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Morning Devotion for the Season of Easter
April 14, 2023
Feast Day of Zenaida, Philonella, and Hermione, Physicians, 100 CE
Invitatory
On this day the Lord has acted; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Reading: Mark 1:32-34
That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
Meditation – Peter Vanderveen
There’s nothing much that’s surprising in the first half of Mark’s Gospel. Jesus begins his ministry by doing exactly what most would expect of the Messiah or, as we might quickly presume, the Son of God. Jesus walked about healing people. People sought him out in order to be healed. God is supposed to be able to do this, and, we presume, God ought to care enough about us to do this on our behalf. This is still a major part of the practices of the church. We pray for the sick, and without directly stating what we expect our prayers to accomplish, it’s very hard not to include the hope that God will heal us now as Jesus healed others then.
According to Mark, Jesus did this repeatedly – everywhere he went, over and over, immediately. If you read more than a chapter or two, the stories soon become more than repetitive. They’re actually a bit exhausting, like someone playing the same note on a piano without pause and, seemingly, without end. Even healing can capture our attention for only so long. And by the time these stories do, finally, come to an end – about halfway through the Gospel – it’s both a relief and, importantly, an indication that healing, however this is understood, may not be the way that God makes himself most manifest. It may not be the way to truly see God, chiefly as a miracle worker. Or, to put a finer point on the issue: God is not to be worshiped because of what God can do for us, which is a very prominent idea. Instead, God will distinguish himself as different from what we want or expect.
Into this rhythm Mark interjects a double mystery. He speaks of the presence of the demonic and demons, which is far more mysterious to us than illness. Demons can’t be simply explained away as a primitive illusion; nor can they be imagined too literally. They, too, escape definition and, thus, reveal themselves as we wouldn’t expect. And Mark then adds that Jesus commanded them not to reveal him, either. Jesus insisted that his own identity be kept secret and kept from the people. He was determined to remain mysterious as well.
It’s a brilliant form of foreshadowing. Just as Mark sets off in chapter one with multiple stories that describe Jesus just as we’d like him to be, he adds this caveat. We’re warned, ever so subtly, that all these stories might be beside the point. They’re being told so that the picture of God we hold in our minds can be overturned. For God wants to be present to us as he is and not as we want God to be. In Mark’s Gospel, Mark provides us a Jesus who lives into our expectations – all too much – so that we can see how misguided we are by them. We seek God thinking of ourselves and our benefit. We have much less patience for seeking the God who will be who he will be. And yet, only in this way can God be in relationship with us. Otherwise, God is little more than a service provider.
In the post-resurrection accounts given in Matthew, Luke, and John, very little is said about the resurrection, as if resurrection itself were the focus of the disciples’ astonishment and joy. The emphasis is on Jesus’ presence, once again, with the disciples, wholly, mysteriously, and surprisingly, in the mode of peace. In this Eastertide, now, it is the same persistence of God to be present to us that should startle and amaze us.
Prayer
You come to us, O Christ.
You are the Alpha and the Omega
The beginning and the end. All times
And seasons are yours, and in you
All things hold together and are brought to completion.
Draw us by your Spirit into communion
With you and one another and make us and all things
Whole and free in the full force
Of your deathless love.
The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
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