Sunday Services

Today’s reading from St Mark’s Gospel is, at first sight, rather unspectacular. The most dramatic parts of this section of St Mark’s Gospel have been taken out, the feeding of the 5000, Jesus walking on water and the second stilling of a storm. All three of them are covered in next week’s Gospel reading in John’s version of events. But what we have left does have some interest, it’s full of movement if not action, there’s lots going on and it’s all rather evocative.

Politics – so much is about politics, the exercise of power – how those who have it legitimate their hold on it, and how those who don’t have it seek to win it. Nothing is outside the province of politics, especially anything that can affect the opinions and inclinations of the people.

It’s a different language, a different way of speaking, a different way of looking at the world. I don’t know if it can be taught, do I don’t know if it can be inspired, or whether it just has to be discovered, fallen upon. Maybe it’s just a gift from God. 

We have heard the stories of Jairus’ daughter and the haemorrhaging  woman very often – another Mark “sandwich” where one story starts, then  leaves us hanging as it goes off at a tangent and finally coming back to the original story, so that we can decipher the  connecting messages that we are supposed to understand and respond to. 

We begin today the story of David. At least we come into it slightly after the beginning, Samuel has already anointed David as Yahweh’s choice for the new king to succeed Saul. Remember that David was the 8th son of his father Jesse. If seven is the number that stands for completeness then the 8th one of anything was one more than was necessary. 

The gospel reading today is part of Jesus first of two extended sermons in Mark’s gospel, chapters 4 and 13. Written in AD 66-70 Mark’s account of Jesus life and death is set against a turbulent backdrop of violence and revolution as the Roman Empire continues to assert its power.