In the last reflection. We saw Jesus
sticking up for newer believers that doing powerful things in Jesus’s name, but
who were not part of the group Jesus had chosen. Now, in our text above, Jesus builds upon
that instruction with a warning. If you
cause these new believers spiritual harm, there will be consequences and they
won’t be pleasant.
This is a Jesus that makes us
uncomfortable. He uses harsh language and
is issuing threats. The suffering
promised to those who harm the vulnerable is worse than being drowned. He stops just short of Dirty Harry’s “go
ahead punk. . . make my day!” This is
not the Jesus we’re used to hearing.
This isn’t “peace I leave with you” Jesus. It isn’t “neither do I
condemn you” Jesus or “blessed are the meek” Jesus. You hear Jesus talking this way and you can’t
help but give pause.
And that’s the point. When it comes to protecting the vulnerable,
Jesus is deadly serious. Don’t harm them
or you WILL be sorry. The intensity of
the warning should stop us in our tracks and return readily to memory when
dealing with those who are the most vulnerable among us. To the extent that we
have power, position, or authority, we should use it protect those who don’t.
To be clear, Jesus is not promising
to drown those who don’t heed His words.
His warning is purposely exaggerated to express the intensity of the heart
of God for people who are vulnerable.
But neither is the warning and idle threat. When you exploit, bully, or otherwise harm
the vulnerable, you have set yourself against God. It is
not a road you want to go down.
In the next several reflections, we
will see that Jesus’s harsh language and imagery doesn’t end here. It serves as a corrective to the overly
passive and milk-toast characterization of Jesus that has become very popular
in our day. If the Jesus we know doesn’t
challenge us, than it is not the Jesus of scripture.
Question: List your
top 5-10 adjectives to describe the Jesus you know. How does your list compare to the Jesus we’ve
encounter in Mark so far?
Prayer: Lord, too
often, we get it backwards. We make You into our image instead of vice
versa. Forgive us. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for Pray for people in the path of deadly winter storms right now.
Song: I Wonder as I
Wander – Harry Connick Jr.
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