Eating Mark 9:38-50

Last week, Jesus foretold His death for the second time. And the for the second time, the disciples don’t get it. No surprise there. For me, this was always a given. From the first time I really heard Peter get rejected by Jesus for getting out of line to the first conscious recognition of Peter’s thrice denial of Jesus at the crucifixion, I knew the disciples were pretty hapless.

This year is different to me. Saying that the disciples don’t understand Jesus makes it all seem pretty simple. Jesus is speaking above their heads: blame Him for it. Or Jesus’s disciples are idiots. Thank GOD we aren’t. Both of these readings is horribly short-sighted.

What if the disciples do understand, they just don’t want to go along with it? What if Peter and John really are rejecting what Jesus has to say because they sort of understand Jesus, they just can’t bring themselves to agree? What if the case isn’t a lack of understanding, but a case of taking the parts of the world they like and calling them holy?

This week, I tackle the question of imposing our own desire for control over GOD’s ministry in the world and GOD’s knack for calling new ministries.

Eating Scripture is a short video series in which we explore the juicy and the crunchy in this week’s gospel in four minutes or fewer.