'The Naked Man' is a creative re-telling of the Gospel of Mark in the Bible, imagining what it might have been like to hear the stories of Jesus for the first time, and exploring the questions that those stories raise.
That awkward moment when Jesus used an ethnic slur. (Texts referenced: Isaiah 56.3, 7; Genesis 12.3; Mark 7.24-27; Matthew 4.24; Mark 7.28-31)
More than likely, you've heard at least one sermon on "the widow's mite", probably when your church was asking for additional funding for something. But is that an appropriate story for such a purpose? (Texts referenced: Mark 12.41-44; 13.1-2)
All too often, unscrupulous people hide their exploitative behavior behind a thin veneer of respectability. But this is nothing new... (Text referenced: Mark 12.38-40)
Jesus condemns religious people who pass laws that knowingly harm others. (Text referenced: Mark 7.6-13)
Purity culture always leads to judgment and exclusion. Jesus says we're missing the point. (Texts referenced: Mark 7.1-5, 14-15, 17-23)
The gathering wrestles with the question of whether God still heals people today. (Texts referenced: Mark 6.53-56; 5.25-34)
Mark tells Yiftach about the painful memory of abandoning Paul and Barnabas. (Texts referenced: Acts 12.25; 13.4-5, 13; 15.1-6, 22, 35-40; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4.11)
The disciples are caught in a storm, their boat being swamped, when a ghostly figure appears... (Texts referenced: Exodus 33.14-23; 1 Kings 19.9-12; Mark 6.49-52)
Yiftach parts ways with an old friend, then has a difficult night with his new ones. (Texts referenced: Mark 6.45-48; John 6.15)
What do you do when you feel disappointed by or angry at a friend? Perhaps even betrayed? Yiftach is about to find out.
What really happened during one of the most well-known events in the Gospels? (Texts referenced: Mark 6.38-43; Exodus 18.21)
Whose interests do our leaders serve best? (Texts referenced: Mark 6.30-36, 44; Numbers 27.17ff; Ezekiel 34.5, 11-16)
“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.” Herod makes a strong case for Sophocles' argument. (Texts referenced: Mark 6.21-28; 6.16, 29.)
What happens when you speak truth to power? (Texts referenced: Mark 6.14-20)
Jesus sends the disciples out on mission. (Texts referenced: Mark 6.7-9; 3.14-15; 6.10-13)
A short account of The Naked Man's lengthy hiatus before it returns.
Has someone ever tried to make you feel 'less than' in front of others? You're not alone in that experience... (Texts referenced: Mark 6.1, 2-3, 4, 5-6a; 3.31-35; 6.6b)
What kind of faith do you need to be healed? (Texts referenced: Mark 5.37-40a; 4.26-29; 5.40b; 5.41; 5.42a; 5.42c-43; 5.42b)
Two desperate people reach out for help from Jesus, and risk much in doing so. (Texts referenced: Mark 5.21-23, 25-26, 27-29, 30-31, 32-34; Malachi 4.2)
Introducing some new characters to the gathering in Miryam's courtyard.
What do we do when people act out that which we try to repress? (Texts referenced: Mark 5.14-15; 16-17; 18-20)
Outside of horror movies, we don't tend to talk much about demons or unclean spirits these days. But perhaps we should. (Texts referenced: Mark 5.1-5; 6-8; 9-10; 11-13. The Gerasa massacre happened in 68 CE.)
Divisions that threaten to tear apart communities have always been encouraged by those who fear change.
As a storm builds in Jerusalem, Mark tells the story of a storm Jesus encountered. Or maybe a storm that encountered Jesus... (Texts referenced: Mark 4.35-37; 38-39; Psalm 107.23, 28-29)
What hope have you held for a long time? Have you ever considered giving up on what you're waiting for? You're not alone...
Mark, mustard seeds and the little things we do. (Texts referenced: Mark 4.26-29; Joel 3.13, 3.10; Mark 4.30-32; Isaiah 2.4; Mark 4.33-34)
Some secrets lie in plain sight - for those with eyes to see... (Texts referenced: Mark 4.21-23; 24-25)
Just because a story is short, doesn't always mean it's easier to follow... (Texts referenced: Mark 4.10-12; 13; 14-17; 18-19; 20)
One of Jesus' best-known parables, but perhaps we struggle to hear it because of our over-familiarity... (Texts referenced: Mark 3.35; 4.1-9)
"There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother." But there are brothers who push their siblings away... (My allergies are doing a number on me at the moment, so I apologize in advance for my crackly voice.)
Working and doing school from home is putting a strain on many of our familial relationships. At times it may feel like we're losing our minds. Mark has a story to tell about that... (Texts referenced: Mark 3.21; 31-32; 33-35; Mark 8.35)
Are there sins you consider unforgivable? Jesus says there is one - but the perpetrators of that sin might just surprise you. Or maybe not... (Texts referenced: Mark 3.23-25; 11.15-16; 13.2, 35; Mark 1.7; Mark 3.30)
We're living in a cultural moment where we increasingly believe the worst about others, ascribing all manner of motivations to other's behavior. Jesus knows a thing or two about that... (Texts referenced: Mark 3.20-21; 22; 23-30)
What's in a name? All kinds of things - relationships, memories, identity. And power... (Texts referenced: Mark 3.7-10; 11-12; Mark 1.34; Mark 3.13-19)
What comes to mind when you hear the word "resistance"? What happens when the act of resistance to oppression becomes oppressive itself? (Texts referenced: Mark 13.13; Mark 3.1-6)
Restrictions on public dining outdoors are nothing new... (Texts referenced: Mark 2.23-28; Mark 12.37)
A pandemic brings all kinds of changes, not least to what it means to be the church when our buildings are closed. But having to find new ways to do things is not always bad... (Text referenced: Mark 2.21-22)
It's not only pandemics that cause sudden changes in financial security. (Texts referenced: Exodus 16.16-18; Luke 18.12; Matthew 6.16-18; Mark 2.18-20; Leviticus 16.29; Zechariah 8.19)
Jesus is critiqued for his choice of whom to share his life with. (Text referenced: Mark 2.13-17)
People desperate to help a friend engage in some property destruction... (Texts referenced: Mark 2.1-12; Daniel 7.13-14)
People trying to secure their power by using the suffering of others is nothing new... (Texts referenced: Acts 12.25; 14.21-24; 15.36-40; Mark 1.35; 36-39; 40-45)
We meet one of Mark's brothers for the first time, and hear the burden parent's choices sometimes lays on children's narrow shoulders. (Text referenced: Matthew 6.34)
As the ecclesia departs for the night, Mark hears more of Yiftach's story, and an unexpected visitor arrives...
Jesus teaches in public for the first time - and elicits a dramatic response. (Texts referenced: Mark 1.21-22; 23-26; 27-28; 29-34)
Mark recounts the story of the first people to walk away from their former life to follow Jesus, and I revisit a song from my childhood. (Texts referenced: Mark 3.35; 2 Corinthians 1.2; Mark 1.14-20; Jeremiah 16.16; Amos 4.2; Ezekiel 29.4)
When governments fail their people - whether in the first or twenty-first century - what constitutes "good news" for those who struggle for the basics of life? (Texts referenced: Mark 1.14-15; 4.30-32; 10.13-16)
Ever wondered why Jesus was baptized? Mark has something to say about that in this episode. (Texts referenced: Mark 1.9; Mark 11.9-10; Mark 1.10-11; Isaiah 64.1-4; Mark 1.12; 13)
Mark discusses where revolutionary change often begins. (Texts referenced: 2 Peter 1.2; Malachi 3.1; Exodus 23.20; Mark 1.2, 3/Isaiah 40.3; Mark 1.7-8, 9)
Adolescent memories of divisive events surface. (Texts referenced: 2 Kings 1.9-18; 1.8; Mark 1.4; Malachi 4.5; 1 Kings 21; Mark 1.14; 1.7)
Mark responds to an exponent of the myth of redemptive violence. (Texts referenced: Mark 1.1; Judges 11-12 – Jephthah; Mark 1.4-5; 1.2-3).
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