This week's scriptures are Psalm 29 and Mark 1:4-11.
In Jesus' milieu it was not unusual for persons to hear voices. Nor was it unusual that those voices would quote scripture. What was critical was the passage that Jesus heard. That Jesus would hear the words of Isaiah might well have helped to focus His understanding of His call. The picture that Isaiah paints of what the messiah would do and be was one of inclusivity and compassion...themes that pervade Jesus' teachings and ministry.
There are a number of reasons why these questions might be important to us. One of them has to do with the idea that Jesus experienced life like we do. Very few of us come into the world with a clear sense of who we are and what we're called to be. Some of us spend the greatest part of our lives trying to find our place. For many it takes almost a lifetime. Winston Churchill was in his 60s before he came to the task that his whole life seemed to be moving him toward...prior to that time, to call him 'unsuccessful' would be a kindness. That Jesus would come into the world with an immediate, clear understanding of who He was and what He was to do-all from the very beginning-leaves Him outside the human experience of growth and struggle.
A second reason is the fact that once He got a vision of what He was called to, Jesus followed it clearly....even when it alienated Him from the religious structures he had grown up with. Such an understanding of call, and our responsibility to it once heard, offers us a powerful example. Jesus listened; and when He heard, He obeyed.
In Jesus' milieu it was not unusual for persons to hear voices. Nor was it unusual that those voices would quote scripture. What was critical was the passage that Jesus heard. That Jesus would hear the words of Isaiah might well have helped to focus His understanding of His call. The picture that Isaiah paints of what the messiah would do and be was one of inclusivity and compassion...themes that pervade Jesus' teachings and ministry.
There are a number of reasons why these questions might be important to us. One of them has to do with the idea that Jesus experienced life like we do. Very few of us come into the world with a clear sense of who we are and what we're called to be. Some of us spend the greatest part of our lives trying to find our place. For many it takes almost a lifetime. Winston Churchill was in his 60s before he came to the task that his whole life seemed to be moving him toward...prior to that time, to call him 'unsuccessful' would be a kindness. That Jesus would come into the world with an immediate, clear understanding of who He was and what He was to do-all from the very beginning-leaves Him outside the human experience of growth and struggle.
A second reason is the fact that once He got a vision of what He was called to, Jesus followed it clearly....even when it alienated Him from the religious structures he had grown up with. Such an understanding of call, and our responsibility to it once heard, offers us a powerful example. Jesus listened; and when He heard, He obeyed.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to
write a review.
