Monday, October 13, 2014

Mark's Gospel 3 and 4



A Man with a Withered Hand (3:1-6)

1Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
This passage is a mixture of controversy, healing and biography – for it reveals Jesus’ character – manifesting righteous anger and compassion.[1] On Jesus’ previous healing at the synagogue (1:21), there was no question of the sabbath law because a command to a demon did not qualify as a work in the same way as a physical healing. Nor was Jesus’ orthodoxy an issue. Now, it is, and here the physical healing is overshadowed by the question of the Sabbath observance.[2]
There is no clear reason why Jesus singled out this man. His disease is not life-threatening. Yet, Jesus takes the initiative by telling him to stand up in the middle of the synagogue[3] so that all who are watching might get a good look at what is about to occur.
Now, to heal on the Sabbath was not mentioned on the lists of prohibited acts.[4] In fact, to heal on the Sabbath was supported because it was not something most people could perform.[5] So, by having the man rise up in the middle of the crowd was a confrontational move on Jesus’ part. He is determined to force the issue through a public display of his healing power, and the true attitudes of the hearts of his adversaries.
Having set the stage, Jesus asks them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” His awkward question raises the issue to a higher level on two points. First, Pharisees accepted the principle that permitted the relief of animal suffering and to a greater degree, the relief of human suffering. Jesus’ question was not one that the Pharisees were going to argue. Their concern was the origin and nature of Jesus’ power. Where did he get the power to heal?
Second, no one thought the man should be killed. So, the discussion that Jesus introduced – to save a life or to kill – moved the discussion from  a man with the withered hand to what is about to happen in verse 6 – when the Pharisees conspired with the Herodians (of all people) to destroy Jesus. The irony could not be richer: the Pharisees are worried about the life-restoring activity on the Sabbath, yet they begin plans to actually kill someone – on that very Sabbath.[6]
Their silence does not imply consent, but could be attributed to their unwillingness to be drawn into an unprofitable argument.[7] To this, Jesus looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart. “With anger” is a strong emotion, which is typical of Mark’s portrayal of Jesus as someone who is extremely human in appearance.[8] The Pharisees are set in their ways and their insensitivity both hurts and angers Jesus.[9]
The hardening of their spiritual arteries, which also occurs in 6:52 (they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened), 8:17 (Are your hearts hardened?) and 10:5 (Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.), is something Jesus brought to the surface through provocation.
We also see that Mark presented Jesus as one who forced the issues with quick citations of Scripture, rather than engaging in long dialogues.
In regards to his mission to announce the Kingdom of God, the amazing restoration of the man’s hand anticipates the full implementation of what will occur when the Kingdom is here in its fullness.
Finally, the last verse of this passage reveals that the men plotting to destroy Jesus intend not only to kill him, but to shame him – as evident by their behavior at the foot of the cross. We read in 15:31-32, “The chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.”


The Twelve Apostles (3:13-19)

13And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15and have authority to cast out demons. 16He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,b 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

If we examine the call of the Twelve in the three synpotics, we notice differences – geography, placement in the book, method, mission – and similarities – that Jesus called them, twelve, and a particular ordering of the first group of four (Peter, Andrew, James and John).
A mountain is a place where God is encountered and instruction is given. The other mountain scene occurs in chapter 9, the Transfiguration.
In his day and age, Jewish students sought rabbis or Greek teachers enticed students. Jesus alone chose these twelve. No politicking here.
Jesus refers to the Twelve 10 times in Mark, and while they are the main group of disciples, they are not the only ones. Others are not excluded.
In each list, Peter is named first. In the early Church, we see him as a foundation for witness, life and conduct. He is one who listens and counsels, and one to imitate.
Verse 14 tells us that “they might be with him.” The apostles are there for fellowship with Jesus (again indicating his human need for a support group). And they are to witness.
The number chosen is deliberate and meant to allude to the twelve tribes of Israel, but are they meant to be Israel or simply Jesus’ emissaries to Israel? They certainly cannot be representatives of ancient Israel as there were only two and a half tribes left, but they could symbolize the eschatological restoration of Israel which was expected at the end.[10] (Isa 49:6; Ezek 45:8; etc)
The appointment of 12 should not be a limited vision of a restored Kingdom. The Kingdom of God transcends a piece of property in the Middle East. God’s full focus was never solely on a small group of people on a small strip of land on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It had always been all people, and it has always been throughout all the earth.[11]


The Parable of the Sower

1Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

This is the first significant block of Jesus’ teaching. Mark carefully constructed this parable, employing both the rule of three and a doublet. Thus, we have two sets of three seeds, three adverse conditions, and three degrees of productivity.
Comparative illustrations in the Greco-Roman world were used for rhetorical purposes for the purpose of persuading someone about something. Here, Mark addresses his audience which faces a world that is in large measure unreceptive to the gospel.[12] In spite of this, Mark exhorts his audience to continue to share the gospel … those who have ears will hear and respond in a far more profound way than one can expect.
Let me tell you about Dave Gruseck …
The effectiveness of the parable depends on how well it produces the desired response in the audience. Though Jesus’ parables are unsettling, shocking and disturbing, they may also tease one into seeing that the kingdom of God involves a reversal of values.



The Purpose of the Parables

10And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.”
13And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14The sower sows the word. 15And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

          For the first time, we hear of the secrecy motif, and we understand that the parables were to serve as stones of stumbling deliberately placed in Israel’s path.[13]
          Mark employs apocalyptic language not to be mysterious but to communicate in a way that would elicit whether one was responding in faith or not.[14] When we read in v. 17 “they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away,” we are reminded that people stumble over their commitment to the gospel when trouble or outside persecution arises.[15]



The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

Compare this to Matthew and Luke


Jesus Calms a Storm

35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

          Miracles can unsettle a person’s worldview and prompt the raising of questions about Jesus’ identity. Miracles do not always provide answers to questions.
This is the first time that Jesus crosses over into a largely pagan area, but not the last.
The men in the boat were veteran sailors, and so the storm must have been extraordinarily severe for them to react in such a way.
The fact that Jesus is sleeping makes it clear that he is a fully human character.
Apart from 1:37, these are the first words addressed to Jesus by the disciples.
There is a strong sense here of Jonah, chapter 1. In each case, the captain of the boat rouses the person in question with a charge of dereliction of duty. But in the case of Jonah, he sought to escape his mission. Here, Jesus is not. Unlike Jonah who is encouraged to pray to God for help, Jesus simply acts in divine fashion – he addresses the sea (a dwelling place for demons) in a personal way. Instantaneously, he controls the sea. Not only does the wind drop; so do the waves. This is indeed only something that only God could do.
However, the miracle does not produce faith, but quite the opposite. Though the disciples do not reject Jesus, they fail to understand him.



Discussion and Reflection Questions
On a Sabbath, Jesus heals a man with a withered hand. Why does he perform this healing when he knows people are watching for something to accuse him?






For what purposes does Jesus call the Twelve?






What might Jesus be saying about the past, present and future of Israel through the parable of the Sower and the Seed?






Why are the disciples still fearful after Jesus calms the sea?





[1] Witherington, 133
[2] France, 149.
[3] Witherington, 133.
[4] France, 149
[5] Voelz, 232
[6] Ibid.
[7] France, 150.
[8] Voelz, 233.
[9] France, 151.
[10] Witherington, 151
[11] Voelz, 248
[12] Witherington, 162.
[13] Ibid, 165.
[14] Ibid, 167.
[15] Ibid, 168.

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