Love until it hurts In the Gospels of Mark (12:41-44) and Luke (21:1-4), we find the story of a widow who, although making an offering of only two small coins, was commended by Christ as giving more than the large sums given by the rich; that is because the rich gave from their surplus, while the poor widow offered her whole livelihood. Does this mean that we ought, as one expression says, “to give until it hurts”? That saying has…
God desires love more than burnt offerings The commandments in the Torah (the Jewish Written Law) are based on the love of God and neighbor. In the Ten Commandments, to have no other god besides God, not to take the name of the Lord in vain, and to keep holy the Sabbath, all demonstrate man’s love of God. The remaining commandments, to honor one’s parents, to not kill, to not commit adultery, to not steal, to not bear false witness,…
Master, I want to see! There is no record of the blind who were healed in the Old Testament. However, there are passages in the Psalms and Isaiah which mention the healing of the blind: Psalm 146 extols the Lord, the God of Jacob, who alone gives sight to the blind (Psalm 146:8). Isaiah 29 prophesies the day of redemption of Jerusalem when, on that day, the eyes of the blind shall see (Isaiah 29:18); similarly, Isaiah 35 prophesies the…
Greatness in God’s Kingdom The disciples thought that if Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, then someday He would be king, and they would be ruling the new kingdom at His side. Whoever sits at the king’s side on the right and on the left would be second only to the king himself. James and John asked Jesus that when Jesus establishes His kingdom, they may sit one at His right and the other at His left (cf. Mark 10:37; Matthew…
Still Missing One Thing Today’s Gospel from Mark is about Jesus and a rich man (cf. Mark 10:17-25). The Gospel of Matthew records a similar account (cf. Matthew 19:16-21), as well as the Gospel of Luke (cf. Luke 18:18-25). Yet another version comes from an early Christian writing known as the Gospel of the Nazoreans, which was composed between 100-160 A.D. The account is as follows: The other of the rich men said to him (Jesus): “Master, what good thing…
Marriage and Life In the dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees on the subject of divorce, Jesus declared that the law of Moses permitted divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1) only because of the hardness of their hearts (Mark 10:4–5; Matthew 19:8). In citing Genesis 1:27 and 2:24, Jesus proclaimed that concerning human marriage, permanence has been the divine intent from the beginning (Mark 10:6–8; Matthew 19:4-6a). He reaffirmed this with the declaration that what God has joined together, no human being must…
Avoiding Scandal In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe [in me] to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” (Mark 9:42) The Gospel of Luke contains a similar saying; there, Jesus said to His disciples, “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the person through whom they occur. It would be better…
Humble Service In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus asked the disciples what they were arguing about on their way to Capernaum. But they remained silent, for they had been discussing among themselves on the way who among them was the greatest. (cf. Mark 9:33-34) Jesus called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Then Jesus placed a child in their midst, and…
Disciples of the Messiah When Jesus asked His disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter spoke up and said, “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:29) Peter thought of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, the one anointed by God who would liberate the Jewish people from oppression. But Peter was only half-right; Jesus was indeed the Messiah, but not the kind of Messiah that he and the other disciples expected. Therefore, Jesus began to teach them that He must…
Ephphatha! In Mark’s Gospel, the way in which Jesus healed the deaf man with a speech impediment was quite different from other healing miracles. Jesus took the man aside from the crowd, put His fingers into the man’s ears, spat and touched the man’s tongue, looked up into heaven and then said, “Ephphatha!” (Mark 7:33-34) The healing of the man born blind in John’s Gospel is quite analogous. There, Jesus spat on the ground, made clay with the saliva, smeared…