Mark 6:7–32
Disciples’ commission from Jesus, that attracts the world’s opposition, is enabled by God’s provision.
And He [Jesus] said to them [his disciples],
“Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.”
Mark 6:31
This pericope is another Markan “sandwich” (outer story: 6:7–13 and 6:30–32; inner story: 6:14–29).
Jesus and John are strikingly similar in description: both are reported as raised from the dead (6:14; and 16:6–7), both are “arrested”
Sacrifice!
Col. Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr., (1901–1944) of Quanah, TX, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1925, and was part of the WWII Allied action closing in on Chartres, France, which was in the hands of the Germans.
Chartres is the location of Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), about 50 miles southwest of Paris. The cathedral, built between 1194 and 1250 is one of the finest examples of French Gothic
Rebuff!
The 1,050 foot-tall Eiffel Tower (La Tour Eiffel) is the iconic lattice structure on the Champ de Mars in Paris, designed and erected by Gustave Eiffel in 1889. One of the most recognizable edifices on earth, the Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world (and I, too, shelled out my €14.00 earlier this year). In 2010, the Tower welcomed its 250 millionth visitor.
All kinds of fun (and weird) things have happened in this symbolic piece of construction.
In
Luck?
They keep asking him if he feels unlucky.
Joe Berti ran the Boston Marathon last week. He was running with Champions4Children, a charity that works with children afflicted with rare diseases. Joe was one of eight from Austin who ran the Marathon for C4C, each running for a particular sick child—“training partner”—who would track his/her runner’s progress online from home.
The last four miles were tough for 43-year-old Berti, and he slowed down. But he thought about
Mark 5:21–6:6
Jesus’ care, and his power over disease and death, evokes disciples’ fearless, efficacious faith.
“Do not be afraid, only believe.”
Mark 5:36:41
Mark 5:21–24 and 5:35–43 form the two halves of an outer story, with 5:25–34 being the inner story. The stories create a single tapestry. Look at the similarities: both protagonists are in hopeless situations; both fall at Jesus’ feet; both come into physical contact with Jesus; both conditions are ritually impure
Gift!
Last week was not a good one for François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande, the President of France. The Eurozone is in a mess, his allies are being investigated for secret bank accounts, and now this—someone ate his camel!
Earlier this year, the country of Mali had presented President Hollande with a gift camel, after France had taken the initiative to chase out Al Qaeda militants and to liberate Timbuktu from the yoke of radical Islamists.
It was quite an eventful week
Lovelocked?
Pont de l’Archevêché (The Archbishop’s Bridge) crosses the Seine in Paris, right next to the Notre-Dame Cathedral.
The striking thing about this bridge is the padlocks affixed to its rails, a practice becoming increasingly common around the world. They do it in China (probably where it originated), Japan, Russia, South Korea, in several places in Europe—including at least three bridges in Paris—and even in Australia, Canada, and in the U.S. (Guam, primarily,
Abe Kuruvilla is the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), and a dermatologist in private practice. His passion is to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching.