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"Do you cherish that of God within you, that his power growing in you may rule your life? Do you seek to follow Jesus who shows us the Father and teaches us the Way?" (Christian Faith & Practice, London Yearly Meeting, 1960)
January 12, 2007
Mark 4.33-34
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
On one level this is a sneaky claim to special authority: "We know what this means better than you do, because 'we' (or whatever source of information we are claiming) got special teaching that you guys didn't."
But I wanted to add... We have these scriptures to read, so far as we care to--but that is Jesus teaching the multitude "through parables." But we learn the meaning because God explains it to each of us privately. (Sometimes it takes years for a particular meaning to reach us, when we've ripened enough to be "able to hear it.")
When we do this together we are sowing seeds in one another... and they come back to us unexpectedly grown.
My schooling was in lit crit -- so I tend to see dramatic irony lurking in every corner especially in the gosple of Mark (I'm not alone -- commentaries all seem to remark on Mark's ill treatment of the disciples compared to the other two synoptics). What I really see this statement doing is setting us up for stories where the disciples don't get it even after gentiles (those REALLY outside the camp), the elements (even teh wind and the waves obey him!) and evn demonic infestations recognise Jesus' authority and submit.
2 comments:
On one level this is a sneaky claim to special authority: "We know what this means better than you do, because 'we' (or whatever source of information we are claiming) got special teaching that you guys didn't."
But I wanted to add... We have these scriptures to read, so far as we care to--but that is Jesus teaching the multitude "through parables." But we learn the meaning because God explains it to each of us privately. (Sometimes it takes years for a particular meaning to reach us, when we've ripened enough to be "able to hear it.")
When we do this together we are sowing seeds in one another... and they come back to us unexpectedly grown.
My schooling was in lit crit -- so I tend to see dramatic irony lurking in every corner especially in the gosple of Mark (I'm not alone -- commentaries all seem to remark on Mark's ill treatment of the disciples compared to the other two synoptics). What I really see this statement doing is setting us up for stories where the disciples don't get it even after gentiles (those REALLY outside the camp), the elements (even teh wind and the waves obey him!) and evn demonic infestations recognise Jesus' authority and submit.
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