Stubby-Fingers

"And immediately they left their nets and followed Him." Mark Ch. 1, vs. 18.


      The nickname Stubby-Fingers was attributed to Mark, the Evangelist, from the earliest days of the Church.  Why?  The ancient world loved using such short forms, just as we do. Like "old Copper-Guts" or "Golden-Tongued,"  it didn't really refer to physical features so much as an unusual or defining personal characteristic.
    In Mark's case, we know from his gospel, that he liked to write things down as he heard them.  One of his favorites words, used over and over again, is "immediately"--at least six time in first chapter alone.  Count them!  In this earnest, breathless style, Mark recorded the details of Jesus' ministry as he heard them from Paul, and Peter, and those who had seen Him.  Compared with the other gospel writers, Mark's manner of speech is simple, declarative, and sometimes a little clipped, like a reporter who wants to get out the facts of the matter.


   What do we know about him?  From the beginning he was identified as John Mark, the nephew of Barnabas, and  described in the Book of Acts, Ch. 13, as accompanying his uncle and Paul on their first missionary journey, only to loose heart and return home in the middle of their travels.  Later, we find him reconciled to Paul, who wrote to Timothy from his prison cell in Rome, "Bring Mark with you, for I find him a useful assistant."  2 Timothy Ch. 4, vs. 12.
   Younger than the twelve Apostles, tradition places him in Rome during Peter's ministry  and imprisonment, and eventual execution.  It is reasonable to suppose that his Gospel records what he heard from him.


     Mark also gives us a tantalizing glimpse of  what happened the night Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He reports the very words of Jesus' agonizing prayer, "Lord, not my will, but Thine be done."  With all the other disciples asleep, who would have heard that, except for his comment that "a certain young man followed Him, with nothing on but a linen cloth.  They tried to seize him, but he slipped out of the linen cloth and ran away naked." Ch. 14, vs. 51-52.  A breathless and unforgettable incident, noted in none of the other gospels.
   Could this be Mark, giving us a glimpse of himself, as a curious teenager, following from the upper room in his nightshirt and watching from the shadows, and when surprised and grabbed, wriggling out of it and running home naked?
  No wonder he was out of breath!  Under those circumstances, wouldn't you run home too?  Immediately?  Stubby-Fingers!


QUESTION:  In each chapter, how many times can you count the use of the word "immediately"?  Report your result by clicking on the comment button below, and entering the chapter and number.  It's easy! Note: different versions may yield slightly different results, as the word for "immediately" , or euthus in the original Greek, is sometimes rendered ""directly" or "straightway", or in some other way.
Go ahead and pick a chapter, any chapter, and try it!

  

A Fresh Start

"For the strong arm of the wicked shall be broken,
     but the Lord upholds the righteous." Psalm 37, vs. 17
Does the prescription of punishment for the wicked and rewards for the righteous seem a little too simplistic to you?  Does is sound like a superficial seal of approval that covers over the murkiness of our human existence?
Consider the first chapters of the Book of Kings.  While King David lay dying his sons are squaring off over his throne, and everyone has a score to settle.  How can justice be done?

• The eldest son, Adonijah, claims the crown, and has invited everyone to his inaugural banquet.
• Among his supporters  are the high priest Abiathar, like our Secretary of State, and Joab, acting as the Secretary of Defense, as well as all the top bureaucrats;
• David, however, had promised the throne to Solomon, his younger son by another marriage, and has the help of only two religious leaders with one lesser official, and the members of his royal bodyguard, the equivalent of our Secret Service.

The future hung in the balance. 
Then King David ordered them to place Solomon on his own mule, the Presidential limousine of its day, to take him to Gihon. "There let Zadoc the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him King over Israel. . . .And people shouted 'Long live King Solomon!'... so that the earth split with the noise." I Kings Ch. 1, vs. 34 & 40.
On hearing the noise, Adonijah, and all those with him, realized the game was up; they had overplayed their hand.  At the moment of their triumph, tasting victory, they were swept away utterly.

• Adonijah, double minded to the end, loses his life,
• Joab, steeped in the blood of innocent men, is executed,
• Abaithar is banished for life.

"And Solomon succeeded his father David as king, and was firmly established on the throne."
Does this seem murky to you?  From our perspective, our own lives often appear so, and our choices are like logs in a jam.  Reading the Book of Kings, however, we can see that God's purposes are worked out through it all.  As we become familiar with the personalities of the Bible, and their circumstances, the mists begin to clear, revealing God's hand upon them: the strong arm of the wicked being broken, and those who trust in the righteousness of God, being upheld.
It means a fresh start for everyone, ourselves included.
Does that seem simple to you?

Mining Underground in Job Chapter 28

I know it was a little while back when we read this, but I was fascinated by the description of mining for metals and jewels which is given in this chapter for a people who lived several thousand years ago.  Without modern tools of any sort these people dug deep and dangerously for a living to bring, gold, silver, iron, copper and jewels such as sapphires, rubies, onyx and topaz to the surface. The passage  tells of cutting shafts and digging tunnels into the "farthest reaches and blackest darkness" in places unknown.  Quite a task in those days I am sure!
But Job concludes that wisdom is priceless compared with gold and jewels.  "The price of wisdom is beyond rubies" (Job 28:18)

Readings June 2-8

We have all Old Testament readings this week.  Leviticus means "relating to the Levites" because much of it pertains to God's instructions for worship in the tabernacle by priests who were sons of Aaron assisted by men from the tribe of Levi.  It gives the laws and regulations for worship but it also includes instructions about ceremonial cleanness, moral laws, and holy days,  the sabbath year and the Year of Jubilee.  Much of it is obviously written for an ancient society very different from ours but the key thought of Leviticus is holiness.  God has come down and made his dwelling in the tabernacle amongst his people Israel and his people are to respond by being holy, set apart for service for his purposes and glory and to be separated from sin.  Leviticus tells the people how to be holy.  In fact Chapters 17-26 are often called the 'Holiness Code' giving many instructions for holy living.

Chapters 11-15 are all about purity, ceremonial cleanness giving instructions on what is clean and unclean. Chapter 16 is about the annual Day of Atonement.  An important day when the sins of the Israelites are dealt with by both sacrifice and sending a goat off into the wilderness taking all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites with it.  The origin of the scapegoat!
Leviticus can be a tough read but contains many interesting items and it is referred to many times in the New Testament particularly in the book of Hebrews which tells us about Christ as our High Priest.

Ecclesiastes is our second book and it is one of the Wisdom books.  It is the musings of "the Teacher" on the meaning of life, is life worthwhile?  Most of the pleasures of the world are explored and found meaningless. There is that wonderful passage in chapter 3 where there is "a time for everything."

There is only one Psalm this week, Psalm 35, and it is a cry to God for help in distress.
There is so much we can learn in the Old Testament but it sometimes takes a little more digging than in the New Testament.

  2 Leviticus 11 Ecclesiastes 2 Leviticus 12-13
  3 Leviticus 14 Ecclesiastes 3 Leviticus 15
  4 Leviticus 16 Ecclesiastes 4 Leviticus 17-18
  5 Leviticus 19 Ecclesiastes 5 Leviticus 20
  6 Leviticus 21 Ecclesiastes 6 Leviticus 22
  7 Leviticus 23 Ecclesiastes 7 Leviticus 24
  8 Leviticus 25 Ecclesiastes 8 Leviticus 26 Psalm 35

Why a Priest?

What is priest, and why do we need one?
This is the question that the Book of Leviticus sets out to answer, beginning in Chapter 1, verse 2:
    "When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring them from the herd or from the flock."
What then?  You can't exactly place an animal on an offering plate.  The offerings required of ancient Israel were not money, but agricultural produce, perhaps a cow or bull, a sheep, a dove, or grain and oil. But it must be the best available, God says to Moses, "without blemish," the choicest example.
As a burnt offering, it was to be immolated, reduced to ashes, and used up.
Wouldn't it be a strange thing if the cash on an average collection plate in a church were to be thrown onto a bonfire and incinerated?  What a waste!  All those checks and bills and change.  It would be like throwing away the work of our hands!
What is the point?  Leviticus continues:
    "He shall offer it at the tent of the meeting, that he many be accepted before the Lord."
The purpose is made even clearer in the symbolic laying of his hand upon the creature's head:  "and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him." vss. 3 and 4.  It is offering to atone for his sin.
But how can an unacceptable, sinful human being approach the perfection of the presence of God?
The creature, whatever it might be, is to be killed, " and the sons of Aaron, the priests shall present the blood, and throw it round about against the altar that is at the door of the tent of meeting." It was an unforgettable, unmistakable scene.  "And the priest shall offer the whole, and burn it upon the altar, it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the Lord." vss. 5 & 13, --a kind of holy barbeque.
A priest provides the necessary connection between man and God, is a link, or a great bridge, (in Latin "Pontifex Maximus,") between us and our Maker, re-connecting earth to heaven, the sinful to the sinless.  Without a priest, how could we do it?
Let's think about this as we explore the Book of Leviticus together.