A Poem a Sunday
Pentecost 18 B –
September 27, 2015
Mark 9:38-50 - New
Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Commentary: Could Jesus be using hyperbole, extreme
exaggeration, even sarcasm to make his point about allegiance? One could call this Sunday ‘Pledge Allegiance
Sunday.’ Will we pledge our allegiance
to following temptations to sin, or will we pledge our allegiance to follow the
Christ?
Another Exorcist
38 John
said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone[a] casting out
demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following
us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of
power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
40 Whoever is not against us is for us. 41 For truly I tell you,
whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ
will by no means lose the reward.
Temptations to Sin
42 “If
any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in
me,[b] it would be
better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were
thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it
is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to
hell,[c] to the
unquenchable fire.[d] 45 And if
your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life
lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.[e][f] 47 And if
your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the
kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,[g] 48 where
their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
49 “For
everyone will be salted with fire.[h] 50 Salt is
good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?[i] Have salt in
yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Footnotes:
- Mark 9:38 Other ancient
authorities add who does not follow us
- Mark 9:42 Other ancient
authorities lack in me
- Mark 9:43 Gk Gehenna
- Mark 9:43 Verses 44 and 46
(which are identical with verse 48) are lacking in the best ancient
authorities
- Mark 9:45 Gk Gehenna
- Mark 9:45 Verses 44 and 46
(which are identical with verse 48) are lacking in the best ancient
authorities
- Mark 9:47 Gk Gehenna
- Mark 9:49 Other ancient
authorities either add or substitute and every sacrifice will be salted
with salt
- Mark 9:50 Or how can you
restore its saltiness?
A Poem a Sunday
Pentecost 18 B
September 27, 2015
Imagine
Jesus, the comedian,
speaking
in hyperboles
with
mumblings, groans,
and
laughter from the crowd.
Out
loud he speaks these
ridiculous
notions
and
for so many ages they
will
create a commotion.
Hand
cut off, an eye that offends
better
to do now than to end
in
Gehenna, that unquenchable fire
outside
Jerusalem an eternal pyre.
It
is a pity that we
divide
our allegiance
between
self and Yahweh,
but
we have our reasons.
When
we follow the Way,
there
will be a price to pay.
It
will be like open hands,
new
eyes that really see.
So
will your pledge be to self or cross?
Will
you question the ‘Evil Powers that Be’
and
suffer the loss of allegiance to Christ
not
in creeds but in deeds?
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