Holy Textures

Mark, Year B, Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday, Jesus Is Buried in a Tomb

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Below are my detailed comments on everything Mark has to say about Holy Saturday - the Sabbath day that lies between Good Friday, the day of Jesus' death, and Easter Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection.

   

   

Mark 15:1-47, Year B, Passion Sunday

Jesus Before Pilate, His Crucifixion and Death
(Mark 15:1-47)

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My red-letter edition of the Bible goes mostly black in Chapter 15 of Mark. Jesus responds briefly to a question from Pilate, and cries out from the cross.

It strikes me as odd, how at this point in the story of Jesus, we often make a subtle - but mistaken - shift.

Up till now, we have read the story as Jesus freely meeting and interacting with others - and of their chosen responses to Jesus.

But at this point, we often read the story as though it were the script of a play. Instead of real people making real choices, we read it as though everyone is on a stage - actors who are merely reading pre-written lines, and going through pre-scripted motions to a foregone conclusion.

But Verse 1 begins with a consultation - presumably in which options were considered.

Mark 14:43-72, Year B, Passion Sunday

The Betrayal, Arrest, False Charges, and Denial of Jesus
(Mark 14:43-72)

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Having commented extensively on the unnamed woman who anoints Jesus (Mark 14:1-11), the Passover supper Jesus eats with his disciples (Mark 14:12-25), and Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42), I'll make briefer comments on the remaining parts of Chapter 14.

As noted elsewhere, most of the comments below are drawn from Borg and Crossan's book, The Last Week. Higly recommended. Check it on Amazon here. 

And I also use, and highly recommend, the Social Science Commentary series by Bruce Malina, et. al. Check it out on Amazon here.

Betrayal and Arrest
(Mark 14:43-52)

While Jesus has been praying, Judas has been betraying.

Mark 14:32-42, Year B, Passion Sunday

The Garden of Gethsemane:
Jesus Prays for Capitulation or Courage

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Personal aside to begin with
In my humble opinion, this text is the key to understanding Mark's Gospel. Misunderstand this text, and you will misunderstand how the good news Mark begins his gospel with (Mark 1:1) is seen in the events that follow: Jesus' betrayal by Judas, arrest, abandonment by his followers, sham trial, denial by Peter, torture, and brutal execution.

If one needs any further evidence of the Divinity of Jesus, one need look no further than his continued patience with Peter, James and John. A mere human would have given up on these three long ago.

These are the three who witnessed Jesus' transfiguration (Mark 9:2-8). And it is these three who subsequently proved their total lack of understanding Jesus' teachings and mission (Mark 8:32-33; Mark 9:28; Mark 9:33-35; Mark 9:38-39; Mark 10:10; Mark 10:13; Mark 10:24, 26, 28; Mark 10:32; Mark 10:35-38; etc.)

Nonetheless, it is these three that Jesus takes aside with him as he goes to pray.

Mark 14:12-25, Year B, Passion Sunday

The Last Supper

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Mark has already told us that the religious authorities are trying to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him, and that Judas has secretly agreed to betray him. Borg and Crossan suggest that sending TWO disciples into Jerusalem to find the place where they will eat the Passover meal is to prevent Judas from betraying Jesus' presence until after the meal is over.

Note - apparently - that Jesus has already made arrangements with others for the preparation of the room without informing any of his disciples. The two that go into the city find the room "furnished and ready."

And note that the sign is a man carrying a jar of water (this would be noticeable, because only women usually carried water). And this man meets them. That is, this man recognizes and seeks them out rather than the other way round. The disciples have no prior knowledge of who this man is. They are "out of the loop" about these arrangements.

Mark 14:1-11, Year B, Passion Sunday

In Remembrance of Her

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Whereas on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday the action has all begun with Jesus coming into Jerusalem from Bethany, today the action is in Bethany. Specifically in the home of Simon, the leper. The fact that Simon has a home suggests that possibly his leprosy has been healed and he is now considered clean. Otherwise, he would be an outcast and not be able to live in a home within the town. Perhaps Simon is one those unnamed people whom Jesus has healed, and this is a case of hospitality offered to Jesus in return for his "hospitality" of healing?

Mark 11:1-11, Year B, Palm Sunday

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On this day in the life of Jesus, it is the beginning of the week in which Passover will be celebrated in Jerusalem.

Passover is still celebrated by Jews to this day. Celebrated in synagogues, and most particularly in homes, where their salvation from slavery in Egypt is remembered and re-told: The hardship of our oppression. The calling of Moses to lead us to freedom and to a promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. The repeated agreement - and then reneging - of the Pharaoh, until the tenth and final and most deadly of the plagues - the angel of death that killed all first born males - except for the homes where we had used the blood of a lamb to mark our door posts - those homes were passed over. The hurried preparations to be ready to flee - no time for leavened bread. The flight from Egypt pursued by the Egyptian soldiers. The miraculous parting of the Red Sea to allow us to pass through, but drowning the pursuing soldiers. The hardship of the 40 years wandering in the wilderness. The giving of the 10 Commandments - now that we are free, how shall live? What does the Lord require of us?

John 12:20-33, Year B, Lent 5

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Personal aside to begin.
Inserting readings from John along with those from MM&L (Matthew, Mark and Luke), without any explanatory comment, seems to suggest that MM&L and John are both telling the same story about Jesus. This is a mistake. Don't get me wrong. I love John's Gospel. But John has - literally - a very different vision of Jesus - wants us to "see" Jesus - in a way that is very different than MM&L. We do need to preach John's vision - raise it up, if I may borrow a phrase. But we should NOT harmonize it with MM&L. Instead, we need to have two good eyes/ears, and use both of them to see John's vision, and to hear MM&L's proclamation as they contrast and complement one another in a way that holds us in irresolvable tension - "irresolvable tension," also known as "mystery."

Malina understands "some Greeks" to be Hellenistic Israelites, that is, Jews who were living outside of Judah, but would make the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover.

Note the implied "pecking order:" they first talk to Philip, who then goes to Andrew, and then the two of them go to see Jesus. Recall that back in Chapter 1, verses 35 to 40 that Andrew was one of the first two disciples to follow Jesus. The next day in Galilee, Jesus calls Philip. Thus Andrew has precedence over Philip.

Until now, Jesus' hour had not yet come, but with the request of these Greeks, Jesus now says, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." Recall that in John, the emphasis is on Jesus being "raised up," and "glorified;" not on his dying.

John 3:14-21, Year B, Lent 4

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This text really begins back in Verse 3:1 with the visit of Nicodemus in the middle of the night. Verses 3:1-21 contain 3 questions / statements by Nicodemus, and 3 responses by Jesus - each beginning with Jesus  giving his word of honour to his response, "Very truly, I tell you:"

• 3:3, no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above;
• 3:5, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit; and,
• 3:11, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.

Mark 9:2-9

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This passage requires reading the First Testament passages about the prophet Elijah, 2 Kings 2:1-12: The Message or The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). 

Just as he later does when he goes to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:33), Jesus selects Peter, James, and John to accompany him. He leads them up a high mountain. Although unnamed and unstated, a "high mountain" is a "thin place," a place that is close to the spiritual realm, a place for sacred encounters.

Elijah and Moses represent the Prophets and the Law. Their talking with Jesus would signify the high spiritual status of Jesus.