Mark and a cheese foldover

 


With early hot & black, which is decaf because, up at two a.m., I may want to go back to bed before sunrise, a cheese sandwich: okay, a half-sandwich, extra sharp cheddar on one slice Pepperidge Farm's very thin sliced whole wheat bread, folded over, with mayonnaise. It's a treat, and I'm entitled. 

The mayo adds the slightest hint of lemony.

An hour outside on 7H porch watching creation. No boats moving, but the intermittently flashing channel navigation lights add a sense of life. Then the early fisherman wades by in the Bay seven levels below me, searching the shallows with his light. Not unusual to see. Is he looking for flounder? 

An enormous flounder, baked, floating in melted butter, chopped green onions on top, head hanging off one end of a long platter, tail hanging off the other end ...

Quiet out here, without my hearing aids, silent and lifeless. If life on earth suddenly disappeared, how long would the channel lights continue? IDK, a couple of Times in our ten going on eleven years here at 7H, I've watched US Coast Guard buoy tenders making their rounds on the Bay in front of me. If the lights are solar-powered, their reminder of life might go on for years, going dark one at a Time. What would visitors from outer space think? They'd be leery and cautious, eh? "Set phasers to stun," eh?

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So, I'm thinking and wondering: would four chapters of Mark for each Sunday session be manageable for my adult Sunday school class presentation? IDK, maybe it depends in part on how discussion goes. 


According to Mark (DLNT) Ch 1,2,3,4


Chapter 1 The beginning of the good-news of  Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

2 Just as it has been written in Isaiah the prophet— “Behold, I am sending-forth My messenger ahead of Your presence, who will make Your way ready: 3 A voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; be making His paths straight’”— 4 John came, the one baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And the whole Judean country was going out to him, and all the people-of-Jerusalem. And they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River while confessing-out their sins. 6 And John was dressed-in camel’s hair and a belt made-of-leather around his waist, and was eating locusts and wild honey. 7 And he was proclaiming, saying “The One more powerful than me is coming after me— of Whom I am not fit, having stooped, to untie the strap of His sandals. 8 I baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”.


9 And it came about during those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. 10 And immediately while ascending out-of the water, He saw the heavens being divided and the Spirit like a dove descending to Him. 11 And a voice came from the heavens— “You are My beloved Son. With You I was well-pleased”. 12 And immediately the Spirit sends Him out into the wilderness. 13 And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan. And He was with the wild-beasts. And the angels were ministering to Him.


14 Now after John was handed-over [to prison], Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good-news of God 15 and saying that “The time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn-near. Repent, and put-faith in the good-news”.


16 And while passing-by beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew (the brother of Simon), casting-a-net in the sea. For they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Come after Me, and I will make you become fishermen of people”. 18 And immediately, having left the nets, they followed Him. 19 And having gone on a little, He saw James (the son of Zebedee) and John (his brother)— they also in their boat, preparing the nets. 20 And immediately He called them. And having left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired ones, they went after Him.


21 And they proceed into Capernaum. And immediately, having entered into the synagogue on the Sabbath, He was teaching. 22 And they were astounded at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried-out, 24 saying “What do we have to do with You, Jesus from-Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know You, Who You are— the Holy One of God!” 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying “Be silenced and come out of him”. 26 And the unclean spirit, having convulsed him and called-out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all astonished, so that they were discussing with themselves, saying “What is this? A new teaching based-on authority! He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him!” 28 And the report about Him immediately went out everywhere into the whole surrounding-region of Galilee.


29 And immediately, having gone out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now the mother-in-law of Simon was lying-down, being sick-with-fever. And immediately they speak to Him concerning her. 31 And having gone to her, He raised her, having taken-hold-of her hand. And the fever left her and she was serving them. 32 And having become evening, when the sun set, they were bringing to Him all the ones being ill and the ones being demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city was gathered-together at the door. 34 And He cured many being ill with various diseases. And He cast-out many demons, and was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew Him. 35 And having arisen early-in-the-morning, very late at-night, He went out and went away to a desolate place, and was praying there. 36 And Simon and the ones with him hunted-for Him, 37 and found Him. And they say to Him that “Everyone is seeking You”. 38 And He says to them, “Let us be going elsewhere, into the next towns, in order that I may proclaim there also. For I came-forth for this purpose”.


39 And He went proclaiming in their synagogues in all Galilee and casting out the demons. 40 And a leper comes to Him, appealing-to Him and kneeling, and saying to Him that “If You are willing, You are able to cleanse me”. 41 And having felt-deep-feelings [of compassion], having stretched-out His hand, He touched him. And He says to him, “I am willing. Be cleansed”. 42 And immediately the leprosy departed from him and he was cleansed. 43 And having sternly-commanded him, He immediately sent him out. 44 And He says to him, “See that you tell no one anything. But go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them”. 45 But the one, having gone forth, began to proclaim greatly and widely-spread the word, so that He was no longer able to enter openly into a city, but was outside at desolate places. And they were coming to Him from-all-directions.


Chapter 2 And having entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that He was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that the house was no longer having-room, not even the places at the door. And He was speaking the word to them. 3 And they come bringing to Him a paralytic being picked-up by four men. 4 And not being able to bring him to Him because of the crowd, they unroofed the roof where He was. And having dug out an opening, they lower the cot on-which the paralytic was lying-down. 5 And Jesus, having seen their faith, says to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven”. 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why is this One speaking in this manner? He is blaspheming. Who is able to forgive sins except One— God?” 8 And immediately Jesus, having known in His spirit that they were reasoning in this manner within themselves, says to them “Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier— to say to the paralytic ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say ‘Arise, and pick-up your cot and walk’? 10 But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”— He says to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, pick up your cot and go to your house”. 12 And he arose, and immediately having picked-up the cot, went out in front of everyone, so that everyone was astonished and glorifying God, saying that “We never saw anything like this”.


13 And He went out again beside the sea. And all the multitude was coming to Him. And He was teaching them. 14 And while passing on He saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax-office. And He says to him “Be following Me!” And having stood-up, he followed Him. 15 And it comes about that He was reclining [to eat] in his house. And many tax-collectors and sinners were reclining-back-with Jesus and His disciples. For there were many, and they were following Him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, having seen that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, were saying to His disciples “Why is it that He is eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And having heard, Jesus says to them that “The ones being strong have no need of a physician, but the ones being ill. I did not come to call righteous ones, but sinners”.


18 And the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting. And they come and say to Him, “For what reason are the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fasting, but Your disciples are not fasting?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of the wedding-hall cannot be fasting while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long a time as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot be fasting. 20 But days will come when the bridegroom is taken-away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise the fullness [of the patch] takes from it— the new from the old— and a worse tear takes place. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the wine will burst the wineskins, and the wine is lost, and the wineskins. But one puts new wine into fresh wineskins”.


23 And it came about that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way while plucking the heads [of grain]. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look! Why are they doing on the Sabbath what is not lawful?” 25 And He says to them, “Did you never read [in 1 Sam 21:1-6] what David did when he had a need and was hungry, he and the ones with him— 26 how he entered into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high-priest and ate the Bread of Presentation which is not lawful for anyone to eat but the priests, and he gave it also to the ones being with him?” 27 And He was saying to them, “The Sabbath was made for the sake of mankind, and not mankind for the sake of the Sabbath. 28 So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath”.


Chapter 3 And He entered again into the synagogue. And there was a man there having his hand having become-withered. 2 And they were closely-watching Him to see if He would cure him on the Sabbath, in order that they might accuse Him. 3 And He says to the man having the withered hand, “Arise into the middle”. 4 And He says to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do-harm, to save a life or to kill?” But the ones were being silent. 5 And having looked-around-at them with anger, while being deeply-grieved at the hardness of their heart, He says to the man, “Stretch out the hand”. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 And having gone out, the Pharisees immediately were giving counsel against Him with the Herodians so that they might destroy Him.


7 And Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples, and a great multitude from Galilee followed. And from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea and beyond the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude hearing all that He was doing came to Him. 9 And He said to His disciples that a small-boat should be standing-ready-for Him because of the crowd— in order that they might not be pressing Him. 10 For He cured many, so that they were falling-upon Him in order that all who were having scourges might touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they were seeing Him, were falling-before Him and crying-out, saying that “You are the Son of God”. 12 And He was sternly rebuking them in order that they might not make Him known.


13 And He goes up on the mountain and summons whom He was wanting. And they went to Him. 14 And He appointed twelve, whom He also named apostles, in order that they might be with Him, and in order that He might send them out to proclaim 15 and to have authority to cast out the demons. 16 And He appointed the twelve, even Peter (He put the name on Simon), 17 and James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James (and He put on them the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon, the Cananaean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also handed Him over.


20 And He goes into a house. And the crowd comes-together again, so that they were not even able to eat bread. 21 And having heard-of it, the ones from Him went-forth to take-hold-of  Him. For they were saying that “He lost-His-senses”. 22 And the scribes having come down from Jerusalem were saying that “He has Beelzebul”, and that “He is casting-out the demons by the ruler of the demons”. 23 And having summoned them, He was speaking to them in parables: “How is Satan able to be casting-out Satan? 24 And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom is not able to stand; 25 and if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan stood-up against himself and was divided, he is not able to stand, but he has an end. 27 But no one, having entered into the house of the strong man, can plunder his things unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. 28 Truly I say to you that all sins and blasphemies will be forgiven to the sons of humans, whatever they may blaspheme. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit does not have forgiveness forever, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 because they were saying “He has an unclean spirit”.


31 And His mother and His brothers come. And while standing outside, they sent-forth a message to Him, calling Him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around Him. And they say to Him, “Behold— Your mother and Your brothers and Your sisters are outside seeking You”. 33 And having responded to them, He says “Who is My mother and My brothers?” 34 And having looked-around-at the ones sitting in a circle around Him, He says “Look— My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God— this one is My brother and sister and mother”.


Chapter 4 And again He began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd is gathered-together with Him so that He, having gotten into a boat, sits-down in the sea [to teach]. And all the multitude were near the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables.


And He was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen! Behold— the one sowing went out to sow. 4 And it came about during the sowing that some seed fell along the road. And the birds came and ate it up. 5 And other seed fell on the rocky place where it was not having much soil. And immediately it sprang-up because of not having a depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched. And because of not having a root, it was dried-up. 7 And other seed fell into the thorns. And the thorns came-up and choked it, and it did not give fruit. 8 And others fell into the good soil, and were giving fruit while coming up and growing. And they were bearing thirty fold and sixty fold and a hundred fold”. 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”.


10 And when He came-to-be alone, the ones around Him with the twelve were questioning Him as to the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But all things come in parables to those outside 12 in order that while seeing, they may be seeing and not perceive, and while hearing, they may be hearing and not understanding, that they may not ever turn-back and it be forgiven them”.


13 And He says to them, “Do you not know this parable? And how will you understand all the parables? 14 The one sowing sows the word. 15 Now these people are the ones along the road, where the word is sown. And when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word having been sown into them. 16 And these people are the ones being sown the seed on the rocky places— who, when they hear the word, immediately are receiving it with joy. 17 And they do not have a root in themselves, but are temporary. Then affliction or persecution having come about because of the word, immediately they are caused-to-fall. 18 And other people are the ones being sown the seed into the thorns. These are the ones having heard the word— 19 and coming-in, the anxieties of the age and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires with respect to the other things are choking the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those people are the ones having been sown the seed on the good soil, who are hearing the word and accepting it and bearing-fruit— thirty fold and sixty fold and a hundred fold”.


21 And He was saying to them, “The lamp does not come in order that it may be put under the basket or under the bed, does it? Is it not in order that it may be put on the lampstand? 22 For it is not hidden, except in order that it may be made-visible. Nor did it become hidden-away, but in order that it may come into visibility. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear”.


24 And He was saying to them, “Be watching what you listen-to. With what measure you measure, it will be measured to you— and it will be added to you. 25 For he who has— it will be given to him. And he who does not have— even what he has will be taken-away from him”.


26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like this: as-if a person would throw the seed upon the soil, 27 and would be sleeping and arising night and day, and the seed would be budding and growing-long— how, he does not know. 28 The soil bears-fruit by-itself — first grass, then a head, then a full grain in the head. 29 And whenever the fruit permits, immediately he sends-forth the sickle because the harvest has come”.


30 And He was saying, “How should we liken the kingdom of God, or with what parable may we present it?— 31 as a seed of a mustard-plant, which when it is sown upon the soil is being smaller than all the seeds upon the soil. 32 And when it is sown, it goes-up and becomes larger than all the garden-plants. And it makes large branches so that the birds of the heaven are able to be nesting under the shade of it”.


33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 And He was not speaking to them apart from a parable. But He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.


35 And on that day, having become evening, He says to them, “Let us go to the other side”. 36 And having left the crowd, they take Him along as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him. 37 And a great storm of wind takes place. And the waves were throwing-over into the boat so that the boat was already being filled. 38 And He was in the stern on the cushion, sleeping. And they wake Him and say to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 And having awakened, He rebuked the wind, and said to the sea “Be still, be silenced”. And the wind stopped. And there was a great calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you not yet have faith?” 41 And they feared a great fear. And they were saying to one another, “Who then is this One, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”


Disciples’ Literal New Testament (DLNT)

Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancients, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing