The Cost of Discipleship

Mark 7:31-9:1 A lot happens in this section of Mark’s narrative of the life of Jesus. Jesus heals several people, feeds another large group of men with only 7 loaves of bread, Peter proclaims Jesus to be the Messiah but then rapidly faces Jesus’ rebuke for his own rebuke of Jesus’ talk of the need that he suffer and die at the hands of the Jewish authorities. Continue reading

The Heart of the Matter

Mark 7:1-23 It happened again! Jesus and his men weren’t conforming to the rules that had been established in Jewish society and once again they were in direct conflict with the leaders. The leaders of the day seemed to enjoy watching Jesus and the disciples to find reason to accuse and discredit them. In a previous confrontation the issue had been gleaning kernels of wheat for a snack as they walked in the fields on the Sabbath, that was work and therefore forbidden (Mark 2:23). This time it was the issue of washing of hands before eating. Strange how it’s around the issue of food that there’s conflict again.  Continue reading