Jesusโ€™ radical inversion of our community values in Mark 9

The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 17 in this Year B is Mark 9.30โ€“37 (the reading for Trinity 16 three years ago because of where the weekends fall). In our reading of Mark, we have leap-frogged from the confession at Ceasarea Philippi, over the Transfiguration (which is considered at other times in the lectionary) … Continue Reading

Jesus’ radical inversion of our community values in Mark 9 video discussion

The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 17 in Year B is Mark 9.30โ€“37. In our reading of Mark, we have leap-frogged from the confession at Ceasarea Philippi, over the Transfiguration (which is considered at other times in the lectionary) and the following deliverance episode, to a short cluster of sayings, though stopping short of … Continue Reading

The Turning Point of the Gospel at Mark 8

The reading for Trinity 16 in this Year B (Trinity 15 in other years) is Mark 8.27โ€“38, the encounter with forms the pivot in the second gospel: until now, there has been power, success, dynamism and crowds, but from now on, Jesus walks the lonely path to suffering and the cross. At the northernmost point … Continue Reading

Was Jesus racist towards the Syro-Phoenician woman in Mark 7? video discussion

The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 15 in this Year B is Mark 7.24-37, which includes the episode of Jesusโ€™ encounter with the Syrophoenician woman that often brings readers up short, containing as it does what appears to be a rather shocking insult. It has become very popular to read this as a story about … Continue Reading

Jesus is the bread of life in John 6

We continue through our careful reading of John 6 as an intermission from Mark’s gospel, and on Trinity 10 in Year B the gospel reading is John 6.24โ€“35. Having romped through 21 verses last week, which include the Fourth Gospel’s lengthier version of the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on water (though in … Continue Reading