Mark Keown

I have been thinking about what it is that saves a person. That is, what do we have to do to be saved? The writers of the New Testament cite different accounts of response to this question. Jesus responds twice in Luke to similar questions in Lk 10:25; 18:18, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?' He responds by inviting the enquirer to answer from the Jewish law. The lawyer responds with Lev 19:18, 'love your neighbour as yourself.' Jesus affirms he is correct, if he does this he will live. This leads to the account of the Good Samaritan as the enquirer questions 'who is my neighbour?' The answer seems to be unconditional and unlimited love. In Luke 18:18 a rich Jewish leader asks Jesus the same question. Jesus answers by asking him if he knows the law to which the man responds he has kept these laws through his life. Jesus then exposes his failing, money! In other words, he has failed to really live the law. Jesus then goes on to say that such people can ...

I have just watched a bit of evening TV and saw on One was an account of Michael Holmes whose main chute got snarled up so that he could not open his reserve and then plunged into blackberries somehow surviving with a collapsed lung and a broken ankle. The other is Andrew McAuley and Australian explorer who has gone missing near Milford Sound kayaking from Australia to NZ. Having seen the accounts of both, Michael was exceedingly lucky (or blessed depending on your perspective on God's involvement) while Andrew on the other hand, is not so. What has happened to Andrew is terribly sad and my thoughts go out to the family. These two events however, make me ask the question; where is the line for Christians between celebrating our humanity with exploration an/or life-threatening activities and treating life as a precious gift to be celebrated and not wasted with excessively dangerous activities? On the one hand, life is to be explored, enjoyed, celebrated. God is with us as we do thin...

It is easy to read Mk 11:22-24 which tell us that we can ask for anything in prayer with faith and we will receive it. We can even it seems tell a mountain to throw itself into the sea and it will be done for us. This has led some Christians to believe that with faith we should get a 100% hit rate on our prayers, if we have enough faith. On the other hand, failed prayer means a lack of faith. This sounds reasonable if we forget the wider context of Mark's Gospel. I always believe that when we are looking at a verse and seeking to interpret after looking at its immediate context, we need to consider it in terms of the wider document; in this case, Mark. If it is a thematic text like this one on prayer, we need to especially consider what else Mark records on prayer. In regards this verse 11:22-24 the most important textual link for me is Mk 14:32-42. Here Jesus comes to God in prayer. He has a mountain to move; the cross! He has shown his awareness of what he is to face since Mk 8:3...

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...