The Gospel of Mark, One Chapter per Week thru Easter
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CHAPTER FIVE: SYMBOLIC STORYTELLING
Mark was a literary artist. Mark chose the order and placement of each story to tell us more than the facts of each event. Our challenge is to ask why Mark is telling this story in relation to the stories around it, what is he telling about who Jesus is? It means learning to hear the Gospel symbolically - not just did this happen, but what does it mean? Mark wrote the Gospel to share what he believed the life and teaching of means in times of chaos and turmoil. What do those stories mean to us in our times of chaos and turmoil?
Mark 5:1-20 Grace in Roman Territory
Last chapter ended with the disciples facing a storm that scared them to death. The storm was not just weather. They were crossing from the Jewish side to the Roman side, from the known to the unknown. The storm they find themselves in is the storm of fear. And it seems that fear is justified when they land on the far shore.
Mark makes a point of telling this story in the gentile world. In a literary sense, Mark writes a number of parallels between this healing and the very first healing he tells us of. The parallel makes an important point: one is Jewish, the other is gentile. Jesus is not afraid to cross that turbulent sea.
As soon as they set foot on land, they are accosted by a madman stinking of the tombs. The locals had tried to restrain him, to no avail. To Jewish readers every detail screams unclean, unacceptable, and unJewish. And definitely Roman. Mark tells us a story showing Jesus’ power of liberation operates even in the heart of enemy territory.
The demon’s name is “Legion” and only referred to one thing: a garrison of soldiers. The word Mark uses for the herd of pigs is most often used to describe a squad of recruits. Even the territory named by Mark (the region of the Gerasenes) calls to mind a recent incident of Roman brutality. Gerasa had been plundered by the Romans. The historian Josephus described it this way: “(They) set fire to the houses and marched against the surrounding villages. THose who were able bodied fled, the weak perished, and all that was left went up in flames.” No wonder the disciples were terrified to come to this part of the land.
But Mark tells us that Jesus deliberately came to this most Roman of the Roman territory. He shows that Jesus’ vision of the Kin-dom is at play even in this graveyard. Gentiles receive the healing and liberation that Jesus announces is available to everyone, even the most Roman of the Romans.
Mark 5:21-43 Two Healings
The scene has suddenly shifted back to the known, comfortable, Jewish territory. But the intertwined stories Mark tells now lay bare a couple of uncomfortable realities. These are the stories of two women. The first is a daughter of privilege and rank, yet that privilege and rank have not prevented her from falling deathly ill. Her father, a leader in the synagogue, has rushed to get Jesus - her best hope for healing. Enter the second woman. Ravaged by poverty and a chronic condition that has rendered her untouchable for 12 years. She defies the purity codes and ventures into the crowd to see Jesus - her best hope for healing.
By touching the fringe of Jesus’ prayer shawl she is indeed healed, but her encounter with Jesus delays him until word comes that the original reason for his errand is moot: the first daughter has died. Undeterred, Jesus continues to the synagogue leader’s house where he beckons the daughter to get up, and she is restored to life.
Mark’s audience was likely mortified that Jesus would choose to attend to the needs of an impoverished, unhealthy, and unclean woman over those of a highly respected and respected leader of the religious institutions of the day. Jesus (and the movement he represents) is seen to be the relief of the older woman’s maladies, even when conventional methods have driven her into poverty and made her condition worse. Admitting that the woman touched him meant that once again Jesus joined her in her uncleanness. In fact, he praised her for her forwardness and for ignoring the cleanliness laws: he called it faith. And it is worth noting that the young woman who lived in privilege and power was nonetheless unable to avoid her terminal illness. She still needed Jesus.
These stories talk to us about the inclusiveness of Jesus’ movement. Healing occurs both at home and in foreign territory. Healing power goes out to the poor and outcast, but is also given to those of position and privilege. The Way of Jesus, and the Kingdom of God he proclaims and embodies is open to all.
Conversation Questions
1. How do you think Mark’s Jewish audience felt about Jesus healing the gentile madman?
2. Who would we tell that story about today?
3. Healing the poor and disenfranchised seems to have a priority for Jesus. How does today’s Church embody that priority ?
4. When do you feel the need for healing (physical or spiritual)?
5. What actions are you willing to take to seek after that healing?
Mark was a literary artist. Mark chose the order and placement of each story to tell us more than the facts of each event. Our challenge is to ask why Mark is telling this story in relation to the stories around it, what is he telling about who Jesus is? It means learning to hear the Gospel symbolically - not just did this happen, but what does it mean? Mark wrote the Gospel to share what he believed the life and teaching of means in times of chaos and turmoil. What do those stories mean to us in our times of chaos and turmoil?
Mark 5:1-20 Grace in Roman Territory
Last chapter ended with the disciples facing a storm that scared them to death. The storm was not just weather. They were crossing from the Jewish side to the Roman side, from the known to the unknown. The storm they find themselves in is the storm of fear. And it seems that fear is justified when they land on the far shore.
Mark makes a point of telling this story in the gentile world. In a literary sense, Mark writes a number of parallels between this healing and the very first healing he tells us of. The parallel makes an important point: one is Jewish, the other is gentile. Jesus is not afraid to cross that turbulent sea.
As soon as they set foot on land, they are accosted by a madman stinking of the tombs. The locals had tried to restrain him, to no avail. To Jewish readers every detail screams unclean, unacceptable, and unJewish. And definitely Roman. Mark tells us a story showing Jesus’ power of liberation operates even in the heart of enemy territory.
The demon’s name is “Legion” and only referred to one thing: a garrison of soldiers. The word Mark uses for the herd of pigs is most often used to describe a squad of recruits. Even the territory named by Mark (the region of the Gerasenes) calls to mind a recent incident of Roman brutality. Gerasa had been plundered by the Romans. The historian Josephus described it this way: “(They) set fire to the houses and marched against the surrounding villages. THose who were able bodied fled, the weak perished, and all that was left went up in flames.” No wonder the disciples were terrified to come to this part of the land.
But Mark tells us that Jesus deliberately came to this most Roman of the Roman territory. He shows that Jesus’ vision of the Kin-dom is at play even in this graveyard. Gentiles receive the healing and liberation that Jesus announces is available to everyone, even the most Roman of the Romans.
Mark 5:21-43 Two Healings
The scene has suddenly shifted back to the known, comfortable, Jewish territory. But the intertwined stories Mark tells now lay bare a couple of uncomfortable realities. These are the stories of two women. The first is a daughter of privilege and rank, yet that privilege and rank have not prevented her from falling deathly ill. Her father, a leader in the synagogue, has rushed to get Jesus - her best hope for healing. Enter the second woman. Ravaged by poverty and a chronic condition that has rendered her untouchable for 12 years. She defies the purity codes and ventures into the crowd to see Jesus - her best hope for healing.
By touching the fringe of Jesus’ prayer shawl she is indeed healed, but her encounter with Jesus delays him until word comes that the original reason for his errand is moot: the first daughter has died. Undeterred, Jesus continues to the synagogue leader’s house where he beckons the daughter to get up, and she is restored to life.
Mark’s audience was likely mortified that Jesus would choose to attend to the needs of an impoverished, unhealthy, and unclean woman over those of a highly respected and respected leader of the religious institutions of the day. Jesus (and the movement he represents) is seen to be the relief of the older woman’s maladies, even when conventional methods have driven her into poverty and made her condition worse. Admitting that the woman touched him meant that once again Jesus joined her in her uncleanness. In fact, he praised her for her forwardness and for ignoring the cleanliness laws: he called it faith. And it is worth noting that the young woman who lived in privilege and power was nonetheless unable to avoid her terminal illness. She still needed Jesus.
These stories talk to us about the inclusiveness of Jesus’ movement. Healing occurs both at home and in foreign territory. Healing power goes out to the poor and outcast, but is also given to those of position and privilege. The Way of Jesus, and the Kingdom of God he proclaims and embodies is open to all.
Conversation Questions
1. How do you think Mark’s Jewish audience felt about Jesus healing the gentile madman?
2. Who would we tell that story about today?
3. Healing the poor and disenfranchised seems to have a priority for Jesus. How does today’s Church embody that priority ?
4. When do you feel the need for healing (physical or spiritual)?
5. What actions are you willing to take to seek after that healing?
CHAPTER FOUR: THE TEACHING OF JESUS
Up to now, Mark has shown us Jesus in action. In this chapter, we hear from Jesus. As he was known for, the teaching comes in parables but we likely hear them differently than the subsistence farmers and peasants to whom Jesus was talking. With a little background, we can discover the revolutionary message in Jesus’ teaching.
Mark 4:1-9
I’m not a farmer, so Jesus’ agricultural stories are lost on me. But I suspect that today’s farmers are likely mystified by these ancient parables, too. Part of that is that we are far removed from the methods of subsistence in the First Century, and part because most of us do not experience the kind of desperation that those subsistence farmers felt when everything they raised went to Temple, Empire, and loan sharks.
The Parable of the Sower is just this kind of example. I’d thought it was a story about a rather silly farmer with bad aim who scatters seeds everywhere. But maybe the story has more to do with the poor kinds of soil that the peasant farmers were forced to sow. But the Good News comes when some seeds find the fertile soil. The harvest of thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold is not just a gobsmacking return. It is the kind of harvest that can pay off all loans, meet all tithes, and even satisfy the tax burden of the farmer. It is freedom.
Mark 4:10-12
This little piece is inserted to explain why Jesus taught in parables. Some think of it as a kind of code meant to confuse opponents, or a way of conveying some secret knowledge withheld from unbelievers. The idea that this is some secret hidden from the world is a little absurd in the Mark wrote this all in a public document intended to be widely circulated. Jesus used parables because it is easy to see who hears, and who denies or misconstrues, the real message.
Mark 4:13-25
In private, Jesus goes into detail about his understanding of the sower parable. His explanation makes clear that the deficients soils are obstacles to true discipleship: fears, distractions, and affluence. The good soil are those who follow true discipleship: focused, committed, with deep roots. And though costly, true discipleship offers a harvest of hope and freedom.
The image of an unhidden lamp comes with a warning, too. While on its face the saying in verse 25 seems like fatalism (Them that has, gets. Them that ain’t got, lose it all. Or, the ways of the world reward the rich and punish the poor.) But Ched Myers suggests that Jesus uses the saying in an ironic way, subtly referencing Old Testament prophets who used such fatalisms to criticize those in power. In essence: here’s what the world tells you, but don’t you believe it!
Mark 4:26-34
Jesus returns to his farming parables. Seeds grown on their own and even the best farmer can’t control them. When planting seeds of the Kin-dom, remain patient because God is making them grow. Grow they will, at God’s own good pace. The mustard seed is a weed that grows even in the shadow of the largest tree - even a tree as large as the Roman Empire. The Kin-dom is like a weed that grows and grows.
Mark 4:35-41
While at the end of the Fourth chapter, these verses really the beginning of the story told in the Fifth chapter. The storm threatening the disciples is not just meteorological. It is the storm facing Mark’s community as they cross from the side of the world they knew to the unknown side - the side that includes gentiles, too as their world convulses under the oppression of Roman Empire that doesn’t discriminate among the peoples it conquers.
Conversation Questions
1. What would the promise of freedom from debt and fear mean to First Century peasants? What does that promise mean to us?
2. What are the obstacles to true discipleship today?
3.Do Jesus’ parables still challenge us? Give us hope? How?
4.Jesus is recruiting the powerless to change the world. What would make you ready to sign on to his campaign?
5. Are there storms you might face that would seem life-threatening? World threatening?
Up to now, Mark has shown us Jesus in action. In this chapter, we hear from Jesus. As he was known for, the teaching comes in parables but we likely hear them differently than the subsistence farmers and peasants to whom Jesus was talking. With a little background, we can discover the revolutionary message in Jesus’ teaching.
Mark 4:1-9
I’m not a farmer, so Jesus’ agricultural stories are lost on me. But I suspect that today’s farmers are likely mystified by these ancient parables, too. Part of that is that we are far removed from the methods of subsistence in the First Century, and part because most of us do not experience the kind of desperation that those subsistence farmers felt when everything they raised went to Temple, Empire, and loan sharks.
The Parable of the Sower is just this kind of example. I’d thought it was a story about a rather silly farmer with bad aim who scatters seeds everywhere. But maybe the story has more to do with the poor kinds of soil that the peasant farmers were forced to sow. But the Good News comes when some seeds find the fertile soil. The harvest of thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold is not just a gobsmacking return. It is the kind of harvest that can pay off all loans, meet all tithes, and even satisfy the tax burden of the farmer. It is freedom.
Mark 4:10-12
This little piece is inserted to explain why Jesus taught in parables. Some think of it as a kind of code meant to confuse opponents, or a way of conveying some secret knowledge withheld from unbelievers. The idea that this is some secret hidden from the world is a little absurd in the Mark wrote this all in a public document intended to be widely circulated. Jesus used parables because it is easy to see who hears, and who denies or misconstrues, the real message.
Mark 4:13-25
In private, Jesus goes into detail about his understanding of the sower parable. His explanation makes clear that the deficients soils are obstacles to true discipleship: fears, distractions, and affluence. The good soil are those who follow true discipleship: focused, committed, with deep roots. And though costly, true discipleship offers a harvest of hope and freedom.
The image of an unhidden lamp comes with a warning, too. While on its face the saying in verse 25 seems like fatalism (Them that has, gets. Them that ain’t got, lose it all. Or, the ways of the world reward the rich and punish the poor.) But Ched Myers suggests that Jesus uses the saying in an ironic way, subtly referencing Old Testament prophets who used such fatalisms to criticize those in power. In essence: here’s what the world tells you, but don’t you believe it!
Mark 4:26-34
Jesus returns to his farming parables. Seeds grown on their own and even the best farmer can’t control them. When planting seeds of the Kin-dom, remain patient because God is making them grow. Grow they will, at God’s own good pace. The mustard seed is a weed that grows even in the shadow of the largest tree - even a tree as large as the Roman Empire. The Kin-dom is like a weed that grows and grows.
Mark 4:35-41
While at the end of the Fourth chapter, these verses really the beginning of the story told in the Fifth chapter. The storm threatening the disciples is not just meteorological. It is the storm facing Mark’s community as they cross from the side of the world they knew to the unknown side - the side that includes gentiles, too as their world convulses under the oppression of Roman Empire that doesn’t discriminate among the peoples it conquers.
Conversation Questions
1. What would the promise of freedom from debt and fear mean to First Century peasants? What does that promise mean to us?
2. What are the obstacles to true discipleship today?
3.Do Jesus’ parables still challenge us? Give us hope? How?
4.Jesus is recruiting the powerless to change the world. What would make you ready to sign on to his campaign?
5. Are there storms you might face that would seem life-threatening? World threatening?
CHAPTER THREE: THE JESUS WE NEVER KNEW
Jesus continues to confront the powers that be. But this is not the gentle, kind Jesus we saw in Sunday School paintings.The Jesus that Mark shows us gets angry when those he is passionate about are wronged. This Jesus loves his followers more than the household he grew up in. This is a Jesus with a singular heart for God’s Kin-dom.
Mark 3:1-12
It’s almost as if we’ve already seen this movie. It is the Sabbath again. There is a person in need of healing. The rules and the rulers stand in the way. Jesus stands up. But the tensions are running particularly high this time. Jesus quotes Torah for the Torah experts, “Is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath,” and then adds his own commentary: “to save or to kill?” Evidently he sees the protecting of Sabbath law, that is - refusing to heal the person with the withered hand - has a killing effect. When no one can answer him, Jesus responds in a way that we think is not very Christ-like. He gets angry. And grieved at their stubbornness - their unwillingness to change. And one more time Jesus breaks the law, healing the man on the Sabbath. So incensed are they by his forwardness, the party of Herod begins to plot to take Jesus’ life.
Jesus has no respect for the systems that keep the poor in poverty. His anger is directed at those who stand in the way of showing compassion and welcoming them fully into all levels of society. He wants to tear down those systems, and in return the representatives of those systems seek to destroy Jesus.
Once again the crowds descend on Jesus. It is worth noting that Mark’s favorite word for the crowds makes a distinction between the poor masses and the wealthy elite. They are the ones that Jesus loves and stands up for. He heals their ailments and exorcizes their demons. Recall Jesus’ first encounter with a demon, how for Jesus this was not just some free-floating evil spirit - it was the evil of elevating systems above the needs of people, particularly in the synagogue.
Mark 3:13-19
Jesus is already known as a law-breaker, one who is ritually unclean, and one who associates with undesirables. In this section he becomes a revolutionary (though clearly not one who advocates violence). He forms a new government, so to speak. By naming 12 apostles. Jesus again makes a symbolic move whose meaning would have inescapable for Mark’s audience. The 12 apostles were obviously representing new tribes, and so in choosing them Jesus was announcing a whole new system was coming.
Mark 3:20-30
Those in authority read Jesus’ intentions accurately, so they attack him. They accuse him of working for Satan, even though he was exorcising demons. Jesus calls them on their faulty logic. More than that, he lays out his own vision for his work. Jesus calls himself a thief and refers to the scribes and Pharisees and Herodians (those in power) as the strong man whom Jesus is binding, robbing them of everything. Jesus is not about small tweaks. This is a whole new world.The sin against the Holy Spirit is not some specific blasphemy, but the blindness of the authorities toward Jesus and his compassion for the crowds.
Mark 3:31-35
Jesus’ passion for his people is so thorough-going that he even redefines what it means to be family. Family was the bedrock of society in Jesus’ day. Your family was your support, your best allies, your defense against a hostile world. When Jesus’ blood family arrives to take him home (they think he’s lost his mind!) he doesn’t even acknowledge the. He looks at the ne'er do wells and undesirables surrounding him and claims them as his family! THis really is a whole new world.
Conversation Questions
1. Mark’s Gospel was written out of a world that was falling apart - being torn apart. What isn’t working the way it is supposed to in our world?
2. How was Mark’s Gospel good news for the people he was writing to?
3. Do Jesus’ actions affect the way we see or exercise power?
4.How do you feel about a Jesus who gets angry, breaks the law, and describes himself as a thief?
5. What does it take for you to really change?
Jesus continues to confront the powers that be. But this is not the gentle, kind Jesus we saw in Sunday School paintings.The Jesus that Mark shows us gets angry when those he is passionate about are wronged. This Jesus loves his followers more than the household he grew up in. This is a Jesus with a singular heart for God’s Kin-dom.
Mark 3:1-12
It’s almost as if we’ve already seen this movie. It is the Sabbath again. There is a person in need of healing. The rules and the rulers stand in the way. Jesus stands up. But the tensions are running particularly high this time. Jesus quotes Torah for the Torah experts, “Is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath,” and then adds his own commentary: “to save or to kill?” Evidently he sees the protecting of Sabbath law, that is - refusing to heal the person with the withered hand - has a killing effect. When no one can answer him, Jesus responds in a way that we think is not very Christ-like. He gets angry. And grieved at their stubbornness - their unwillingness to change. And one more time Jesus breaks the law, healing the man on the Sabbath. So incensed are they by his forwardness, the party of Herod begins to plot to take Jesus’ life.
Jesus has no respect for the systems that keep the poor in poverty. His anger is directed at those who stand in the way of showing compassion and welcoming them fully into all levels of society. He wants to tear down those systems, and in return the representatives of those systems seek to destroy Jesus.
Once again the crowds descend on Jesus. It is worth noting that Mark’s favorite word for the crowds makes a distinction between the poor masses and the wealthy elite. They are the ones that Jesus loves and stands up for. He heals their ailments and exorcizes their demons. Recall Jesus’ first encounter with a demon, how for Jesus this was not just some free-floating evil spirit - it was the evil of elevating systems above the needs of people, particularly in the synagogue.
Mark 3:13-19
Jesus is already known as a law-breaker, one who is ritually unclean, and one who associates with undesirables. In this section he becomes a revolutionary (though clearly not one who advocates violence). He forms a new government, so to speak. By naming 12 apostles. Jesus again makes a symbolic move whose meaning would have inescapable for Mark’s audience. The 12 apostles were obviously representing new tribes, and so in choosing them Jesus was announcing a whole new system was coming.
Mark 3:20-30
Those in authority read Jesus’ intentions accurately, so they attack him. They accuse him of working for Satan, even though he was exorcising demons. Jesus calls them on their faulty logic. More than that, he lays out his own vision for his work. Jesus calls himself a thief and refers to the scribes and Pharisees and Herodians (those in power) as the strong man whom Jesus is binding, robbing them of everything. Jesus is not about small tweaks. This is a whole new world.The sin against the Holy Spirit is not some specific blasphemy, but the blindness of the authorities toward Jesus and his compassion for the crowds.
Mark 3:31-35
Jesus’ passion for his people is so thorough-going that he even redefines what it means to be family. Family was the bedrock of society in Jesus’ day. Your family was your support, your best allies, your defense against a hostile world. When Jesus’ blood family arrives to take him home (they think he’s lost his mind!) he doesn’t even acknowledge the. He looks at the ne'er do wells and undesirables surrounding him and claims them as his family! THis really is a whole new world.
Conversation Questions
1. Mark’s Gospel was written out of a world that was falling apart - being torn apart. What isn’t working the way it is supposed to in our world?
2. How was Mark’s Gospel good news for the people he was writing to?
3. Do Jesus’ actions affect the way we see or exercise power?
4.How do you feel about a Jesus who gets angry, breaks the law, and describes himself as a thief?
5. What does it take for you to really change?
CHAPTER TWO: GOING PUBLIC
Jesus had gathered his first collaborators. He has challenged those in authority who work to keep things the way they are. He has given hope to those who live in poverty and pain. Now Jesus continues to show people what the Kin-dom of God looks like.
Mark 2:1-12
The crowds seem to have great confidence in Jesus. Whether Jesus is in his own home in Capernaum, or simply “in a home,” the crowd crowds in on him asking for healing. This is a longing for more than physical restoration as this episode illustrates. These friends dig through the earthen roof in order to get their friend in front of Jesus. The pallet or bed that the paralytic lies on is a beggar’s mat - it underscores not just the fact that he is paralyzed but that his ailment compounds his impoverished condition.
Jesus’ willingness to heal the paralyzed one not only restores his ability to a livelihood, it challenges the authority of those guarding the way things are. Instead of using words of healing, Jesus announces that his sins are forgiven. “Sins” also carries with it the connotation of debt - spiritual and economic. The scribes are scandalized that Jesus , independent of the priests’ or scribes’ permission or authority, declared the forgiveness of sins. They use the screed of God’s authority, but the reality is that they fear that if they can turn directly to Jesus the crowds will have no need of them! Jesus is in the midst of the crowds of poor, where they have no need to go to the synagogue, the priest, or the Temple for God to notice them, heal them, and restore them. Jesus has thrown down the gauntlet right at the scribes’ feet.
Mark 2:13-17
After directly challenging their authority, Jesus goes on to redefine the codes of acceptability. He calls a Roman collaborator as a follower and attends a party at this tax-collector’s house. It is a gathering of other tax-collectors an unnamed sinners. The Pharisees had strict rules about only eating with “righteous” people and the crowd Jesus is hanging with does NOT fit that definition. But Jesus has no reservations about the crowd he chooses.
Mark 2:18-22
They the question is raised about fasting. The Pharisees had a tradition of fasting twice a week in addition to the few ritual fasts called for in the Torah. This relatively new tradition coincidently highlighted the difference between the wealthy, city-dwelling ruling classes and the crowds of poor whom Jesus loved. For the crowds, fasting happened more often because of the scarcity of food and not because they had the luxury to refrain from eating. Jesus chooses to be the life of their (the crowds of the poor) party. And Jesus declares that he is all about changing the ways things work, with stories of patches and new wine skins.
Mark 2:23-28
The Sabbath becomes ground zero again for Jesus’ confrontation with the authorities. When questioned about letting his disciples pick grain on the Sabbath, in one fell swoop Jesus claims the authority of King David (as audacious as that sounds) and denies the authority of the Pharisees over his disciples. In fact, Jesus’s permission pick and eat grain on the Sabbath is not unlike sit-ins or picket lines. It was an act of civil (or, again, religious) disobedience. Especially in conjunction with the previous issue about fasting, this act is clear. Jesus’ final declaration in this passage again takes away the authority of the Pharisees and empowers the disenfranchised. “The Sabbath was made for the good of the people, and the Human One (or Son of Man - either way it is an image from the Book of Daniel: the one God works through) is the lord of the Sabbath.”
It should be clear that Jesus did not appear to address only spiritual needs. His actions and alliances clearly demonstrate that Jesus also cared about the real lives the people lived. He opposed the systems that kept people poor and deprived. He was putting in place new systems of equality, compassion, and grace.
Conversation Questions
1. Have you ever felt like it was impossible to get ahead?
2. How did Jesus show his love for the poor crowds?
3. How does it feel to hear that Jesus encouraged his followers to break the law?
4. What rules in church or society keep people on the outside?
Jesus had gathered his first collaborators. He has challenged those in authority who work to keep things the way they are. He has given hope to those who live in poverty and pain. Now Jesus continues to show people what the Kin-dom of God looks like.
Mark 2:1-12
The crowds seem to have great confidence in Jesus. Whether Jesus is in his own home in Capernaum, or simply “in a home,” the crowd crowds in on him asking for healing. This is a longing for more than physical restoration as this episode illustrates. These friends dig through the earthen roof in order to get their friend in front of Jesus. The pallet or bed that the paralytic lies on is a beggar’s mat - it underscores not just the fact that he is paralyzed but that his ailment compounds his impoverished condition.
Jesus’ willingness to heal the paralyzed one not only restores his ability to a livelihood, it challenges the authority of those guarding the way things are. Instead of using words of healing, Jesus announces that his sins are forgiven. “Sins” also carries with it the connotation of debt - spiritual and economic. The scribes are scandalized that Jesus , independent of the priests’ or scribes’ permission or authority, declared the forgiveness of sins. They use the screed of God’s authority, but the reality is that they fear that if they can turn directly to Jesus the crowds will have no need of them! Jesus is in the midst of the crowds of poor, where they have no need to go to the synagogue, the priest, or the Temple for God to notice them, heal them, and restore them. Jesus has thrown down the gauntlet right at the scribes’ feet.
Mark 2:13-17
After directly challenging their authority, Jesus goes on to redefine the codes of acceptability. He calls a Roman collaborator as a follower and attends a party at this tax-collector’s house. It is a gathering of other tax-collectors an unnamed sinners. The Pharisees had strict rules about only eating with “righteous” people and the crowd Jesus is hanging with does NOT fit that definition. But Jesus has no reservations about the crowd he chooses.
Mark 2:18-22
They the question is raised about fasting. The Pharisees had a tradition of fasting twice a week in addition to the few ritual fasts called for in the Torah. This relatively new tradition coincidently highlighted the difference between the wealthy, city-dwelling ruling classes and the crowds of poor whom Jesus loved. For the crowds, fasting happened more often because of the scarcity of food and not because they had the luxury to refrain from eating. Jesus chooses to be the life of their (the crowds of the poor) party. And Jesus declares that he is all about changing the ways things work, with stories of patches and new wine skins.
Mark 2:23-28
The Sabbath becomes ground zero again for Jesus’ confrontation with the authorities. When questioned about letting his disciples pick grain on the Sabbath, in one fell swoop Jesus claims the authority of King David (as audacious as that sounds) and denies the authority of the Pharisees over his disciples. In fact, Jesus’s permission pick and eat grain on the Sabbath is not unlike sit-ins or picket lines. It was an act of civil (or, again, religious) disobedience. Especially in conjunction with the previous issue about fasting, this act is clear. Jesus’ final declaration in this passage again takes away the authority of the Pharisees and empowers the disenfranchised. “The Sabbath was made for the good of the people, and the Human One (or Son of Man - either way it is an image from the Book of Daniel: the one God works through) is the lord of the Sabbath.”
It should be clear that Jesus did not appear to address only spiritual needs. His actions and alliances clearly demonstrate that Jesus also cared about the real lives the people lived. He opposed the systems that kept people poor and deprived. He was putting in place new systems of equality, compassion, and grace.
Conversation Questions
1. Have you ever felt like it was impossible to get ahead?
2. How did Jesus show his love for the poor crowds?
3. How does it feel to hear that Jesus encouraged his followers to break the law?
4. What rules in church or society keep people on the outside?
Suppose you pinned all your hope on David, but Goliath won anyway? That’s what happened when Rome reconquered Israel 40 years after the time of Jesus. When all hopes were shattered, Mark (whoever he was) wrote a document called a Gospel to offer a way of resurrecting hope. It was the story of Jesus of Nazareth and his Way of discipleship—of living in God’s Kin-dom even as we live in the world of power and oppression imposed by Rome. In our modern world of uncertainty and despair, Mark’s Gospel still offers us a path back to hope and meaning. It is Jesus’ Way.
As we embark on this journey through Mark, I encourage you to make 2 commitments: First, read the Gospel of Mark through. It is the first and the shortest of the Gospels. Find a translation that is easy to read, I like the Common English version, and Peterson’s “The Message” is very approachable (there are lots of others, just find one you can understand). Read it completely in one sitting if you can, it’s only 16 chapters. The chapters and verses were added long after it was originally written, as a convenience for referencing its teaching. But it was never intended to be diced up into little snippets and soundbites. Try and get a feel for the entire story.
Second, join a group for deeper study and conversation. When it was first distributed, Mark’s Gospel was originally real aloud (in its entirety) to a group of people. From its beginning it was a communal document. While we will be focusing on a chapter a week through Easter Sunday, we cannot explore all the depth and meaning of an entire chapter in worship. Group time will allow you to ask questions, explore ideas, and plumb the depths of the chapters that we simply can’t get to in one hour of Sunday worship.
As we embark on this journey through Mark, I encourage you to make 2 commitments: First, read the Gospel of Mark through. It is the first and the shortest of the Gospels. Find a translation that is easy to read, I like the Common English version, and Peterson’s “The Message” is very approachable (there are lots of others, just find one you can understand). Read it completely in one sitting if you can, it’s only 16 chapters. The chapters and verses were added long after it was originally written, as a convenience for referencing its teaching. But it was never intended to be diced up into little snippets and soundbites. Try and get a feel for the entire story.
Second, join a group for deeper study and conversation. When it was first distributed, Mark’s Gospel was originally real aloud (in its entirety) to a group of people. From its beginning it was a communal document. While we will be focusing on a chapter a week through Easter Sunday, we cannot explore all the depth and meaning of an entire chapter in worship. Group time will allow you to ask questions, explore ideas, and plumb the depths of the chapters that we simply can’t get to in one hour of Sunday worship.
CHAPTER ONE: THE OVERTURE
Operas generally start with an overture, a prelude that introduces the musical themes that will appear throughout the performance. The first chapter of Mark functions in much the same way: it introduces the themes and priorities that the story of Jesus will present throughout the rest of the Gospel. These chords will resonate even in the climactic images of the crucifixion and Mark’s odd telling of the resurrection. This is Mark’s debut of the hope that exists even in the midst of the war with Rome and the devastation it brought.
Mark 1:1-8
The first verse tells us that this is good news, specifically the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In its day this introduction lobs a challenge at the Roman Empire. “Son of God” was a common title for Caesar in Rome, proclaiming that his authority was divinely given. But this is a story about a very different “Son of God.”
The first character introduced in this drama is not Jesus but John the Baptist. Mark’s audience would have immediately recognized his description as a prophet cut from the Old Testament mold. Isaiah (really, though, an amalgam of Old Testament prophetic sources) is quoted to underscore this: a call to prepare for the arrival of God’s liberation and a call for the radical changing of direction of the people’s lives. Baptism was a common symbol of rebirth and new beginning. Situated on the edge of civilization, John attracts people even from the seats of power (Judea and Jerusalem).
John’s physical description allows no mistake that he is cut from the same cloth as the great prophet Elijah, and in fact may be the promised return of that most powerful of God’s servants. But even so, he points not his own power, but to the one who is coming with a better baptism than he can offer: Holy Spirit baptism.
Mark 1:9-13
In verse 9, Jesus finally enters the stage. He comes to John for baptism. Mark makes no reference to Jesus’ sinlessness but portrays the event as a momentous new beginning for Jesus. The sky tears open, a dove descends, and a voice proclaims “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.”
As soon as this happens, the Holy Spirit drives Jesus (the language is not gentle about this) into the wilderness where Jesus is tested. Mark does not give us details about these tests—just that they last 40 days (40 is a powerful biblical number and signals God-time just like 40days and nights of rain in Noah’s time, and 40 years in the wilderness for the wandering Hebrews)
Mark 1:14-20
Just as immediately, John is taken off the stage and Jesus takes the central position. He proclaims that God’s kingdom (again a word usually used to describe Rome’s power), is so close you can touch it. And then Jesus begins recruiting his team.
Ched Myers in his “Binding the Strong Man” (which I am heavily relying on for this study) raises the idea that we have misunderstood the image of Jesus inviting the disciples to be “Fishers of people.” Myers points out that Jeremiah used the same image not for evangelism, but for God’s censure. He suggests that Jesus chose this image not for gathering new followers, but as an invitation to pull down the old order and begin building a new one. Maybe Simon and Andrew, James and John were so quick to join because they knew firsthand the hopelessness of the status quo.
Mark 1:21-39
Having begun his movement, Jesus then takes his first public action. He goes to the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath where the people are astounded at his teaching. Then he is confronted from an evil spirit who tries to control him by speaking his name. This was an ancient understanding, that if you knew someone’s true name, you had power over them (think about when your parents used all three names to call you into account!). But Jesus is not subject to their power.
In front of God and everyone, Jesus frees the person from the influence of the spirit—ON THE SABBATH. Jesus broke the scribe’s law in order to bring freedom to one suffering from its influence. It seems that for Mark, this evil spirit was not just demonic but was a part of the religious system that kept people possessed and oppressed. In essence, Jesus commits an act of civil (or rather, religious) disobedience, breaks the law, and challenges the authority of those who would keep things the way they are forever.
And when Jesus then goes on to heal the crowds, he is demonstrating this same liberating love. Disease and illness in those days most often carried with it social stigma. Being sick (especially a chronic illness) meant you were pushed out of your society and sometimes even your family. Jesus healed people because he wanted them to be well AND he wanted them to be whole. Myers has an additional insight to the cost of illness: “Disease and physical disability were an inseparable part of the cycle of poverty (a phenomenon still true today despite the advent of modern medicine). For the day laborer, illness meant unemployment and instant impoverishment.” (p. 144) Jesus’ healing was another expression of his love for the poor.
Mark 1:40-45
That Jesus wanted to change the way the world worked is seen dramatically in his healing of the person with leprosy. First, he is willing to touch a social pariah—a healing that in so doing makes Jesus himself ritually unclean. Jesus places himself in literal solidarity with the outcast. Second, he sends the healed person to priest not just for validation but as a message to the priests that someone else claims their authority to heal and restore. Jesus the healer was a threat to the civic order. He was out to change the world. And he still is.
Operas generally start with an overture, a prelude that introduces the musical themes that will appear throughout the performance. The first chapter of Mark functions in much the same way: it introduces the themes and priorities that the story of Jesus will present throughout the rest of the Gospel. These chords will resonate even in the climactic images of the crucifixion and Mark’s odd telling of the resurrection. This is Mark’s debut of the hope that exists even in the midst of the war with Rome and the devastation it brought.
Mark 1:1-8
The first verse tells us that this is good news, specifically the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In its day this introduction lobs a challenge at the Roman Empire. “Son of God” was a common title for Caesar in Rome, proclaiming that his authority was divinely given. But this is a story about a very different “Son of God.”
The first character introduced in this drama is not Jesus but John the Baptist. Mark’s audience would have immediately recognized his description as a prophet cut from the Old Testament mold. Isaiah (really, though, an amalgam of Old Testament prophetic sources) is quoted to underscore this: a call to prepare for the arrival of God’s liberation and a call for the radical changing of direction of the people’s lives. Baptism was a common symbol of rebirth and new beginning. Situated on the edge of civilization, John attracts people even from the seats of power (Judea and Jerusalem).
John’s physical description allows no mistake that he is cut from the same cloth as the great prophet Elijah, and in fact may be the promised return of that most powerful of God’s servants. But even so, he points not his own power, but to the one who is coming with a better baptism than he can offer: Holy Spirit baptism.
Mark 1:9-13
In verse 9, Jesus finally enters the stage. He comes to John for baptism. Mark makes no reference to Jesus’ sinlessness but portrays the event as a momentous new beginning for Jesus. The sky tears open, a dove descends, and a voice proclaims “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.”
As soon as this happens, the Holy Spirit drives Jesus (the language is not gentle about this) into the wilderness where Jesus is tested. Mark does not give us details about these tests—just that they last 40 days (40 is a powerful biblical number and signals God-time just like 40days and nights of rain in Noah’s time, and 40 years in the wilderness for the wandering Hebrews)
Mark 1:14-20
Just as immediately, John is taken off the stage and Jesus takes the central position. He proclaims that God’s kingdom (again a word usually used to describe Rome’s power), is so close you can touch it. And then Jesus begins recruiting his team.
Ched Myers in his “Binding the Strong Man” (which I am heavily relying on for this study) raises the idea that we have misunderstood the image of Jesus inviting the disciples to be “Fishers of people.” Myers points out that Jeremiah used the same image not for evangelism, but for God’s censure. He suggests that Jesus chose this image not for gathering new followers, but as an invitation to pull down the old order and begin building a new one. Maybe Simon and Andrew, James and John were so quick to join because they knew firsthand the hopelessness of the status quo.
Mark 1:21-39
Having begun his movement, Jesus then takes his first public action. He goes to the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath where the people are astounded at his teaching. Then he is confronted from an evil spirit who tries to control him by speaking his name. This was an ancient understanding, that if you knew someone’s true name, you had power over them (think about when your parents used all three names to call you into account!). But Jesus is not subject to their power.
In front of God and everyone, Jesus frees the person from the influence of the spirit—ON THE SABBATH. Jesus broke the scribe’s law in order to bring freedom to one suffering from its influence. It seems that for Mark, this evil spirit was not just demonic but was a part of the religious system that kept people possessed and oppressed. In essence, Jesus commits an act of civil (or rather, religious) disobedience, breaks the law, and challenges the authority of those who would keep things the way they are forever.
And when Jesus then goes on to heal the crowds, he is demonstrating this same liberating love. Disease and illness in those days most often carried with it social stigma. Being sick (especially a chronic illness) meant you were pushed out of your society and sometimes even your family. Jesus healed people because he wanted them to be well AND he wanted them to be whole. Myers has an additional insight to the cost of illness: “Disease and physical disability were an inseparable part of the cycle of poverty (a phenomenon still true today despite the advent of modern medicine). For the day laborer, illness meant unemployment and instant impoverishment.” (p. 144) Jesus’ healing was another expression of his love for the poor.
Mark 1:40-45
That Jesus wanted to change the way the world worked is seen dramatically in his healing of the person with leprosy. First, he is willing to touch a social pariah—a healing that in so doing makes Jesus himself ritually unclean. Jesus places himself in literal solidarity with the outcast. Second, he sends the healed person to priest not just for validation but as a message to the priests that someone else claims their authority to heal and restore. Jesus the healer was a threat to the civic order. He was out to change the world. And he still is.
Conversation Questions
1. How do you think the story of Jesus was Good News for the first century Judeans fighting a losing war with Rome?
2. For whom particularly might it have been great news?
3. What in our day might this Jesus want to confront or change?
4. Can you imagine being so ready for something different that you would leave your livelihood and family? If not, why not?
5. What are the evil spirits controlling us or our society?
6. As Mark continues the story, what kind of new world is Jesus trying to create?
1. How do you think the story of Jesus was Good News for the first century Judeans fighting a losing war with Rome?
2. For whom particularly might it have been great news?
3. What in our day might this Jesus want to confront or change?
4. Can you imagine being so ready for something different that you would leave your livelihood and family? If not, why not?
5. What are the evil spirits controlling us or our society?
6. As Mark continues the story, what kind of new world is Jesus trying to create?
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Calvary Campus
1610 S 11th Street Lincoln, NE 68502 402-474-5513 Schedule Sunday School - Sun 10:00am Youth Group - Sun 10:00am Experiential Worship - Sun 11:00am Kids are Great! - Tue 6:00pm |
Southminster Campus
2915 S 16th Street Lincoln, NE 68502 402-474-5513 Schedule Traditional Worship - Sun 8:45am Sunday School - Sun 10:00am |
St. James Campus
2400 S 11th Street Lincoln, NE 68502 402-474-5513 Schedule Sacred Winds Native American Worship: Sun 11:00am |
Administrative Office
2400 S 11th Street LincolnNE 68502 | 402-474-5513
2400 S 11th Street LincolnNE 68502 | 402-474-5513
