Tag: baptism

Approaching the Gospels Together

This morning a group of us gathered with an ease of being together, with a shared sense of wanting to learn from each other, and with a desire to look closely at our scriptures. We read the text of Jesus’ baptism in the three synoptic gospels (seeing with one view or eye): Mark, Matthew, and Luke. We begin by reading the text in Mark (the first of the synoptic gospels written) and then read the same story from Matthew and notice the similarities and differences. Then we read the version in Luke and do the same. It’s amazing the differences!

Then we begin asking ourselves these questions (focusing on the text to give us the answers):

  • What does it tell us about Jesus that he came to John the Baptist to be baptized?
  • What if anything does it tell us about Jesus’ relation to tradition?
  • Who heard the event?
  • Who saw the event?

All this examination helps us discern the differences in the gospels and helps us wonder why the same story is written in many different ways.

We had a great time discussing the following question:

  • How would you describe this experience like for Jesus: inner, outer, or what?

Then it was time for personal sharing in response to this question:

  • Is this an experience similar to one in your life? If so, what kind or kinds?

There was rich sharing of times of baptism, confirmation, reception into the Episcopal Church and ordination. It seemed that common elements were: humility, consent, affirmation, and a call to do something (or be something) different.

I looked around at the room while in the midst of this sharing, filled with joy, realizing this was another of my “dream come true” moments, which I so often have here at St. Andrew’s.

To read the scripture and view the questions we discussed today, please click here. Approaching the Gospels Section 18

 

Moving deeply into the Spirit of Christ

So, I still don’t really know what day of the week it is and knowing the time of the day here becomes even more complicated because tonight is their end of Daylight Savings time, so we set our clocks back tonight, which is a gift, since we leave touring tomorrow at 6:15 a.m. But this day was a great and deeply moving and spiritual day.

Here are all the places we visited:

  1. Garden of Gethsemane
  2. Dominus Flevit – the church commemorating the place of Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem (Luke 13:34-35)
  3. Church at Bethpage (beginning of Palm Sunday procession)
  4. Caiaphas Palace (saw the jail where Jesus stayed the night before his execution) and where Peter’s denial 3 times occurred.
  5. Judean desert (saw the place of the Moabites, Jebusites, Edomites — all those difficult names to pronounce).
  6. Ate lunch in the West Bank at a Christian family’s home
  7. Heard a talk from an Arab Palestinian Muslim

Amazing day! Again, I came away with more questions than knowledge, but of course, I always tell others I love questions, so I have to know for myself that’s a good thing too. My image of the day is of a tightly woven rope, that is beginning to unravel, one string at a time, for me to look more closely at. I trust God will put it all back together and it will be stronger, but there are questions to explore and ponder.

Here’s my list of learnings or questions for this evening:

  1. I understand Jerusalem to be a city for and of Jews, but now understand why it is also a city for and of Christians.
  2. When we drove by the Jewish section of Jerusalem, being their Sabbath, they blocked the roads off so their Sabbath could not be disturbed. I found that fascinating — just like a Rule of Life, they construct their lives to support their beliefs and relationship with God.
  3. There was a lot of physical and geographic movement of Jesus in that last day, up and down the hills, in and out of the city, into the refuge of their friends’ home, and out in public. Made me wonder how our journey mirrors this particular part of Jesus’ walk?
  4. We saw a really old olive tree in the Garden. The olive tree is hollow and before it dies, sends up sprouts. You can see where this happens. It sums up resurrection to me — before something dies, there is always the potential and expectation for new life.
  5. Via negativity– a new term for me to explore — how our suffering is connected to Jesus’. I think this is true when our suffering comes from the rejection of love and truth we attempt to bring into the world, as Jesus did, and we are faced with the same sad truth that not everyone wants to live in love, wants to receive love, and is able to share love.
  6. There’s been a lot of conflict around protecting holy sites. But didn’t Jesus tell us that it’s not what’s on the outside that’s important but what’s in our heart. This made me think a lot about the missional church, how it’s not about protecting the holy site, but by finding the holy in all places by taking love into the world, in and outside of the church. This makes sense to me and is faithfully following Jesus.
  7. I’d love to center a stewardship campaign upon Jesus’ answer to his disciples when they asked him what they should say to the person whose donkey they are taking for Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem. Jesus said, “Tell them their master needs it.”
  8. There’s a great icon in the church of Caiaphas’ palace of the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to Peter, with the fish bake on the beach, and Jesus instructs Peter to “feed my sheep”. Makes me see how resurrection and feeding the hungry are inherently connected.
  9. I was drawn to the faces of the people waiting and watching Jesus come into Jerusalem as the triumphant King — they got it right — they were in awe and reverence, and also full of trepidation and an awareness that life will never be the same. It make me think this is the same expression we all should have when we or others are baptized.
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    Faces watching Jesus on Palm Sunday procession from Church at Bethpage
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    Window in chapel of Church of the Tears (Dominus Fletiv) where Jesus cried over Jerusalem
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    The Judean desert (West Bank territory) from the edge of Jerusalem

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    Carved images of faces anticipating the arrival of Jesus on Palm Sunday
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A very old olive tree in the Garden of Gethsemane
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Family making us a great lunch. Baking over was sealed with marble slab and then sealed with mud.
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The hole through which Jesus was lowered with a rope around his waist into the jail cell where he awaited his trial and execution

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I’d be sharing insights with you each day. Instead, I’m sharing questions, which you and I can explore when I return. Isn’t God just tricky! Today we entered into the hard part of the betrayal of Jesus, but I was left in a hopeful place. This makes me realize the power of the resurrection.