November 26, 2024: Tuesday Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 16:9-20
Grace and Peace be yours in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Today I am going to get started right away, but first I hope that your preparations for Thanksgiving are moving right along. Please remember to give thanks to God for His mighty and wonderful blessings in your life.
Today we are in the last part of Mark, and there is not a whole lot to say about it. This closing in Mark is substantially different than what we read in the other Gospels. In Mark there is no clarity about how long Jesus spends with His disciples, but what is clear is that He chastises them for their failure to accept the news which has been brought to them by those who have actually seen Christ. Here you and I learn how many times that same kind of failure in how we care for Christ's gift of faith in our own lives. There are so many people who need to hear the confidence of our faith when we allow Christ to be a part of our lives and information about ourselves which we share with others. The Christ in us has so much to share, the Truth of God's love for all people and the whole of His creation. In this season of Thanksgiving there is no better time to allow our Savior to fill us with that love, and then to carry it into the world in which we live.
These verses today are a kind of curious group. It would appear that either Mark did not have the opportunity to finish this Gospel, or that perhaps Mark was no longer able to complete this beautiful Gospel. Maybe these closing verses of Mark are written by someone later in the first century of the Church in its new beginning. Though probably not written by Mark, we still include them in the canon of Scripture because of the truths that they convey for the Church which is the gift of Christ for the world to sustain all believers by conveying Christ's Grace and Forgiveness for all of us.
So, in addition to the disappointing response of the disciples to the news of Christ's Resurrection, we have this part about the early Church. The Church has work to do:
1. The Church, and all churches who claim Christ as Lord and Savior, have a preaching task in the world. That hymn "We've a story to tell to the nations” helps us to know that the Church, the means of grace, is meant to be shared with great joy and thanksgiving in the world. Today you and I know how important that is as we live in a world where so many people see the Church as an unnecessary part of their lives.
2. The Church has a healing task. If there is anything which may help a person in their life is to know that for all of their failure in the face of God's loving presence, God forgives through our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. The Church is filled with power. Not to control others who do not believe, but to bring to people's lives the power to cope with all this life brings with it for each of us, and even death itself, our final and greatest enemy.
4. The Church is never left alone in its work. Christ, and His Holy Spirit are always present with all people who accept the forgiveness, life, and Salvation which Christ's sacrifice brings to the faithful who proclaim Him as the King of all things.
This Sunday is our Beginning of Advent, and our Gospel music group will lead our singing. We will also gather for our traditional chili luncheon after church service. I will choose something from the Pauline letters as we get restarted next week. God be with you as we all prepare to celebrate our Lord's birth.
With Christ's love, Pastor Kim
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