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<DIV><FONT size=4>As Mark's story builds towards the final act in Jerusalem, he
depicts Jesus warning that there will be no escapes from a tragic end. Obviously
this warning was selected from the tradition to warn Mark's audience that
tragedy is part of the human condition and that faith in Jesus required that one
face it with courage and honesty. We can do so because, as Isaiah tells us, God
will hold our hand, as we walk finally into the valley of death.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.agreeley.com/homilies00/sept17.htm">http://www.agreeley.com/homilies00/sept17.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Andrew M. Greeley, 2000</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>It is vital that we twenty-first century Christians take the
pulse of our cultural context to understand who those outside the church think
Christ is and who they perceive Christians to be. If, as some studies suggest,
the view outside looking in, is that Christians are judgmental and unloving,
then the Church needs to ask itself, what can we do about the aspersion this
casts on the identity of Jesus whom we allege that we follow? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=9/13/2009&tab=4"><FONT
size=4>http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=9/13/2009&tab=4</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Alyce M. McKenzie, 2009</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The phrases "hold on to life" (<B>ψυχὴν σῶσαι</B>) and "lose
life" (<B>ἀπολέσαι ψυχήν</B>) are difficult to translate in a way that conveys
their simultaneous literal and figurative senses in this paradoxical statement.
"Hold on to life" means something like "attempt to elude death" while "lose
life" means "waste, squander, make fruitless"; in the second sense, "lose
life"-for Jesus' sake and the gospel's-means "accept martyrdom, one's death as a
testimony to commitment to Jesus and the gospel," while "hold on to life" means
"keep one's selfhood intact so as to preserve one's integrity and also to gain
resurrection with Jesus.<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/Mark/mk8notes.html#anchor882918">http://artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/Mark/mk8notes.html#anchor882918</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Carl W. Conrad</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: underline">v30</SPAN>: this is the
only place in the whole Gospel where the title "Messiah" is joined to an
injunction to silence. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: underline">v31</SPAN>: Koester (2004)
points out that Jesus switches titles at this point: it is not the Messiah who
will die, but the Son of Man. <BR><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Mary Tolbert's (1989) analysis of the Parable of Sower
explains why Jesus condemns Peter as Satan. Returning to Mark 4:1-20, where
Satan is mentioned for the only other time in the Gospel of Mark:
<BR></FONT></DIV>
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<TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><BIG><FONT size=4><BIG>15: And these are
the ones along the path, where the word is sown; when they hear, Satan
immediately comes and takes away the word which is sown in them.</BIG>
</FONT></BIG></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.michaelturton.com/Mark/GMark08.html#8.p.27.33"><FONT
size=4>http://www.michaelturton.com/Mark/GMark08.html#8.p.27.33</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Michael A. Turton</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM>Bob Dylan, 20th century<BR></EM>Jesus tapped me on the
shoulder and said, Bob, why are you resisting me? I said, I'm not resisting you!
He said, You gonna follow me? I said, I've never thought about that before! He
said, When you're not following me, you're resisting me.<BR><BR><EM>Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, 20th century</EM><BR>Christianity without discipleship is always
Christianity without Christ.<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://i.ucc.org/StretchYourMind/OpeningtheBible/WeeklySeeds/tabid/81/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/228/Who-Are-You-Jesus-Sep-713.aspx"><FONT
size=4>http://i.ucc.org/StretchYourMind/OpeningtheBible/WeeklySeeds/tabid/81/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/228/Who-Are-You-Jesus-Sep-713.aspx</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Kate Huey</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>...this text, sandwiched between a blind man receiving sight
and the Transfiguration, the sign of spiritual sight for all, is an opportunity
for us to make a choice to see or not to see in a spiritual sense.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.goodpreacher.com/shareit/readreviews.php?cat=12"><FONT
size=4>http://www.goodpreacher.com/shareit/readreviews.php?cat=12</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Alyce M. McKenzie, 2009</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
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