Proper 26; Pentecost 25
Preaching
Preaching Mark's Gospel
A Narrative Approach
The narrative told in Part Two of Mark's Gospel, chapters 11-16, slows down and broadens out.
The narrative creates the impression that events occur within six days (11:1, 11, 12, 19; 14:1, 12, 17; 15:42). The closer to the crucifixion, the more the detail about time and place -- A full one-third of the narrative is devoted to a few days in Jesus' ministry; one-sixth is devoted to his last 2 hours. What happens in Jerusalem clearly overshadows everything that has taken place thus far. 1
We come, that is, to the heart of the matter for Mark -- and the heart of the matter is Jesus' death. Part Two of Mark begins with the story of the entry into Jerusalem. Some have suggested that it would be better to talk about Jesus' entry to the temple. Jesus sets up with his disciples on the Mount of Olives a kind of base camp for his trips to the temple. In Mark 11:11 we read that Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He's back again in 11:15 after cursing a fig tree (11:12-14). During this trip to the temple Jesus cleans house! "My house shall be called a house of prayer ..." Jesus shouts as he overturns the tables of the money changers (11:17). Coming out of the temple Peter notes that the fig tree cursed by Jesus has withered (11:20-21). The curse and death of the fig tree surround the story of the cleansing of the temple as a kind of commentary. As it is with the fig tree, so shall it be with the temple. Its days are numbered.
In 11:27 Jesus comes again to the temple and engages in a series of dialogues with Jewish leaders. Jesus has brought an end to a certain way of thinking about the temple. Now he will bring an end to many of the teachings of the time. Jesus overturns both temple and teachings in his days in Jerusalem. Structurally speaking, Jesus first deals with three questions raised by various groups from Jerusalem (11:27-33; 12:13-17; 12:18-27). Jewish leaders have questions about Jesus' authority, about taxes to Caesar and about resurrection. In the midst of these teachings Jesus tells the story of the Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard. Those who hear it understand it to be told against them (12:12).
Then come three short teaching episodes. This week's text comes in this section of Mark. The teachings are about the greatest commandment of the law (12:28-34), the relation of the Messiah and David (12:35-37), and two examples of religious practice: one bad, one good (12:38-44). The issues raised in all of these stories are issues of interest to Jewish readers. "The questions are precisely the sort that would be of interest to Pharisaic Jews who had witnessed the destruction of the temple and its aftermath„and who believed Jesus to be the promised Messiah."2
The centrality of the temple to the stories of the Passion is also a primarily Jewish interest. We have pointed out above that Jesus made three trips to the temple. The matter does not end there, however. In Mark 13:1-2 Jesus predicts that the temple will be destroyed. Not one stone will be left on another stone. Might this be a reference to the biblical quotation at the end of the plot synopsis in 12:1-11, which quotes Psalm 118 about the stone that the builders rejected becoming the head of the corner? Jesus Christ is to be the cornerstone of the Israel that will emerge on the other side of the temple and on the other side of the tomb.
At his trial one of the accusations brought against Jesus is that he claimed he would destroy the temple (14:57-58). We remember as well that at the moment of his death the curtain of the temple was torn in two! It is important to note this central role of the temple in Part Two of Mark's Gospel. The texts appointed for this year do not include these temple matters in any central way. It might be well for our preaching the few texts from Part Two of Mark's Gospel to put the stories in their narrative context. These chapters are clearly designed to demonstrate that the Heir of the Vineyard has come to overturn the practices of the temple and many of the teachings of the Jewish tradition.
Our text for today fits into this greater context and particularly into the context of Jesus' teachings. The question put to Jesus by one of the scribes is: "Which commandment is the first of all?" We know, of course, that this is a trap. The scribe is seeking to entangle Jesus in an age-old controversy among the rabbis. As usual, Jesus' answer avoids the trap. He answers by quoting from the Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4-5:
Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Jesus gives more than is asked of him in this context. He proceeds to give the second greatest commandment as well: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." We have in this reply of Jesus a kind of summary of all that he stands for. Jesus is the Sower of the Word who sows the seed in many kinds of soil. The seed that falls on good soil gives fruit thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. Surely Jesus' description of the first and second commandments is a description of what happens to the seed that falls on the good soil!
In a shocking turn the scribe commends Jesus for his correct answer. "You are not far from the kingdom of God," Jesus replies to the scribe. This would appear to mean that this scribe is very close to seeing a vision of God's commandments that transcends matters of the temple. The scribe says to Jesus that loving God and neighbor "-- is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices" (12:33). The rites and rituals of the temple are not the most important thing! The scribe answers wisely. He has seen very close to the heart of the matter of God's reign. Love God. Love neighbor. That is far more important than temples and things! These verses, too, touch on the demise of the temple that characterizes Part Two of Mark's Gospel.
Homiletical Directions
We have spoken above about the organizing role the temple plays in Part Two of Mark's Gospel. Story One for our sermon might well be a quick review of Part Two of Mark and the role that the temple plays in this structure. The point of the story, of course, is that Jesus has come to replace the temple and to replace many of Israel's teachings as well. What we observe is Jesus coming into Jerusalem and immediately paying a quick visit to the temple (11:11). He comes again to the temple to cleanse it (11:15-25) and to engage in dialogue with the Jewish leaders (11:27-33). In 13:1-2 Jesus prophesies the end of the temple. In the hour of his dying the temple curtain is torn in two (15:38).
Story Two would highlight this week's appointed text. Here is a story about that which takes precedence over the temple! The scribe recognizes that Jesus' call to love God and neighbor is "-- more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Jesus' call to love God and neighbor is the heart of the matter in the kingdom that he brings near. The scribe is "not far from the kingdom" when he recognizes that there is something greater than the religion of his ancestors which was centered in the temple.
Story Three could relate the heart of the kingdom, loving God and neighbor, to the Parable of the Sower. People who love God and neighbor are bearing the fruit of the seed which the Sower has come to sow.
Biblical reference could also be made to the story of creation and the story of Mount Sinai. In the creation story, told in Genesis 2, we see the foundation of human life as having a vertical (love God) and a horizontal (love neighbor) dimension. The vertical dimension is symbolized by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam is not to eat of this tree. He is called to obedience to God at the very center of the garden, the very center of his life. Humans are created in dependence upon God. They are to fear and love God above all things. The symbol of the horizontal dimension is the problem of Adam's loneliness. God saw that it was not good for the human to be alone. God created a companion for Adam. God created Eve. Humans are created to live in close relationships to others. These vertical and horizontal relationships stand at the heart of God's creation. Jesus did not come to replace these realities! Jesus came to call us to live in love to God and love to others.
The story of Mount Sinai can be read as making the same point. Israel there received from God a kind of minimal list of "ten words" to live by. The Ten Words or Commandments have two dimensions. The first table of the Law is a vertical table. God's people are asked to not: have any "other gods before me"; make graven images; take God's name in vain; and to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. The second table of the Law is about human relationships. We are called upon to not: dishonor our parents; kill; commit adultery; steal; or bear false witness. This was God's will before the temple was built. This is God's will after the temple is destroyed.
The conclusion of our sermon needs to deal with the issue of living this kind of life. The worst thing we could do is to send people home with the words "love God and love neighbor" ringing in their ears in such a way that they think this is a task they can do out of their own power. We need only remember the countless stories told of the rocky-ground disciples. We have no right to assume that, left to our own willpower, we will do any better job than the disciples did! Loving God and neighbor is truly the fruit of a life where the seed of God's word has been sown upon the good soil of the human heart. It is only in the ongoing work of the Sower, only in the ongoing work of his casting his seed upon our soil, that we can expect results thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold. The conclusion of this sermon, therefore, ought to be an invitation to people to stay in touch with the work of the Sower. The Sower sows the word whenever and wherever we hear the story of Jesus told. Through scripture, witness, sermon and sacraments the Sower sows his word!
"I am here today to sow the seed in your hearts," says Jesus. "I am here today to turn your hearts of stone into good soil. I am here to make your life sprout forth thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. I am here to cause new fruit to break forth from the encrusted soil of your heart. I am here to cause you to live a life of love of God. I am here to cause you to live a life of love for your neighbor. Amen."
____________
1. Donald H. Juel, Mark (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990), p. 150.
2. Ibid., p. 172.
The narrative creates the impression that events occur within six days (11:1, 11, 12, 19; 14:1, 12, 17; 15:42). The closer to the crucifixion, the more the detail about time and place -- A full one-third of the narrative is devoted to a few days in Jesus' ministry; one-sixth is devoted to his last 2 hours. What happens in Jerusalem clearly overshadows everything that has taken place thus far. 1
We come, that is, to the heart of the matter for Mark -- and the heart of the matter is Jesus' death. Part Two of Mark begins with the story of the entry into Jerusalem. Some have suggested that it would be better to talk about Jesus' entry to the temple. Jesus sets up with his disciples on the Mount of Olives a kind of base camp for his trips to the temple. In Mark 11:11 we read that Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He's back again in 11:15 after cursing a fig tree (11:12-14). During this trip to the temple Jesus cleans house! "My house shall be called a house of prayer ..." Jesus shouts as he overturns the tables of the money changers (11:17). Coming out of the temple Peter notes that the fig tree cursed by Jesus has withered (11:20-21). The curse and death of the fig tree surround the story of the cleansing of the temple as a kind of commentary. As it is with the fig tree, so shall it be with the temple. Its days are numbered.
In 11:27 Jesus comes again to the temple and engages in a series of dialogues with Jewish leaders. Jesus has brought an end to a certain way of thinking about the temple. Now he will bring an end to many of the teachings of the time. Jesus overturns both temple and teachings in his days in Jerusalem. Structurally speaking, Jesus first deals with three questions raised by various groups from Jerusalem (11:27-33; 12:13-17; 12:18-27). Jewish leaders have questions about Jesus' authority, about taxes to Caesar and about resurrection. In the midst of these teachings Jesus tells the story of the Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard. Those who hear it understand it to be told against them (12:12).
Then come three short teaching episodes. This week's text comes in this section of Mark. The teachings are about the greatest commandment of the law (12:28-34), the relation of the Messiah and David (12:35-37), and two examples of religious practice: one bad, one good (12:38-44). The issues raised in all of these stories are issues of interest to Jewish readers. "The questions are precisely the sort that would be of interest to Pharisaic Jews who had witnessed the destruction of the temple and its aftermath„and who believed Jesus to be the promised Messiah."2
The centrality of the temple to the stories of the Passion is also a primarily Jewish interest. We have pointed out above that Jesus made three trips to the temple. The matter does not end there, however. In Mark 13:1-2 Jesus predicts that the temple will be destroyed. Not one stone will be left on another stone. Might this be a reference to the biblical quotation at the end of the plot synopsis in 12:1-11, which quotes Psalm 118 about the stone that the builders rejected becoming the head of the corner? Jesus Christ is to be the cornerstone of the Israel that will emerge on the other side of the temple and on the other side of the tomb.
At his trial one of the accusations brought against Jesus is that he claimed he would destroy the temple (14:57-58). We remember as well that at the moment of his death the curtain of the temple was torn in two! It is important to note this central role of the temple in Part Two of Mark's Gospel. The texts appointed for this year do not include these temple matters in any central way. It might be well for our preaching the few texts from Part Two of Mark's Gospel to put the stories in their narrative context. These chapters are clearly designed to demonstrate that the Heir of the Vineyard has come to overturn the practices of the temple and many of the teachings of the Jewish tradition.
Our text for today fits into this greater context and particularly into the context of Jesus' teachings. The question put to Jesus by one of the scribes is: "Which commandment is the first of all?" We know, of course, that this is a trap. The scribe is seeking to entangle Jesus in an age-old controversy among the rabbis. As usual, Jesus' answer avoids the trap. He answers by quoting from the Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4-5:
Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Jesus gives more than is asked of him in this context. He proceeds to give the second greatest commandment as well: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." We have in this reply of Jesus a kind of summary of all that he stands for. Jesus is the Sower of the Word who sows the seed in many kinds of soil. The seed that falls on good soil gives fruit thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. Surely Jesus' description of the first and second commandments is a description of what happens to the seed that falls on the good soil!
In a shocking turn the scribe commends Jesus for his correct answer. "You are not far from the kingdom of God," Jesus replies to the scribe. This would appear to mean that this scribe is very close to seeing a vision of God's commandments that transcends matters of the temple. The scribe says to Jesus that loving God and neighbor "-- is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices" (12:33). The rites and rituals of the temple are not the most important thing! The scribe answers wisely. He has seen very close to the heart of the matter of God's reign. Love God. Love neighbor. That is far more important than temples and things! These verses, too, touch on the demise of the temple that characterizes Part Two of Mark's Gospel.
Homiletical Directions
We have spoken above about the organizing role the temple plays in Part Two of Mark's Gospel. Story One for our sermon might well be a quick review of Part Two of Mark and the role that the temple plays in this structure. The point of the story, of course, is that Jesus has come to replace the temple and to replace many of Israel's teachings as well. What we observe is Jesus coming into Jerusalem and immediately paying a quick visit to the temple (11:11). He comes again to the temple to cleanse it (11:15-25) and to engage in dialogue with the Jewish leaders (11:27-33). In 13:1-2 Jesus prophesies the end of the temple. In the hour of his dying the temple curtain is torn in two (15:38).
Story Two would highlight this week's appointed text. Here is a story about that which takes precedence over the temple! The scribe recognizes that Jesus' call to love God and neighbor is "-- more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Jesus' call to love God and neighbor is the heart of the matter in the kingdom that he brings near. The scribe is "not far from the kingdom" when he recognizes that there is something greater than the religion of his ancestors which was centered in the temple.
Story Three could relate the heart of the kingdom, loving God and neighbor, to the Parable of the Sower. People who love God and neighbor are bearing the fruit of the seed which the Sower has come to sow.
Biblical reference could also be made to the story of creation and the story of Mount Sinai. In the creation story, told in Genesis 2, we see the foundation of human life as having a vertical (love God) and a horizontal (love neighbor) dimension. The vertical dimension is symbolized by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam is not to eat of this tree. He is called to obedience to God at the very center of the garden, the very center of his life. Humans are created in dependence upon God. They are to fear and love God above all things. The symbol of the horizontal dimension is the problem of Adam's loneliness. God saw that it was not good for the human to be alone. God created a companion for Adam. God created Eve. Humans are created to live in close relationships to others. These vertical and horizontal relationships stand at the heart of God's creation. Jesus did not come to replace these realities! Jesus came to call us to live in love to God and love to others.
The story of Mount Sinai can be read as making the same point. Israel there received from God a kind of minimal list of "ten words" to live by. The Ten Words or Commandments have two dimensions. The first table of the Law is a vertical table. God's people are asked to not: have any "other gods before me"; make graven images; take God's name in vain; and to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. The second table of the Law is about human relationships. We are called upon to not: dishonor our parents; kill; commit adultery; steal; or bear false witness. This was God's will before the temple was built. This is God's will after the temple is destroyed.
The conclusion of our sermon needs to deal with the issue of living this kind of life. The worst thing we could do is to send people home with the words "love God and love neighbor" ringing in their ears in such a way that they think this is a task they can do out of their own power. We need only remember the countless stories told of the rocky-ground disciples. We have no right to assume that, left to our own willpower, we will do any better job than the disciples did! Loving God and neighbor is truly the fruit of a life where the seed of God's word has been sown upon the good soil of the human heart. It is only in the ongoing work of the Sower, only in the ongoing work of his casting his seed upon our soil, that we can expect results thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold. The conclusion of this sermon, therefore, ought to be an invitation to people to stay in touch with the work of the Sower. The Sower sows the word whenever and wherever we hear the story of Jesus told. Through scripture, witness, sermon and sacraments the Sower sows his word!
"I am here today to sow the seed in your hearts," says Jesus. "I am here today to turn your hearts of stone into good soil. I am here to make your life sprout forth thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. I am here to cause new fruit to break forth from the encrusted soil of your heart. I am here to cause you to live a life of love of God. I am here to cause you to live a life of love for your neighbor. Amen."
____________
1. Donald H. Juel, Mark (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990), p. 150.
2. Ibid., p. 172.
