Mark 14
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Markings
1 It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth, and kill him; 2 for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult of the people.”
14:1 ην δε το πασχα και τα αζυμα μετα δυο ημερας και εζητουν οι αρχιερεις και οι γραμματεις πως αυτον εν δολω κρατησαντες αποκτεινωσιν 14:2 ελεγον δε μη εν τη εορτη μηποτε θορυβος εσται του λαου
Wendell Berry, “The Way of Pain,” Collected Poems, p. 210
“The Way of Pain”
Sheila Cassidy, Sharing the Darkness, p. 2
Sharing the Darkness
… the prophetic nature of caring for those who are, in economic terms, useless. It is a lavishing of precious resources, our precious ointment, on the handicapped, the insane, the rejected, and the dying that most clearly reveals the love of Christ in our times. It is this gratuitous caring, this unilateral declaration of love, which proclaims the gospel more powerfully than bishops and theologians. It is an ongoing reenactment of the drama at the house at Bethany. … This outrageous … public gesture of love. (cf. p.59-61)
John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, p. 416
The Historical Jesus
But that unnamed woman believed in his imminent death, and she anointed him in symbolic preparation for it since, as Secret Mark knew full well, there would be no chance for an anointing after it. Her reward is the stunningly emphatic and uniquely explicit statement of Jesus, “truly, … wherever …
One could surely, by the way, make a better case for Mark-as-a-woman, obliquely signing her manuscript by that sentence in 14:9, than one ever did for Mark-as-a-man, obliquely signing his by that flapping nightshirt in the garden at 14:51-52.
Mary Gordon, “The Anointing by Mary,” Incarnation, p. 22
Geoffrey Hill, “A Song of Degrees”, Canaan, p. 67
“A Song of Degrees”
Wayne Muller, Sabbath, p. 49
Sabbath
What is Jesus saying—not to worry about the poor? Of course not; his entire ministry is about service and kindness to those in need. He is saying that a life of compassion must include compassion for all beings, including the giver.
Our reluctance to rest—our belief that our joy and delight may somehow steal from the poor, or add to the sorrows of those who suffer—is a dangerous and corrosive myth, because it creates the illusion that service to others is a painful and dreary thing.
Blaise Pascal, “# 552,” Pensées, p. 148
“# 552”
Jan Richardson, Circle of Grace, p. 116 f.
Circle of Grace
Jean Vanier, Sharing the Darkness, p. xi
Sharing the Darkness
W. B. Yeats, “Calvary,” Selected Poems and Plays, p. 197
“Calvary”
The crowd shrinks backward from the face that seems
Death-stricken and death hungry still; and now
Martha and those three Marys and the rest
That live but in His love are gathered round Him.
He holds His right arm out and on His arm
Their lips are pressed and their tears fall; and now
They cast them on the ground before His dirty
Blood-dabbled feet and clean them with their hair.
3 Malcolm Muggeridge, Jesus: The Man who Lives, p. 126
6 Georgine Lomell Buckwalter, “Spikenard,” Weavings (July/August 1989), p. 35
"Spikenard"
7 Jean Vanier, “Come Out,” We Need Each Other, p. 135 f.
"Come Out"
8 Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace, p. 256
Amazing Grace
When my brother’s church in Honolulu was celebrating the 101st birthday of one of its members, he asked the woman if she would care to name a favorite Bible verse. She cited the verse from Mark and said that it was one she had chosen to memorize as a child in Sunday school, and that all her life it had provided her with a word to live by. Jesus himself had given it, allowing her the hope that her faith, and whatever service she rendered the church, would not be in vain. When asked what it was about the verse that had so captured her attention as to hold it for over ninety years, she replied, “She did what she could.”
3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 But there were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment thus wasted? 5 For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor.” And they reproached her. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
14:3 και οντος αυτου εν βηθανια εν τη οικια σιμωνος του λεπρου κατακειμενου αυτου ηλθεν γυνη εχουσα αλαβαστρον μυρου ναρδου πιστικης πολυτελους και συντριψασα το αλαβαστρον κατεχεεν αυτου κατα της κεφαλης 14:4 ησαν δε τινες αγανακτουντες προς εαυτους και λεγοντες εις τι η απωλεια αυτη του μυρου γεγονεν 14:5 ηδυνατο γαρ τουτο πραθηναι επανω τριακοσιων δηναριων και δοθηναι τοις πτωχοις και ενεβριμωντο αυτη 14:6 ο δε ιησους ειπεν αφετε αυτην τι αυτη κοπους παρεχετε καλον εργον ειργασατο εν εμοι 14:7 παντοτε γαρ τους πτωχους εχετε μεθ εαυτων και οταν θελητε δυνασθε αυτους ευ ποιησαι εμε δε ου παντοτε εχετε 14:8 ο εσχεν αυτη εποιησεν προελαβεν μυρισαι μου το σωμα εις τον ενταφιασμον 14:9 αμην [δε] λεγω υμιν οπου εαν κηρυχθη το ευαγγελιον τουτο εις ολον τον κοσμον και ο εποιησεν αυτη λαληθησεται εις μνημοσυνον αυτης
10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 And when they heard it they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.
14:10 και ο ιουδας ο ισκαριωτης εις των δωδεκα απηλθεν προς τους αρχιερεις ινα παραδω αυτον αυτοις 14:11 οι δε ακουσαντες εχαρησαν και επηγγειλαντο αυτω αργυριον δουναι και εζητει πως ευκαιρως αυτον παραδω
18 Psalm 41:9
12-17 Geraldine Stahl-Pollat and Bruce Chilton, Bible Review (August 1995), p. 45 f.
Bible Review
Letter to Editor:
Jesus chose not the Passover lamb—that ageless ante-type of himself—but simply the bread of their last meal along with the wine to be the symbol of his sacrifice … not the offering first offered by blessed Abel, but the one offered by cursed Cain!
Response:
The fact that circles in dispute over many matters agreed that the Eucharist represented a meal in which Jesus spoke of wine and bread as blood and flesh shows that Jesus himself was the generative moment of eucharistic practice.
17-21 Bruce Beasley, “Elegy,” Spirituals, p. 43
“Elegy”
The angels waiting outside the supper
Winced,
Hearing a dull old hymn rising out of the stranger’s house.
They knew this must be
The end, though no one had breathed
A word to them. They waited on a tense limb.
Inside, one man was guilty: even his clothes were smudged,
A dead giveaway, like the wine-
Colored blush that rose up his neck
When he thought how the others must envy
The way he finally knew what their master was thinking,
The way they exchanged winks and glances over the baskets of bread.
At the head of the table, a few drops of wine
Shone at the corners of the master’s mouth,
And the sundown framed him in the gray
Windows at his back, and he looked
Down the length of the table as though at a dim still life,
And stalled for a moment his words about all this dying:
While in the back of his mind, a barren fig tree
Kept shaking its load, a dirty little blossom of a man:
And then he smiled,
Folding his hands around the wine in the dusty sunlight.
The angels rose in a wave toward the door
And the treacherous one ran out and joined them, his face
Ablush, his supper gone cold,
Doing what had to be done.
18-21 Eric Pankey, “A Feast in Jerusalem,” DoubleTake, p. 60
“A Feast in Jerusalem”
Once clear as ivory,
Blue like milk to the depths,
This face among the twelve,
A face like the others’
But now oxidized black.
A shade among the guests,
Seems the face of the one
Who betrays and fulfills,
Whose burden is the blame.
Unstable the pigment,
Burned to its opposite,
Marks this one haloed head
As the guilty party,
Although al lean away In disbelief and guilt.
Given the evidence,
We cannot help but judge,
Although the Judge sits there
And does not look to them
Or the one we accuse,
But into our eyes.
12 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?” 13 And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the householder, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples?’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16 And the disciples set out and went to the city, and found it as he had told them; and they prepared the passover. 17 And when it was evening he came with the twelve. 18 And as they were at table eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19 They began to be sorrowful, and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” 20 He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21 For the Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
14:12 και τη πρωτη ημερα των αζυμων οτε το πασχα εθυον λεγουσιν αυτω οι μαθηται αυτου που θελεις απελθοντες ετοιμασωμεν ινα φαγης το πασχα 14:13 και αποστελλει δυο των μαθητων αυτου και λεγει αυτοις υπαγετε εις την πολιν και απαντησει υμιν ανθρωπος κεραμιον υδατος βασταζων ακολουθησατε αυτω 14:14 και οπου εαν εισελθη ειπατε τω οικοδεσποτη οτι ο διδασκαλος λεγει που εστιν το καταλυμα οπου το πασχα μετα των μαθητων μου φαγω 14:15 και αυτος υμιν δειξει ανωγεον μεγα εστρωμενον ετοιμον εκει ετοιμασατε ημιν 14:16 και εξηλθον οι μαθηται αυτου και ηλθον εις την πολιν και ευρον καθως ειπεν αυτοις και ητοιμασαν το πασχα 14:17 και οψιας γενομενης ερχεται μετα των δωδεκα 14:18 και ανακειμενων αυτων και εσθιοντων ειπεν ο ιησους αμην λεγω υμιν οτι εις εξ υμων παραδωσει με ο εσθιων μετ εμου 14:19 οι δε ηρξαντο λυπεισθαι και λεγειν αυτω εις καθ εις μητι εγω και αλλος μητι εγω 14:20 ο δε αποκριθεις ειπεν αυτοις εις εκ των δωδεκα ο εμβαπτομενος μετ εμου εις το τρυβλιον 14:21 ο μεν υιος του ανθρωπου υπαγει καθως γεγραπται περι αυτου ουαι δε τω ανθρωπω εκεινω δι ου ο υιος του ανθρωπου παραδιδοται καλον ην αυτω ει ουκ εγεννηθη ο ανθρωπος εκεινος
Bruce Beasley, “Elegy,” Spirituals, p. 43
"Elegy"
The angels waiting outside the supper
Winced,
Hearing a dull old hymn rising out of the stranger’s house.
They knew this must be
The end, though no one had breathed
A word to them. They waited on a tense limb.
Inside, one man was guilty: even his clothes were smudged,
A dead giveaway, like the wine-
Colored blush that rose up his neck
When he thought how the others must envy
The way he finally knew what their master was thinking,
The way they exchanged winks and glances over the baskets of bread.
At the head of the table, a few drops of wine
Shone at the corners of the master’s mouth,
And the sundown framed him in the gray
Windows at his back, and he looked
Down the length of the table as though at a dim still life,
And stalled for a moment his words about all this dying:
While in the back of his mind, a barren fig tree
Kept shaking its load, a dirty little blossom of a man:
And then he smiled,
Folding his hands around the wine in the dusty sunlight.
The angels rose in a wave toward the door
And the treacherous one ran out and joined them, his face
Ablush, his supper gone cold,
Doing what had to be done.
Dom Helder Camara, Through the Gospel, p. 137
John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, p. 365 f.
Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step, p. 22 f.
Malcolm Muggeridge, Jesus: The Man who Lives, p. 152 ff.
Rick Spalding, “Speaking the Name,” The Covenant Connection (Winter 2004), p. 2 f.
“Speaking the Name”
There was a night at what began as an ordinary supper when the ones sitting at the table suddenly knew that they were in the presence of the love that had uttered them into being. … He took bread and blessed it, and broke it, and named them. This is my body, he said. You are my body. You are light. You are salt. … Whatever the words were it was the Word speaking them again, uttering a new creation into being, a relationship which, as it turned out, no death could ever kill. It woke them from a deep sleep, at least momentarily—long enough to remember how it felt, and to tell us the story and to teach us to tell it too. This way we hunger to know each other as brother and sister, and to lean together toward a deeper unity and wholeness than we have yet been able to name—this body, this communion, this at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.
Hans-Ruedi Weber, Experiments with Bible Study, p. 180
24-26 Genesis 2:23
24 Exodus 24:8; Jeremiah 31:31-34
22-24 Bruce Chilton, “The Eucharist: Exploring its Origins,” Bible Review (December 1994), p. 37-49
22-24 Bernhard Lang, “The Eucharist: A Sacrificial Formula Preserved,” Bible Review (December 1994), p. 37-49
22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
14:22 και εσθιοντων αυτων λαβων ο ιησους αρτον ευλογησας εκλασεν και εδωκεν αυτοις και ειπεν λαβετε φαγετε τουτο εστιν το σωμα μου 14:23 και λαβων το ποτηριον ευχαριστησας εδωκεν αυτοις και επιον εξ αυτου παντες 14:24 και ειπεν αυτοις τουτο εστιν το αιμα μου το της καινης διαθηκης το περι πολλων εκχυνομενον 14:25 αμην λεγω υμιν οτι ουκετι ου μη πιω εκ του γενηματος της αμπελου εως της ημερας εκεινης οταν αυτο πινω καινον εν τη βασιλεια του θεου 14:26 και υμνησαντες εξηλθον εις το ορος των ελαιων
27 Zechariah 13:7
28 Matthew 28:16; Mark 16:7
27 And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away; for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 29 Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” 30 And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But he said vehemently, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.
14:27 και λεγει αυτοις ο ιησους οτι παντες σκανδαλισθησεσθε εν εμοι εν τη νυκτι ταυτη οτι γεγραπται παταξω τον ποιμενα και διασκορπισθησεται τα προβατα 14:28 αλλα μετα το εγερθηναι με προαξω υμας εις την γαλιλαιαν 14:29 ο δε πετρος εφη αυτω και ει παντες σκανδαλισθησονται αλλ ουκ εγω 14:30 και λεγει αυτω ο ιησους αμην λεγω σοι οτι συ σημερον εν τη νυκτι ταυτη πριν η δις αλεκτορα φωνησαι τρις απαρνηση με 14:31 ο δε εκ περισσου ελεγεν μαλλον εαν με δεη συναποθανειν σοι ου μη σε απαρνησωμαι ωσαυτως δε και παντες ελεγον
Frederick Buechner, “The Breaking of Silence,” The Magnificent Defeat, p. 129
“The Breaking of Silence”
… [Jesus] spoke to the stranger who was no stranger, and the answer he received was that in order to be made whole, he had first to be broken.
The disciples, in their wisdom, kept silent and addressed no word at all to the stranger for fear that he might answer them in the same way. So while Jesus prayed in the garden, they pretended to be asleep. Or maybe they really slept. There are times when we all thirst for oblivion, and no one can blame us.
Kelly Cherry, “Gethsemane,” Odd Angles of Heaven, p. 44
“Gethsemane”
On a hill backlit by twilight,
the disciples gather like crows
for the night.
This is their down time, time to browse
among the olive branches, Christ with them
their apostolic flight slowed at last to a head-nodding drowse,
to a flutter of tattered cloak, the unraveling hem
dragging in the dirt like a hurt wing.
They flock momentarily around him,
then settle down, safe in the soft swing
of wind that rises and then falls back
with the deepening evening
into the distance, and sleep, while Christ’s black
feathers burn in his father’s fist,
plucked by God before by Judas kissed.
Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings, p. 199
Markings
The moon was caught in the branches:
Bound by its vow,
My heart was heavy.
Naked against the night
The trees slept. “Nevertheless,
Not as I will. …”
The burden remained mine:
They could not hear my call,
And all was silence.
Soon, now, the torches, the kiss:
Soon the gray of dawn
In the Judgment Hall.
What will their love help there?
There, the question is only
If I love them.
Denise Levertov, “Salvator Mundi: Via Crucis,” Evening Train, p. 114
“Salvator Mundi: Via Crucis”
Malcolm Muggeridge, Jesus: The Man who Lives, p. 160f. & 120
Kathleen Norris, “The Companionable Dark,” Little Girls in Church, p. 54
“The Companionable Dark”
Mary Oliver, “Gethsemane,” Devotions, p. 129
“Gethsemane”
Blaise Pascal, “#552,” Pensées, p. 148 f.
“#552”
Jaroslav Pelikan, The Illustrated Jesus through the Centuries, p. 215
Rainer Maria Rilke, “The Olive Garden,” New Poems, p. 38-41
Loretta Ross-Gotta, “Praying with Christ,” Weavings (July/August 1993), p. 36
“Praying with Christ”
Is there one willing to pay the cost
of staying one hour
of tasting and knowing God’s suffering in her bones
of being bereft of all mortal assistance
of contending with a near constant onslaught of devils
of serving as a bridge between heaven and earth
and thereby bearing in her body mind and psyche
on the one hand, the Immaculate Tenderness
and the Surging Ferocity
of Divine Love;
and on the other hand
the immense ocean of mortal sorrow?
Morris West, A View from the Ridge, p. 3
A View from the Ridge
We are conceived without consent, wrenched whimpering into an alien universe with our death sentence already written on the palms of our hands: a cancer will eat our guts, a fanatic with a sword will cut off our heads, a drunken fool will mow us down with an automobile. Sentence once passed, there may be deferment, but there is no mitigation, no commutation, no amnesty.
If I have understood nothing else in the gospel narratives, I have grasped always the tragedy of Christ’s deathwatch on the Mount of Olives and his cry of utter heartbreak just before the end: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Richard Wilbur, “Peter,” New and Collected Poems, p. 67
“Peter”
There at the story’s close
We could not stay awake.
The new wine made us doze,
And not for Jesus’ sake
I struck the high-priest’s slave
Who came at start of day,
But as a hand might wave
Some bugling fly away.
That hand warm by the flame,
I murmured no, no, no
To mutters of his name
And felt the rooster’s crow
Flail me, yet did not waken
Out of that rocky sleep.
Dungeoned I stood there, shaken
Only enough to weep,
Only enough to fill
At those predicted jeers,
Through the dropped lashes’ grille
The socket’s moat of tears.
Christian Wiman, Zero at the Bone, p. 10
Zero at the Bone
“Not my will, Lord, but yours.” That’s Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane before the Roman soldiers come to take him to his death, just after he has sweated blood, begged God to let the cup of suffering pass him by, and wept to leave this world that he has come to love so completely and, it seems, helplessly. And then: Not my will, k Lord, but yours. It’s difficult enough to pray a prayer like this when you’re thinking of making some big life decision. It damn bear impossible when your actual life is on the line, or the life of someone you love, when all you want to pray is help, help, help.
Imaging the Word, Vol. 1, p. 176
32-42 2 Kings 2:1-8
34 Jeremiah 9:1; John 12:27
36-38 Matthew 6:9-13
36 2 Samuel 15:25-26; Psalm 75:8
38 Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4; John 18:8-9
32-36 Robert F. Morneau, “The Mystery of Suffering,” Gift Mystery Calling, p. 57-62
34 Wendell Berry, “2012 – III,” This Day, p. 377
“2012 – III”
36 H. E. Fosdick, The Meaning of Prayer, p. 184 f.
38 Irenaeus, The Holy Spirit, p. 40 f.
36 John Donne, “Christ the Light,” Classics of Western Spirituality, p. 122
The Holy Spirit
According to the Lord’s teaching as the flesh is weak so the Spirit is willing, that is, capable of accomplishing whatever he urges. If then anyone will allow the readiness of the Spirit to be joined as a stimulus to the weakness of the flesh, then the strong will necessarily prevail over the weak. The weakness of the flesh will be absorbed by the strength of the Spirit …
“Christ the Light”
All other men, by occasion of this flesh, have dark clouds, yea nights, yea long and frozen winter nights of sin and of the worlds of darkness. Christ was incapable of any such nights or any such clouds, any approaches toward sin; but yet Christ admitted some shadows, some such degree of human infirmity as by them he was willing to show that the nature of man in the best perfection therof is not, ‘true light, all light,’ which he declared in that, ‘If it be possible let this cup pass,’ words to which he himself was pleased to allow so much of a retraction and a correction, ‘Yet Father,’ whatsoever the sadness of my soul have made me say, ‘yet not my will but thine be done; not mine but thine;’ so that they were not altogether all one; human infirmity made some difference.
32 And they went to a place which was called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I pray.” 33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch.” 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.” 37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer him. 41 And he came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
14:32 και ερχονται εις χωριον ου το ονομα γεθσημανη και λεγει τοις μαθηταις αυτου καθισατε ωδε εως προσευξωμαι 14:33 και παραλαμβανει τον πετρον και ιακωβον και ιωαννην μεθ εαυτου και ηρξατο εκθαμβεισθαι και αδημονειν 14:34 και λεγει αυτοις περιλυπος εστιν η ψυχη μου εως θανατου μεινατε ωδε και γρηγορειτε 14:35 και προσελθων μικρον επεσεν επι της γης και προσηυχετο ινα ει δυνατον εστιν παρελθη απ αυτου η ωρα 14:36 και ελεγεν αββα ο πατηρ παντα δυνατα σοι παρενεγκε το ποτηριον απ εμου τουτο αλλ ου τι εγω θελω αλλα τι συ 14:37 και ερχεται και ευρισκει αυτους καθευδοντας και λεγει τω πετρω σιμων καθευδεις ουκ ισχυσας μιαν ωραν γρηγορησαι 14:38 γρηγορειτε και προσευχεσθε ινα μη εισελθητε εις πειρασμον το μεν πνευμα προθυμον η δε σαρξ ασθενης 14:39 και παλιν απελθων προσηυξατο τον αυτον λογον ειπων 14:40 και υποστρεψας ευρεν αυτους παλιν καθευδοντας ησαν γαρ οι οφθαλμοι αυτων βεβαρημενοι και ουκ ηδεισαν τι αυτω αποκριθωσιν 14:41 και ερχεται το τριτον και λεγει αυτοις καθευδετε λοιπον και αναπαυεσθε απεχει ηλθεν η ωρα ιδου παραδιδοται ο υιος του ανθρωπου εις τας χειρας των αμαρτωλων 14:42 εγειρεσθε αγωμεν ιδου ο παραδιδους με ηγγικεν
Richard Wilbur, “Peter,” New and Collected Poems, p. 67
“Peter”
There at the story’s close
We could not stay awake.
The new wine made us doze,
And not for Jesus’ sake
I struck the high-priest’s slave
Who came at start of day,
But as a hand might wave
Some bugling fly away.
That hand warm by the flame,
I murmured no, no, no
To mutters of his name
And felt the rooster’s crow
Flail me, yet did not waken
Out of that rocky sleep.
Dungeoned I stood there, shaken
Only enough to weep,
Only enough to fill
At those predicted jeers,
Through the dropped lashes’ grille
The socket’s moat of tears.
48 2 Kings 14-16
49 Luke 19:47, 21:37
43-45 Ricaredo Demetillo, “The Scare-Crow Christ,” Divine Inspiration, p. 410
43-45 Yuliya Drunina, “In All Ages,” Divine Inspiration, p. 409
43 And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I shall kiss is the man; seize him and lead him away under guard.” 45 And when he came, he went up to him at once, and said, “Master!” And he kissed him. 46 And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 And they all forsook him, and fled.
14:43 και ευθεως ετι αυτου λαλουντος παραγινεται ιουδας εις ων των δωδεκα και μετ αυτου οχλος πολυς μετα μαχαιρων και ξυλων παρα των αρχιερεων και των γραμματεων και των πρεσβυτερων 14:44 δεδωκει δε ο παραδιδους αυτον συσσημον αυτοις λεγων ον αν φιλησω αυτος εστιν κρατησατε αυτον και απαγαγετε ασφαλως 14:45 και ελθων ευθεως προσελθων αυτω λεγει αυτω ραββι ραββι και κατεφιλησεν αυτον 14:46 οι δε επεβαλον επ αυτον τας χειρας αυτων και εκρατησαν αυτον 14:47 εις δε τις των παρεστηκοτων σπασαμενος την μαχαιραν επαισεν τον δουλον του αρχιερεως και αφειλεν αυτου το ωτιον 14:48 και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτοις ως επι ληστην εξηλθετε μετα μαχαιρων και ξυλων συλλαβειν με 14:49 καθ ημεραν ημην προς υμας εν τω ιερω διδασκων και ουκ εκρατησατε με αλλ ινα πληρωθωσιν αι γραφαι 14:50 και αφεντες αυτον παντες εφυγον
John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, p. 416
The Historical Jesus
But that unnamed woman believed in his imminent death, and she anointed him in symbolic preparation for it since, as Secret Mark knew full well, there would be no chance for an anointing after it. Her reward is the stunningly emphatic and uniquely explicit statement of Jesus, “truly, … wherever …
One could surely, by the way, make a better case for Mark-as-a-woman, obliquely signing her manuscript by that sentence in 14:9, than one ever did for Mark-as-a-man, obliquely signing his by that flapping nightshirt in the garden at 14:51-52.
Jean de la Ceppède, “Often Have I Tried to Follow You,” Divine Inspiration, p. 414
Mary Gordon, “The Man in the Sheet,” Incarnation, p. 22 f.
Richard Wilbur, “Peter,” New and Collected Poems, p. 67
“Peter”
There at the story’s close
We could not stay awake.
The new wine made us doze,
And not for Jesus’ sake
I struck the high-priest’s slave
Who came at start of day,
But as a hand might wave
Some bugling fly away.
That hand warm by the flame,
I murmured no, no, no
To mutters of his name
And felt the rooster’s crow
Flail me, yet did not waken
Out of that rocky sleep.
Dungeoned I stood there, shaken
Only enough to weep,
Only enough to fill
At those predicted jeers,
Through the dropped lashes’ grille
The socket’s moat of tears.
52 Amos 2:15
52 Martin Buber, The Tales of Rabbi Nachman, p. 9
The Tales of Rabbi Nachman
The seemingly immediate values, life and possessions, had become suddenly flat and worthless and the people were now inclined to abandon the latter as a superfluous instrument and to hold the former only with a light hand, as a garment that slips away from the runner and that, if it hinders him too much, he can let slip by opening his fingers in order to hurry naked and free to the goal.
51 And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.
14:51 και εις τις νεανισκος ηκολουθησεν αυτω περιβεβλημενος σινδονα επι γυμνου και κρατουσιν αυτον οι νεανισκοι 14:52 ο δε καταλιπων την σινδονα γυμνος εφυγεν απ αυτων
Thomas Merton, “The House of Caiaphas,” Selected Poetry, p. 30
Richard Wilbur, “Peter,” New and Collected Poems, p. 67
“Peter”
There at the story’s close
We could not stay awake.
The new wine made us doze,
And not for Jesus’ sake
I struck the high-priest’s slave
Who came at start of day,
But as a hand might wave
Some bugling fly away.
That hand warm by the flame,
I murmured no, no, no
To mutters of his name
And felt the rooster’s crow
Flail me, yet did not waken
Out of that rocky sleep.
Dungeoned I stood there, shaken
Only enough to weep,
Only enough to fill
At those predicted jeers,
Through the dropped lashes’ grille
The socket’s moat of tears.
58 Jeremiah 26:11; John 2:19
62 Daniel 7:13; Acts 1:9-11
64 Leviticus 24:16
61-62 Jasper Griffin, “New Heaven New Earth,” New York Review of Books (December 22, 1994), p. 27
“New Heaven New Earth”
61-62 Donald Juel, Messianic Exegesis, p. 144-146
62 Augustine, “Tractate 27,” Preaching in the Patristic Age, p. 166
“Tractate 27”
62 John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, p. 389
The Historical Jesus
65 Malcolm Muggeridge, Jesus: The Man who Lives, p. 172
53 And they led Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes were assembled. 54 And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, and warming himself at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. 56 For many bore false witness against him, and their witness did not agree. 57 And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” 59 Yet not even so did their testimony agree. 60 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 61 But he was silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments, and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.
14:53 και απηγαγον τον ιησουν προς τον αρχιερεα και συνερχονται αυτω παντες οι αρχιερεις και οι πρεσβυτεροι και οι γραμματεις 14:54 και ο πετρος απο μακροθεν ηκολουθησεν αυτω εως εσω εις την αυλην του αρχιερεως και ην συγκαθημενος μετα των υπηρετων και θερμαινομενος προς το φως 14:55 οι δε αρχιερεις και ολον το συνεδριον εζητουν κατα του ιησου μαρτυριαν εις το θανατωσαι αυτον και ουχ ευρισκον 14:56 πολλοι γαρ εψευδομαρτυρουν κατ αυτου και ισαι αι μαρτυριαι ουκ ησαν 14:57 και τινες ανασταντες εψευδομαρτυρουν κατ αυτου λεγοντες 14:58 οτι ημεις ηκουσαμεν αυτου λεγοντος οτι εγω καταλυσω τον ναον τουτον τον χειροποιητον και δια τριων ημερων αλλον αχειροποιητον οικοδομησω 14:59 και ουδε ουτως ιση ην η μαρτυρια αυτων 14:60 και αναστας ο αρχιερευς εις μεσον επηρωτησεν τον ιησουν λεγων ουκ αποκρινη ουδεν τι ουτοι σου καταμαρτυρουσιν 14:61 ο δε εσιωπα και ουδεν απεκρινατο παλιν ο αρχιερευς επηρωτα αυτον και λεγει αυτω συ ει ο χριστος ο υιος του ευλογητου 14:62 ο δε ιησους ειπεν εγω ειμι και οψεσθε τον υιον του ανθρωπου εκ δεξιων καθημενον της δυναμεως και ερχομενον μετα των νεφελων του ουρανου 14:63 ο δε αρχιερευς διαρρηξας τους χιτωνας αυτου λεγει τι ετι χρειαν εχομεν μαρτυρων 14:64 ηκουσατε της βλασφημιας τι υμιν φαινεται οι δε παντες κατεκριναν αυτον ειναι ενοχον θανατου 14:65 και ηρξαντο τινες εμπτυειν αυτω και περικαλυπτειν το προσωπον αυτου και κολαφιζειν αυτον και λεγειν αυτω προφητευσον και οι υπηρεται ραπισμασιν αυτον εβαλλον
R. H. Blyth, Haiku, Vol. 2, p. 556
Haiku
A camellia flower fell;
A cock crew;
Another fell. Baishitsu
The best haiku on the camellia are concerned with its falling. One kind falls suddenly, bodily,—like a head being cut off, Japanese people think.
Is there a connection between the crowing of the cock and the falling of the flower, or is there no connection?
Thomas Merton, “The House of Caiaphas,” Selected Poetry, p. 30
William Stafford, “Bowing,” A Scripture of Leaves, 18
“Bowing”
Before our time, before years that said no,
when anyone passed a church and reverently
bowed, a soul somewhere might go
to Heaven, just because of that bow.
And they all felt sad if a rooster crowed,
for something it reminded them of, a story
strong as the cables that hold up the world.
Nobody bows now if a rooster crows.
T. H. S. Wallace, “Here and at Every Door,” Odd Angles of Heaven, p. 277 f. (2—Thoughts of Anywhere but Here)
“Here and at Every Door”
The courtyard fires burn. The guards
and their women huddle in the night
trading long gazes into the flames,
for thoughts of anywhere but here.
I’ve come as far as brash talk can
carry me. My heart pounds its prison
of ribs, pounds with all the anger
typical of fear, pounds as I
pass myself off as usual.
What can I say? What can I say?
I’m no one! Absolutely not
his friend! I swear by God, not his!
I step beyond the fire’s circle,
the gasp and crackle of wood, of dung.
Me with the face that everyone
takes at face value, with a tongue
loose as a lie in my mouth,
hoarse from repeated betrayal.
Richard Wilbur, “Peter,” New and Collected Poems, p. 67
“Peter”
There at the story’s close
We could not stay awake.
The new wine made us doze,
And not for Jesus’ sake
I struck the high-priest’s slave
Who came at start of day,
But as a hand might wave
Some bugling fly away.
That hand warm by the flame,
I murmured no, no, no
To mutters of his name
And felt the rooster’s crow
Flail me, yet did not waken
Out of that rocky sleep.
Dungeoned I stood there, shaken
Only enough to weep,
Only enough to fill
At those predicted jeers,
Through the dropped lashes’ grille
The socket’s moat of tears.
66-68 Malcolm Muggeridge, Jesus: The Man who Lives, p. 75
70 Geza Vermes, The Changing Faces of Jesus, p. 243
The Changing Faces of Jesus
The dialect of Aramaic used in Galilee seems to have been a permanent topic of sarcasm in Jerusalem circles. … The most striking jibe castigates the notoriously slipshop enunciation of words beginning with a guttural (or deep-throat) consonant. It ridicules a Galilean in Jerusalem trying to buy something in the market. The merchants, unable to make out what he wanted when asking for something which sounded like amar, taunted him, “You stupid Galilean, do you need something to ride on [hamâr, a “donkey”], or something to drink [hamar, “wine”], or something to make a dress with [‘amar, “wool”], or something for a Temple sacrifice [immar, “lamb”] (bErubin 53b).
66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the maids of the high priest came; 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him, and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway. 69 And the maid saw him, and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while again the bystanders said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.” 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72 And immediately the cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
14:66 και οντος του πετρου εν τη αυλη κατω ερχεται μια των παιδισκων του αρχιερεως 14:67 και ιδουσα τον πετρον θερμαινομενον εμβλεψασα αυτω λεγει και συ μετα του ναζαρηνου ιησου ησθα 14:68 ο δε ηρνησατο λεγων ουκ οιδα ουδε επισταμαι τι συ λεγεις και εξηλθεν εξω εις το προαυλιον και αλεκτωρ εφωνησεν 14:69 και η παιδισκη ιδουσα αυτον παλιν ηρξατο λεγειν τοις παρεστηκοσιν οτι ουτος εξ αυτων εστιν 14:70 ο δε παλιν ηρνειτο και μετα μικρον παλιν οι παρεστωτες ελεγον τω πετρω αληθως εξ αυτων ει και γαρ γαλιλαιος ει και η λαλια σου ομοιαζει 14:71 ο δε ηρξατο αναθεματιζειν και ομνυναι οτι ουκ οιδα τον ανθρωπον τουτον ον λεγετε 14:72 και εκ δευτερου αλεκτωρ εφωνησεν και ανεμνησθη ο πετρος το ρημα ο ειπεν αυτω ο ιησους οτι πριν αλεκτορα φωνησαι δις απαρνηση με τρις και επιβαλων εκλαιεν