The Next Generation.

In Scripture, the mercy of God is expressed in his extending life to the next generation. We hear this demonstrated in two parallel stories in the Gospel of Mark: one in the raising of Jairus’ daughter in chapter 5, and the other in the healing of the man’s son with a mute spirit in chapter 9. In both of these, we hear the same terminology, presented in the same sequence, found later in the New Testament when Paul speaks of Jesus being raised from the dead and then standing in that raised position. When we understand how these two verbs, ἐγείρω and ἀνίστημι, work, we realize why the English translation of the Nicene Creed says (following 1 Thessalonians) that Christ “rose again from the dead.”
Χριστός Ανέστη! Christ is risen!

Notes:
Joshua 4:5; 8:30-35
Mark 5:35-43; 7:24-30; 9:25-27
1 Corinthians 10:1-11
Galatians 1:1
1 Thessalonians 4:14
ἐγείρω - to raise up; to lift up
ἀνίστημι - to be raised up, to be in the raised, standing position

Music courtesy of Crystal Ball rehearsals.
Read the article on Substack -https://open.substack.com/pub/alighttothenations/p/the-next-generation?r=1wf6e9&utm_medium=ios

Don’t Try This At Home.

If you were to ask someone if Jesus ever got angry, they would probably say yes and refer to the story where he overturns the tables of the money changers. But that’s not accurate. All four of the gospels include a passage about Jesus overturning tables but in none of them does it say anything about his being angry. The noun ὀργῆς (orgēs),

anger, appears in Mark 3:5, and it’s a unique example of this word being applied to Jesus. When we are accustomed to understanding anger as sin, then this is a problem. In the gospels Jesus is presented like Isaiah’s suffering servant, one who does the will of his God and father without arguing, complaining or trying to figure it out. Moreover, in the gospels, as in Isaiah, it is the will of the Lord that his servant is bruised, is smitten. For no reason. In other words, he didn’t do anything to incur being struck. He is faultless, blameless - without sin. How then do we reconcile that with this passage from the Gospel of Mark?

Join me in a discussion of Mark 3:1-6.

Notes:
Matthew 5:21-22
ὀργῆς (orgēs) - anger

Abba Poemen of Egypt.

“Voodoo Who” and “Run Amok” performed by the Flesh.

Photo by Peter Dyllong: https://www.pexels.com/photo/intricate-stained-glass-angel-with-open-book-35869933/
“Koran” performed by Delirium.