Commentary

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By Shively Smith, Professor at Wesley Theological Seminary

"Mark 13:1-8 does not gloss over the likelihood of turmoil. In fact, it is so attentive to the possibility of conflict and danger, it shifts the Gospel’s language, style and content to address it. Up to this point in the Gospel, the author has had a singular focus—namely, telling the story of Jesus’ life and ministry. In our passage, the Gospel turns to telling the story of others.  

"What will happen to everyone when the Second Temple is destroyed?  

"Historically speaking, Mark appears to focus on the events leading up to the First Jewish War with Rome in the mid-first century in Palestine (66-70 CE). Literarily speaking, however, Mark’s goal is not to capture a historic moment, but offer warnings and encouragement. Mark cautions his readers to be suspicious of teachers, recognizing that not all are proclaiming what is true and real (Mark 13:5-6, 7-8, 21-23). Jesus tells his readers there are many uplifted voices in the world, but they are not all going the way of Christ. They are not all going the way of love and acceptance (Mark 9:42; 10:14).  

"For Mark, Jesus’ messiahship is characterized by suffering and death (Mark 8:31, 10:45). Trauma and calamity are unavoidable realities, even for those who understand themselves as “insiders” of the Christian community. True to its apocalyptic character, Mark 13 offers comfort by balancing honest assessment of present circumstances with a vision of what is possible for followers of Christ.  

" On one hand, Mark’s images of war and catastrophe echo prophetic announcements of conflicts between world powers (2 Chronicles 15:5-6; Jeremiah 4:15-16) and natural disasters (Isaiah 13:13; Daniel 9:26) in the Old Testament. No doubt, Mark 13 forewarns readers of what lies ahead in the not so distant future.

" But what if Mark is not just broadcasting what could be? What if Mark 13 is describing the situation for what it is right now? Right now, there are bodies in our midst that brace everyday for experiences of micro-aggressions, oversight, and erasure. Everyday bodies enter so-called “safe public spaces” such as college and university campuses, knowing that these spaces just aren’t so safe anymore. As an elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, rarely does a Sunday service or weekly bible study pass that I do not think about the heinous mass shooting that took place at Mother Emanuel AME Church on June 17, 2015. We have unsafe spaces right here on our shores because hate and prejudice lives. Just like the soldiers who spring into action abroad, there are heroes who spring into action among us fighting for justice and the safety of all.

" I also recognize that everyday a military family laments the death of a loved one. Daily, a mother, father, child, and sibling pray for someone in active-duty abroad. Everyday rumors of war bring real transition and an entrance into the unknown for segments of people we may not be in the habit of thinking of and considering in the church.

" The voice of Mark 13 enters the conversation and takes a specific platform. It urges readers to endure present distresses (Mark 13:9-23) and future ordeals (Mark 13:24-27). It reaffirms an essential confession of Christianity, which is that Jesus Christ has already suffered in obedience to save others. As such, discipleship is cast as obedience and service in spite of difficulty.

" In our current context, that form of service and obedience is visible in the lives, actions, and sacrifices of service-oriented people. Mark 13 raises a flag for communities of faith. It is not okay to forget about the people who are facing danger so that others can be safe and at peace. As this Sunday falls immediately after Veteran’s Day, we should encounter Mark 13:1-8 with a degree of sobriety and thankfulness for those who live out the vision of the way of Christ through how they serve us. In faithful response to their actions, we should be compelled to do something to help their lives be a little easier.

" After all, when wars initiate, conflicts ignite, and earthquakes hit our service members and veterans act. ALL those who serve for justice, whether under the uniform of military or under the “uniform” of personal choice and moral code help make “the end” still be able to come (Mark 13:7).

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“WHEN I must be thankful for what is And stop thinking about what is not.” – Nancy Wood

In one of his journal notations Thomas Merton writes that we are always thinking that our life will truly be happy “when.” We are not satisfied with what is currently our situation because we have it in our mind that our life won’t be happy until something else occurs: when I have one more thing I want, when I get rid of that personality flaw of mine, when I can finally have life as I have always dreamed it to be, when I am truly successful, when I learn to pray better, when I find the right person in my life, when, when, when . .

“Waiting for the “when” keeps me from appreciating what I now have. Longing for promises and dreaming dreams is not a harmful deed as long as the present moment is not overlooked, as long as gratitude rises for what is already here, as long as I do not base my happiness on what is still wanting. Thankfulness for what has already been given is the foundation for hoping for what is not yet.

“Today I am going to put aside my “when this happens” and my “if only this could be” and my “when things get better” and my “as soon as I have this.” I am going to harvest what I now have, gather all the many gifts that are already mine. I am going to observe what has been placed in the granary of my heart and marvel at the abundance. I will stand before this heap of blessings and take a long, grateful look. I will say farewell to my “when” and be thankful for what is. “

From Out of the Ordinary – Joyce Rupp.

All Saints Newsletter, Nov. 2020, Hanover PA

Pastor Vicki Zust was the rector of St. Paul’s, Clarence, NY. Having completed a 2 year cycle of reading the entire Bible she decided to try something different. As she writes, "So I went through the Old Testament and wrote down the stories that a lot of our theology and history depends on. It turns out there are 40 of them." I am excerpting them here.

#6 God’s Covenant with Abram. Read it here in Genesis Chapter 15.

"He’s not Abraham yet, he’s Abram.

" He’s had quite the life before God comes directly into his life. He’s gone to Egypt (and told everyone that his wife is his sister). He’s rescued his nephew. He’s been blessed by Melchizedek.

" After all of this, God’s word comes to him in a vision and tells him "Don’t be afraid". God usually starts his interactions with humans by telling us not to be afraid. God also tells Abram that his reward will be great.

" Abram answers back that he doesn’t have any children, so what does it matter, God promises him that he will have as many descendants as the stars in heaven.

" Notice that in this first covenant, Abram doesn’t have to do anything. God just promises that he will bless Abram.

" Abram asks for some proof, so God cuts a covenant with him, by cutting some animals in half and then God makes some more promises and has flame pass between the halves of the animals. God promises specific land to Abram and his descendants. This is the origin of "The Promised Land"

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I. Theme – Offering all to God in faith

The Widow’s Mite – Daniel Bonnell

"He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’" – Mark 12:38-44

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

Old Testament – 1 Kings 17:8-16
Psalm – Psalm 146
Epistle – Hebrews 9:24-28
Gospel – Mark 12:38-44  

Today’s readings challenge us to offer everything to God and to celebrate the fact that God similarly offers everything to us. All of these passages today remind us that we are called to step out in faith. This is not easy, but in order to see the greater picture, in order to understand more deeply the fullness of new life offered in Christ, we have to take the leap of faith and to trust God

This week’s lectionary readings deal with some of the most important energies of life- – the energy of romance, conception, and sexuality; the energy of money and its proper use; the energetic quest for God in a difficult time; and the energetic field of force created by Christ, the high priest of wholeness.

In the story of Elijah and the widow, from 1 Kings , God honors the sacrifice and faith of the woman with abundant oil and flour. The author of Hebrews assures us that Christ not only came to remove sin, but now, in God’s presence, intercedes on our behalf. In today’s gospel, Jesus praises the generous devotion of a homeless, penniless woman.

The Kings reading and the Gospel both examine widows. The poor widow in the Gospel only serves as an example of the Kingdom of Heaven contrasting the behavior of the Scribes (“who devour widow’s houses).  Her giving is similar to that of the widow of Zarephath in that she gives all that she has.  This time, however, she gives out of her own faith, a sign to Jesus of her salvation.

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By David Lose, President of Luther Seminary

“How do you hear Jesus’ description of the poor widow’s offering – is it praise or lament? “

Lose comes down on the latter- initially:

• ” This passage is part of a larger set of passages that focus on Jesus’ confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees and center on his critique of the Temple. Indeed, ever since Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly (in ch. 11), he has done little else except teach in the Temple and debate with the religious leadership there.
• ” The first verses of this week’s passage condemn the scribes precisely for “devouring widow’s houses” – shorthand for pretty much everything they own.
• ” In the passage immediately after this one, Jesus foretells the destruction of the Temple itself, seemingly the culmination of his attack on the religious establishment of Jerusalem, an attack that has prompted his opponents to seek first his arrest (12:12) and, eventually, death (14:1).
• ” Notably, there is actually no word of praise in Jesus’ statement about the widow or any indication that Jesus is lifting her up as an example. All he does is describe what he is doing. Which makes how we imagine his tone of voice – praise or lament – so critical.

“All of this leads me to conclude that Jesus isn’t actually lifting her up as an example but rather decrying the circumstances that demand her to make such an offering, a sacrifice that will likely lead to destitution if not death. He is, in short, leveling a devastating critique against Temple practice and those who allow, let alone encourage, this woman to give “all she had to live on” (or, in a more literal translation of the Greek, her whole life!).

But then Lose goes in a different direction – “How does this capture, or at least relate to, the good news Jesus both brings and embodies?

“God also sees our struggles, recognizes our challenges, cares about where we are hard pressed to make ends meet.

“But even more, I think God is inviting us to look around and see each other, those in our community we know and those we don’t. And I mean really see each other – the pain of those who are discriminated against because of their ethnicity, the desolation of those who cannot find work and have been abandoned to fend for themselves, the despair of those who have given up on finding work and have lost hope, the anguish of those who have been exploited by sex traffickers. God is inviting us to see them, to care for them, and to advocate for a system that does not leave anyone behind.

“Which means, Dear Partner, that we might send our people out this week not only aware that God sees their struggles and cares, but also that God believes in them enough to use them to make a difference. We might send them out, that is, looking for where God is already at work and join God’s efforts to see those in distress, help them find comfort and relief, and work for a more just world.”

“Mark 12:38-44 is not merely a condemnation of hoity-toity scribes and praise of a generous widow. In this passage of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus condemns a Temple system built to benefit the powerful and prey on the most vulnerable. The scribes of ancient Israel were educated officials, relied on to handle the community’s legal, financial and political issues. Eventually, they gained so much status and power that they became the interpreters of God’s Law. The “best seat” in the synagogue to which Jesus refers in Mark 12:39 is the position of authoritative interpretation. But the power to say, “This is what God’s law means. This is how God’s law is to be practiced,” is also the power to promote personal agendas and build political, economic, and religious systems that most benefit those sitting in the “best seats.”

“The widow in Mark 12:41-44 is pressed to contribute to the Temple treasury by a religious system that convinces her it is faithful to give “all that she had, all she had to live on” (12:44). The poor were encouraged to support the Temple (and the scribes seated within it) to the point of exhausting their resources, devouring even the meager inheritances they hoped to pass to their children. Jesus condemns this system and those who support it, saying it “devours widows’ houses” (v. 40).

“In The Word before the Powers, Charles L. Campbell writes about the act of preaching as a critical practice of nonviolent resistance, one that not only links the biblical text to today’s moral and ethical challenges but also shapes the life and practices of church communities. Campbell tells the story of André Trocmé, the pastor of the Reformed congregation in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, the small village in southern France that effectively sheltered over 5,000 Jews during World War II. As Campbell tells it, on the Sunday after France surrendered to Nazi Germany, Trocmé stepped into his church’s pulpit to proclaim: “The responsibility of Christians is to resist the violence that will be brought to bear on their consciences through the weapons of the spirit.” Through the “best seat” of authoritative interpretation to which he had been called, Trocmé preached, week after week, of Jesus’ nonviolent resistance against oppressive political powers and his care for the most vulnerable, keeping this vision alive during a politically treacherous time.

“ From our “best seats” we should remind the church of Jesus Christ that change begins with us, how we treat each other, how we work together to solve complex problems, how we treat the widow, the stranger, the orphan—the most vulnerable. Jesus, in teaching his small band of twelve disciples, started a groundswell of love and care for all God’s people — and particularly those oppressed by unjust systems.

“Yes, we have work to do. We also have a teacher we can trust and a path that leads to our own and others’ liberating salvation.”

By David Lose, Lutheran minister

The antidote to uncertainty, it turns out, isn’t certainty, but courage; and the best response to insecurity is the confidence that comes from knowing that God esteems you worthy of dignity, honor, and love.

“In short, life was something of a mess for many of Mark’s community, and he employs the symbols and metaphors of apocalyptic traditions about Jesus that he inherits to place the struggles and questions of his people in a cosmic context and, in this way, offer a measure of both perspective and comfort.

We can “allow the images Mark employs to name figuratively some of our own challenges and questions. While there are several elements of this passage that might serve in this way, the one that draws my homiletical imagination is Jesus’ warning that many will come claiming to be him in order to lead his followers astray.

“Perhaps it’s the lure of wealth or possessions, the perpetual contender for our allegiance in a consumerist economy oriented to unending consumption. Or maybe it’s the possibility of a more prestigious position at work or acceptance by an appealing school or social group. Perhaps it’s the dream of the perfect relationship, or just being in a relationship with someone who values and cares for you. Or maybe it’s the “smaller” attractions of being super competent (and hopefully being noticed for that) or the ideal friend/sibling/child (again, with due attention to our achievement). Or maybe we find ourselves worshiping at the altar of providing our children with everything we never had but want to make sure they enjoy (with an emphasis on “making sure”). Or maybe…. Well, you get the idea.

“And here’s the interesting thing that all these various claimants of our attention and allegiance have in common: there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of them – not wealthy or status or belonging or relationship or competency or wanting the best for our children. In fact, there is much to be admired about, and much good that can be achieved through, these various desires. Yet none of them can save. Moreover, none of them can bear the weight of meaning we unconsciously ask them to and for which we desperately long. And yet we are either so insecure or confused (or maybe a little of both), that like Mark’s community we so crave a level of certainty that we take these God-given gifts and turn them into, well, God.

“Which is perhaps the human condition – worshiping the gifts of God rather than God the giver. And perhaps that’s what this tricky little passage is about: in times of confusion, challenge, and distress, we will not only be overly impressed by the symbols of power around us – “Teacher, look how big these stones are!” – but we will also take many of the delights and gifts of this life and seek to find our security in and through them rather than in the One who gave them to us in the first place.

“Living with uncertainty was hard for the first century-followers of Jesus and it’s just as hard for his twenty-first century disciples as well. The promise God offers us in Christ, however, is not that if we just work hard enough, are pious enough, make ourselves acceptable enough, or attain enough we’ll leave all our uncertainties and insecurities behind. Indeed, the Christian faith does not offer an end to uncertainty or insecurity at all. Rather, it promises that we can discover who we are only in relation to Whose we are, as we receive our identity as beloved children of the God who created and sustains all things and loves us unconditionally. The antidote to uncertainty, it turns out, isn’t certainty, but courage; and the best response to insecurity is the confidence that comes from knowing that God esteems you worthy of dignity, honor, and love. Rooted in these promises, we are better equipped to resist all pretenders to throne and give our allegiance to the One who gave all things for us. Thanks to be to God.”