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On the Hook

9/13/15 – 9/27/15
What does it mean … to be a follower of Jesus … to be fishers of men … to be on God’s hook? Nowadays, we use the phrase ‘on the hook’ to mean that we are in a tight spot. In our scripture passages for the next three weeks, Jesus’ conversations with the disciples put them on the spot and leave them squirming. The call to discipleship is a challenging one. It’s a call to take up our cross, to follow Christ, to serve the least, and to not cause others to stumble.

Sep 13 – Who Do You Say That I Am? – Mark 8:27-38
Sep 20 – What Were You Arguing About – Mark 9:30-37
Sep 27 – Trapped – Mark 9:38-50

Trapped

Trapped

This week I have felt trapped as I have wrestled with this scripture. It’s a difficult scripture. It seems to have been made up of some separate and possibly unrelated strands of teaching. Yet Mark has put them together and clearly intends us to make some connections between them. These verses are built around the Greek word ‘skandalon’ which was translated into English in our translation today as ‘stumbling block.’ It can also mean scandal or trap.(Mark 9:38-50)

What Were You Arguing About?

What Were You Arguing About?

Today the disciples find themselves dangling or squirming around on the end of a hook in a rather uncomfortable position and challenged by Jesus to see the world in a different way. The disciples were arguing about who was the greatest? Who would be sitting next to Jesus in this Kingdom that he was talking about? Who was going to be #1, Jesus’ right hand man? A fun conversation perhaps, but not one they wanted Jesus to be privy too.(Mark 9:30-37)

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Who Do You Say That I Am?

When Jesus described his mission as being one of suffering, and then told the disciples to take up their cross, this was not what they thought they had signed up for when they left their boats to follow Jesus. Like the first disciples, sometimes our faith is shaken and we are led in a direction that we did not expect to go. (Mark 8:27-38)