Mark - The First Gospel: healing

Showing posts with label healing. Show all posts

Thursday, March 26, 2015

019-Beginning to See

A correct declaration of faith is
not the same as having faith.

There is nothing random or haphazard about the placement of the stories and teachings in Mark. The two pericopes discussed here are no exception.

Leading up to these verses we’ve seen Jesus defying the cultural and religious traditions regarding the Messiah, of Jesus breaking down boundaries and traditions, and of the people wondering who Jesus is. We have seen how the individuals and groups in power and exercising authority – represented by Herod and the Pharisees – trying to force Jesus to fit into their schemes.

We have heard Jesus warn his disciples about the “leaven of Herod and of the Pharisees,” and we have heard Jesus call the disciples blind and deaf. It is in this context that the next verses are to be read and interpreted.
(From Discussion Outline, First Thoughts)

Mark 8:27-33 are seen by most scholars and commentators as the very center of the Markan gospel account. These verses provide a climax to the first half of the account and function as a hinge to tie the second half to the first. The text for this session includes a part of this critical, central passage. We leave the remainder for next time.

A bumbled healing

The first pericope is a narrative in which Jesus appears to have some difficulties in fully healing a blind man. It is the only such case in the entire corpus of all the gospel accounts. This story is itself appears to be an illustration of the entire Markan account. At the halfway point, the disciples have a vague understanding of who Jesus is, but they do not see clearly. More healing must take place. However, at least in Mark’s account, the disciples never see clearly.

Jesus is the Messiah that to these disciples looks like a tree walking around. Even more disturbing is the fact that they never achieve clear sight or understanding—not in Mark’s narrative. Commentators like to say that the resurrection was the moment that full sight came for the disciples—but not in Mark… This inability of the disciples in Mark to achieve sight is a source of tension. It is the same tension that Mark’s nonending creates. The rhetorical function of Mark’s ending forces the reader to exclaim in horror, “No! It cannot end that way! The good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cannot, must not end in fleeing, fear, and silence!^[1]

There are other considerations for this story:

Relation to two other key healing episodes in 7:31-37 and 10:46-52, both in rhetoric and in theme.
Relation to Isaiah 35, particularly vv. 5-6 and the overall context of the chapter.
That perhaps Mark intentionally depicts Jesus as “weak” in contrast to the disciples’, Herod’s, the Pharisees’, and the crowd’s expectations.^[2]

A correct declaration

This next section (vv.27-30) is the first half of the critical centerpiece of the gospel account. This takes place “on the way” to Caesarea Philippi.

The geographic context for this story is significant. Jesus had just been in Bethsaida, the northeast fishing town on the Sea of Galilee that belonged to Philip’s tetrarchy. Caesarea Philippi was further north in this territory and was to be distinguished from the much larger coastal city of Caesarea Maritima. Herod the Great had named this inland Caesarea in honor of Augustus. He also had a temple of white marble built and dedicated to Augustus in the city (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 15.10.3). The imperial overtones underlying the geographic location of the story are clear. Mark has Jesus identified as the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, indeed a royal figure, precisely here in a city dedicated to another king, and from Mark’s perspective a lesser, earthly king. The eventual irony of the charges against Jesus, that he was the “King of the Jews” (15:26), is already anticipated in 8:27-30.^[3]

The phrase “on the way” will eventually be revealed as “code” for “the way to Jerusalem and the cross.”

For the first time since 1:1, Mark uses the title, Christ. It is in the most politically charged setting that its second use appears. To declare Jesus as Christ is to disavow all other claims of power as less than Jesus. He makes the disciples declare this openly, yet commands them (as he did with the demons) to keep silent about it. It is all strange and bizarre.

A part of the interpretation of this text surely has to do with its original Roman audience. They too, were facing the question of who Jesus is, and what does it mean to declare him as Lord (against Caesar). This story is provided to give the audience comfort and encouragement that the first disciples had to decide who Jesus was and where Jesus fit in the hierarchy of powers, and that they confessed the dangerous declaration.

On the other hand is the command to keep silent. This will have to wait until next time. This is the reason why Mark’s second half exists. In the second half the disciples (and the audience) learn what “Christ” really means, as opposed to what they expected.

Peter’s “correct confession” is deceptive. It points out an important reality: we can have what appears to be everything in order—words, actions, and so on—and still have it very wrong.

Correct confession can be deceptive. It can mask false discipleship, idolatry, and even a perspective that Jesus attributes to Satan. A perfectly correct mission statement does not reveal the true discipleship of either the pastoral staff or the congregation that appears to follow it to a tee.^[4]

[1] Feasting: Mark, locations 8291, 8295.

[2] Feasting: Mark, location 8269. “In this episode of the healing of the blind man, Mark makes Jesus appear weak, in order to say something important about who Jesus is, who the disciples are, and what Jesus is doing to form them into the kind of followers and leaders they need to be… Jesus’ apparent weakness is a vehicle for Mark to convey something that is at the heart of true discipleship.”

[3] Feasting: Mark, location 8425.

[4] Feasting: Mark, location 8489.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

015-Loaves to Stones

Being with Jesus is insufficient; he must be allowed to lead.

“One might wonder which is more troubling,
the presence of Jesus or his absence.”^[1]

Another Sea Crossing and Storm

The crowd has had their physical needs fully satisfied by the provision of bread and fish. In Mark’s gospel, only the disciples know what has happened. Mark does not state the reason(s) why Jesus commands the disciples to cross over to “the other side” and abruptly dismisses the crowds before going away by himself to pray. According to John’s account of the miracle provides a possible reason, which has some historical basis, and should be included as a possibility.

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. (John 6:15 ESV)

Whatever the reason the disciples are away from Jesus when the winds and sea turn against them and they struggle to reach their commanded destination: Bethsaida. Mark has Jesus “seeing” their struggles but only going out toward them in the “fourth watch”, in the final hours before dawn. Why did Jesus wait so long?

Mark writes that Jesus’ intent was to “pass by them” (v.48). It seems an odd phrase but can be read as an allusion to God passing by Moses on Sinai, and of Jesus’ intent to lead the disciples to safety, as a good shepherd leads his flock (echo back to the previous story of the feeding).

Jesus’ presence does not have the desired effect upon the disciples. Rather than recognize Jesus, they think it is a water spirit come to destroy them, and they react in horror and fear.^[2]

Jesus speaks to them, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid,” to calm them down.^[3] He gets in the boat and the wind and sea return to calm. They are astonished but do not recognize the significance or the revelation of Jesus’ identity. The reason given by Mark for this failure to recognize Jesus is that “they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.” (v.52)

In spite of the disciples having been with Jesus, having been sent out to do as Jesus had done, having witnessed Jesus as Shepherd just hours before, they have failed to recognize Jesus. Even after Jesus uses phrases that allude to Old Testament identifiers of divinity, they do not understand. Instead of experiencing peace, they are amazed – which in Mark, is usually a description of unbelief. (In the first storm calming, they are filled with great fear, 4:41).

Their failure of theological imagination is complete. Rather than understanding the epiphany of God-in-Christ represented by Jesus as he passed by, they feared a demonic attack of some sort. Having followed him more and less faithfully in the preceding days, they had grown accustomed to the ‘normal’ form of his presence among them, teaching and healing the people. But in their own situation of distress, they were unable to ‘see’ his encouraging manifestation of the divine presence on their behalf.^[4]

As far as faith goes, the disciples are no better off than Jesus’ opponents and the rocky soil of the parable. The Complete Jewish Bible translates 6:52 as follows: “for they did not understand about the loaves; on the contrary, their hearts had been made stone-like.” It is as if the loaves of the bread of life that the disciples have been given have been turned to stone – the exact opposite of what Jesus was tempted to do at the beginning of his ministry (recorded in Matthew and Luke, but not in Mark).

Missing the Mark

They reach shore, but not the intended destination. They end up in Gennesaret, the western shore, rather than Bethsaida, on the eastern side. They end up on the same side as they started, the more-Jewish territory, rather than “the other side,” the predominantly Gentile side. Jesus original intention was to take his ministry to the Gentiles^[5], but it had been thwarted^[6]. But as the next couple chapters in Mark will show, Jesus will eventually make it there.

As the company went ashore and traveled about the crowds recognized Jesus, quite in contrast to the disciples out on the sea, and came to him with their requests for healing. Their thinking about Jesus and his power was rather magical, however. Yet unlike the disciples, they recognize he who can help. The peoples’ “faith,” if it can even be called that, is primitive and even superstitious^[7], yet Mark implies to his audience that this is greater than what the disciples possessed during the sea crossing^[8].

Jesus chooses to meet the peoples’ needs, not because they have any great faith, but because he is compassionate. Jesus certainly desires that they understand who he is and why he does what he does, but he realizes that is beyond their comprehension. Therefore he does no teaching. It does not matter to him that they may never come to understand. He is not motivated by “opening the door to evangelism” but simply by compassion.

They are not interested in following. They are interested in getting: getting what they want, getting relief from their suffering, getting deliverance from their affliction. We do not know if those who sought Jesus out in Gennesaret for healing also intended to join his movement. We only know that they wanted something. That is what happens when the people all around sense there is a divine presence in their midst, even if those whom the Son of God has called to be his community do not understand who he is… That he is an effective teacher and compassionate human being is beside the point. Their plea is, ‘What can you do for me? Now!’ By the end of the Gospel, the crowd will have forgotten his good deeds and will turn against him.^[9]

On Boundaries

Through the next couple of chapters, the question about Jesus’ identity continues in the background until he explicitly asks it of his disciples in 8:27. With this question comes a related question, “Who is included in the gospel?” The next chapters reveal God’s inclusiveness and a re-drawing of boundaries.

Remember, the Pharisees’ hearts are also hardened. Mark describes what that hardening is about (3:1–6). The Pharisees with hardened hearts are sure they know where the boundaries of the community of God’s kingdom lie—in their case, with those keeping the law, particularly the law of the Sabbath. Can it be that the disciples’ hearts are also hardened because they are so sure they know where the boundaries of the kingdom lie?^[10]

A church that has been very comfortable in its cultural context is finding the culture around it radically shifting… The age of the culturally established Christian church is gone. The church is, again, sent by its Lord to cross over to the other side. There are adverse winds blowing against the church on this crossing, and the crossing is over ‘the sea’—‘the deep,’ in biblical language—the symbol of threatening chaos.^[11]

Left on their own, and then with Jesus but in fear, the disciples failed to break boundaries that limited God’s work and power. Only with Jesus in the lead do fears subside and faith rise. Only then can disciples/apostles transcend cultural, social, and religious boundaries to meet the needs of all (literally, all) people included in the gospel audience.

[1] Feasting: Mark, location 6865.

[2] NICNT: Mark, 6:48-50. “The disciples reacted to Jesus' appearance with terror, convinced that they had encountered a water spirit. The popular belief that spirits of the night brought disaster is illustrated by a tradition preserved in the Talmud: ‘Rabbah said, Seafarers told me that the wave that sinks a ship appears with a white fringe of fire at its crest, and when stricken with clubs on which is engraven, ‘I am that I am, Yah, the Lord of Hosts, Amen, Amen, Selah,’ it subsides.’”

[3] Reading Mark, 6:31-56. “Continuing the imagery of the new exodus, the narrator has Jesus identify himself with the self-designation of Yahweh, ‘I am’ (Exod 3:14, Is 41:4, 43:10-11). Thus the author of Mark provides the audience with a definitive answer to the question raised by the disciples in the previous sea- rescue story: ‘Who then is this?’ (4:41). The promise of deliverance is reinforced by an echo of Deutero-Isaiah's ‘Don't be afraid’ (Is 43:10, 43; 45:18; 51:2). Sadly, none of this provides clarification for the disciples, who remain ‘utterly astounded.’”

[4] Feasting: Mark, location 6698.

[5] Feasting: Mark, location 6741. “Going to the other side in Mark’s language means going to Gentile territory. It means going to the unknown, going to the foreign, going to the other side of humanity. No wonder the disciples were made, or as the Greek word more strongly suggests, forced to go.”

[6] Reading Mark, 6:31-56. “It soon becomes apparent, however, that without Jesus 'leadership the disciples are not going to make it to gentile territory; again they are meeting with opposition, as in 4:35-41.”

[7] UBC: Mark, 6:53-56. “This is another summary account of Jesus' ministry (like earlier examples in 1:39; 3:7-12), only this summary makes no reference to Jesus teaching or exorcising demons but concentrates on his healings… The attitude of the people is an almost superstitious reverence for Jesus as a wonder-worker, including the idea that even his clothing contained healing power (6:56; cf. 5:28)… Mark's attitude toward the popular notoriety of Jesus as a wonderworker is that Jesus did indeed do such works but that the crowd's perception of Jesus was all too shallow and incomplete by the standards of the Christian gospel.”

[8] Feasting: Mark, location 6911. “Already, allusion has been made to the contrast between the disciples’ slowness to trust the calming presence of God in their experience on the sea (vv. 45–52) and the villagers’ readiness to place the sick near Jesus. In this way, Mark reminds us that faithfulness is not always of the authorized sort.”

[9] Feasting: Mark, locations 6965, 6996.

[10] Feasting: Mark, location 6770.

[11] Feasting: Mark, 6747.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

012-Summary Cycle Two

Christians are simultaneously disciples and apostles.

Compared with the Twelve,
we act as though we were sent out to be tourists
rather than disciples in the world.
We plan, pack, and go.^[1]

Rejection in His Hometown (6:1-6a)

Jesus’ initial cycle of teaching of his disciples has come to a conclusion and he sends them out as apostles. But first, he makes a stop in his hometown (probably Nazareth) where the people reject his teachings because they cannot believe that a hometown boy they’ve known all his life could possibly have wisdom (spiritual understanding), power, and authority beyond what even their authorized religious leaders have.

People cannot get beyond the shared assumptions and biases that stem from the most local of cultural institutions, the family and the village; one might as well be in Plato’s cave, where people mistake for reality the shadows they have always been familiar with.^[2]

They hear Jesus’ words and hear about his activities. They recognize that they are not mere human words and actions. But what then could be the source? Like the scribes that questioned the source of his authority earlier (3:22-30) Jesus’ family and neighbors may harbor dark suspicions. Jesus cannot openly perform “mighty works” in his own hometown because to do so might only deepen their suspicions and work to further alienate them from him.

The people of Nazareth are like the seed that fell beside the path; they never take root. Their opinions about who Jesus is stand in their way. Jesus 'combination of human ordinariness and divine power makes no sense to them.^[3]

Apostles Sent (6:6b-13)

Rejection does not stop Jesus from his work. He goes on to other places. The work is also much lager than what one individual can accomplish.

The gospel demands judgment: either acceptance in faith, or rejection through disbelief. Jesus has experienced both and now he sends out his disciples with instruction to expect both kinds of response when they proclaim and act on behalf of his authority.

Jesus sends them out with what seem like extreme instructions: don’t take anything with you. Be at the mercy of those to whom you minister. Part of the reason may be that this was meant to be a short-term mission rather than a long-term lifestyle. Another is that the transparency with which they came, not seeking anything on their behalf but to simply be served with gratitude, shows that the apostles were not trying to manipulate their listeners.

Multiple commentaries note that these instructions were not meant to be prescriptive to all missionaries. Some, too, note the discrepancies in detail across the gospels in regards to these instructions and suggest that each gospel writer may be offering his own commentary on what was handed down as Jesus’ words. That said, we should also remain open to those times when God does call people to go without having time to prepare adequately.

What is most important is that Christians not stay confined inside their own bubbles, but to venture outside, to take risks that may be uncomfortable and challenge them. And while doing so to be vulnerable and transparent about their lives and motivations.

Our problem is that most of us would like to be disciples all our lives and never have to risk ourselves and our dignity by becoming apostles. We like the comforts of the cocoon rather than the uncertainties of the wider world.^[4]

Summary: Cycle Two

Success of an apostle is not measured by how many people accept the gospel. Success is measured by how faithful she is to Christ’s commission. The work of the apostle is to sow. God is responsible for the soil and growth.

When the gospel is sown, expect all kinds of responses. Some may be mere dismissal, but at other times it may be quite hostile, even to the point of death. The apostle should not be disheartened by the seeming lack of growth or fruit. The power of the gospel guarantees that it will be fruitful in the end, where it meets good soil.

Could it be that Mark intended the parable of the Sower and Jesus’ explanation of it (4:1–20) to serve as an interpretive guide for all of these problems of speaking and hearing about the kingdom of God?^[5]

[1] Feasting: Mark, location 6238.

[2] Feasting: Mark, location 5894.

[3] Reading Mark, 6:1-6.

[4] Exploring Mark, p. 131.

[5] Feasting: Mark, location 5888.

Friday, October 17, 2014

011-Power to Restore Relationships

Salvation is primarily a restoration back into community.

This passage is a perfect example of Mark’s use of his “sandwich rhetoric” in which the first story is interrupted by a second, and then the first resumes after the second.

“… What Mark has joined together the preacher should not put asunder.”[1]

The two stories are meant to be read together and interpreted together. The messages Mark wants his audience to understand are found in the similarities and contrasts between the stories.

In the two stories we find first, a daughter of a synagogue ruler who is sick to the point of death; secondly, an adult woman who has been suffering from menstrual hemorrhaging for twelve years.

Both stories deal with the issue of impurity: death and menstrual bleeding. Impurity meant a person was cut off from regular social contact and from access to the Temple and God’s presence. For Jesus, it is not merely physical healing that matters, it is whole-life wholeness. That is what he brings to both women.

Having crossed geographical boundaries to release a gentile from bondage to the Destroyer, Jesus returns to Jewish territory where his healing power crosses traditional impurity boundaries to restore life to two suffering women.^[2]

In both stories the one who suffers is female.

Both stories are also, of course, stories of women, and belong to Mark’s focus on Jesus’ regard for and attention to women.^[3]

In the first, the father is an advocate; but in the second, the woman has no advocate. Jesus stops first to work with the one who is the lowest of the low, the one who has no one to speak for her.

“Twelve years” is common to both. The girl is born around the same time the woman begins to have her health problem. Twelve years is also the age at which Jewish culture recognized a girl becoming a woman.

Jesus instructs both the woman and the father on the topic of faith. For the woman, it was her faith, not her touch, that gave her healing. For the father, Jesus encouraged him to continue to have faith in spite of the reality of death.

His response, "fear not, only believe," was a call for intense faith. Jairus had exercised faith when he came to Jesus in the confidence that he could save his daughter. He had witnessed the healing of the woman which demonstrated the relationship between faith and divine help. But he was now asked to believe that his child would live even as he stood in the presence of death. Such faith is radical trust in the ability of Jesus to confront a crisis situation with the power of God.^[4]

Both women are called “daughter” by Jesus. It is an affirmation that both have been fully integrated into family. But whose family? Their biological ones, or Jesus’? Or better perhaps, the answer is both.

Jesus as a healer who integrates people more fully into community… The woman is one of several figures in Mark whose healing by Jesus enables them to be (re)integrated into various dimensions of society… The primary effect of Jesus’ healing is thus not personal but social… The salvation or wholeness that the bleeding woman experiences (“Your faith has saved [sōzō] you”) is social and communal (v. 34; cf. v. 28). Jesus’ healings are one of three strategies he employs to (re)integrate social outcasts into community.^[5]

In both stories, Mark’s narrative emphasizes that it is faith, not rituals, that is the basis of God’s power. For the bleeding woman, she had a semi-magical view of Jesus which he corrects by bringing attention to her faith For the daughter, his act of restoring life to her involves on lengthy ceremony, ritual, or incantation, but a simple command.

Both stories are about faith. On one level it is about human faith, but at a deeper level it is about God’s faithfulness and compassion. It is a story that when even human faith falters, God’s faithfulness is able to carry us through.

“Fear not, only believe…” The present tense of the Greek imperative means to keep believing, to hold onto faith rather than give into despair. With respect to his daughter’s circumstances, Jairus’ future is closed; but with respect to Jesus it is still open. Faith is not something Jairus has but something that has Jairus, carrying him from despair to hope.^[6]

[1] Feasting: Mark, location 5621.

[2] Reading Mark, 4:1-5:43.

[3] Feasting: Mark, location 5473.

[4] NICNT: Mark, 5:35-37.

[5] Feasting: Mark, locations 5775, 5790, 5805, 5807.

[6] Exploring Mark, page 125.

Monday, August 11, 2014

006-Mixed Reactions

Gospel proclamation is not just words. It must free the oppressed and captives. If it doesn’t it isn’t the gospel.

In this passage Mark wraps up the account of Jesus’ first ministry tour around the Galilean region. Responses to Jesus are mixed, but rare is any kind of genuine faith and repentance that is expressed. The crowds are merely curious, the disciples are confused, and the establishment is hostile.

Healing and Killing (3:1-6)

Jesus returns to a synagogue, probably in Capernaum, where the story began. The environment is decidedly hostile by this time. Jesus is given the silent treatment by all: by those who wish to snub him and by the rest who are fearful of expressing any opinions of their own in case they too, are targeted.

Jesus could have avoided all the controversy if he merely waited until after the Sabbath to heal. But the Kingdom of God does not wait. The Sabbath is a weekly invasion of the Kingdom into the world. Healing and restoration to wholeness of body, spirit, and relationships is most appropriate to take place on the Sabbath.

This story does not give any indication as to the man’s spiritual condition or his faith. Jesus’ compassion trumps all—he heals without question. There is nothing recorded of the man’s thoughts and actions afterward. Was there any kind of gratitude or repentance? The text does not say. Yet Jesus still healed.

This story is a challenge to us as modern Christians. Will we offer help to those who appear undeserving, who might merely be there to take advantage, to those who won’t express gratitude, to those who might even turn against us?

Doing good, caring for neighbor, trumps all regulations. What does that say to us today, whether we protest rules and regulations within the life of the church, or advocate for change in culture and politics? What trumps what? What priorities matter? Jesus’ fierce testimony silences the critics. Either they have decided already and do not seek debate, or they have nothing to say—or both. Either way, their silence both angers and saddens Jesus. Again, to what suffering and injustice is the church silent today?^[1]

The irony is that the guardians of spiritual tradition go to plot the destruction of Jesus on the Sabbath day.

A Tour Summary (3:7-12)

Motifs from the opening stories are condensed in these few verses: withdrawal, wilderness, sea, the crowd, healing, exorcism, confrontation.

The news about Jesus’ deeds have spread far beyond Galilee and people arrive from a very large area to hear about him and experience his manifestations. Once more there is no mention of repentance, yet Jesus continues to heal, exorcise, and restore people. Jesus asks for nothing in return.

Jesus demonstrates what genuine compassion does.

Jesus’ compassion is not merely a feeling of pity; his compassion focuses on wholeness and justice on behalf of those in need. Real compassion entails actually getting to know people, understanding their needs and concerns, and sharing resources even at personal cost. Compassion may also mean shared suffering.^[2]

Jesus demonstrates what the Kingdom of God looks like. The Kingdom is not primarily about a place, but about shared relationships in an environment of mutual acceptance.

Healing carried great weight in a society that viewed illness as punishment from heaven. The healings set off a chain reaction as word spread among the villagers of Galilee. Remember that healing touched more than the individual; it restored the family and kinship relations.^[3]

Selection of The Twelve (3:13-19)

I see this as kind of a closing of the first unit and an introduction to the next. Jesus opened his ministry by announcing the arrival of the kingdom, calling people to repent and believe the gospel, and by calling some disciples to follow him. In this passage Jesus selects twelve to further the discipleship process: to observe Jesus in action and to imitate him in proclamation and exorcism. In the following chapters we are given snapshots of more of Jesus words and deeds.

It is important to understand that Jesus desired every disciple that is named here, including Judas Iscariot who would later betray him. But in a sense, all the disciples betrayed Jesus to one degree or another.

In whatever way Christians may theologize about Judas, then and now—predestined pawn, kingdom-hastening agent, mistaken militant, would-be powerbroker—even the earliest apostolic community included the presence and the reality of the demonic, a timely reminder for those who would attribute some mythic purity to the first-century church.^[4]

Summary

Disciples of Jesus are to first learn what the gospel is. And they are sent out to proclaim and live it. The gospel is that the kingdom of God has arrived. It can only be entered through repentance, that is, by choosing to turn one’s steps toward drawing nearer to Jesus and to follow him. The kingdom of God is good news because it is a community in which all are accepted, where oppression and addictions finally end, where relationships are restored, and where wholeness is found.

But this kingdom is not yet fully here. We live in an in-between time where we experience some of what the kingdom promises but the evils of the world still affect the church.

Christ has great expectations of us and has no intention of lessening them. We disciples often fail to meet them, but that is no reason for despair, because all things are possible for God.^[5]

[1] Feasting: Mark, location 3082.

[2] Feasting: Mark, location 3340.

[3] Feasting: Mark, location 3404.

[4] Feasting: Mark, location 3506.

[5] Feasting: Mark, location 3654.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

004-Signs of Conflict

In order for God to reign, all other powers must abdicate or be defeated, even the powers that claim to represent God.^[1]

The next three episodes begin a series of conflicts and confrontations that will accompany Jesus throughout his ministry. These include:

Conflict between people’s expectations of a Messiah vs. one that is true to God’s will,
Conflict between social and cultural traditions vs. what restoration to community will require,
And conflict between religious traditions and laws vs. the reality of God’s kingdom.

Moving On

After the people of Capernaum see Jesus at work they clamor for more. But it is not faith that they exhibit. The disciples, too, are unaware of Jesus’ mission. How can a leader lead if he rejects popular acclaim? But that is exactly what Jesus does.

He has come to bring judgment. Judgment, in this context means that the people are confronted with the message and demonstration of God’s power, and they are forced to make a decision about their priorities and who/what they will give their lives over to; i.e., repentance.

Jesus does not see repentance and faith so he must move on. He goes to prayer because he is tempted to stay and accept the “easy way.”

Our church folks need to hear about how Jesus faces and rejects the temptation to live for himself, rather than for God. They face these same temptations for fame and glory and power, which can corrupt even the most faithful.^[2]

It is interesting to note that Jesus’ ministry is summarized by preaching in synagogues and casting out demons, quite likely in the synagogues following the pattern found in 1:21-27. What does this say about the so-called “sacred spaces” that people have created and defined? What does this say about our churches?

Restoring the Untouchable

In the next episode Jesus encounters one that society has ruled unclean, untouchable, literally outside the normal relationship patterns. Even though from a strict regulation standpoint, a leper is not completely cast out of community (something that was a new revelation to me during this study^[3]) in practical terms the social stigma is great. One could liken it to a public drunkard or drug addict in today’s society: they are typically shunned from association with “respectable folks” and regarded as someone with less than full human dignity.

Jesus’ attitudes and words are a bit strange in this story. There have been different interpretations in regards to it, but one that I found intriguing and making sense rhetorically is that this may have been transmitted originally as a second exorcism story. (See discussion outline for more on this.)

At one stage in the transmission of the final story in this panel the leprosy afflicting the man whom Jesus heals may have been thought of as a demon.^[1]

“Demons” in mark need not be seen as literal demons but anything “society demonizes or regards as God’s punishment.”^[5]

Jesus touches the leper, directly acting against social traditions regarding the unclean. By this act Jesus shows that restoration to full human dignity and relationship is of primary concern in the “gospel of God.”

The former leper, rather than following Jesus’ instructions begins to immediately announce the healing. I believe Mark includes this act of direct disobedience to show that this man too, has failed to repent.

The Authority to Forgive

Jesus returns to Capernaum and tries to remain quiet but soon he is found out. A crowd gathers at “his home,” quite possibly Peter’s mother-in-law’s home. The crowd is rarely a good thing in the Markan account. They don’t repent and they often block access to Jesus from the very people that need him most.

I’ve often heard sermons and such focusing on the personal sin and guilt of the paralytic, the faith of his four friends making up for the lack of his, and the failure of the scribes to recognize Jesus when he “clearly” demonstrates who he is. But each of these may be misinterpretations, or at the very least there are other ways to interpret the story.

In regards to Jesus declaring that the paralytic’s sins are forgiven, it need not be understood that Jesus is speaking of any specific sin or guilt. The “lack of faith” on the paralytic is premised on the interpretation that his guilt was interfering with his faith. If we take away personal sin and guilt, then we also remove his personal lack of faith.

The story neither names a specific sin committed by the paralytic nor mentions anything at all about guilt; there is no specific connection between sin and sickness. Jesus does not say that sin causes the paralysis. It may be helpful here to look beyond what Jesus says (“Son, your sins are forgiven,” v. 5b) to what Jesus does.^[6]
While Jesus does tell the paralytic that his sins are forgiven, he never once implies that he is sick because he sinned.^[7]

Verse 10 reads “’But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ —he said to the paralytic— …” (ESV)

Translations typically include these words in quotations, meaning it is interpreted as Jesus saying this to those present in the house. From this it is interpreted that the scribes should have known by the end of the episode that Jesus was more than just a man. But that is not how the text ought to be read.

Verse 10 is Mark’s commentary. He is writing an aside for his audience, the readers of the gospel account. He is telling us what this story means for us. The crowd, including the scribes, do not understand who Jesus is. But as readers we are being given an inside look into evidence of Jesus’ authority – here the authority to forgive sins. (The discussion outline contains more on why the scribes would not have come away from this encounter with the knowledge that Jesus was divine.)

For us it is important to note that the man nor his friends ever asked Jesus for forgiveness. There is also no record of confession or repentance. Jesus simply forgives and heals as proof of his authority.

… One can see that this story is about the house meeting—that is, the early Christian liturgy—as a locus of forgiveness. That is to say, this episode calls upon the assembly to forgive.^[8]

Our church communities are called to declare forgiveness just as Jesus forgave. When people around us, outside the church, are suffering because of guilt feelings (rightly or wrongly, that is not our concern), we are to offer forgiveness in the name of God. We offer forgiveness whether or not we think there is any confession or repentance. We do this to bring wholeness and restoration to the world around us.

But What About the Broken Roof?

Sermons on this story often dwell at length on the broken roof. Here are a couple brief points that I found that I hadn’t heard before:

Mark’s story implies that when Jesus is home, the house itself is vulnerable to the collateral damage of those who relentlessly seek him, his healing, and his forgiveness. The word is a word to the church.^[9]

Perhaps the roof in Mark 2 is a way of keeping the Other at bay. The walls and roof of a house are designed to keep out anything unwanted. Yet this house is special, because Jesus is visiting it. He has shown up at the meeting in the house, and therefore the purpose of this house meeting is forgiveness, and if those who need forgiveness cannot fit through the door, they might just have to tear a hole in the roof. Suddenly the barrier is gone, and those inside must acknowledge those outside.^[10]

Are the roofs and walls of our churches “broken”? If not, why not?

[1] Reading Mark, "Controversies - 2:1-3:6"

[2] Feasting: Mark, location 1987.

[3] NICNT: Mark, 1:40. “Lepers were allowed to live unhampered wherever they chose, except in Jerusalem and cities which had been walled from antiquity. They could even attend the synagogue services if a screen was provided to isolate them from the rest of the congregation.”

[4] Reading Mark, 1:21- 27 (A) and 1:40- 45 (A').

[5] Feasting: Mark, location 2198.

[6] Feasting: Mark, location 2381.

[7] Feasting: Mark, location 2468.

[8] Feasting: Mark, location 2324.

[9] Feasting: Mark, location 2329.

[10] Feasting: Mark, location 2340.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

003-Signs of the Kingdom

Magic produces amazement (almost never a favorable term in Mark’s Gospel), but amazement is not faith.^[1]

Jesus has announced the arrival of the kingdom of God. He is proclaiming the gospel of God and calling on hearers to repent and believe (1:14-15). The next section of Mark’s gospel account provides examples of the gospel, the kingdom of God, repentance, and what it means to be a part of the kingdom of God.

The telling of the call of the first disciples is just as abrupt as the arrival of John the Baptist and Jesus in the gospel. Modern readers may be tempted to read it from the perspective of a “fifth gospel” where all the accounts are harmonized and we are able to explain why Simon, Andrew, James, and John leave and follow Jesus, but that does injustice to Mark’s purposes. This is not a factual account in our sense of the word, but a highly stylized account that highlights the immediacy of the decision in light of the judgment motifs of the kingdom and provides an example of the repentance that Jesus calls for.

In this account we see no mention of personal “sin” from which the disciples are repenting of. Rather they are rearranging their priorities. Following Jesus into the kingdom takes precedence over tending to the family business (but as we see a little farther down, they do not abandon their families). What this says about repentance is that we need to spend less time talking about and addressing sin and far more focus on the proper arrangement of priorities in light of Jesus and the kingdom of God.

(See discussion outline for some historical and religious perspectives on the significance of “fishing” that sheds light on why “fishermen” being called to “fish for people” is far more than just a play on words.)

In the next episode Jesus is seen in Capernaum, in a synagogue, on the Sabbath. these three motifs appears again in chapter 2 where we are given a contrast to what is portrayed here in chapter 1. Here there is no confrontation between Jesus and the people. The people are amazed by Jesus’ teaching. When an unclean spirit tries to challenge Jesus’ authority by speaking his name and title, it is immediately rebuked, silenced, and driven out. The people are further amazed and Jesus’ authority over the kingdom of Satan is demonstrated.

(See discussion outline for significance of demons attempting to utter Jesus’ name and divine title as a way to exert control over him. It is not merely a confession of their knowledge about Jesus.)

The people are amazed but they do not show faith/trust in Jesus. They are impressed by Jesus and want the benefits of his “magic” but they have no desire to repent and direct their lives toward God. Just as with the crowds that came to John the Baptist, they confess but they do not repent.

The scene moves to Simon’s mother-in-law’s home where she is sick. Here Jesus demonstrates authority over disease by healing her. Jesus has now performed two “works” on the Sabbath, something that will soon bring him into conflict with the religious leaders.

In response to her healing, the mother-in-law’s response is to serve. Jesus does not call her to follow as he did her sons, but her response is still a response of a disciple and a demonstration of repentance: to serve when God’s power, authority, and kingdom brings a change in circumstances. Once more there is no mention of personal sin. Here we see that not everyone is called to follow as Apostles were called. Some are called away from their current lives; others are called to stay and serve. Both are necessary in the building up of God’s kingdom.

In the final vignette for this session we see that a crowd has gathered outside the home. It is now after the Sabbath and people can carry the sick and ask for healing without violating any of their laws and traditions. Out of compassion and mercy Jesus offers healing and freedom, but the people are not looking to change their priorities – repent. Thus we will see next time that Jesus cannot stay. He must move on to continue to “fish for people” that are receptive to repentance.

In these opening stories we begin to gain a portrait of what a disciple of Christ – a Christian – looks like:

A Christian is not merely someone who professes and confesses Jesus Christ.
He is not merely someone who follows Christ.
She is someone who imitates Jesus’ acts of freeing the oppressed.

[1] Feasting: Mark, location 1689.

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