Words of Welcome

  Mark 7:24-37 Before we headed to Northminister last Sunday for our joint service, we spent time in John 6 . In John 6 we heard Jesus offer himself as the bread of life. This morning we heard a word of wisdom from Proverbs 22: “Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor” ( Prov. 22:9 ). Bread also figures in our Gospel reading from Mark 7. So, what’s with all this talk of bread? Could this talk of bread have spiritual implications? Mark 7 opens with Jesus having a conversation with a group of religious leaders about the religious importance of washing one’s hands before eating. This topic came up because Jesus’ disciples had neglected this religious rite. The issue isn’t hygiene but what tradition says about what it means to be clean or unclean in the eyes of God. According to Jesus, what makes us clean or unclean aren’t external things but what goes on in the heart ( Mk. 7:1-23 ). After Jesus had that discussion with the religious leaders, ...

Mark 7:24-37 If Jesus is the Son of God, then he must know everything. After all, he lived in perfect communion with God and  had access to sources only Commander Data might have available. If that’s true, then when he was a child he wouldn’t have to study before a test. He probably knew the answers before the questions were created! Or did he?  What did he know? And when did he know it? As we return to the Gospel of Mark, it’s good to remember that Mark’s Jesus appears out of nowhere at the Jordan River where he’s baptized and then receives his commission from God. Mark doesn’t tell us anything about Jesus’ upbringing, but Luke does offer us a peak into Jesus’ childhood. Remember how Jesus took a trip to Jerusalem with his family at the age of twelve and ended up talking theology with the religious leaders in the Temple. Luke’s Jesus is a bit precocious and perhaps even something of a handful, but after the family returned home, it’s written that Jesus “increased...