Mark 7, Pharisees and Gentiles

Jesus has "gone viral".  He is followed everywhere by crowds.  The religious leaders are not happy.

Mark 7:1-5, Improper eating habits
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with `unclean' hands?"

These poor Pharisees see every act involving a legal restriction.  They focus on external appearances, not on how one thinks or how one develops inside, in their heart and mind.

Mark 7:6-14, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees view of religion
He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "`These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." 

And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, `Honor your father and your mother,' and, `Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: `Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.

Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him `unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him `unclean.' "

The Old Testament quote in verses 6 and 7 is from Isaiah 29:13.

Jesus gives a strong response, stressing the difference between heart and outward actions.  In doing so, he quotes from the Jewish Law, to show that the Pharisees have veered from the legitimate commands of God.  The first Old Testament quote in verse 10 is from the Ten Commandments appearing in Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16.  The second quote in verse 10 is from Exodus 21:17 and/or Leviticus 20:9.

Mark 7:17-23, Evil is from the inside, not the outside!
After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.

"Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him `unclean'? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")

He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him `unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man `unclean.'"

This seems to be really hard for all of us to learn.  Christians continue to be legalists; Muslims and Orthodox Jews even more so.

Mark 7:24-30, The Syrian woman
Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

"First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

"Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter." She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Two things – Jesus tries to avoid being seen (how many times does he seek to work quietly) and he aggressively challenges the woman!  Yet she responds with humility and desperation, and he then responds with compassion.  I find this a strange encounter – it does not fit the stereotype of Jesus.

Mark 7: 31-37, Struggling to heal a deaf man
Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man. After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, <"Ephphatha!"> (which means, "Be opened!"). At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

Another strange encounter – here Jesus does not heal immediately, but appears to struggle in his healing.  Why?  Why does he do what  he does?

Decapolis is a collection of Greek (pagan!) towns, filled with Gentiles.  Mark makes it clear that Jesus has moved outside the Jewish people.

Mark 6: 30-56, Pursued by Crowds

The disciples have been sent out into ministry and have returned to Jesus, excited about their success.

Mark 6:30-33, Excited disciples

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

The crowds recognize that Jesus is leaving with his disciples.  The crowds them follow him along the lake shore, trying to anticipate his destination.

Mark 6:30-33, Excited crowd, hungry crowd

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late.  Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

But he answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"

"How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see." 

When they found out, they said, "Five--and two fish."

Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 

They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

What a strange miracle!  The Jew would see it emulating the 40 years in the wilderness (Exodus 16) when the Israelites were fed bread (manna) from heaven.  

How, do you think, this miracle occurred?  And why are there two of these feedings? (There is one more coming. Here Jesus feeds over 5000 Jews; later he will feed 4000 Gentiles.)

Mark 6:46-50, Jesus walks by on the lake

After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land.

He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

Another strange miracle....  What purpose does it serve?

Mark 6:51-56, Excited disciples

Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.  As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.

And wherever he went--into villages, towns or countryside--they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

What does it mean, in verse 52, that “their hearts were hardened”?  What did they not understand, his divinity?

Mark now makes it clear that everywhere Jesus goes, he is pursued by crowds.  This is the height of his popularity.

Mark 6: 1-29, Death of John the Baptizer

Jesus's ministry has drawn lots of attention, accompanied by miraculous healings.

Mark 6:1-6a
Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.

When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles!  Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

How did they take offense at him?  Why?

Why is this, that the home town doesn’t give him honor?  (It does seem to be the human condition.)

Mark 6: 6b-13
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.

These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them."

They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

This is a strange short piece with little detail.  The Twelve seem successful.  In another place (Matthew?), they are 70, I believe. 

Why are the 12 successful here, and then so weak afterward?

Mark 6:14-16, Jesus draws the attention of King Herod
King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him."  

Others said, "He is Elijah." And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago."

But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"

The ministry of Jesus, and the work of Jesus’ disciples, gets the attention of King Herod and leads Herod to wonder about his past actions.  

Mark goes on to explain....

Mark 6:17-29, The execution of John the Baptist
For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."

So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 

When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."

She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered.

At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter."

The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 

On hearing of this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

This passage displays the many weaknesses of this Roman ruler.  Herod's sexual weaknesses lead him to marry his brother's wife and then to make a rash promise to Herodias, after her dancing. (Clearly her dancing before the military commanders and "leading men" is sexual.) Eventually Herod is trapped precisely because he is weak and wants to appear strong.

What a gruesome request from the girl! What a horrific scene the platter must have presented at dinner. I can't imagine this sad dinner scene improving anyone's view of Herod, even though that is part of his motivation.

Of course this is all viewed very differently by John's grieving disciples.

I am currently typing this from Malaysia, 13 hours ahead of central time, with poor internet! Assuming that I can have wireless access in the evening, I will continue to look at Mark 6.

Mark 5: 20-43, Sleeping Girl

One of my favorite stories from Mark occurs just after the strangest. We just saw Jesus heal a man possessed by a "legion" unclean spirits.  Now Jesus returns back into Galilee....

Mark 5: 21-24a
When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live."  So Jesus went with him.

The synagogue ruler would have been one of the recognized leaders of the community.  Here the synagogue leader hurries to Jesus with despair and desperation, for his daughter is dying.

Mark 5: 24b-34
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed."

Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, `Who touched me?'"  But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.

Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.  

He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

If the woman's bleeding was nonstop menstrual bleeding, then, in addition to the longterm suffering of the illness, she is also unclean according to the Jewish Law.  Her standing in the community is opposite that of the Jewish leader, yet she too is desperate for healing.

When Jesus asked, "Who touched me?" the disciples are a bit surprised.  Their answer is "Everyone is touching you!"  But the woman knows what Jesus means.  When she responds, he has compassion on her.

Mark 5: 35-43
While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?"

Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."  He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.

When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.  He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep."

But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was.  He took her by the hand and said to her, <"Talitha koum!"> (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!").

Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

It is easy to miss the intense pain and despair communicated by the men in the first sentence of this passage, "Jairus, your daughter has died."

Jesus deliberately restricts the followers to just three, Peter, James and John.  Then he tells the mourners, "She is just sleeping," and goes on to act as if that is really true.  Without fanfare or wild demonstrations, he acts calmly and merely says to the child, "Little girl, get up!"  These are words one might say to a girl who has tripped and fallen on the ground during play.  "It's time to get back up."  Then in the same quiet manner, Jesus suggests,  "Give her something to eat," as if this happens every day.

Mark 5:1-20, Strange Story, Strange Man

Jesus has been teaching in a series of parables.  After that, Jesus went across the sea of Galilee (during a violent storm!) and began to minister on the Gentile side of the lake.

Mark 5: 1-13
They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.  When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.  He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!"

For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!"

Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them."

He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

What a strange story!  The man seems to have almost superhuman qualities, provided by an "evil spirit" or "unclean spirit".  One of the qualities is that he recognizes Jesus as the "Son of God", a Messianic term.

Mark records this story slightly out of order, starting from the middle, with information about this wild man and then backtracking to Jesus's instructions to the man when he first meets him.

But when Jesus "gives permission" for the evil spirits to move into the pigs, the herd is drowned!  I don't know the effect of this on the "evil spirits" but in keeping with the theme of this story, this cannot be good for them.  It presumably reassures the man that he is healed.

Some manuscripts (according to the NIV) give the word "Gadarenes" in verse 1, other manuscripts "Gergesenes".

Mark 5: 14-20
Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man--and told about the pigs as well.

Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

The local people feel threatened by the death of a herd of pigs. The Jews viewed pigs as unclean; the Gentiles did not.  But the man who has been dramatically healed, like others before him, begins to proclaim his healing to anyone who will listen.

Decapolis means "Ten Cities", apparently a region with ten towns.

Mark 4: 26-41, The Kingdom of God

Jesus has begun teaching the crowds using parables (stories).  Here are some more, all dealing with the announced kingdom of God.

Mark 4: 26-29
He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

So this kingdom grows slowly and invisibly, without easy observation.

Mark 4: 30-32
Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

This one I understand a little better. Yes, the kingdom of God begins in small ways, as a small seed like the mustard seed (or a sesame seed) but eventually wins out!
The kingdom of God is very different from any earthly, political nation or reality.  (See Hebrews 11:13-16!)

Mark 4: 33-34
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

The indirect parable, requiring thought, meditation, inquiry, is the main tool of Jesus's ministry.

Mark 4: 35-41
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."

Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Jesus responds to the disciples' request calmly, telling the waves, "Be still!" almost like one might tell a child, "Hush!  Quit making noise!"  And the storm meekly quiets down.

"Who is this?" ask the disciples.  A very good question.  It will be asked a number of times in this book!

I too would have been terrified to see such action.  The real Messiah is pretty scary.

Pericopes of Peter, the Gospel of Mark

On Sundays I take a break from the chapter-per-day posting and examine a topic or do an overview of a book.  Today I will look briefly at what we know about the Gospel of Mark.  (I am currently in Tokyo, enroute to Singapore, and it is 3 PM Sunday afternoon here.  But I think the blog post will have a Saturday evening time since blogger is based on the west coast?)

On Mark's Gospel:  Tradition has it that some thirty years or more after the death of Christ, Mark wrote down the oral history about Jesus, as given by Peter.  This "Gospel" consists of a series of energetic brief stories, called pericopes, that fit well with oral storytelling.  One can imagine Peter -- an eyewitness of Jesus and one of three disciples in Jesus's inner circle -- later telling these stories in various sermons and in various synagogues.  These pericopes include small descriptive details seen by an eyewitness account.  John Mark would then have written these down later to preserve the oral teachings.

There are some good online references for a study in Mark.  Here are a few I found.

A Jesus Creed blog post discusses the 30 year transition from oral history of Jesus to printed reports as given in the gospel of Mark.

The Bible Project has a nice video survey of Mark.  (I recommend the nice book summaries from the Bible Project!) As emphasized in this video, Mark's goal is to introduce Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

Overview Bible has a simple introduction and synopsis of this book.

EasyEnglish has a commentary on Mark intended for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners.

Here is another Jesus Creed blog post on the healing of the blind man in Mark 8 and the immediate question it raises, "Who is this man, Jesus?!"

Rummaging through online resources I found this 8 hour (!) youtube video study through the Gospel of Mark.  (It is in a "King James only" viewpoint.  No, I don't really recommend this....)

But I do recommend this commentary by William Barclay. I am trying to read through this book as I post the various chapters.

Tomorrow we return to the Pericopes of Peter!  We will continue in Mark 4.

Make sure you know how to pronounce "pericopes" (purr -- rick -- cup-- pees) and then impress your friends with your Bible training!  No.  Sorry. Don't!