Read out loud.

We’ve been working on Mark 9:33-50 a bit at a time. Sometime soon, read the whole text out loud. It’s how it would have been heard by the disciples when Jesus was first talking. It’s how Peter would have told it to Mark. It’s how people would have heard the Gospel read out in the earliest gatherings. They would have unpacked a phrase at a time, but they would have heard it all and sat with it.

We can, too.

Salty language from Jesus

It’s okay to laugh, a little, about the way that Jesus plays with the word “salt”. It was a preservative in the days before refrigeration. It was something added to the sacrifice in burnt offerings. The particular kind of salt from the Dead Sea that was in a bowl in the kitchen area of the courtyard where Jesus was talking could lose its saltiness and just taste bad. The way Jesus bounces through the images would have made his disciples think and be impressed and be a little confused, I’m guessing.

I am.

Which is actually okay. When we have to think carefully and with commentaries and with reflection about scripture, it reminds us that maybe Jesus is smarter than we are.

Get along.

This text starts with Jesus calling out the disciples for arguing about who is greatest. He talks through humility and service and sacrifice. He reminds them that God’s at the center, not them. He let’s them know that this is hard, the lives we live and the life of following. And he finishes where he started: “And be at peace with one another.”

The way to know whether we actually are listening to him, actually loving him, is to consider whether we are loving the wide net of people he loves.

+++

Photo credit: Andrew, United Airlines, and the City of Chicago.