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Lent 2009
Dear Friends,
I just bought a new pair of spectacles and although I wasn’t
experiencing any difficulty either reading up close or distant.
When I put on the new glasses I saw that I could see much
better; things were clearer and I even saw some things that I
never noticed before.
Our Sunday lectionary readings are like that. They take us on a
three-year journey. This year we are in Year B which is Mark’s
year. Each of these three Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John is considered to have an editorial slant. Basically
they tell the story of Jesus, but with different emphases,
almost like the editorial slant of our great newspapers.
All of these writers had in mind to tell the story of Jesus
which would make its appeal to a different constituency. Matthew
pictures Jesus from a Jewish point of view. Matthew was writing
primarily for Jews who were trying to decide if Jesus was a
prophet or not. He emphasized the links with Judaism. Matthew
was well versed in the Law and traditions of Judaism. Through
Matthew’s lens we see Jesus leading his people into a promised
land; he talks to his disciples from a mountain linking himself
with the tradition of Moses. Matthew points to Jesus as the
fulfillment of God’s will.
Mark is the writer who is in a hurry. He begins in the middle of
things. He doesn’t even begin his story until the baptism of
Jesus. Don’t look for a Christmas story in Mark.
Luke writes to the gentile world. He was a physician and person
of compassion witnessed in the parables we know so well. He
openly acknowledge the roll of women and they play an important
part in his telling of the story.
John is unlike the other three; he is more of a poet. The other
three are very similar and use a common source.
As we are well under way for this year’s gospel readings you
might want to read the entire book of Mark in one or two
sittings—in my Bible it is only 26 pages. Since we read from the
New Revised Standard Version in worship, you might want to find
another translation to read before you come to church each week.
You might want to read the gospel passage in The Message, a
translation by Eugene Peterson, or The Gospels by J.B. Phillips.
In one of the more beloved collects from the Prayer Book, we
pray of the scriptures, that we may “hear them, read, mark,
learn, and inwardly digest them.” Such activity will open them
up for us so that it will be like seeing Jesus in a new way, or
what Marcus Borg calls “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time.”
not put on a new set of lenses for Lent.
May your Lenten journey bring peace and blessings to you and
those dear to you.
The Rev'd Michael Dudley
Priest-in-Charge
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