Mark 1:1-8 Dear Partner in Preaching, I don’t know if it’s COVID-fatigue or something else, but I seem to have even less patience with the RCL-assigned readings for Advent than usual. A week of eschatological warning, two weeks of the adult John the Baptist, and then – finally on week four! – a reading that actually pertains to the Christmas story. I know, I know, week 1 is intended both to anticipate Jesus’ second Advent at the end of time as well as accent Advent’s theme of watchful anticipation and preparation and weeks 2 & 3 to emphasize the Gospels own casting of John as the Elijah-figure prophesized to come ahead...
Advent 2 B: Just the Beginning
posted by DJL
Mark 1:1-8 Dear Partner in Preaching, I don’t know about you, but I find myself, during these weeks leading up to Christmas, simultaneously filled by the joy and anticipation of the season and…running pell-mell from one activity to another, barely on top of what’s coming next. This was somewhat true when I was a seminary prof, more true as a sem. president, and is even more the case now that I’m back in a parish. (I trust I’m not alone in this experience and that you probably know just what I mean!) And while it’s easy to forget amid all our various responsibilities, this combination of joyful celebration and slightly frenetic...
John 1:1a
posted by DJL
In the beginning…. You gotta love John’s chutzpah. I mean, there’s absolutely no question what line he’s imitating when he starts his Gospel. “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth….” That’s right — Genesis 1:1. It’s as if I were going to...
Mark 1:1
posted by DJL
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I don’t know if he knew it or not, but Mark was actually inventing a whole new literary category with this opening sentence. Actually, it’s not even a sentence – no verb – but more of a phrase, almost a title. But with it...
Mark 1:1
posted by DJL
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We noticed earlier that the closing scene of Mark’s Gospel brings us back to the beginning: the young man in white instructs the women to tell the disciples that he is going ahead of them to Galilee, just as he told them....