Feels like reading the NFL rulebook or the book of discipline in the PCUSA Book of OrderNumbers - get used to counting and lists... Note Mark has the procession outside the city12-14 - Huh?  Angsty because of what he knew was next?20-26 - Was it just to show power?  Or something more? Psalm 46 - One of the "top 10" Psalms.  It is a refuge, a rock, a place of being held.  Especially in dicey times....  Read More

Probably the most direct example of the idea of reward/punishment that we have yet - be faithful, God rewards.  Not faithful - punished26:34-35 - The land finds rest.  The land isn't punished.  Powerful Twice, the reminder of who God is and what God did for them27 - feels like this needed to be earlier in the text v32 - They were amazed and those who followed were afraid.  What a contrast.  Howeve...  Read More

God loves bread too!Killing commands - supposed to be about limiting vengeance but feels like it just continues the cycle.  MLK - Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and r...  Read More

I don't like the implication that blemish=bad The upside down Realm of God - death of the messiah and the last/first and first/last.  Still the upside down todayDivorce - how do we reconcile with current practices?  Hard to do.   Psalm 44:1-8 - Read the whole :) - Begins with a recognition of God but them a deep lament.  Kissing up to God?  Or simple acknowledgment?  Hopefully / probably the latte...  Read More

How much of all of this is a statement of the separateness of the other peoples?  "You will be unique among all of them"20:16-23 - Huh?  None of those with a "blemish" can serve?  Maybe some of that was safety thing but other parts - crushed testicles for example - why?  Yes speaking about priests here, but...  Transfiguration - Seeing Jesus in fulness?  And the reminder - stop talking - just list...  Read More

Interweaves the original 10 with the other laws?  Once again, a way to fulfill the 10?19:28 - oops - my tattoo19:29 - What about the daughter herself?19:33-34 - If we hold to Leviticus 18, then why not this?  Or 20:13? No sign, but Matthew includes "the sign of Jonah".  Why not here but there?This illustartion about bread and yeast makes me feel like Jesus did something like "hey, this bread remin...  Read More

Second festival / holy day for Jews instituted here.  Day of Atonement.  Yom KippurOne of the verses regarding sexuality.  Seems simple in reading but actually very complex Here the Syrophonecian woman again but put right after this teaching on internal vs external.  Intentional?Another feeding or the same one? Psalm 41 - Consider the poor.  Understand, relate to, etcAll the rest of vv 1-3 follows...  Read More

15:25ff - This is the reference for why the woman in the recent Mark healing story was outcast and was in the sitaution she was in.  Ancient understandings of bodies but still rooted in the "others" portion of the 10 CommandmentsWhy NRSV says Azaziel and not scapegoat?  Azaziel - ancient demon of the wilderness Interesting reading this while reading the bevy of laws in Leviticus Jesus reinterprets...  Read More

Ancient understandings of disease - usually thought of as a punshment or a consequence - not as an infection / virus / etc Same sense with this as with the stories in Matthew.  Trying to get away and grieve.  Or afraid.  or bothv34 - there's my word again!Imagination - Jesus invites the disicples to imagination but theirs isn't broad enough as yet.  They are used to scarcity thinking not possibili...  Read More

Are these now moving to the commandments for loving others rather than God?  Love one another - means not getting others sick.  This being written in a time of very primitive understandings of contagiousness, viruses, infections, etc Jesus coming home - hard to come home sometimesDisciples were sent out - right off the bat they were called to do the workHerod and John - Pride, ego, lust --> Leads ...  Read More

Clean and unclean foods - still feels tied to a sense of holiness, uniqueness from other people.  Marking and separating them from others Intertwined healing stories.  In both cases, a way to think about it is of someone who was dead being brought back to life. In one case it is a figurative death (outcast) and the other is a literal death (Jairus' daughter) Psalm 38:1-22 - Have you ever felt this...  Read More

Unholy fire - not quite sure what to do with thatPurity and holiness - do we center on this any more?  Why?  Why not?Holy, holy, holy - keeps coming upFeels like these are still trying to stick w/ the "Love the Lord your God" commandments Realm / Kingdom of God - How it works is a mystery (26-29)Two stories of great power - over nature and over demonsAnd the people are afraid of this power Psalm 3...  Read More