“I Am”
Meditation for Day 48: Mark 14
Bryan A. Hobbs
Chapter 14 of Mark’s Gospel takes way more than one day for adequate meditation and reflection. This chapter along with the 15th chapter is the very heart of the Good News of Jesus Christ, so much so that it is often simply referred to as Christ’s “Passion”.
Of the many themes presented, there is one that I wish to focus upon today and that is Jesus’ answer to the High Priest’s question, “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed God?” (Mk. 14:61b) Jesus replies, “I am…” and in so doing condemns himself to death. When Jesus uses the same phrase or name that God gave to Moses in Exodus 3:14, “I AM”, he is in essence declaring that he is God, a declaration that we readily accept as true since we stand on the other side of the Resurrection. But to the High Priest, Jesus was declaring himself to be God which was a total abomination to any Jew. When Jesus chooses to use the term “I AM”, he has chosen the Cross as his future and in turn changed the course of all human history.
So, let’s think about the turning points in our lives when we made decisions that impacted the future course of our history and in many cases that of our families as well. I chose to marry Annabel on June 1, 1968. That changed the course of our lives and that of our two children. If we had chosen otherwise, my grandchildren would not be. I chose to respond to the call to be ordained and the church agreed. So, on June 1, 1975, I was ordained at St. Paul’s Church, Key West. Our lives often revolve around making large and small decisions that often have a dramatic impact on God’s Kingdom…mostly for the betterment of all.
The Rev. John Newton, Anglican priest, wrote the most memorable hymn in 1773 – “Amazing Grace”. This one hymn is probably sung more often than any other hymn, modern or ancient, so often that most of us know the words by heart and readily sense the presence of the Holy Spirit as the first cords are struck. But, John Newton’s greatest accomplishment is not found in “Amazing Grace”, great as the hymn may be, but rather the significant role he played in the English abolitionist movement. An essential part of that movement was John Newton’s prayerful and successful attempts to share the Gospel with a newly elected Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce. William Wilberforce struggled mightily in 1785-86 with remaining in Parliament or following his call to the Church. On Easter Day, 1786, William Wilberforce, with the strong counsel of John Newton, made a decision to stay in Parliament as a faithful Christian, a decision that was destined to change the course of human history.
John Newton and William Wilberforce were two of the most influential persons in bringing to light the ravages of the English Slave Trade and of slavery itself. John Newton wrote of his exploits as a captain of a slave trade in a pamphlet published in 1788 “Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade” where he recounted his personal experiences in the slave trade from 1750-1754. Newton documented the unspeakable horrors of the slave trade and the “civilized” nature of what had been referred to as the African “savages.”
William Wilberforce introduced legislation beginning in 1878…then more legislation to follow…then even more legislation. This was an impossible…impossible…impossible…legislative task only made possible by God’s grace along John and William’s daily determination to follow Christ. Finally, on March 25, 1807, the Slave Trade Act was enacted and on July 26, 1833, just three days before William Wilberforce died, the Slavery Abolition Act was passed. It is no wonder that today, February 23rd, we celebrate the life, work and faith of William Wilberforce in the Episcopal Church, a decision from which we all benefit.
Meditation for Day 48: Mark 14
Bryan A. Hobbs
Chapter 14 of Mark’s Gospel takes way more than one day for adequate meditation and reflection. This chapter along with the 15th chapter is the very heart of the Good News of Jesus Christ, so much so that it is often simply referred to as Christ’s “Passion”.
Of the many themes presented, there is one that I wish to focus upon today and that is Jesus’ answer to the High Priest’s question, “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed God?” (Mk. 14:61b) Jesus replies, “I am…” and in so doing condemns himself to death. When Jesus uses the same phrase or name that God gave to Moses in Exodus 3:14, “I AM”, he is in essence declaring that he is God, a declaration that we readily accept as true since we stand on the other side of the Resurrection. But to the High Priest, Jesus was declaring himself to be God which was a total abomination to any Jew. When Jesus chooses to use the term “I AM”, he has chosen the Cross as his future and in turn changed the course of all human history.
So, let’s think about the turning points in our lives when we made decisions that impacted the future course of our history and in many cases that of our families as well. I chose to marry Annabel on June 1, 1968. That changed the course of our lives and that of our two children. If we had chosen otherwise, my grandchildren would not be. I chose to respond to the call to be ordained and the church agreed. So, on June 1, 1975, I was ordained at St. Paul’s Church, Key West. Our lives often revolve around making large and small decisions that often have a dramatic impact on God’s Kingdom…mostly for the betterment of all.
The Rev. John Newton, Anglican priest, wrote the most memorable hymn in 1773 – “Amazing Grace”. This one hymn is probably sung more often than any other hymn, modern or ancient, so often that most of us know the words by heart and readily sense the presence of the Holy Spirit as the first cords are struck. But, John Newton’s greatest accomplishment is not found in “Amazing Grace”, great as the hymn may be, but rather the significant role he played in the English abolitionist movement. An essential part of that movement was John Newton’s prayerful and successful attempts to share the Gospel with a newly elected Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce. William Wilberforce struggled mightily in 1785-86 with remaining in Parliament or following his call to the Church. On Easter Day, 1786, William Wilberforce, with the strong counsel of John Newton, made a decision to stay in Parliament as a faithful Christian, a decision that was destined to change the course of human history.
John Newton and William Wilberforce were two of the most influential persons in bringing to light the ravages of the English Slave Trade and of slavery itself. John Newton wrote of his exploits as a captain of a slave trade in a pamphlet published in 1788 “Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade” where he recounted his personal experiences in the slave trade from 1750-1754. Newton documented the unspeakable horrors of the slave trade and the “civilized” nature of what had been referred to as the African “savages.”
William Wilberforce introduced legislation beginning in 1878…then more legislation to follow…then even more legislation. This was an impossible…impossible…impossible…legislative task only made possible by God’s grace along John and William’s daily determination to follow Christ. Finally, on March 25, 1807, the Slave Trade Act was enacted and on July 26, 1833, just three days before William Wilberforce died, the Slavery Abolition Act was passed. It is no wonder that today, February 23rd, we celebrate the life, work and faith of William Wilberforce in the Episcopal Church, a decision from which we all benefit.
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