This Sunday's Lectionary Text - Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 - According to the Fifth Gospel

For those who preach or teach from the prescribed readings for the church year, here are some notes on Sunday's gospel text according to the Fifth Gospel:

• Somewhere on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee Jesus gathered the disciples around to share the results of their first mission trip.
• Sensing their weariness of body and soul, Jesus invited them to come apart for His promised rest.  He chose a "deserted place" familiar to Him.  St. Jerome located it and called it the Eremos Heights or the "lonely place."
• Vance Havner captured Jesus' wisdom for Himself and the disciples in "coming apart to  rest, lest they come apart."
• Their respite was all too brief, interrupted by the "coming and going" of a large crowd, hungry for the bread of life.

What follows in Mark (6:35-44) is the account of the feeding of the 5000, but the miracle is excluded in Sunday's lectionary reading!  The confinement to the "lonely place" for Sunday's preaching does not minimize compassionate acts but seeks to help with compassion fatigue.

The Eremos Heights