Mark Keown

It is funny what you notice when you read Scripture. One thing that caught my eye recently is the connection of two assumptions in Scripture. Firstly, that Jesus was a carpenter. This is based on the vocation of his stepfather Joseph who was a carpenter as we are told in Mk 6:3; Mt 13:55. The second strand is the saying, 'foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head' (Mt 8:20; Lk 9:58). I suddenly thought today, 'hey; if Jesus was a carpenter, why didn't he make himself a home base'. I then looked up carpentry and found this from The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol 2, 2085): 'The carpenter worked in timber, setting up the framework of houses, the roofing, windows, and doors. Often small structures were erected by the householder, but temples and palaces required specialized artisans where carpenters worked alongside stonemasons (2 Kgs 12:11; 22:6; 1 Chr 14:1; 22:15; 2 Chr 24:12; 34:11; Ezr 3:7). Some o...

Last week I was absorbed in Jn 1 and Jn 1:3 stood out to me. It speaks of Jesus as creator; 'through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made'. Paul says something similar in Col 1:15, 'for by him all things were created, things in heaven and earth... all things were created by him and for him.' Heb 1:2 also says he is the one 'through whom God made the universe.' This has stuck with me. I often think of creation and it is God the Father who seems the prime agent. There is also the work of the Spirit who hovers over creation (Gen 1:2). Yet here is a three-fold witness from different authors (John, Paul, ?) who agree that it is God's Son who created the world. Wow! So from the very beginning the Son of God, who would become redeemer, is also creator. John also tells us that he is the source of life and Paul that 'in him all things hold together'. Hence, God's son sustains and gives life to the universe. This is rad...

I came across another of my favourite verses from the book of Mark. It is Mk 10:21 where Jesus in his encounter with the rich young ruler writes of Jesus, 'he looked at him and loved him!' What a moment. Jesus by this stage knew in his spirit that this man was a rich man who oppressed the poor and needed to repent to enter the kingdom. Yet he looked at him and loved him. This is how he looks upon us. He looks at us and loves us. The first part speaks of Jesus engagement with us; he does not avert his gaze because of the terrible sins we have committed. Even though he is the eternal Son of God, creator of the universe and to be judge of all; even though he is a Jewish holy man in a land where holy men do not have anything to do with sin and sinners because sinners are ritually impure and to be shunned; despite these things, he looks on the sinner and loves them! This is not a passive love but a real, living, active love that leads Jesus to act on behalf of the sinner and die for...

Yo again. Time to change direction. I was reading Mk 4:35-41 today and something caught my eye that gives me great comfort. It is the story of Jesus in the boat when the storm hits. Mark's description tells us it is a really serious storm, a hurricane with great wind and waves that were swamping the boat. While this is going on and the disciples are totally freaking out, Jesus is asleep in a cushion in the stern! It is the disciple's question that they ask of Jesus that gets me. They wake him up and ask, 'teacher, don't you care if we drown?' Do we not often ask a similar question when the going gets tough, 'Jesus, don't you care?' I certainly do when the going gets tough and I have unanswered prayer or struggle in my life. Well Jesus response is wonderful. He does not say anything but he acts in their interests taking control, commanding the wind and the waves. So the answer is, Jesus does care. The story goes on with Jesus challenging their lack of fai...