Reading: Matthew 8:28-9:1 Reflection:In church tomorrow, you may be reading another story of Jesus healing someone oppressed by a demon. We’ll certainly be reflecting on that passage in the Daily Worship guide tomorrow. Today’s reading prepares us by inviting us to reflect on the strange event described in Matthew’s Gospel. Here there are two men who are violently insane because of the evil that has taken hold of them. But, Jesus liberates them and drives the demons into a herd of unclean (for the Jews) swine. Strangely, though, the people of the nearby town are frightened by this demonstration of Jesus’ liberating authority and ask him to leave. Even though we know that Jesus does not abuse his authority, as we are so tempted to do, we can be reluctant to submit to his rule in our lives. Even though we can see how Jesus liberates us and...

A Lectionary Reflection on Mark 1:21-28 for Epiphany 4B This year’s Epiphany season is an incredible journey! It’s like Mark (and the Epiphany season itself) is so determined to show us who Jesus really is that he will go to any lengths to give us a glimpse of Jesus’ character and purpose. After skipping over the baptism and temptation stories of Jesus, Mark jumps straight into the action. Last week he gave us the basic summary of Jesus’ message. This week, he shows us the impact that message...

Another Sunday comes around tomorrow. This week, if your church is following the Revised common Lectionary, you will exploring the start of Jesus’ ministry. Mark doesn’t take time, as some of the other Gospel writers do, over Jesus’ baptism and temptation. Rather, he ‘cuts to the chase’ and focuses on Jesus’ message: "The time has come. God’s Reign is here. Repent and believe the Good news." From the perspective of worship, this is very exciting, and it offers a number of possibilities. The word ‘repent’ suggests,...

29 January 2012 It’s an interesting collection of readings this week that could lead us in a number of different directions. The wisdom & power of God’s laws, commandments and teachings or the freedom that Christ offers would be two options. But a third, and I find more compelling, option would be to explore the authority and power of Jesus, especially in the light of Paul’s comments on how we deal with what he calls "weaker"...

05 February 2012 There is both comfort and challenge in the Lectionary for this week. On one hand there is the assurance of God’s care, and the particularity of grace as God meets each person at their point of need. On the other hand there is the call to extend a similar adaptive particularity to one another – willingly becoming what others need from us – in order to carry the Gospel’s grace and restoration to...

12 February 2012 The healing narratives continue this week – with a twist! The connection between the healing of the man with the skin disease on Mark’s Gospel and the healing of Naaman in the Old Testament is clear, but things get very interesting – and a little uncomfortable – when the Epistle reading about discipline and focus is added to the mix. Could it be that the nature and extent of the healing we receive...

19 February 2012 Once again Epiphany closes with the Transfiguration of Jesus – the turning point, the final affirmation before Jesus set his sights on Jerusalem and the coming confrontation and sacrifice. The challenge of this week is for us to learn to recognise God’s glory – in Christ, but also in all people and all things. It is this capacity for glory that can make a massive change to how we live in the world,...