Gospels-Acts
Mark 11:27-12:27 - Who do you listen to?
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Who do you listen to? audio
By What Authority 11:27-33
The story is told of a ship’s captain during the war, who was sailing along on a dark night and saw a light on a collision course. So he got his signaller to flash a message: “Alter your course 10 degrees west.” The reply came back “Alter your course 10 degrees east.” The captain then signalled “Alter your course 10 degrees west. I am a Commander.” The reply came back “Alter your course 10 degrees east. I am a seaman third-class.”
By this time the ship’s captain was getting furious. So he signalled: “Alter your course 10 degrees west. I am a battleship.” The reply came back almost instantly: “Alter your course 10 degrees east. I am a lighthouse.”
That story addresses the issue of our passage today. That is the issue of authority. Where does authority come from? Sometimes it comes from your rank or status, as the commander in that story obviously assumed. But sometimes it comes from something innate like the immovable nature of a lighthouse set above a cliff. So where do you look to for authority for your life? That’s not an easy question to ask in this day and age. Life has changed so radically in the last 50 years that what was taken for granted 50 years ago can no longer be assumed. Truth is all relative, we’re told. Alternative facts are the go. Authority comes in various shapes and forms.
Mark 11:27-33; 12:28-34
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- Written by: George Hemmings
Debates in the Temple audio
During my time at Ridley, one of the highlights was the debates. Sometimes there’d be big debates in class, as we tried to wrap our heads around big theological ideas. But the really great debates were the ones the student body organized. Two small teams of lecturers and students would be pitted against each other. They’d be locking horns over the really important questions, like ‘You can’t teach good theology through fiction,’ or ‘That theological students don’t need to learn Greek or Hebrew anymore!’ These debates were a bit of fun, actually they were lots of fun. But they were also a way for us to unpack ideas and to look at them theologically.
Mark 12:1-12
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- Written by: George Hemmings
Decaf Christmas? audio (4MB)
Decaf Christmas?
This week a number of articles have come out, commenting on the push to get Christ out of Christmas. The best I read called this the decaffeination of Christmas. Carols that are all about trees, snow, reindeer, not about baby born in a manger. Why do we do this? For some the story of Christmas is unbelievable. For some it’s a conspiracy or myth. For other’s it’s just nice to celebrate something at the end of the year, but there’s no connection between Christmas and the rest of their lives. It’s just a nice tradition, with no meaning. But underneath all that, I think this article got it right. The real reason we decaffeinate Christmas is because we don’t want Jesus intruding on our lives. Don’t want to admit that we need help. Little baby Jesus is OK, but he’d better not get out of the manger.
Mark 12:28-13:2
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
What are Your Priorities? audio (5MB)
Mark 12:28-13:2
It’s appropriate at an Annual General meeting to spend some time reflecting on where we’re going as a Church. What are our priorities? What do we think is the most important thing we can be doing? In fact it would be good if we asked those questions not just about us as a Church but of us as individuals. Where are you going with your life? What are you aiming for? What are your priorities? There are a few students in the congregation who have finished final exams and are thinking about what the next stage of their life will be. What are your priorities? How are you going to make those important decisions about your life? And what about those who are already well into their life. What is it that shapes your life decisions? How do you decide where to spend your time and money? If you have children, how will you help them make decisions? What will you get them to spend time doing? What things will you encourage them to pursue and what things will you discourage them from?
Mark 16:1-8
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Jesus is Risen audio (3MB)
You can imagine how the disciples must have felt. First of all, all their hopes had been dashed as Jesus was arre Save sted and then put to death. They may not have understood everything that Jesus told them but they had a pretty good idea that he’d been talking about building his kingdom. His kingdom, right? That means he must be a king. Well, the Romans had a bad record of getting rid of would-be kings and it seemed Jesus was just another example.
So what were they going to do now? Go back to their old lives with their tails between their legs? Try to pick up where they’d left off three years before? They must have been totally depressed mustn’t they? Maybe they even felt let down. All the things Jesus had promised had come to nothing.
They were certainly scared. John tells us they were hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish leaders: afraid, no doubt, that they’d be next to be arrested, since they were Jesus’ closest followers. It would have been a sombre time wherever they were that passover Sabbath.
Well they may have been heartbroken and scared stiff, but at least the women knew what they had to do. Mark tells us that as soon as the Sabbath was over, that is, as soon as the sun had set on the Saturday night, they went out and bought spices. (late night shopping was around even then.) They hadn’t had time to buy spices on the Friday. They’d only just had time to follow the soldiers to see where Jesus was laid before the Sabbath began.
But off they go now and buy spices but it’s already dark so they have to wait until the morning to use them. You can imagine what a long night it would have been. Finally dawn breaks in the distance and they go out very early to the tomb.
You can tell how distraught they’ve been because it isn’t until they’re nearly there that they remember there’s a very large stone lying across the entrance. In fact there are also Roman guards put there to keep people out. So how are they going to move the stone - what a shame the men hadn’t come with them?
But when they arrive they’re amazed - this very large stone has been rolled away. Again you can imagine their confusion. Imagine the questions that’d be going through their heads. What’s going on? Is Jesus still there? Who moved the stone? And where are the guards?
