Monday, March 4, 2024

John 3:1-21; Nicodemeus

This passage occurs in both the Narrative and Revised Common Lectionaries.  The Revised Common Lectionary breaks it up into two separate passages; the narrative leaves it as one.

Summary:  I don't know if one truly can summarize John 3.  One could describe it as THE chapter of Scripture.  The Greek shows a number of interesting wrinkles in the text, each of which can help get at the core message about the work of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in saving the world.  Perhaps one little tidbit: eternal life doesn't begin after death in the Gospel of John.

Νικόδημος ("Nicodemus" vs 1):  It is worth noting that Nicodemus gets a name; the woman at the well in chapter 4 will not.  Nicodemus, like the woman at the well, misunderstands Jesus.  His story should end in chapter 3, but it does not.  It keeps going.  Because God is author of our story, our own failures do not end the narrative.  In chapter 7 Nicodemus will defend Jesus; at the end of the Gospel he will help bury Jesus (19).  Jesus invites people to come and see.  For Nicodemus, this invitation changed his life, as he came and saw, and was drawn in. 

Little side note:  Nicodemus' general confusion is emphasized in the Greek that he repeatedly says "How can it be that..."  (The tense of λεγω in 3:4 is present tense).

νυκτος (νυξ, "night", vs 2)  The fact that he visits at night might have many meanings.  It might mean that he is worried about shaming himself by association with Jesus.  It might also suggest he is still 'in the dark'.  Finally though it might suggest that he does not want a confrontation.  He is not seeking to embarrass Jesus but wants to meet with him alone.

ο διδασκαλος ("the teacher", vs 2)  Nicodemus calls Jesus "a" teacher; Jesus calls Nicodemus "THE teacher."  Obviously Jesus is catching Nicodemus in his words!

βασιλεια του θεου ("Kingdom of God", vs 3).  It is interesting that Nicodemus didn't ask about the Kingdom.  Jesus seems to give a strange reply.  One might argue that Jesus is simply pushing his own agenda.  However...Jesus never will use the phrase Kingdom of God in the Gospel of John outside of this conversation.  He somehow is addressing a concern specifically for Nicodemus.  I wonder if one could make the argument that Jesus whose listening is so powerful that he can force us not only to listen to him, but somehow to listen to ourselves.  Why did Nicodemus come to Jesus?  Because he wanted to enter into the Kingdom of God.  Nicodemus must realize that this is both a gift but also comes with a profound transformation of Nicodemus' life, one akin to a new birth. 

ανωθεν ("again" or "above" vs 3)  I would argue that 'above' is a better translation here. Not simply because of the context (Jesus says you don't have to come out of the womb, but must be born of the water and Spirit), but because above includes again.  If you are born from above, this is the second birth anyway!  We must be born again, but this birth isn't through human agency, but God alone.

πνευμα (literally, "pneuma"; meaning "spirit" vs 5, 6 and 8)  The word Spirit is related to breath, but also blow and wind.  So the verse that reads "The wind blows where it will" could and arguably should be translated "the Spirit blows where it will."  In fact, one could read it as "The spirit spirits where it will."

πιστευω ("believe" vs 15 and 16, etc).  Believe is only a verb in the Gospel of John.  It means trust; it is an action not a thing.  It is also in the present and active tense:  the one is who is trusting...

εχη ("have" vs 16)  The word here is in the present tense.  ETERNAL LIFE begins NOW.  It is not a future reality, but a present one found in Christ!  Whoever is trusting in God has life which continues into eternity.

κοσμος ("world" vs 16).  Throughout the Gospel of John, the world doesn't like God.  It doesn't understand God (1:10); it doesn't give like God (14:27) ; in fact, it hates God (7:7).  This is the world God loves!

Also important to recognize that the WORLD is the object of salvation.  The individuals receive eternal life, but the scope of salvation is broader than simply humans.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

John 3:16

This passage occurs in the RCL Lent Season, Year A and B, most recently March of 2024 and also on Holy Cross day.  It also occurs in the Narrative Lectionary Year 4 Epiphany cycle.
 
Summary:  We've heard John 3:16 a million times before.  For this week, I broke it down, word by word.  Awful for a sermon, yes, but a closer look reveals how this really is the Gospel in a nutshell.  Fun Greek fact:  The phrase eternal life is literally "eons of a zoo."  God's eternal party is a zoo!  Helpful Greek fact:  This eternal zoo is not a future reality, but a present one, available here and now.

John 3:16.  Broken down.

ουτως γαρ ηγαπησεν ο θεος τον κοσμον, ωστε τον υιον τον μονογενη εδωκεν, ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον

ουτως γαρ:  Two interjections, combining to mean:  "For in this manner"  Don't spend too much time here, we have bigger fish to fry.

ηγαπησεν (αγαπη):  This word supposedly means divine, only from God love.  In this particular sentence that's what it means: divine, pure, gracious, awesome, life changing love.  Interestingly, later in this section people will love (αγαπη) the darkness more than the light.  First, this shows that agape is not simply a divine thing.  Second, it reminds us how absurd (and misdirected) some of our love really is.

ο θεος:  God (think theos as in theology)

τον κοσμον:  The world.  This word in English is cosmos, like universe or cosmopolitan or cosmetic.  The point is that in the Gospel of John the world does not love God (John 7:7; 15:18,19; 17:14).  God's love comes over and against the world that does not like God

ωστε:  that.  Conjunction.  Don't worry.

τον υιον τον μονογενη:  only begotten son.  Nice like adjectival participle here.  The son, the only begotten.  If you break the Greek down you get :  mono-gene.  The only one who has the Father's genes are the son.  In this case, Christ is the only one who really is of the Father, who has his dna to love a world that doesn't love him back.

εδωκεν:  Gave.  Jesus Christ is the gift.

ινα:  In order.  God's giving of his son had a purpose

πας ο πιστευων:  Substantive participle:  All who believe.  Because it is present tense we should make it:  All who are constantly believing.  Remember, in John's Gospel, believe is a verb; faith is a not a think, it is an action, a constant trusting not in a thing, but in a person.
 
εις αυτον:   In fact you cannot trust in something but have to trust INTO something.

μη αποληται:  Be lost, be destroyed.  This verb is in the "middle" voice, which means that it is not simply active "He destroyed" or passive "He was destroyed" but is reflexive "He destroyed himself."  This particular verb is one that often appears in active or middle voice; I would not want to confidently assert the full semantic difference between the two.  However, I think is interesting that in this case, we are left with some agency, however unclear, in our own destruction.

αλλ :  but

εχη :  STOP.  read carefully: This is a present tense verb.  This means that we HAVE the eternal life, not we will have, but we HAVE the eternal life.  In John's Gospel life begins here and in as we, through faith, live in the son.  This means that we experience both spiritual living at the same time as we are physically dying.

ζωην αιωνιον:  literally:  eons of zoo.  That is the grand goal of God:  eons of zoo.  The word for eternal (αιωνιον) is kind of interesting, but in the singular form it can be understood as eternal.  

Luke 23:44-49

 This passage was looked at as part of a "Seven Last Words" preaching series in 2024.  

Some reflections

Psalm 31

When Jesus says "Into your hand, I commend my Spirit" he is referencing Psalm 31. (LXX 30).

In itself, this is interesting in that the word for Spirit here is "Ruach" or "ר֫וּחִ֥" which has all sorts of conations about life, breath and spirit. Looking at the root of the word "Spirit" helps make sense of why the next action of Jesus is to breath his last.  In fact, in Greek the word for "Spirit" is πνεῦμά and the word for "exhale" is ἐξέπνευσεν.

What is more interesting to me, at least, is the second half of the Psalm: "For you have redeemed me, O God of truth" (or faithful God).  Jesus final breath, I would contend, is not the first part of the Psalm, but the second part, in that he knows that God has faithfully delivered him.  The final part of Psalm 31:5 is "O God of Amen."  This final breath is Jesus 'amen' to the God and to the word.

Three reactions to Jesus death

Luke shows a few reactions to the death of Jesus

  • Centurion:  Admiration.  The centurion glorifies God [ἐδόξαζεν (from , meaning "glorify")] and declares Jesus to be righteous [δίκαιος (meaning "righteous", 23:47)].  I like the connection here between Luke and Paul, in that for Paul, Jesus' righteousness is revealed in the faithfulness of Jesus on cross.  Here the Centurion acknowledges the righteousness of Jesus as he sees his faith on display in spite of everything.
  • Crowd:  Perfunctory sadness.  The crowd is grieved [τύπτοντες their chests (meaning "beating", 23:48)], but does not linger, instead returns home [ὑπέστρεφον (meaning "return", 23:48)]
  • Women:  Ready to follow.  The women have been following Jesus [συνακολουθοῦσαι (meaning "follow", 23:49)]  A couple things to note about this verb.  First, it is in the present tense.  They were in the process of following him to the cross and nothing suggests this has changed.  Also, the verb has a "συν" prefix, meaning they are following together.
Perhaps those are all three our reactions - amazement, sadness and readiness...

[As the week wore on, other things caught me]
  • The contrast of Joseph of Arimathea with Roman centurion, both people of power
  • The women who were following (note: Luke has this in the present tense) also returned, but they did not return in resignation, but to bury Jesus. 


Tuesday, February 20, 2024

John 2:13-22

This passage occurs in the RCL Lent Season, Year B, most recently late February 2024.  It also occurs in the Narrative Lectionary Year 4 Epiphany season.
 
Summary:
There is a great play on words in this section that our English translators (perhaps through no fault of their own!) cover up.  Jesus uses five different terms to describe the temple complex.  The most challenging distinction is between "house of market" and a "house of God."  I do not think our churches are in danger of becoming marketplaces, even those with Starbucks in their lobbies.  I still think when it comes to Sunday morning, these are the two options, two alternative worlds we live in:  a house of market, where we have to work, pay bills and shop or a house of God, where we can rest, receive God's grace and give thanks.

Key words - two small ones and then a big one!
φραγελλιον ("whip", 2.15) The word here for whip will be used against Jesus in Matthew and Mark.  It is worth reflecting on, Greek aside, why Jesus is so angry.  What is the abuse against which Jesus so rallies?

λυω ("free"; "destroy", 2:19)  The word here for destroy actually means to loosen (remember the basic verb conjugation charts?). It also means to destroy, but an interesting idea.  How does Jesus death set him free?  He is almost commanding them to free him!

Temple:  Five for one!
There are five words used here for temple:
ιερον (2:15):  The word hieron (rough breathing mark means its English equivalent starts with an "h") This word comes into English as hierarchy.  It refers to the whole temple complex, including the whole cultic and sacrificial system.  It is interesting to note that all the animals being purchased were for sacrifices.  Any system of sacrifice inevitably leads to priestly power, abuse and money; in short, hierarchy.

οικος του πατρος μου (house of my father; 2:16)  Jesus here identifies his relationship to God and the temple.  If it belongs to his father, it belongs to him too.  What does it mean for something to be God's house?  How might we look at church differently if we saw it as God's house?

οικος του εμποριον (house of market; 2:16)  German has a nice word:  Kaufhaus, in which the word for shopping center contains the word house.  Since we don't in English, the writers drop it and say, "market" instead of the literal "house of market."  While our churches today may not be a house of market, I wonder if this really is the alternative to church:  a few more hours to purchase things on TV, at the mall or on the internet; a few more hours to work; a few more hours to pay bills.

A rant I wonder if I could pull off in a sermon:  εμποριον, or market, is a place where things are exchanged; it is a place of transactions.  I wonder if Jesus is rejecting, not simply money or even abuse of money, but finally is rejecting the whole notion of sacrifice.  Sacrifice is about transaction, not transformation!  In the house of God; in the person of Jesus; in the true temple, there is transformation!

ναος  (temple; 2:19)  This word properly refers to the actual sanctuary, as opposed to the entire court.  (Ie the place where the people worshiped and the priest made sacrifices).

σωματος (body; in nominative:  σωμα; 2:21)  In the Gospel of John, in spite of how "spiritual" everything seems, there is no escaping the bodily death and resurrection of Jesus!  Finally, the place of sacrifice, the place of worship, the dwelling of God is in Jesus body.  Jesus had already alluded to this at the end of chapter 1 when he said that angels would descend on him, referring to Jacob, and calling himself, indirectly, Bethel, the house of God, the earthly portal to heaven.

2.16 Jesus switches words here from the narrators "temple (hieron)" to "oikos" (house).  He also switches from a house of merchants to a house of God.

2.20 Jesus now switches to the word "ναος " (naos, temple) which means building that is a dwelling place of the holy; Paul tells us in 1 Cor that we are a "naos." Then John inserts that Jesus is talking about the temple of his body (somatos). In short, Jesus is shifting away from talking about a place of worship to a house of God to a dwelling place of God to finally himself.

Monday, February 12, 2024

Mark 1:9-15

This passage occurs in the Revised Common Lectionary during Lent, Year B (Most recently Feb 21, 2024).

Summary:  At first glance, this pericope plays well into the emerging Liturgical emphasis on Baptism during Lent.  Mark connects baptism, lent and repentance together.  So why not go along?  Well, for starters, my sense is that most preachers will end up using Baptism to water down repentance, rather than use repentance to give shape to what Baptism means for daily living.  Secondly, Mark is quite vivid in his portrayal of evil, as the Greek in this passage underlines.  Jesus' Baptism does not give him a free pass on the fight against sin, death and the devil.  Neither does our Baptism.  In six verses we have the betrayal of John, a 40 day war in the wilderness and the heavens being torn in two.  That should be enough to make us cry out:  "Return to the Lord Your God."

Side note:  I'd much prefer for the Easter season to be about Baptism.  As it is, especially in the year of Mark-John, you get the oddest bunch of lessons and Jesus is baptized, it seems, three or four times.  I am old school when it comes to Lent:  Sit with your sins for six weeks.  Beg for mercy.  Don't boast in your Baptism but with fear and trembling work out your salvation.

Key words that show the intensity of this passage:

σχιζω ("tear"; 1:10):  This word comes into English as "schism."  It appears twice in Mark's Gospel:  now and at the end when the temple curtain is torn at Jesus' crucifixion.  As Jesus cries out, my God, my God, why have you abandoned me, the wall between God and humanity is destroyed.  This early in the Gospel, the wall here exposes its holes.

παραδιδημι ("betray"; 1:14) This verb will come back into Mark's Gospel when Jesus is betrayed by Judas. In fact, we say this word each week in our communion liturgy: "On the night in which he was betrayed..."  This verb serves a double purpose: It lets us know why Jesus got into ministry in the FIRST place...and the FINAL place, the real FIRST place anyway.

εκβαλλω ("cast out"; 1:12) The Spirits casts Jesus into the wilderness. This is the same verb that will describe Jesus casting out demons. It is not a pretty term. Jesus gets hurled into the wilderness!  Also worth recalling that whenever Jesus goes into the wilderness he is not escaping but going where the demons dwell...

Worth noting is that both Luke and Matthew change Mark's wording here (or perhaps Mark changes their wording).  Regardless, it is uniquely Mark that Jesus is cast out.

διακονεω ("serve"; 1:13):  What is interesting here is actually the tense of the verb:  imperfect.  In fact, the whole sentence is in the imperfect, strongly suggesting that all of these actions are on-going and occurring at the same time.  While Jesus is fighting the devil, he is with the beasts and angels are there helping him.  It was an intense time of total spiritual warfare in the wilderness.  The image is of the boxer in one corner with his people attending him to give him energy to go back in and fight.

κηρυσσω ("proclaim"; 1:14) Mark loves this word, using it more than any other author. This makes sense -- for Mark the disciples are a bunch of sinners who don't do much right, so at least they should proclaim what Christ has done!  This word is not in the perfect tense, however, it builds off of the perfect tenses used with the verbs "arrived" and "fulfilled." We are simply announcing what God has done.  That said, proclamation also has a future effect.  Whenever proclamation happens, amazing stuff ensues.  In other words, proclamation is not a mental, but a deeply spiritual activity that raises the dead, turns the sinners heart and makes the devil and his minions mad as hell.

ευαγγελιον ("good news"; 1:14) This word is rather difficult to interpret in the Gospel of Mark. It is never really defined, but Jesus refers to its importance in connection with death (8:35) and salvation (16:15). The Gospel opens by declaring that the whole book is about the Gospel, but it is worth us considering, especially as we head into a year of preaching from Mark's Gospel, what we claim to be our own and Mark's understanding of the Gospel.  As I wrote earlier in this post, the disciples don't do a lot right in Mark's Gospel. But yet in our story this week they drop everything they have to follow Jesus. God's Word still achieves its purpose in spite of human limitations.

μετανοεω ("repent"; 1:14) This word sort of drops out of Mark, almost suggesting that it drops out of Jesus' own ministry as he discovers the limitations of the disciples. Another way to think about this is to consider the Greek meaning of the word, which literally means "new mind." Stories later in the Gospel -- Bartimaues or the woman anointing Jesus -- show someone whose life is transformed by Jesus. So it may not be explicit, but the repentance continues. In Lidell-Scott's ancient (and secular) Greek lexicon, repent means to change one's mind or purpose. We often put repentance together with sin, a fine thing, but perhaps we need to consider that repentance means often more than simply a struggle against temptation, but a paradigm shift, a transformation of our whole outlook, if not way of life and even being. Jesus is one whose power and even charisma compel us to switch our worldview, our words and finally our actions.

Monday, February 5, 2024

Mark 9:2-9 (Transfiguration)

This passage occurs as the Transfiguration passage for the RCL Year B, most recently February of 2024  .

Summary:  The key to understanding this story is the number six (in Greek, "hex").  In the Bible, six connotes imperfection; Jesus even dies on the sixth day.  Mark says these events took place after six days and like everything else on the sixth day, it might be wonderful but it is incomplete.  In this story we have incomplete disciples (in number and maturity); incomplete atonement; incomplete ministry of Jesus; if not the law and the prophets themselves revealing their limits as unable to raise the dead.   The whole story is a foreshadowing for the cross and resurrection. 

OT Connections
For this weeks "key words" I have focused on OT connections!  Take your pick:  Exodus or Genesis.  It is all there...

εξ ("six"; there is a rough breathing mark, making it "hex" as in "hexagon"; 9:2).  This is the only time Mark records something as happening "six" days later.  So what happens on the sixth day?  Well, on the 6th day Jesus died on the cross!  Recall the OT:  On the sixth day humanity was created.  Very good (like Transfiguration).  But final?  No.

σκηνη ("tent"; 9:5)  As a child, I heard the word "tabernacle" with a bit of religious awe.  It simply means a tent made into a temple where God dwelt.  At the end of Exodus, you can read about the Tabernacle and the "tent" presence of God, which hosted God's glory.  You can go in all sorts of directions here:  Peter wants to start up old-time religion here; Peter wants to pin Jesus down; Peter, well, just doesn't know what to do.  

It is interesting that the Lord does provide a tent, as a cloud (νεφελης, 9:7) descends (επισκιαζουσα, 9:7) upon them.  In the book of Exodus (40:29), the cloud of the Lord descended (same words) onto the tabernacle and the Glory of the Lord filled it so much that Moses could not enter.  But now in Jesus, the glory of the Lord is both hidden and revealed in that the disciples (and Moses) can both see it but also be in its presence. 

αγαπητος ("beloved"; 9:7)  This hearkens back to another mountain scene, where Abraham takes his beloved son up a mountain to sacrifice him.  Actually, when it says Jesus "led" his disciples up the mountain  (αναφερω (9:2)), the word also means sacrifice.  It is the same as the word used in Genesis 22, as in Abraham leading Isaac up the mountain to be sacrificed.  There is a subtle play on the Old Testament idea of sacrificing beloved sons on a mountain here; but again, this story is all about being incomplete...

One other little note of foreshadowing:
λευκος ("white"; 9:3)  We will not see white again until the resurrection garden with the angels!

The purpose of the church?

There is the word μονος (monos, alone) in verse 9:2 and 9:8.  Luke and Matthew use this word once in their transfiguration account as well.  Here is my provocative hot take:  The leaders in the church are almost never comfortable with Jesus alone.  We always want to build something instead of letting Jesus do his thing, alone, yet with us.

I was also struck by the disciples questioning (συζητουντες, 9:10) the matter (λογον, 9:10) - they are questioning the word together in light of the promise of resurrection.  That is what Jesus wants us to do - not build buildings, but spend time pondering the significance of who he is and what he will do.

Grammar question 
Does anyone know why the word "we" (ημας) in 9:5 is in the accusative and not nominative?  The English translators leave it in the accusative by making it "it is good for us to be here" but in this is not really what is going on in the Greek.  In the Greek, the word ημας is the subject of the infinitive phrase, "we to be" and in Greek the subject of infinitive phrases takes the accusative.

Monday, January 29, 2024

Mark 1:29-39

This passage occurs in the RCL Epiphany Season, Year B, most recently February of 2021.
 
Summary:  Wow.  What an amazing passage.  When I first learned about Saint Anthony and the monastic movement, I thought it involved leaving this world for our own spiritual gain.  Then I read that actually Saint Anthony was going into the wilderness to purge it from evil, not to get away from it.  In the same way, I wonder if Jesus' prayer is about purging the wilderness from the demons.  Everything else in this passage, even proclamation, is portrayed in the light of spiritual conflict.

To put it in a more catchy way:  When you go to proclaim, do you expect to see the minions of the devil fleeing and fighting?

Note from 2018:  When I read this passage in 2018, what struck me is that after Jesus prays, he is able to say no to the disciples and focus on the broader mission.  As a leader, I often feel tugged and pulled.  Only through prayer and conversation with God can we stay focused on the mission of our congregation as well as articulate this with passion and without fatigue and rudeness.   Simply:  Gotta so no to somethings to say yes to God's mission.

Struggle against evil:
κρατεω ("hold"; 1.31) The word here for hold is "krate-oo" which is not hold hand in a sentimental way. This is the word for power, as in democracy. This is the word for seize. This is what Herod will do to John the Baptist (arrest) and what the Chief Priests want to do to Jesus. Jesus in Mark 1 is wrestling the demons, not smiling for the home video cameras.

While I want to emphasize the power in this hold, it should not be overlooked that this healing does not take place through the spoken word, but through touch.

εφερον ("carry"; 1.32)  The people are carrying others to Jesus.  This is a lot of work!  The scene is intense with action.

ερημος ("wilderness"; 1:35) and εκβαλλω ("cast out"; 1:35-1:39):  Jesus had been cast out into the wilderness (ερημος ).  Now after he casts out demons, he goes there to pray.  Often times we think of monasticism as a wimpy and academic escape from the world, but for Jesus (and many of the first desert fathers and mothers) the movement into the wilderness means cleansing out the forces of evil.

Nature and purpose of the church:
διακονεω ("serve"; 1 31)  Peter's mother in law has been freed to serve others; our freedom comes with an opportunity to serve others too.  It comes into English (and the ELCA) as Deaconness, Diaconal ministers and deacons.

Side note on this word:  This word comes into play three times in Mark's Gospel.  Here and again in Mark 15, when Mark points out that the women were serving/attending to Jesus during his ministry.  (One good preacher even suggested Peter's mother in law was there at the cross!)  Finally, it comes in during Mark 10, when Jesus says he came to serve, not to be served.  One might argue that that in Mark 10, it is in the aorist case, suggesting that in Mark and specifically in Mark 10, the service of Jesus is to die on the cross.

επισυναγω ("gather"; 1:33) In this passage begins with Jesus leaving the synagogue. Now the people are gathering around him (syn-ago-ing!) Where is church? Where Jesus is...duh...any 2nd grader who has read AC VII knows that.  Jesus here creates the church -- outside of the building -- where the people have gathered in their pain and suffering.  Jesus has brought the church to the land where demons dwell to reclaim it!

In fact, there is a theme in this passage, whether it is of the wilderness, the town or even Peter's mother-in-law, where Jesus is reclaiming them for God's purposes.

κηρυξω ("proclaim"; 1:38)  Proclaim is a great Lutheran word.  But in this case it is not connected with the forgiveness of sins, but the expulsion of demons.  I would offer that three key elements of the church:  prayer, proclamation and service, all involve the conflict against evil rather than simply an academic escape or comfort and safety!

θεραπευω ("heal"; 1:34)  Jesus' therapy session is on!  Again here even healing is seen within the context of a struggle against evil.  There is nothing safe about Jesus work.

εξηλθεν και απηλθεν ("go out" and "go out"; 1:35)   Mark uses two words in a row here that almost mean the same thing.  Many manuscripts, in fact, simplify the Greek and only include one.  Why does Mark include two?  Perhaps to emphasize that Jesus really got out of town!  Jesus has to say no to some ministry to say yes to others.

ευθυς ("immediately"; 1:28,29,30)  This word keeps showing up in Mark's Gospel, often hidden by translators.  There is an impatience by Jesus here.  He keeps moving.  Yet, he still takes time to pray!

Foreshadowing of Resurrection:

αναστας ("rise up"; 1.35)  This word, both in its grammar and ties to the resurrection story.

Grammar wise:  In Hebrew, when you have two verbs in a row the first one can often function like an adverb.  The verb "get up" often is used in the first of two verbs to mean "immediately" (as in Abraham "Get up and go" = "Go in a getting up kind of way" = "Go now!").  In this way, Mark could be saying Jesus got up immediately and went, indicating the frenetic pace of Jesus' ministry.

However, it literally reads 'Jesus rose very early in the morning."  In this section we have:

ηγειρεν ("raise up"; 1.31) and αναστας ("resurrect"; 1.35):  These verbs both mean to raise up or resurrect.
λιαν πρωι (1.35; these words together mean early morning):  They don't come back into Mark until chapter 16 when we get to the resurrection
θυρα ("gate"; 1.33) The word for "door" here is also gate, as in Jesus is the gate from John's Gospel.  Or as in, there was a stone at the gate of the tomb (see Mark 15 and 16!).