The BreadCast

(Heb.13:1-8;   Ps.27:1,3,5,8-9;   Mk.6:14-29)   “I will never desert you, nor will I forsake you.”   A series of parallels we have today between our first reading and our gospel.  Paul instructs us in his letter to the Hebrews not to “neglect to show hospitality” to our “fellow Christians,” since we may be “entertain[ing] angels” thereby; but it is not angels Herod entertains at his birthday banqu...

(Heb.12:18-19,21-24;   Ps.48:2-4,9-11;   Mk.6:7-13)   “You have drawn near to MountZion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…”   “…to the assembly of the first-born enrolled in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.”  Alleluia!  “...

(Heb.12:4-7,11-15;   Ps.103:1-2,13-14,17-18;   Mk.6:1-6)   “Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines; He scourges every son He receives.”   Like His only Son we must be.  For without discipline where would we be?  Apart from the Lord’s chastising hand, into what state would we fall?  Without the cross, how could we find the kingdom? If the Lord did not scourge us, we would be blind as His countrymen in...

(Heb.12:1-4;   Ps.22:26-28,30-32;   Mk.5:21-43)   “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who inspires and perfects our faith.”   Like the woman in our gospel who saw Him in the crowd and with great confidence made her way toward Him but to reach out and “touch His clothing,” knowing in her heart that by this she “shall get well”; like the official of the synagogue who draws near and falls at His fe...

(Heb.11:32-40;   Ps.31:20-25;   Mk.5:1-20)   “They broke the jaws of lions, put out raging fires, escaped the devouring sword…”   In each of these descriptions of the powerful deeds of the men of old what is conquered is an instrument of death, and so what is indicated is the power of God – from whom these men derive their strength – to destroy death itself.  This is made more obvious in the fact...

(Heb.11:1-2,8-19;   Lk.1:68-75;   Mk.4:35-41)   “Why are you so terrified? Why are you lacking in faith?”   “Faith is confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see,” our brother Paul would have us know, and realize.  We all hope for something; there is ever something we all long to see.  The eyes are set in the front of the human head and always he is l...

(Heb.10:32-39;   Ps.37:3-6,23-24,39-40;   Mk.4:26-34)   “You need patience to do God’s will and receive what He has promised.”   Brothers and sisters, “we are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and live.”  Whatever “great contest[s] of suffering” may be before us or behind us or upon us even now, we do not “surrender [our] confidence” in the Lord but stand str...

(Heb.10:19-25;   Ps.24:1-6;   Mk.4:21-25)   “Since we have a great high priest who is over the house of God, let us draw near in utter sincerity and absolute confidence.”   Let us shine our light without fear, for it is the light of the Lord and cannot be removed.  “Let us hold unswervingly to our profession which gives us hope, for He who made the promise deserves our trust.”  Do you think He wil...

(Heb.10:11-18;   Ps.110:1-4;   Mk.4:1-20)   “I will put my laws in their hearts and I will write them on their minds.”   He will plant His seed firmly upon “good soil,” and it shall yield fruit abundantly.  Let us be open to receive His word each day. Today we hear Jesus’ well-known parable of seed sown in four places: “on the path,” “on rocky ground,” “among thorns,” and “on good soil”; and the L...

(Heb.10:1-10;   Ps.40:2,4,7-11;   Mk.3:31-35) “I have come to do your will, O God.” But what is this will of God?  How do we know it?  How shall we live it?  The will of God is known through the obedience of the Son, in His sacrifice for our sins; and all who seek to do the will of God must follow in His way, offering themselves freely, innocently, to the Lord for the sake of the Body of Christ. “...

(Heb.9:15,24-28;   Ps.98:1-6;   Mk.3:22-30)   “His death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions.”   By his death Jesus has disarmed the devil; the Lord has destroyed Satan’s power by His holy sacrifice.  Because of Jesus’ innocent blood, “Satan has suffered mutiny in his ranks and is torn by dissension,” for none of his adversarial accusations can stand before such pure love.  “He can...

(Heb.8:6-13;   Ps.85:8,10-14;   Mk.3:13-19)   “I will be their God and they shall be my people.”   “Near indeed is His salvation to those who fear Him, glory dwelling in our land”; for absolute oneness do we find with our Lord and God through the ministry of His only Son.  For the Lord has said of His new covenant, “All shall know me, from least to greatest,” promising: “I will place my laws in th...

(Heb.7:25-8:6;   Ps.40:7-10,17;   Mk.3:7-12)   “Jesus is always able to save those who approach God through Him, since He forever lives to make intercession for them.”   Oh how the people approach Him today, seeking healing, seeking grace: “a great crowd followed Him from Galilee, and an equally great multitude came to Him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and the neighborhood of Tyre an...

(Heb.7:1-3,15-17;   Ps.110:1-4;   Mk.3:1-6)   “Without father, mother, or ancestry, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.”   We hear today more specifically about “Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God,” whose name means “king of justice” and also “king of peace,” who is therefore so like our King Jesus; it is in his line th...

(Heb.6:10-20;   Ps.111:1-2,4-5,9-10;   Mk.2:23-28)   “I will indeed bless you, and multiply you.”   God promised to bless Abraham, to make his descendants numerous as the stars; and “He swore by Himself,” “by oath,” to carry out His promise, thus giving an unshakable, “unchangeable” “firmness to [the] promise.”  God does not go back on His word.  And so, “after patient waiting, Abraham obtained wh...

(Heb.5:1-10;   Ps.110:1-4;   Mk.2:18-22)   “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”    Without beginning or end is the holy priesthood of our Lord; high above all sacrifices reigns His own. “Taken from among men” is Jesus our high priest “and made [our] representative before God.”  Like others He is in this respect; yet the “gifts and sacrifices” He offers are infinitely...

(Heb.4:12-16;   Ps.19:8-10,15,Jn.6:63;   Mk.2:13-17)   “Nothing is concealed from Him.”   In God’s eyes all men are sinners; this is what His penetrating vision cannot help but see.  Yet it is just such sinners as we He has come to call, to call away from our sin.  The Pharisees cannot bear this sword of truth to pierce their soul, and so they take up the sword of anger against those who are being...

(Heb.4:1-5,11;   Ps.78:3-4,6-8;   Mk.2:1-12)   “The promise of entrance into His rest still holds.”   But only those with faith in Him shall be made whole. Paul says of the Israelites in the desert, “The word which they heard did not profit them, for they did not receive it in faith.”  Though they had seen “the glorious deeds of the Lord and His strength and the wonders that He wrought,” they yet...

(Heb.3:7-14;   Ps.95:6-11;   Mk.1:40-45)   “Today, if you should hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”   Today we see Jesus continuing His healing ministry, and we see how it becomes “no longer possible for [Him] to enter a town openly” because of the public proclamation of His wondrous and powerful works.  We see also how, though “He stayed in desert places… people kept coming to Him from all...

(Heb.2:14-18;   Ps.105:1-4,6-9;   Mk.1:29-39)   “Since He Himself was tested through what He suffered, He is able to help those who are tempted.”   And help them He does.  Die for us He must.  Each healing is a move of love which takes His life as sacrifice for our sins.  Jesus died on the cross for us, yes.  He opened His arms and let His healing blood pour forth for all “the children of Abraham,...

(Heb.2:5-12;   Ps.8:2,5-9;   Mk.1:21-28)   “A completely new teaching in a spirit of authority!”   Thus do the people exclaim at the power of the word which issues forth from the mouth of Christ, into whose hands “all things” have been subjected.  The devils see Him and shriek: “I know who you are – the holy one of God!”  They know Him and they fear Him, for He has indeed “come to destroy” them an...

(Heb.1:1-6;   Ps.97:1-2,6-7,9;   Mk.1:14-20)   “This is the time of fulfillment.”   Brothers and sisters, no longer does God speak to us “in fragmentary and varied ways”; this is “the final age,” in which “He has spoken to us through His Son, whom He has made heir of all things and through whom He first created the universe.”  With full voice does He make Himself known now, for “this Son is the re...

(1Jn.3:7-10;   Ps.98:1,3,7-9;   Jn.1:35-42) “When Jesus turned around and noticed them following Him, He asked them, ‘What are you looking for?’”  Brothers and sisters, what Jesus asks the first two disciples He asks each of us who follow in their wake.  What do we seek?  Why are we following Him?  What is it we hope to find at the place where He stays? David makes clear in our psalm that the Son...

(Sgs.2:8-14 or Zep.3:14-18;  Ps.33:1-3,11-12,20-21;   Lk.1:39-45)   “Let me see you, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and you are lovely.”   “Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” – she who comes bearing the Christ child, she whose very voice magnifies the presence of the Lord.  Listen to the witness of Elizabeth: “The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the...

(Is.48:17-19;   Ps.1:1-4,6,Jn.8:12;   Mt.11:16-19) “Time will prove where wisdom lies.” No doubt it lies with God.  It lies with the Son of Man, come for our salvation. “I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go.”  Is it not our essential call to obey His Word, to listen for His voice and follow in His way?  Are they not happy who hear the Word o...