I hope that everyone has survived the flood. As of this morning, the roads into Plantation Point are passable, and we would love to have you join us if you feel safe driving. Tonight, we are reading through Mark 4 which contains the first set of parables in this Gospel. One of the prevailing themes in Mark is the messianic secret. Jesus’s true identity is unknown to almost everyone. As we read in Chapter 1, only Jesus, and no one else, hears the voice at his baptism and we later see Jesus commanding the unclean spirit to be silent. In the parables, however, this messianic secret becomes the very key to understanding Jesus’ life and teaching. The secret isn’t simply a hidden fact but becomes the lens through which everything must be seen and interpreted. Those who do not know the secret simply cannot perceive and understand what is occurring. Mark 4:12. In preparation for tonight, think about what is this messianic secret. Is it simply that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah or in some way is God himself? Or is the messianic secret itself unknowable prior to the resurrection, and therefore only the reader of the Gospel will actually be able to understand the teachings?
Dinner is at 6. The menu is meatloaf. Discussion about 6:45. Hope to see you here and please bring a friend.
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Isaiah 6:9-10
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”