
Hate does ugly things. So does fear. So does greed. The roots of ugly behavior appear in this chapter. But in this story, love gives generously. Love is creative. Love does beautiful things.”
• another time a different line caught my eye in this same story
My meditation: “At the end of verse 7, Jesus says, ‘But you will not always have me.’ The opportunity to do a beautiful thing for Jesus had an expiration date. Some opportunities will always be here. Others will come for only a moment. We may have a sincere desire to perform Christian service to others, but never get around to doing it. Perhaps we’re like Peter when Jesus said to him, ‘The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak’ (v. 38). As for this woman, did she discern Jesus’ sadness? Is that why she felt she had to do something for him, something that would perhaps make him feel better?
I don’t think it was likely that the disciples felt anything like empathy for the Lord. Not even when he confided in them that one of them would betray him. Instead, each man thought only of himself, and asked, “Is it I?”. And when Jesus told them his soul was sorrowful to the point of death; they fell asleep. And when he was arrested, ‘they all left him and fled.’ What could one of the disciples have done that night? At the least, perhaps wash Jesus’ feet.
Our opportunities regarding doing the good we can do depend on our resources, the nature of the need to be met, and timing. I ask, ‘What can I do?’ Jesus answers, ‘Well, she did what she could.’ Was that enough? For Jesus it was.
Jesus said ‘wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.’ Maybe he meant more than a memorial in her honor. Maybe she demonstrates the way the gospel of Jesus works in people when they open their heart to it. Out of love for Jesus, they do whatever they can. Perhaps the most they can do is give a child a cup of cold, clean water. That is enough. It’s that simple.”

I was going to alternate my meds in this chapter between beautiful and ugly

But instead, I will highlight the unattractive parts
1. We’ve seen already the religious team conspiring with Judas
2. Then, the disciples scolding the woman
• at same time inadvertently insulting Jesus, by referring to the gift she lavished on him as a ‘waste’
3. The heartbreak of Jesus’ announcement during dinner (that one of the twelve would betray him)
• Jesus closest and most loyal followers, are consistently disappointing in this chapter
My meditation: “Jesus told his disciples they would desert him, but Peter told Jesus he was wrong. All the apostles promised Jesus they would not run away–but they did. Three times, Jesus told his apostles to stay awake, and each time they fell asleep. Right up to the end, they were stumbling over themselves. Were they the best that Jesus could find? I don’t know. All I know was that they were the ones Jesus wanted–and I am no better than they were. Jesus loved, chose, trained, died, and rose again for losers.”
4. In the garden, Jesus said, his soul was crushed with sorrow
• it’s terribly wrong that he was thrown into this agony
5. The arrest: they came ‘with swords and clubs,’ when they could have been civil
• it was also ugly that his arrest was intentionally hidden from the crowds
6. The lopsided trial–they were prepared to accept false accusations
7. The way Jesus was mistreated and abused
• they did more than rough him up–they wanted to humiliate him
• this wasn’t justice – it was pure animosity and hostility
8. Peter’s denials – this was a different order of ugliness
• Peter caused the kind of pain that only a trusted friend can inflict

I have often meditated on Jesus’ prayer in the garden

Once, in Israel, I sat with my son Mike, off by ourselves in an olive grove
– we closed our eyes and imagined Jesus begging the Father to remove this cup from me
• then rising to his knees, perhaps raising his hands to the sky, he prayed,
Abba, Father, . . . not what I will, but what you will
• in our guided meditation, we watched him walk away to check on the three nearest disciples
◦ then we heard the loud voices of those who came for him. And so on.
My meditation: “It upsets me to think of Jesus so ‘distressed and troubled.’ As he said to Peter and James and John, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.’ As I read this, I long to be there with Jesus through his terrible night and crushing sadness. I want to be with him as he has been with me through my soul-wrenching grief. He asks his friends to keep watch. I think that would be easy to do, even if I felt sleepy, as long as every few minutes I could stroll to the gate and see if anyone was approaching the garden. But he told his three closest friends, ‘remain here,’ and I’m sure that made it more difficult for them to stay awake. It had been a hard week and a long day, and they had enjoyed a big meal. And the garden was so quiet and dark and the hour was so late. Seeing the Lord in his broken state was not enough to enable them to fight off their drowsiness.”
– another time, I carried this thought a little further
My meditation: “Jesus’ message in the previous chapter was, ‘stay awake – stay awake – stay awake’ and ‘be on your guard – be on guard – be on guard.’ Now in the hour of crisis, the disciples could not stay awake and they dropped their guard. Is there a better example than this of the way Christians can hear teaching on the ‘end times,’ even get worked up about it, yet that teaching does not result in changed behavior?
The first time Jesus returned to disciples and found them sleeping, he told them,
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation (v. 38)
– we are not creatures, obligated to obey a creator so that our work is blessed
• God has called us into a relationship with himself
◦ and he has sealed the relationship with a covenant
• there will always be two sides of this relationship, each interacting with the other
◦ God’s side: In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, And lead us not into temptation
(temptation can be hardship, pain, or any difficulty that tests our faith and loyalty. The flip-side of that is, deliver us from evil)
◦ our side: watch and pray that you may not enter temptation
– every Christian learns how to “say prayers” – that’s easy
• but prayer that consists in watching is something else
My meditation: “Sad to say, I find comfort in the fact that the disciples could not stay awake as Jesus asked, and yet they still belonged to him. If only they knew what was coming! They would have stood up straight with their eyes wide open. But that is precisely the point! We don’t know when, or how suddenly the next crisis will hit. We will either be awake and ready, or else the alarm siren will wake us up. On guard, we are better prepared to meet the hour. Awake and ready, we are less stressed or anxious. A good percentage of prayer consists in waiting and watching.”

What I feel while reading this chapter is chaos (seems like everything is out of control)
– but it isn’t! Everything went according to an ancient script
• for instance, when Jesus told the disciples, ‘You will all fall away,’ he added, ‘for it is written’ (v. 27)
• then at moment of his arrest, he did not put up a fight, but said, ‘let the Scriptures be fulfilled’
◦ the ancient Scriptures were the prophetic script
My meditation: “I hear Jesus announcing the beginning of what God had been preparing through the ages, the culmination of redemption in this dark hour.”

Conclusion: We can’t leave this chapter without seeing biggest moment in Mark’s Gospel

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven Mark 14:61-62
My meditation: “Until now, Jesus had been strict about keeping his identity a secret. Even when his own disciples accurately identified him as “the Christ,” “he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.” But now he boldly acknowledges his identity. Moreover, he reveals it to his enemies–the very ones who will use it against him! The high priest hears the ‘sworn testimony’ of Jesus. He and the council are given the complete revelation that Jesus had hidden all through the years of his ministry. But now, at last, his hour had come.”

Now we know where Mark has been leading us
He has wanted us to follow this person, from Galilee to Jerusalem,
across valleys and over mountains
He has wanted us to witness his healing touch,
hear his words of truth and revelation,
and discover how the heart of God beats within his chest
Mark wanted us to discover for ourselves,
that Jesus is no ordinary human person,
and know that we could trust him–now and always