More Observations on Romans 12:1-2. Parallels to the Gospel of Mark.

While reflecting on Romans 12:1 & 2 and reading the book of Mark I found what I feel are some interesting parallels starting in chapter 8 and moving into chapter 9 of Mark.  I present them here for consideration.

I really want to start to notice the parallels starting at Mark 8:31 but it is interesting to see what is going on before these verses.  So, I will start by looking at what comes before this in Mark.

In Mark 7 among other things we have Jesus' interaction with the gentile (Syrophoencian) woman in Tyre.  Jesus is amazed at her faith.  It also appears that Jesus is ministering in the region called the Decapolis which is gentile country and some scholars believe the 4,000 who are feed with just a few loaves and fishes are a largely gentile crowd as opposed to earlier feeding of 5,000 thought to be largely Jewish.

In Romans chapter 11 Paul presents a theological discussion about the mystery of the inclusion of gentiles in God's plan of salvation.

So, we already see some parallels between the two in Paul's teaching on inclusion of the Gentiles in God's plan for man and Jesus' interaction with Gentiles in Mark.

Then in Mark 8:27 - 30 Peter acknowledges that he believes that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

This is where I would like to pick things up. 

Mark 8: ³¹ "And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again."

Jesus is teaching His followers about the basic content of the gospel and that God's plan for showing mercy to mankind is Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection.

In Romans Romans 12:1 we read "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God,..." It is Jesus' sacrifice (referenced in Mark 8:31) that provides for these mercies.

A few versus later in Mark, after Peter completely misses Jesus' point, we see Jesus teach his disciples on personal sacrifice - Mark 8: ³⁴ "And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'"  In the Gospel the cross is the method of sacrifice.  Jesus is asking His disciples to sacrifice themselves and follow Him.

If we keep reading our Romans 12 verse we see that because of God's mercy (brought on by Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection) the beloved by God (Paul's brethren / Jesus followers) are "...to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, ^[a]acceptable to God, which is your ^[b]spiritual service of worship."

What is our response to Jesus' sacrifice for us?  Our presenting of ourselves as a sacrifice to / for Him, just as Jesus teaches in Mark that we are to take up our cross, the instrument of sacrifice.

Then a few verses later in Mark 8 we see in verse 38 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”  In Romans 12 verse 2 we read, "And do not be conformed to this ^[c]world..."  The word world here in the Romans passage is eon or age.  Jesus speaks of not being pressured by this generation to be ashamed of Christ and Paul talks in Romans about not being conformed into the ways of this age. 

Romans 12: ² "..but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may ^[d]prove what the will of God is, that which is good and ^[e]acceptable and perfect."

Back in Mark we now move to chapter 9 verse 2 where we read: "Six days later, Jesus *took with Him Peter and ^[a]James and John, and *brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them;"

The Greek word translated "transformed" in Romans is the basis for our English word metamorphose.  The same word is used / translated "transfigured" in the Gospel of Mark.  So, in the Gospel we see Jesus transfigured right after his call for disciples to take up their cross and sacrifice themselves.  In Paul's letter to the Romans he tweaks the concept and calls for we believers to be transfigured as a result of / part of presenting ourselves a living sacrifice.  The transformation that God calls us to as Jesus followers is as radical as the transfiguration that Peter, James, and John witnessed on the mount of transfiguration.

Jesus and the Gospel of Mark do not say anything about the renewing of the mind which causes the transfiguration identified in Romans 12:2.

But it is interesting to consider that what comes next in Mark's gospel recounting...

As Jesus leaves the the transfiguration experience He has a brief discussion on Elijah, His own death, and His resurrection which the disciples don't appear to really understand.

Then they are immediately confronted with a crowd and Jesus is confronted with a challenge.

Before I talk about what we confront next in Mark let me mention 2 things.

First, I personally struggle with the transformation in Romans.  Will God really transform me?  So, that my behavior changes and I do the things that go along with being living sacrifice?  Can my habits and way of thinking really be transformed?  I hope so but I struggle with these things.

Then next thing to consider is Romans 12:3 where Paul says "For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith."

God has granted us each a measure of faith...  Hm.

In Mark chapter 9 the problem with which Jesus is confronted after the transfiguration is that a man has a son with a seizure disorder (aka demon possessed) and Jesus' followers were not able to restore the boy to health.  Jesus gets a quick medical history from the boy's father and the father says in verse 9:22 "...if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”

Jesus seizes (pun intended) on this and retorts in verse 23, “...‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”

Now this father was like me and apparently was "allotted" a small "measure of faith" and in verse 24 in desperation shouts “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

Jesus, mercifully, does help him with his unbelief and quickly heals the boy of his malady and moves on with His disciples who begin to question why they could not heal the boy (that is, expel his demon) to which Jesus indicates in verse 29 “...this kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

After this point I stop seeing the parallels so much as in Mark there is further discussion on Jesus predicting His death and resurrection whereas in Romans Paul goes on to discuss different roles people can have in the church assembly.

That being said, I find comfort and encouragement reinforced by both Paul in Romans 12:1-3 and Jesus in Mark 8:31 - 9:29.  When I don't see the transformation which I am called to exhibit at least in part because of my lack of faith I can call on God in prayer to bolster my weak faith and help complete my own transfiguration.  Paul is reinforcing the teachings of Jesus and applying them to our own walk with Jesus.

God, please do help me in my unbelief.  Please do transform my mind as Jesus is currently transformed in His glory at God's right hand with more to come.

Note - Scripture passages quoted from NASB on Bible Gateway...

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+8&version=NASB
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+9&version=NASB
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+12&version=NASB

A Reflection on Romans 12:1, 2 and a Reflection on our Opportunity in the World.

Recently I have been challenged when thinking about the Bible and God's promises and commands found within, to put my self in the middle of that.  To use "I" statements in the Bible verses I read to help me experience it in a manner more directed at me.
For Example:  "For God so loved me, John, that He gave His only begotten Son, that if John believes on Him, John will not perish but John will have everlasting life."

I recently did a personal Bible study on Roman's 12:1, 2 where I tried to understand in more depth what Paul was telling us and in the process I "first personized" it as described above and I kind of did an expanded / amplified version based on what I have learned.

I present what I came up with for your own consideration...

Romans 12:1-2 (the John Christopher version) Therefore I urge myself, John, because God has and will protect me from the consequences of my sinful acts, to release and hand over to and lay in front of God my body (even my selfish and self centered desires) as a living and holy sacrifice, good pleasing to God, which is my sensible / logical and fitting ceremonial worship task (as a priest would go through the task of sacrificing something or burning incense…). ²And how is this sacrifice presented?  By my not being pressed into the pattern and schema that matches up with this age (For example: in this age it’s normal to be sexual, have alcohol in excess, to not be radically religious, to NOT be constantly checking in with God throughout the day)  That is the pattern I am walking away from, RATHER: in a way that is impossible to fully understand my mind renewing in place as I live my life will transfigure me as Jesus was transfigured into something completely different and more glorious …so I may discover through continual testing, action, and examination what the desire (will) of God is, 1) that which is good for me and 2) that which is good pleasing for me (as this whole exercise is good pleasing to God) and 3) that which results in the perfect / complete and mature me.

In addition.  Here is a reflection on our place in the world.

We are part of the ever expanding universe with time and space flying out constantly in every direction.  We are part of the never ending cause and effect series of events.  God flung this into existence. We can choose to just be part of the ever expanding universe that God flung out there and just be part of the rocks and elements and light and atoms and stars that hurtle through space and be conscious that it is happening but God has invited us to be more than just part of that creation, more than just a fleetingly conscious member of the mass of space/time/matter.  For the fleeting moments of our consciousness He has invited us to commune with the One who conceives, flings, and sustains all of it.  He invites us to be more than just the creation but to be creation in conscious communion with the Creator.  God help me to thus commune with You if only for moments.

Jordan Peterson: 12 Rules For Life, Rule 7, Rule 8. Pages: 161 - 230 Instigator: Jon

Instigation Deadline: EOD - 1/22/19
Response Deadline: EOD - 1/28/19

Okay Jon.  You can get this one rolling.

Well Thomas, never one to let convention stand in the way of a good idea, has gone ahead and posted a bunch of comments not only about chapters 7 and 8 but also chapter 11 and I think he worked in some chapter 12 as well.  So, I guess we can all follow his lead and go ahead and make any remaining comments under this post.  I will be putting my thoughts out there shortly on Thomas' comments and all the remaining chapters.

Jordan Peterson: 12 Rules For Life, Rule 5, and Rule 6. Pages: 113 - 159 Instigator: John

Instigation Deadline: EOD - 1/6/19
Response Deadline: EOD - 1/8/19

A few mid cyber book club notes...

Well it looks like we have a couple issues.

As many of us know Thomas has had a very busy and eventful fall and early winter.  So, he is not quite caught up on the book to do his duty as the instigator.  So, I am stepping in.

Second, it sounds like there is some confusion on exactly when we kicked off the discussion on rules 3 and 4.  Verna kicked it off on 12/9 and there have been some very good comments and discussion but I think that some folks might not have realized that.  

If you still want to comment on 4 and 5 I would encourage you to follow this link to do that.  There are several interesting comments there and I’m sure we would like to see yours as well.

http://dot5baked.blogspot.com/2018/12/jordan-peterson-12-rules-for-life-rule.html

None the less, it is time to move on to rules 5 and 6.  See my notes in the comments.  Looking forward to you thoughts as well.