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February 4, 2024 Mark 1:29-39

[define burning the candle at both ends–light it]

We want to do our best to be like Jesus, right? We look at his words and his actions as examples for us to follow as we carry on his ministry on this earth. Our goal as Christians is to treat people the way Jesus treated people, whether Jew or Gentile, whether well off or poverty stricken, whether female or male, whether family or stranger.

When I read this passage in Mark’s gospel, I start to wonder about the example Jesus is setting here. Could it be that we learn from him what NOT to do? Over the past several weeks we have worked our way through much of this first chapter, the beginning of his ministry. We heard him announce the coming kingdom of God, call his first four disciples away from their work and cast out evil spirits from a man in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Perhaps you remember that working like that on the Sabbath ends up getting him in trouble with the strict religious rule followers who insist that that is breaking the law. Now, on the same Sabbath day, immediately (remember how Mark loves that term!) Jesus heads for Simon and Andrew’s home, apparently to stay the night. The family has opened their door to him and are ready to provide his meals. Maybe he thought he was going to rest, put his feet up for a bit and have time for food and fellowship with the family.

No rest for the weary, however. Right away James and John take him to see Simon’s mother-in-law, who is in bed with a fever. What about dinner? What about freshening up after a long day? The first disciples have put something else on his agenda. Have you ever come in from work or just finished raking the leaves and asked to do another task you were not expecting from someone else? The disciples have already seen him at work and they know he has the power to heal. Just with a touch he lifts her up. Jesus gently lifts her from her sick bed, and she is able to return to a ministry she knows and loves—providing for her guests. Ahh, now it is time for dinner!

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January 28, 2024 Mark 1:21-28

My friend Licha called me maestra (teacher) for the longest time. That was because I first met her when she attended the English class I was teaching for recent Latino immigrants. In Mexico, maestra is a title of respect. She would never call me by my first name or even my last name. She would never call me pastor or reverend, even though she knew I was a minister. It was always maestra, teacher. Years after I stopped teaching English classes, when Licha and I would go together to an appointment or an event, or when she would call me on the phone, she would still call me maestra.

Jesus starts out as a teacher first and foremost in all three of the synoptic gospels—Matthew, Mark and Luke. In the gospel of John, his first act of ministry is the miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding. Mark, who loves to add “immediately” or “right away” or “just then” to his story, describes Jesus as hitting the ground running. He grabs four disciples and gets to work. He starts out in the synagogue, the gathering place for worship and teaching, and he teaches. People get to know him first as a teacher. It becomes natural then, for people to call him teacher, or rabbi—a Jewish scholar or teacher– throughout any of the gospel narratives. It is an oft repeated way to address Jesus throughout his ministry. And the only places anywhere in the Old and New Testaments to find the word Rabbi is in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John, each time used as a title for Jesus.

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