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I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD."
Psalm 122:1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Genesis 1:1
"This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalms 118:24
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And he shall direct your paths."
Proverbs 3:5
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Meditations from "On Lion's Wings"
January 29, 2012
Beloved of the Lord,
 It’s funny how songs I never cared for but heard incessantly on the radio as a teenager have a habit of coming to mind. I have in mind today Bruce Hornsby’s song, The Way It Is. If I’ve just spoken against one of your favorites, fret not. I didn’t say it was a bad song. It’s just not one of my favorites. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then ignore the reference and consider the title, The Way It Is. We all have a set of assumptions about the world. These assumptions form our view of “the way it is,” or “the way things are,” or “the way the world works.” Taken together, this set of assumptions can be called a worldview. And our worldview typically operates in the background, kind of like a computer’s operating system. (By the way, all of us have a worldview; even if you assume that you don’t have one, that’s just part of your worldview.) We all have our set of assumptions about “the way it is” (is that song stuck in your head yet?).
When our worldview is challenged or called into question, we may have a range of reactions, from denial to hostility. We may also, depending on the nature of the challenge to our worldview, respond with astonishment or amazement. We see these two responses in Mark chapter 1. In verse 22, “They were astonished at his teaching.” In verse 27, following the exorcism of an unclean spirit, “And they were amazed....”
This sort of astonishment and amazement (and the denial and hostility that will lead to Jesus’ crucifixion) follow quite naturally from Jesus’ announcement of the Gospel of God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” In other words, “What you’ve been hoping and waiting for is here. It’s what is written in Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets: the kingdom of God; the way our God, the God of Israel, runs the world. And it is right here, right now. You can reach out and touch it. Change what you think about the way the world works and believe what I’m telling you about the way God works in the world. This is the way it is.”
I’ve obviously added quite a few words to help interpret the very few that Mark uses. Mark is a very efficient writer. He uses few words. That means each one counts. So his words astonished and amazed are not to be overlooked as unnecessary. In fact, we do well to examine other places in his book where he uses them again. And what we see might be astonishing. Perhaps even amazing.
Mark chapter 10 is a critical chapter in which Jesus teaches not only about the presence of the kingdom, but also about how the kingdom works by discussing marriage, money, and the humility required to receive the kingdom. And they were astonished at his teaching (Mk 1:22 & 10:26 use the same Greek verb). Then Jesus begins to teach about his cross and passion and how the greatest must be the least. In the introduction to this teaching, Mark writes, “And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid” (Mk 10:32).
Jesus comforts and encourages. Jesus heals us and provides for us. And in the process he astonishes us and amazes us, as surely as he did in the first century a.d. and every century between then and now. That’s just the way it is when we learn from Jesus.
In Christ,
Fr. Gregory Crosthwait, SSC
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