Now that the kingdom is divided, we have to read the books
of Kings and Chronicles with multiple kings, capitols and worship places in
mind. Omri began ruling Israel (the
northern kingdom) in the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign as king of
Judah. It was Omri who established the
capitol in Samaria, which will become yet another way of referring to the
northern kingdom. Omri walked in the
ways of Jeroboam in re the worship of idols and, when he died, left the kingdom
to his son, Ahab. Ahab was more wicked
than those who came before him. To the
worship of the golden calves, he also worshiped Baal, the god of his wife, Jezebel
as well as setting up an Asherah. Baal
and Asherah cults were associated with fertility and their worship entailed
sexual imagery as well as actions, temple prostitutes were commonly part of the
scene. In this time also a man named
Hiel determined to break the law given through Joshua that prohibited the
rebuilding of Jericho and he persevered in this although it cost him two of his
sons in keeping with the oracle Joshua had spoken. These sons were,
figuratively, sacrificed on the altar of disobedience.
“But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going
before you to Galilee.” Tell his
disciples “and Peter”. What does that
mean and why did he say it that way? Was
Peter ostracized by the disciples after his denials? Would Peter not have gone had he not been
personally mentioned? At any rate, it
was important that Peter be a part of the group and that he needed to be
restored. This would have reminded Peter
that he had sinned but it was also a call of grace on offer. We believe Mark to be Peter’s scribe, this is
the Gospel Peter would have written, probably much of his own memories are
here. Those last verses, from 9-20 are
not part of the oldest manuscripts and certainly the verses about snakes and
poison are not prescriptive for worship as some in our region have practiced
it. Mark’s version of the Great
Commission here were, however, part of the inspiration for St Francis. This version says to proclaim the Gospel to
the whole creation and Francis took that literally. We should too, for Paul writes that all
creation groans in anticipation of the revelation of the sons of God. Proclaiming the Gospel should be about more
than speaking it, it is also living it.
Imagine that, Paul says that his imprisonment has led to the
advance of the Gospel, not just a hashtag campaign to get him out of prison.
Not only that, he believes his imprisonment has led “most of the brothers” to
become more bold to speak the word without fear. Paul admits that he would rather die and be
with Christ but his concern isn’t primarily for himself so he concludes it is
better for them for him to remain so he resolves to remain. What kind of man is this? Paul believes that all believers should be
prepared to suffer and shows the way to do that well and like a man of
God. We have lost a theology of suffering
in the church. We don’t have room for it
in the prosperity gospel which Paul would say is no real Gospel. The resurrection should tell us that we no
longer should trust in or hope in these things.
We’re too busy with our own idolatry to think about suffering properly.
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