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, Hometown doubters
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, Twelve sent out
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.  In Luke 9: 1-6 Jesus sends out the twelve core disciples and then later (Luke 10:1-24), he sends out 70 (or 72) with similar instructions. (Wikipedia has an article on the 70.)

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

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. (Surely 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.

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, Jairus's plea
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, Touching his cloak
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, Little girl, get up!
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, Legion
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, "Go home and tell your family what has happened"
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, The kingdom of God grows slowly, overnight
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, Mustard seeds build largest bushes
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, Jesus deliberately speaks in parables
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, Waves and wind rebuked
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.

Mark 4: 1-25, A Parable About Parables

Now Mark provides a series of parables formed the core of Jesus’s teaching circuit.

Mark 4: 1-2a, Teaching by the lake
Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge.

He taught them many things by parables, 

Most of Jesus's teachings will be in parables!  Why? (In modern parlance, this is an example of "active learning".)  His first parable has special significance.

Mark 4: 2b-9, A farmer sows some seed...
and in his teaching said:
"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 

"Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

"Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.

"Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."

Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

In this parable, a common agricultural scene focuses on the effects of the seeds tossed out by the farmer.  The planting leads to various outcomes, followed by Jesus's admonition, "He who has ears...", a phrase that essentially says, "Listen, this is important!"

Mark 4: 10-20, The reason for parables
When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, "`they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!' "

 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. 

Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 

Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 

Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 

Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

The quote in verse 12 is from Isaiah 6:9-10.

The main message of the parable (along with the chastising of the disciples) appears to be: "You are seeds -- now decide your response to the word (and me)."  I believe Jesus's choice of parables as a teaching tool is explained by this first parable of Mark.  A parable pushes the listener to think, to mull over the story.  If the listener is serious about their spiritual life, the story becomes a puzzle to which they return again and again, actively engaging with the topic.  The parable stories themselves begin to grow deep and take root, like seeds....

The parables of Jesus often involve some metaphor, but the metaphor is not a perfect one and that is often a good thing.  (This may be deliberate on the part of the storyteller.)  Here the seed is "the word" (or message) but it also becomes a symbol of the individual listener.  ("Are you a good seed?")  I've heard people debate which is the correct interpretation.  But that debate assumes the metaphor is perfect and it is not.

Mark 4: 21b-25, Lamps, light, listening
He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

"Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you--and even more.  Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

Two more quick teachings follow the long early one.  What is the role of these two teachings?  Why does Mark include the "lamp & lampstand" parable when Jesus had just said that he was giving the disciples "secrets" to the kingdom of God?

Next time we will continue in chapter 4 of Mark, with more teachings of Jesus.

God of All Comfort

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

II Corinthians 1: 3-4

On Sundays I generally look at some concepts related to the New Testament text under study.  Today I will digress a bit to discuss some New Testament concepts related to suffering, stimulated by some recent personal events.

This meme recently came across my FB feed:

This FB "bumper sticker" briefly mentions two legitimate issues in philosophy and religion, but, of course, it just touches on tip of these philosophical icebergs, as if they were shallow concepts, not deep. An atheist may attempt to explain away beauty as mere illusion while Christians must deal with the problem of evil and pain in a universe created by a loving God.

A children's hospital will rub one's face in the problem of pain.

The problem of evil has a long and deep discussion within Christian philosophy, going back to the book of Job in the Old Testament. The related "problem of pain" is discussed in some depth by C. S. Lewis in his book by that name, written at the end of World War II.

I am vividly reminded of this meme by some recent visits to a hospital, to Children's Minnesota in St. Paul.

Most of us do not visit children's hospitals because we are curious or because we have philosophical questions. A visit to a children's hospital is forced on us by the pain and grief of an ill child that we dearly love. Years ago, Jan and I visited a children's hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, invited by a frightened young couple whose daughter was seriously ill. I recall tearing up and crying, just getting off the elevator, before stepping onto the child's floor. The sight of numerous children bundled into hospital beds with anxious parents standing nearby -- all that innocent suffering -- it was overwhelming.  

I had the same feeling this time.  This time the sick little girl was my granddaughter and the anxious parents were my son and daughter-in-law. This deepened the pain. We cried and prayed over the little bundle in the hospital bed. We worried and hoped -- and then rejoiced -- as she slowly got better.

During the week that our granddaughter was in the PICU at Children's Minnesota, she was treated by devoted nurses and doctors. This began in the hurried flurry of activity in the ER as the little girl was admitted and it continued throughout the week.  (We have hopes that our granddaughter will be discharged later in the coming week!)  

In addition to experienced and dedicated staff, there were a variety of other support services, including the Ronald McDonald Family Room in a nearby wing of the hospital. The "Family Room" has friendly staff and many awesome resources for parents and family members dealing with a child in a nearby wing. The "Family Room" includes four private sleeping rooms and a kitchen with lots of different foods (some ready to be microwaved.) The kitchen is adjacent to a bright beautiful children’s play area staffed by people eager to play with young children. Guests can do laundry, take a shower, nap, relax, recover.  Stressed couples can talk to other families; home-cooked meals are offered on a regular schedule. Yes, it is traumatic to have a child in this part of the hospital but the staff understand the suffering and they help families eat, sleep, grieve and then hurry back to hovering over their child’s bed. Alex and Sierra had opportunities to meet other anxious couples at the Ronald McDonald house during their visits.

If there is to be pain and evil in the world, I am grateful that there are places like a children's hospital, where one can see a variety of caring people reaching out, as a hand of God, to hurting families. Each actor, whether doctor, nurse, security, or Family Room staff, each seems to be using his or her talents in critical acts of compassion.  I am grateful to God for children's hospitals.

Tomorrow we return to the gospel of Mark, where we read of God's direct intervention in evil, pain and suffering.