The Bible as Literature

Imagine the following. A teacher walks into class to announce the final exam: “If you do well on the test,” she explains, “it is not because of you. You are clueless. If you happen to do well, it is because I am an awesome teacher, so please do not expect a good grade. Just be thankful that I let you attend class in the first place.” She continues, “If you do poorly on the test, please be advised, it is your fault. I am an awesome teacher. As such, you have absolutely no excuse for your failure.” Finally, she concludes, “If you do very well, I may still decide to fail you. You better believe me, and you had better not mess with me, because, once again (for effect) I am an awesome teacher, and I have said so.” It should be noted that the results of this test will determine whether or not you graduate. So you have to attend class; you have to work hard and study; but you get no credit and there are no guarantees. Being saved by grace doesn’t sound so fluffy anymore, does it? Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 11:12-18. Episode 184 Mark 11:12-18; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Fig Leaf Times Two” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

No one likes being told what to do. We dislike it so much that we have come to idolize rebellion as a moral good. We long for a world without authority, criticism or the pressure necessary to change how we live. When a teacher rightly judges our child, we shelter the student and malign the instructor. When our manager confronts us with a problem at work, we cringe, scrambling to show that we have already learned our lesson. Why? Because we want the criticism to stop; but a wise manager does not stop. He or she delivers the message in full, repeating it as often as necessary to help the employee change their behavior. But in order for any of this to work, the teacher, the parent, the student, the manager, and the employee must all–first and foremost–place their trust in the wisdom being offered. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is tireless in his efforts to train the disciples to trust in the Lord’s wisdom. He does not reason with them or attempt to justify himself; nor does try to package the message in an appealing way. On the contrary, he keeps repeating and simultaneously following his Father’s commandments. The more resistance he encounters, the more persistent his message: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching; Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head and ornaments about your neck.” (Proverbs 1:7-8) Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 11:1-11. Episode 183 Mark 11:1-11; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Pinball Spring” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

In all aspects of life, human beings would rather exercise control than risk placing trust. We treat relationships like business deals, as though marriage, family, community, and friendship are all quid pro quo, and we establish rules and policies to control these relationships. When we follow these rules and others do not, we act offended. As victims, we gain to power to accuse, influence, and control others. Worse, we do the same in our dealings with God. In the Gospel of Mark, we ask: “What must I do to inherit eternal life,” or, Lord, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” We refuse to trust in the Lord; and what we lack in commitment to his cause is replaced by self-assuredness. We distort his teaching, bending and twisting it to look like one of our lame rules. Then we place our trust in the rules that we fashion with own hands. To our own peril, we ignore the wisdom of Ray Henderson: “the best things in life are free.” Give us a word, O Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus. Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 10:46-52. Episode 182 Mark 10:46-52; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Wallpaper” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

Whether by instinct or experience, our minds construct a subjective model of the world around us in order to ensure our survival. In terms of risk mitigation, this system is efficient and effective. For example, if a loud noise in the dark resembles your idea of an approaching bus, even if it turns out to be something else, it is safer to assume the worst, so you step back onto the sidewalk. But what happens when our personal truths come into conflict with the common good? What if it is necessary to risk being on the road despite the perceived danger of an approaching bus? Language provides both the map and the lifeline that transcend personal truth to facilitate shared meaning. Words allow a third party to challenge your map of reality. Even as you jump to safety, someone shouts, “child!” At first, your personal truth fights against this word, because your body has evolved to seek safety. Again, someone repeats the message, “my child is on the road!” Suddenly, their words break through your perceptions, changing your understanding of reality. Against every instinct, you step in front of the (assumed) bus to save the child. Words bridge the immense chasm between our egos to create community. Words are the chief instrument of love. Words make wisdom possible. In the face of many personal realities and an ocean of competing words, the Word of God’s wisdom bears constant repetition. Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 10:32-44. Episode 181 Mark 10:32-44; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Skye Cuillin” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

Let me share a few quotes with you: "Nothing is more fallacious than wealth. It is a hostile comrade, a domestic enemy." "Our money belongs to God, no matter how we have gathered it." "The love of money leaves everything corrupted and in ruin." "The love of money is a dreadful thing; It disables both eyes and ears, and makes men worse to deal with than a wild beast, causing a person to consider neither conscience, nor friendship, nor fellowship, nor salvation." "How long shall we love riches? For I shall not cease exclaiming against them: for they are the cause of all evils." "Do not leave money to your children, instead, bequeath wisdom and knowledge. For if they are taught to expect money, they will disregard everything else and their abundant wealth will provide a way to mask their wickedness." "A rich man is not someone who possesses much, but who gives much." "This is true wealth: not to have riches, but to not want riches." "Teach children to love true wisdom and they will possess wealth and glory such that money cannot provide. If a child learns a trade, or is highly educated for a lucrative profession, it is nothing compared to the art of detachment from money. If you want to make your child wealthy, teach him that the one who is truly rich does not desire great possessions, or surround himself with wealth." These words, a small sample taken from thousands of exegetical quotes by St. John Chrysostom, proclaim the teaching of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Mark: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 10:23-31. Episode 180 Mark 10:23-31; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “The Pyre” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

In popular culture, when someone says, “don’t judge” or “who are you to judge,” what they mean is, “how dare you criticize me?” This common adulteration undermines the commandment’s original purpose, namely, to invalidate and supplant human opinion (whether critical or complimentary) with a written text: “But to me,” St. Paul writes, “it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 4:3-4) In 1 Corinthians, Paul warns againt passing judgment on anyone–even oneself–in order to emphazise the primacy of the written gospel: “So that in us,” Paul continues, “you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.” (1 Corinthians 4:6) If not even Paul will judge himself before the time, how dare any man give his opinion of Jesus Christ? Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 10:17-22. Episode 179 Mark 10:17-22; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Basic Implosion” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

The disciples in Mark's gospel struggle to understand the Bible because they refuse to surrender their ideas to it. They approach Jesus with preconceived notions—of God, his Kingdom and his Messiah—that breakdown whenever Jesus speaks or takes action. The same is true of us. We approach Mark's gospel with our ideas of its meaning and its symbols, only to flounder when our idols are smashed against the brick wall of the text. For example, what does the commandment, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God,” actually mean? I'm willing to bet that you think you know exactly what it means, and that's why you still don't get it. Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 10:13-16. Episode 178 Mark 10:13-16; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Royal Banana” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

Much of what passes for religious debate is driven by a desire to be pure or to be right. A lawyer approaches Jesus to make sure he knows how to follow the Law, so that he can be right. A rich man approaches Jesus seeking the best of both worlds—he wants to be right and keep his money. When we believe that we are right or good because we have followed the Law, we look down upon those who have not achieved the purity we imagine of ourselves. That's why the Pharisees try to trap Jesus with a question about divorce. The Lord's response to the Pharisees echoes the teaching of 1 Corinthians: you are puffed up because you think you have mastered the Law; why, then, is your “wise” teaching dividing the household? Who is worse, the victim of divorce, or the false teachers who cause it? Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 10:1-12. Episode 177 Mark 10:1-12; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Ave Marimba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

What is going on when Jesus talks to his disciples about cutting off a hand or a foot or, worse, of plucking out an eye? Too often, readers stumble over these words, ignoring, dismissing, glossing over, or worst of all, inventing an interpretation. In fact, the meaning of the Lord's warning--that it is better to cut off a stumbling appendage--is simple, straightforward and easy to understand. Its meaning is staring you in the face, plain as day. It does not require an advanced degree nor access to some special, secret knowledge. On the contrary, its only requirement is familiarity. Are you familiar with Paul's letter to the Romans? Are you familiar with 1 Corinthians? How familiar? How many times have you read these letters in the past year? He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 9:38-50. Episode 176 Mark 9:38-50; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Corruption” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

“Don't waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.” Insofar as Paulo Coelho's quote reflects the truth of human behavior, it also reflects the behavior of the disciples in the Gospel of Mark. Time and again, Jesus explains to his closest followers that he must fail: he must be judged, treated with contempt, made the least of all, and finally, put to death shamefully in the public square. Still, when Jesus tries to explain this, all the disciples hear is what they want to hear: that Jesus is the Lord's Messiah; that he is powerful, that he works signs and wonders, and that he will be raised in victory. But of what do the power and victory of Jesus consist? What happens when you talk about the Resurrection without the Cross? What happens to the disciples in Mark? Those who are called to serve the lowest and the least in God's household change the subject away from the dregs of the teaching to the heights of personal glory: who, the disciples ask, among their privileged ranks is the greatest? What to do, O Lord, when even divine hyperbole falls short? Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 9:30-37. Episode 175 Mark 9:30-37; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “The Lift” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

If you want to understand someone, you need only examine their motivations. What does a person want? Why do the crowds in Mark approach Jesus? Most often, they approach because they want to save their own neck; they want something for themselves. Rarely do they approach to gather supplies in order to help others. In Mark, the example of the father of the demon possessed mute presents an interesting exception to this pattern. Yes, he asks Jesus to help his son, but the way in which he asks hints at the possibility of faith: “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief,” namely, “Lord, I trust you, give me something to trust! Give me your teaching!” Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 9:14-29. This week's episode is in loving memory of Mohsen Yacoub. Episode 175 Mark 9:14-29-; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “The Lift” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

People like to complain. They complain that they don't have enough time; that it's too difficult to understand; that it's impossible to do; or that something else gets in the way. Worse, when they see another person do it, they heap praise, saying, “I don't know how you do it.” But that's a lie. You do know how. It's not hard at all and you know it's not hard. You just make different choices. The worst such example is when people avoid what must be done by attempting to justify the importance of something else. For those who make such excuses, the buck stops with the Bible: nothing is more important than God's teaching. Nothing. I don't mean the teaching you imagine, I am referring to the written text that Jesus keeps quoting within a written text. Nothing can replace it and nothing can convey it, except it. If you are not hearing it, doing it and sharing it in lieu of every other priority in your life, you do not belong to God. “Action,” Ghandi once said, “expresses priorities.” In the Gospel of Mark, the actions of the disciples repeatedly express their disinterest in the teaching of Jesus Christ. They are willing to heap praise on Jesus and eager to join the gossip surrounding Jesus, but they just can't get themselves to crack a book and study the content of his words. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 9:9-13. Episode 173 Mark 9:9-13; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Movement Proposition” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

In the Gospel of Mark, the teaching of the Old Testament is the teaching of Jesus. In obedience to his Father, when the Markan Jesus speaks, his words never go beyond what is written in Scripture: most notably, Isaiah, but also Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, the Psalms, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Zechariah and Malachi—all these are quoted or paraphrased by Jesus. Not interpreted, but quoted, preached and applied in the story. It is no wonder that Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah in chapter 9. Together, these three embody the purpose of Mark's gospel: to carry the Law and the Prophets to the gentiles. That is exactly what Jesus does and that is why “a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved son, listen to him!” (Mark 9:7b) Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 9:1-8. Episode 172 Mark 9:1-8; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Spellbound” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

In our culture, great emphasis is placed on the opinion of the individual. We are told that our opinion counts; that our vote matters; and that our personal preferences are relevant. We are taught to think this way because it benefits the institutions we serve. In truth, an institution asks your opinion, 1) because it wants to increase its power, or 2) because it wants to increase its profit. At the individual's level, the one thing that does matter is the very thing that institutions fear: wisdom and its associated behaviors. Wisdom cannot be exploited or manipulated. Wisdom is honest and straightforward. Wisdom is bad for business. Unlike our institutions, in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus does not care what anyone thinks. His only desire is the knowledge of God's teaching. He wants everyone to become wise by clinging only to the words of Scripture. He demands nothing of his followers except biblical wisdom. In fact, he cares so much about this wisdom—given for the life of the world—that he is willing to give his life for its sake. This is the glory that Jesus proclaims and it has nothing to do with the glory that Peter seeks. Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 8:27-38. Episode 171 Mark 8:27-38; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Virtues Instrumenti” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

When students are challenged in the classroom, their first impulse is to avoid being tested by attempting to test the teacher. Is the assignment difficult? There must be something wrong with the teacher. Is it hard to understand? It must be the teacher's fault. *Am I failing the class? *Surely, the teacher has credibility issues. I could go on, but you get the point. A student avoids responsibility for his or her failures by blaming the teacher. Worse, the same student delights in gossip about the teacher instead of delighting in the teacher's knowledge. In the Gospel of Mark the miracles of Jesus are given not as proof of his credibility, but as a test of his students' faith: do the Pharisees and the Lord's disciples trust in the Torah? Do they delight in the Lord's precepts, or do they seek signs and wonders as proof of his credibility? “Do you not yet see or understand?” (Mark 8:17b) Twice I fed you in the wilderness and still, you refuse to get the message. Alas, no sign will be given to you except the Bread of my Father's teaching; and you had better study it, because the final exam is just around the corner. Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 8:11-26. Episode 170 Mark 8:11-26; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Long Stroll” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/