Wednesday • 3/30/2022
Wednesday of 4 Lent, Year Two
This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 101; Psalm 109; Genesis 50:15–26; 1 Corinthians 12:1–11; Mark 8:11–26
This morning’s Canticles are: following the OT reading, Canticle 11 (“The Third Song of Isaiah,” Isaiah 60:1-3,11a,14c,18-19, BCP, p. 87); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 16 (“The Song of Zechariah,” Luke 1:68-79, BCP, p. 92)
Genesis: “Am I in the place of God?” Joseph’s next-to-last words to his brothers in this last chapter of the Bible’s “Book of Beginnings” are powerful and moving: “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones” (Genesis 50:19b–20). Joseph’s words offer us rich and necessary life principles. Let God do all the righting of wrongs done to us. Trust that all our days are in God’s good hands, and that therefore any spite or malice or ill-will that comes against us will finally serve His good designs for us. Finally, therefore, give up the need to even things out ourselves; instead seek to repay evil with forgiveness and even with affection.
As worthy of emulation as Joseph is in all these respects, it will take One who is greater than Joseph to offer himself on a gibbet to right all wrongs, secure payment of all debts, satisfy all grievances, and, in the words of the Great Vigil’s Exsultet: cast out pride and hatred, bring peace and concord, join heaven and earth, and reconcile God and humankind (BCP, p. 287).
Prayer for Quiet Confidence. O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (BCP p. 832).
Mark: What is the true “bread”? Apparently, the disciples forget to save leftovers from the feeding of the 4,000 (yesterday’s reading) to make provision for the next leg of their journey (Mark 8:14). On the boat ride from somewhere on the east side of Lake Gennesaret to Bethsaida at the lake’s north end they realize they only have one loaf of bread for the whole group. Jesus seizes upon a teaching moment: “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod …“Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand?” (Mark 8:15b,17b).
What is the true lesson of the bread Jesus has shared with the 5,000 west of the Jordan and with the 4,000 east of the Jordan? He, Jesus, is the only Bread from Heaven for Israel and, indeed, the only Bread for the World. The disciples need to be wary, therefore, of the principal allurements of their day: hope for salvation through the moral force of piety (as promoted by the populist party of the Pharisees), or salvation through the corridors of power (as pursued by the upper-class party of Herod). Jesus will send out his followers with a focused message that salvation comes from “none of the above.” They will need to stay on-topic: the Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Lent: Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Mark: What is it to “see”? The second part of today’s passage in Mark captures a pivotal moment in Jesus’s shaping these men for that mission. By some reckonings, 97% of Mark’s material appears in at least one of the other two synoptic gospels (Matthew and Luke). The story of the blind man of Bethsaida (Mark 8:22–26) is unique to Mark, which makes it special. Not only that: this miracle is the only one in all the gospels in which Jesus’s first word or touch doesn’t bring about a complete healing. This is the only miracle that needs a follow up. Think about that! Jesus does an imperfect miracle!? Tiger Woods asks for a mulligan?! Lady Gaga stops a song and says, “Can we take that again from the top?”
There’s nothing wrong with Jesus’s healing power; but with this two-stage restoration of sight, he creates a powerful object lesson. With Jesus’s spit (ugh, yes, spit!) and first touch, the blind man of Bethsaida gains just enough sight to see blurred “men like trees walking” (Mark 8:24). It takes a second touch from Jesus for his blindness to be entirely alleviated, and for him to “see everything clearly” (Mark 8:25).
In the very next verses, Peter will confess that Jesus is indeed the Messiah. Peter “sees”! But Jesus’s stern order not to tell anyone indicates he knows Peter “sees” only partially. Peter’s protest against Jesus’s explanation of Messiah’s mission (suffering, death, and resurrection) is proof that Peter’s vision is blurred, and that he merely sees “men like trees walking.” For Peter and the other disciples to “see everything clearly,” Jesus will have to go over the mission again and again (Mark 9:30–32; 10:32–34).
The forty days of Lent can feel like a long time for self-examination and for consciously seeing ourselves walking with Jesus toward Calvary — a long time to live in “the valley of the shadow” — a long time to remind ourselves, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” It’s a necessarily long walk, though, to wean ourselves from thinking we can make ourselves better with maybe a little help from God (with the Pharisees) or that it’s OK to seek prosperity and success in the world (with the Herodians). It takes a singular and sustained focus on “the fellowship of the sufferings” if there’s any chance at all that we will enjoy “the power of resurrection” that comes with Easter.
From the Collect for Palm Sunday: “Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (BCP, p. 99, 220, 272, 420).
Be blessed this day,
Reggie Kidd+
