The Narrow Path

  Friday, 28 November, 2025 Psalm 71 2 Kings 25:8-21 Mark 3:7-19 Observance: Ember Day He Gave The Name (Mark 3:16-17) He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder) Nicknames can be fickle things. Usually they are fairly dull and harmless; perhaps a reduction of syllables, and maybe a “zz” or “za” stuck on the end, depending on your gender. Two places, completely opposite in every other respect, provide the best nicknames: English grammar schools and Australian construction sites. Nicknames from those places tend to be both creative and humorous. On top of this, they are usually pretty accurate, too. St Mark gives us a list of Jesus’ apostles, and adds in a couple of nicknames. St Peter gets a pun for “rock”, while Saints James and John are “sons of thunder”. We can immediately form an image of what type...

  Thursday, 27 November, 2025 Psalm 68:1-20 2 Kings 24:10-25:7 Mark 2:18-3:6 Observance: Ember Day They Were Silent (Mark 3:4-5) And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. It feels so good to be right! But something I have noticed about that feeling is that it only works if there is someone else who is wrong – that is, to feel good about being right, it requires someone else to “lose”. Internet arguments are notorious for this sort of thing. Debaters seem less concerned with presenting a convincing argument as they are about “winning”. And if there are winners, there are also losers. Jesus found himself in the midst of a group of people like this. They were arguing about some irrelevan...

  Wednesday, 26 November, 2025 Psalms 65; 70 2 Kings 23:31-24:9 Mark 2:1-17 Observance: Ember Day In Need Of A Physician (Mark 2:17)   And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” A wounded conscience is a terrible thing. I think all of us have some memories would rather forget – indeed, some memories that make us physically recoil. Just like a medical malady, we can either try to ignore it, or actually do something about it. And just as someone who refuses medical treatment is in a sorry state, so too the one who refuses spiritual healing for the conscience from their heavenly Physician. So if we want the cure offered by Christ, what is the medication? How do we take it? Well, Christ’s words today come off the back of his forgiveness of sins. Our sins caused the disease in our conscience; he extracts those sins...

  Tuesday, 25 November, 2025 Psalms 62; 63 2 Kings 23:16-30 Mark 1:40-45 Observances: Ember Day; James Noble, pioneer Aboriginal deacon (d. 1941) If You Will (Mark 1:40) And a leper came to [Jesus], imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Here in our second lesson we read the first of many instances of what some call the “Messianic Secret”. Jesus, upon healing the leper, sternly tells him not to tell anyone. What a conundrum for theologians with too much spare time on their hands to think about! Context (as always) helps us here. Instead of going around and making a big deal of it, Jesus wanted rather this man follow religious protocol: to show himself to the priest, be approved as cleansed, and worship God in an unrestricted way. This seems more like what Jesus wants: for every human being to approach God in free and full confidence. Just as John the Baptist pointed to Christ, Christ points us to t...

  Monday, 24 November, 2025 Psalms 56; 57 2 Kings 23:4-15 Mark 1:29-39 Observance: Ember Day Reduced To Dust (2 Kings 23:15) Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. The thing about these Old Testament historical narratives is that we can usually tell if the author approves or disapproves of what are writing about. With Josiah, it seems pretty obvious that all this defilement is seen as a good thing. In our modern pluralistic society we might find it all a little confronting. Surely ancient Israel was a beacon of progressive inclusivity? Then comes along this nasty, close-minded king who only wants his religion to be followed – it isn’t terribly democratic of him. Two aspects of the religions banned by Josiah are mentioned here: prostitution, and burning children alive. I ...

  Saturday, 22 November, 2025 Psalm 51 2 Kings 22:12-23:3 Mark 1:14-28 The Time Is Fulfilled (Mark 1:15) [Jesus said] “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” It really is helpful having both an Old Testament and a New Testament reading side-by-side. In this way we get both the before and after shots on the same slide. Particularly so since slogging through some of the Old Testament history can make one a bit melancholy after awhile. Over the last couple of days we have read about a small flicker of light in Judah’s history: King Josiah and his reforms. Even though the prophetess has indeed confirmed Josiah’s worst fears, that the curses of God will come on the people, there is still a little more time until that happens. But don’t get too comfy: the time will come. Then we flick over to our second reading and read these words from Jesus: the time is fulfilled. The time of curses and disobed...