Pastor Scott's Musings

  See Again ( Mark 10:46-52 )   “My teacher,  let me see again.” A man is struggling with blurred vision, so he decides to visit an eye clinic.  He walks in the building and says, “My vision is blurry, I may need glasses.” The associate says, “Oh, you need glasses for sure!” The man says, “How can you know that without testing me?” The associate answers, “Because this is a bank.”   Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho and met a blind man named Bartimaeus. His name means son of the unclean . He was likely an outcast in Jericho, left to beg in order to survive. As Jesus made his way out of Jericho on his ascent to Jerusalem, Bartimaeus began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” The title Son of David is a messianic title. Israel’s hope in messiah is tied to God’s promise to King David. God was moved by King David’s desire to build The Lord a temple in Jerusalem. So God sent the prophet Nathan to share the news that The Lord will estab...

  Thinking ( Mark 10:35-45 )   Understanding Jesus requires a change of thinking. A Catholic Priest and a Rabbi were chatting one day when the conversation turned to a discussion of job descriptions and promotion "What do you have to look forward to in way of a promotion in your job?" asked the Rabbi.   "Well, I'm next in line for the Monsignor's job." replied the Priest.   "Yes, and then what?" asked the Rabbi.   "Well, next I can become Bishop." said the Priest.   "Yes, and then?" asked the Rabbi.   "If I work real hard and do a good job as Bishop, it's possible for me to become an Archbishop." said the Priest.   "O.K., then what?" asked the Rabbi.   The Priest, beginning to get a bit exasperated replied, "With some luck and real hard work, maybe I can become a Cardinal."   "And then?" asked the Rabbi.   The Priest is really starting to get m...

  Enter The Kingdom (Mark 10:17-31)   What must I do to inherit eternal life? In the locker room at a gym, a man answers a cell phone ringing. A woman begins speaking, “Honey, I drove by the Mercedes-Benz dealer and they are having a huge sale! Can I get that SUV I wanted?”   The man asks “how much are they asking?”   The wife replies, “Oh, its only 120k….???”   The man sighs, “Fine sweetie. But if you’re gonna spend that much, I want it with ALL the options.”   Very happy, she says, “Thanks Hun, You’re the best! I’ll see ya at home!”   The man hangs up the phone and asks the other men in the locker room, “Do you guys know who’s cell phone this might be?”   Jesus was approached by a rich man seeking eternal life. This is the first time eternal life is mentioned in the gospel of Mark. Jesus wasn’t preaching on the topic. Eternal life was a popular religious idea at the time. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, t...

 One Flesh (Mark 10:1-16) Billionaire Elon Musk held a press conference about his project to solve global warming. He told the gathered press, “I will build giant sunglasses.” A journalist raises their hand and asks, “How is that going to stop the earth from warming?” Musk answered, “It makes it cool!” In today’s gospel reading, Jesus is accosted by Pharisees with a thorny question about divorce. It was a hot button issue for first century Jews. There were two Pharisaic traditions in Jesus’ day, the school of Shammai (conservative) and the school of Hillel (liberal). They were at odds with one another, causing friction in Jewish society.  The Pharisaic school of Shammai was fairly rigid in its interpretations of the Law of Moses. They held that divorce was acceptable only when adultery or severe neglect were apparent. Jesus tended to have conflict with Pharisees and their rigid interpretations. In the case of divorce, however, Jesus sided with Rabbi Shammai, which put him at o...