For the next two weeks, will be gathering to discuss Jesus’ preparation for his entry into Jerusalem. Please read Mark 8:22-10:52 and Johnson pp. 174-75. It is within this section that Jesus fully discloses to his disciples and us what type of Messiah he is – a Messiah that first must suffer and die.
The key to this section is the healing of the blind man of Bethsaida in Mark 8:22-26. Bethsaida means house of fish. It is a town in Galilee and is the hometown of Peter, Andrew, and Phillip. John 1:44. The man is blind. Unlike other healings, Jesus’ healing of this man is very physical – he takes him by the hand, he spits on his eyes, and he lays his hands upon him (v.23). But after the healing, the man only dimly and partially sees at first. He only sees outlines and forms. It takes Jesus a second time to complete the healing. This narrative speaks both about the disciples’ spiritual insight as well as ours. Throughout this section, the disciples, primarily Peter, only see and understand partially. Like the blind man, the disciples cannot see Jesus for who he really is, but only a dim outline. It will be only after the resurrection that they and we truly see. For it is then that the angel at the tomb instructs Mary to “tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you in Galilee; there you will see him.” Mark 16:7.
SCHEDULE: This Saturday at 5:00 p.m., St. Nicholas is having Great Hierarchical Vespers with Bishop Antoun. It truly is an awesome service of psalms, prayers, litanies, and hymns where the firmament between earth and heaven becomes thin. Dana Armstrong is the psalti or chanter for the service.
Dinner is a 6 on Tuesday. Menu is chicken caciatore. Discussion about 6:45. Hope to see you here.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect come, the partial will pass away. . . . For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
1 Cor 13: 9-10, 12