Читать книгу Jeshua, Son of Mary - H. D. Kreilkamp - Страница 5

It is a rare privilege for a student to introduce his former teacher to a wider circle of co-learners. It is a particular privilege when that audience is both willing and motivated to undertake a gospel trek led by a wise and gentle spirit. Professor Kreilkamp was such an intellectual and spiritual guide for me in the early days of my formation as a Capuchin Franciscan, several decades ago. His mentoring gift has only grown and matured over the years.

While there are many commentaries available on the various gospels—including that of Mark—this book is a distinctive contribution in many ways. While Dr. Kreilkamp does shape his commentary according to the design of Mark’s gospel, and appropriately leads us systematically from chapter to chapter, this is not a traditional exegetical work that explains the structure of each chapter or the linguistic distinctiveness of every passage. Rather, this quite accessible guide is more akin to an invitation to join an ongoing conversation.

True to its dialogic beginning, this deceptively modest publication is not so much the report of an encounter between one believer and one gospel; rather it is an invitation for the reader to join the author in the gospel circle he clears for us, so that the learning and believing, questioning and refraining might continue in an ever widening circle of gospel friends.

Dr. Kreilkamp has obviously engaged in a sustained dialogue with the gospel of Mark over many years. It is the gospel he finds personally most compelling. Therefore, as our guide, he poses questions for us that are similar to those that came to him while reading Mark, the very first gospel. For example, if Jesus (or Jeshua, as Dr. Kreilkamp prefers) was driven by the Spirit, as the opening of Mark’s text reveals, what drives us? What does Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenecian woman in Mark chapter 7 have to say about entering into tough dialogue with the very Son of God? Why does Jesus become so frustrated with his own disciples throughout this text, and what does that reveal about our own call to discipleship?

Dr. Kreilkamp stimulates such questions out of his own reflective retelling of this good news. He presents a series of inspired musings that are most contemporary, yet rooted in the very origins of the gospels themselves. There are tales here of God’s gentle inclusivity in Jesus, images for thinking about the challenges of marriage and divorce, and gospel wisdom in the face of clerical abuse and ecclesial neglect. Sometimes Dr. Kreilkamp recasts a well-known story in contemporary prose, but he never does so as a substitute for reading Mark. Rather, he offers the reader a fresh synoptic reframing that we can readily employ as we turn back to ponder Mark again and again. I would suggest that such a method is a key litmus test for discovering the trustworthiness of the guide, one who does not draw us away from the gospel but instead propels us both to read it and, more important, to live it.

The first evangelist has made an indelible impression on Dr. Kreilkamp, an impression that translates into passion for the common good and commitment to the Christian journey. By publishing this work, the author has invited us into this same passion and a similar commitment. For such witness and invitation we can only be grateful.

—Edward Foley, Capuchin