A human condition

02/18/24 • 14 min

Intertwined - faith • community • ecology

What happened after Jesus' baptism? Why was he tempted in the wilderness? Who tempted him? What does temptation look like today?
"A human condition" is a reflection based on Mark 1:9-15.
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
Works Referenced

Carter, Warren. Mark (Wisdom Commentary Series Book 42). Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2019. Kindle Edition.

Felicetti, Elizabeth. “In the Lectionary.” Christian Century Vol. 141, No. 2 (February 2024): 28.

Lettsome, Raquel S. “Mark.” In Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and Apocrypha, edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., Matthew J. M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014. Kindle edition.

Nadella, Raj. “Living the Word: Good News for Whom?.” Sojourners Vol. 53, No. 2 (Feb/Mar 2024): 47.

Ottati, Douglas F. A Theology for the Twenty-First Century. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020.

Perkins, Pheme. “Mark.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VII. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.

Wills, Lawrence M., annotator. “The Gospel According to Mark.” In The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Second Edition, edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Mark Zvi Brettler. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. Kindle Edition.

Vena, Osvaldo D. “The Marian Construction of Jesus as Disciple of the Kingdom.” In Mark (Texts @ Contexts), edited by Nicole Wilkinson Duran, Teresa Okure, and Daniel Patte. Minneapolis, Minnesota, Fortress Press, 2011.

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Carter, Warren. Mark (Wisdom Commentary Series Book 42). Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2019. Kindle Edition.

Felicetti, Elizabeth. “In the Lectionary.” Christian Century Vol. 141, No. 2 (February 2024): 28.

Nadella, Raj. “Living the Word: Good News for Whom?.” Sojourners Vol. 53, No. 2 (Feb/Mar 2024): 47.

Ottati, Douglas F. A Theology for the Twenty-First Century. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020.

Perkins, Pheme. “Mark.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VII. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at [email protected].

Previous Episode

"Demons," and other words that matter

Did Jesus perform exorcisms? What demons existed in his time? Do demons still exist now? If so, in what form? Can an entire culture be possessed?
“'Demons,' and other words that matter" is a reflection based on Mark 1:29-39.
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed by demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons, and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also, for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout all Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
Works Referenced

Carter, Warren. Mark (Wisdom Commentary Series Book 42). Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2019. Kindle Edition.

Chandler, Kim and Sean Murphy. “Will other states replicate Alabama’s nitrogen execution?” AP News. Accessed February 2, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/nitrogen-execution-alabama-oklahoma-lethal-injection-c088b01aeb581da7bfb73e52aa6caf3f

Duran, Nicole Wilkinson. “Other People’s Demons: Reading Mark’s Demons in the Disbelieving West.” In Mark (Texts @ Contexts), edited by Nicole Wilkinson Duran, Teresa Okure, and Daniel Patte. Minneapolis, Minnesota, Fortress Press, 2011.

Equal Justice Initiative. “Criminal Justice Reform.” Accessed February 2, 2024. https://eji.org/criminal-justice-reform/

Juel, Donald H. A Master of Surprise: Mark Interpreted. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 1994.

Perkins, Pheme. “Mark.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VII. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.

Wikipedia. “Capital punishment by country.” Accessed February 2, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_by_country

Wise, Jenna. “Family wants to know why man had hypothermia when he died in county prison.” PennLive. Accessed February 2, 2024. https://www.pennlive.com/news/2022/02/man-who-died-at-dauphin-county-prison-had-hypothermia-in-62-degree-cell-da.html

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at [email protected].

Next Episode

Foolishness

Is the gospel foolish? Did the wise recognize Jesus? What does foolishness look like today? Does the church need to have a rummage sale?
“Foolishness” is a reflection based on 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Works Referenced
Nasrallah, Laura S. “1 Corinthians.” In Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and Apocrypha, edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., Matthew J. M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014. Kindle edition.
Sampley, J. Paul. “The First Letter to the Corinthians.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IX. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.
Tickle, Phyllis. The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Publishing Group, 2008.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at [email protected].