This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time.  12 So they went off and preached repentance. 13 They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. The New American Bible (NAB) offers a translation that seems minimally functional – merely reporting that they set out on mission and what they did when they got there. A more literal translation of the verse is: “And they went out and proclaimed so that all might repent.” The second part of the verse is a hina clause in Greek, normally indicating purpose, aim, or goal. The purpose in their proclaiming is that people might repent, that is, have a change in mind/heart.  Such preaching will include the demands from God and our failure to live up to them. It also includes the grace of God that accepts the law-breakers. It includes the mandate to speak the truth in such a way that it leads people to repent, to have a change in mind about their own sinfulness and about God’s gracefulness. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time.  10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. 11 Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” The final instruction provides a response for those who reject the disciples. Shaking dust off one’s feet was a gesture of cursing a place. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Missionary pairs appear to have been characteristic of early Christianity. Jesus initially called pairs of brothers (1:16–20). Acts refers to Peter and John (Acts 3:11; 8:9), to Barnabas and Paul (Acts 11:25–26), and to companions whom Peter takes with him to Cornelius (Acts 10:23). The dangers of travel in antiquity make such arrangements necessary. Other interpreters have suggested that the use of pairs should be associated with the legal requirement for two witnesses to testify in a case (Num 35:30; Deut 19:15) since a judicial note is introduced in the gesture of judgment against those who refuse to hear the messengers of the gospel (v. 11). Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Their faith forms a striking contrast to the reception Jesus receives in his hometown. Jesus astonishes those gathered in the synagogue with his teaching and healing (vv. 1–2; Mark 1:21–28). Readers might expect an example of healing or exorcism to follow as in Capernaum, but it does not. As Perkins [591-2] notes: “Jesus’ natural family were excluded from the circle of believers in an earlier episode (3:21, 31–35). That episode establishes the contrast between the Twelve, whom Jesus chose to be with him (3:14); the natural family of Jesus (3:21, 31); and the wider circle of Jesus’ followers, his new family, those who do the will of God (3:35). Jesus’ return to Nazareth, with members of his new family (the disciples; v. 1) raised the question left open in an earlier episode: Will those with familial and social ties to Jesus believe?” Mark 6:1-6 answers the question: no Continue reading →