Category: Charlie Fuller

June 12, 2015

Mark 6:1-13

This text is used for the Lectionary Year B on July 5, 2015.

As this story in Mark begins, Jesus and the disciples have just participated in the healing of the daughter of Jairus, the synagogue leader. On the way to Jairus’ house, the bleeding woman is healed, and before that, Jesus heals the Gerasene demoniac. One of the common threads of these stories is the necessity of faith for healing. That context is worth considering when exegeting the stories that follow.

This passage begins with the “journey” motif and the destination is Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth. It’s an important teaching time for the disciples. The disciples came from other parts of Galilee. Here they will see Jesus’ teaching among his “home folks.” It seems that the response Jesus receives in Nazareth would have been a surprise to the disciples since they had seen Jesus command such large and adoring crowds elsewhere in Galilee.

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June 12, 2015

Mark 5:21-43

This text is used for the Lectionary Year B on June 28, 2015.

The passage is a Markan “sandwich,” likely the most famous one. It’s a story within a story. Two stories of healing that are placed together in the text specifically for comparison and contrast. They can exegete each other. Jesus heads back over to the Jewish western side of the Sea of Galilee after visiting the Gentile eastern side. Great crowds follow him just as they had before he left them earlier, so he teaches them by the sea again.

Jairus was a synagogue leader. This Jewish leader knew something of Jesus’ power. Enough to put at risk his synagogue position in his desperation to have his daughter healed. Enough to fall at the feet of Jesus, which must have been a big deal for a proud leader of the synagogue. He was not only humbling himself, but also his community. Jesus felt his pain, humility, desperation, and faith and went.

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June 1, 2015

Mark 4:35-41

This text is used for the Lectionary Year B on June 21, 2015.

Water. Chaos. Danger. Terror. Fear. Rescue. Safety. Resolution. This could be a scene out of a popular movie. The drama is palpable and the language is that of an author who was present for these events. It’s urgent and real and personal.

The details of the story leave all kinds of interesting questions to ask. Why were they leaving the crowd? Jesus says, “let’s go,” and then they “took him” “just as he was.” What’s the significance of “how he was?” Why were they leaving at night? What’s the role of the boat, which Jesus had already used as a pulpit? Why were they going to the other side of the sea? Why leave after night had fallen? And what of the “other boats who were along with them?” The story leaves open lots of questions, some of which are explored by the commentators, some not.

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June 1, 2015

Mark 4:26-34

This text is used for the Lectionary Year B on June 14, 2015.

“And he told them many things in parables…” Parables. We’ve heard them all our life. Mark says, “he did not speak to them except in parables.” While that is likely Markan hyperbole, it’s true that Jesus found parables to be a most powerful method of teaching. Even the ancient rabbis used stories to explain other stories. The power of narrative is all around us in our past, our present, and our future. We do well to engage the power of a story to give us the nuance and depth of communication the gospel requires.

Parables can be enjoyable texts to teach and preach, but the preacher must be responsible in his/her exegesis. While parables are powerful, they are also easy to misuse. Parables, like these we find in Mark, are often similes, e.g. The Kingdom of God is like…. But a parable can be considered almost any kind of comparison which helps the listener to better understand something that is by nature a mystery. Whatever form the parable takes, it works in the realm of the imagination and it speaks directly to the heart.

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