Marcan Sandwiches

One of my favorite foods is the sandwich. Ham, turkey, tuna, roast beef, grilled cheese, BLT or PBJ between two slices of white, wheat, rye, pumpernickel, sour dough, French or Italian bread with condiments, vegetables, even fried eggs in between. The sandwich is a meal for anytime at the table, in front of the TV, at a family picnic or while commuting to work.

Sandwiches predate the 4^th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, by 18 centuries. One hundred years before Christ, the famous Jewish leader, Hillel the Elder, ate flat bread sandwiches filled with sliced lamb, a practice that spread to Western Asia and North Africa. Most of us have been to one of the 3 places named Sandwich in America.

I speak of the sandwich, because it is a literary technique characteristic of Mark in which one story is inserted in the middle of another so that each illuminates the other. Mark served sandwiches to Christians orally and in print. Today’s passage is one of 12 found through Mark. In fact, the entire Gospel of Mark is one massive sandwich with 8:29 as the real meat: And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”

In today’s gospel, three scenes are arranged into one block of material. In the first and third units Jesus is misunderstood by his own family; the second (vv. 22-30) involves a far more serious charge from the religious authorities.[i] As we unpack our sandwich, I would like to look at three ingredients: brother, blasphemy and believer, before returning for another sandwich.

First, brother. Our passage opens with Jesus returning home. From the words Jesus spoke throughout his ministry, home should be the place where one is welcome. After Jesus healed the Gerasene demoniac, he instructed him to go home to his people and tell them how much the Lord did for him and what mercy He showed him.[ii] In Matthew, after he healed the paralytic, Jesus told the man to pick up his bed and go home.[iii] In Luke 15, the father welcomes home his lost son with a king’s feast. Here, however, his family and friends, including his brothers, seek to restrain him or control him.

To understand the reaction of Jesus’ relatives, it is important to recognize what family bonds meant in their social context. An individual existed only as part of an extended family unit, whose authority structure, obligations and customs governed every aspect of life. Any action by an individual was a reflection on the whole family, and any breach of family honor would meet with severe discipline. Since Joseph was no longer alive, Jesus would have to answer to his uncles and senior cousins.

These “brothers” heard that people were saying that Jesus was out of his mind, in other words, mentally ill, often associated with demonic influence. Motivated to protect him from hostile religious leaders, they set out from Nazareth on a 20-mile trip to seize their ordinary young kinsman because they did not believe in him.[iv] In v. 31, we learn that Jesus’ brothers arrived, but finding it impossible to get near him they stood outside. Because our passage is a sandwich, we will return to it later. For now, we move from the outside to the inside, from brothers to blasphemy.

The inside passage of Mark’s sandwich transitions from brothers from Nazareth to scribes from Jerusalem. Sent by the authorities to check out rumors concerning this miracle worker, these experts in the Mosaic law carried more weight than the Galilean Pharisees, Jesus’ fiercest opponents. Their chilling verdict is categorical: “‘He is possessed by Beelzebul,’ and ‘by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.’”[v]

Notice how Jesus responded. He summoned them, suggesting that they were saying these things behind his back, and confronted them face to face, answering their charges in reverse order. To their claim that he was using demonic powers to cast out demons is logically absurd. What king would instigate a revolt against his own rule? If this were so, Satan’s dominion would have collapsed.

In his second statement, Jesus used a burglary analogy. The strong man Satan guarding his illicitly obtained belongings, that is, possessed human beings, must first be subdued in order for his house to be plundered. Recall Isaiah’s prophecy where we read: “Can they seize plunder from warriors, or can the captives of tyrants be rescued? But this is what the LORD says: ‘He will seize even the warriors’ plunder, and the captives of tyrants will be rescued. I myself will quarrel with those who have a quarrel with you, and I myself will save your children.’”[vi]

Finally, Jesus addressed the scribes’ first charge that he is possessed by Beelzebul not with a parable but with a somber warning.[vii] He prefaced his affirmation that all sins, even blasphemy, are forgiven with an Amen, a completely new usage of a word that concludes prayers as an expression of agreement. The closest expression in the Old Testament to Jesus’ phrase, “Truly I say to you,” is the phrase, “As surely as I live,” found in Numbers, Isaiah and Ezekiel.[viii]

Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, to religious or holy persons or sacred things, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. The word "blasphemy" came from two Greek words meaning injure and utterance, talk or speech. In the sense of speaking evil of God this word is found in Psalm 74: Remember how the enemy has mocked you, LORD, how foolish people have reviled your name.[ix] In Romans 2, Paul borrowed a verse from Isaiah who proclaimed: What is this? asks the LORD. Why are my people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation. My name is blasphemed all day long.[x]

Although abusing or insulting the name of God is a sin against God himself, this is forgivable. What Jesus said here is that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit meant to harden your heart so completely that one defiantly refused to recognize the action of God and attributed to evil the good works Jesus did in the power of the Spirit.[xi] For we see that when Jesus came up out of the water after he was baptized, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.[xii] The scribes who persisted in such willful blindness refused to repent and chose to close themselves to the forgiveness that God offers through Jesus. Now, note that Jesus did not condemn the scribes of committing this sin but warned them of the grave danger that awaited them if they did not open their hearts to the Spirit and repent.

Finally, believers. After the incident with the scribes, Mark resumes the account of Jesus’ brothers who set out to seize him but found it impossible to get near him. Mark highlighted the contrast between Jesus’ family and the audience surrounding him by twice mentioning that his family members stood outside.

This is the only time in Mark that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, appears on the scene. Mark did not indicate that she shared the opinion of those who thought Jesus was out of his mind, but the episode suggests that she did not fully comprehend the scope and significance of her son’s mission. Like others, she must grow in understanding of the divine mystery that only faith can penetrate. Here, as in the finding of the temple and at the foot of the cross, she must undergo a certain detachment in her far greater role in the new family Jesus established. In Acts we read: All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.[xiii]

But when he received word that his family was calling, Jesus immediately interrupted his teaching to answer their summons. His reply must have sounded shocking in the cultural context I described earlier. It is the first indication that all earthly ties take second place to the kingdom of God. We hear Jesus speak this again in chapter 10: Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.[xiv] In other words, Christian discipleship trumps family ties.

Then, gazing with affection and intimacy at those seated around him, Jesus elevated his new family to an unexpected status. His new family, the family of believers, united around him in a bond of love, familiarity and loyalty was stronger than any blood relationship. For we read in John’s Gospel: to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.[xv] This is restated in Hebrews, Romans and Ephesians: You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.[xvi]

Establishing a new community of believers was not a rejection of his earthly family. Eventually, his brothers accepted the new basis of kinship evident from what I read in Acts.[xvii]

Jesus’ final statement, “whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother,” explained the foundation for his new family. Jesus’ most heartfelt desire was to please His Father. The only condition for entering God’s family is to do God’s will, just as Jesus did. And to do God’s will, one must first learn what it is by sitting and listening to Jesus as the crowd is doing. By doing God’s will, they in a real sense bring Jesus into the world.

As believers, we are brothers and sisters who bring Jesus into the world. We do so by first sitting and listening to Jesus and doing God’s will. That should be our heartfelt desire. To bring Jesus into the world, to nourish others with the Gospel, we must be nourished daily. And so, in closing I ask you, what is your favorite spiritual sandwich?

Think of your spiritual sandwich as your day. How do you start and end your day, and what happens during the in-between moments? I start my day reading psalms, Scripture passages, and early Christian writings from people like Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Ambrose and Augustine. At the end of the day, I reflect, read a shorter psalm and Scripture passage and pray that Almighty God bless us, protect us and bring us to everlasting life. During the day, I sandwich in other times to pray with my wife and whatever family members or friends are gathered with us. I also listen to spiritual podcasts as I drive to appointments or walk the dogs. When I feel some sadness or bitterness because of some event that occurs, I view it through the prism of the Cross. When I feel joy, I think how God was responsible for this uplifting moment. Thus, my day is like a spiritual sandwich.

None of our spiritual sandwiches will be the same. We read different Scripture passages and materials. We listen to different messages throughout the day. We pray for different people and needs. We experience vastly different moments even if the event is the same. But each day offers us the opportunity to bring Jesus into the world as brothers and sisters seeking with heartfelt desire to please our Father. Brothers may not always understand us. Blasphemers will curse us and our God. Still, we remain steadfast believers listening to Jesus and seeking to do God’s will. Friends, may your spiritual sandwich nourish you daily, and it does, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

---

[i] Mary Healy, The Gospel of Mark (Baker Academic: Grand Rapids MI, 2008), 75.

[ii] Mark 5:19.

[iii] Matthew 9:7.

[iv] Healy, 75f. See John 7:5.

[v] Mark 3:22.

[vi] Isaiah 49:24-25.

[vii] Healy, 78.

[viii] Numbers 14, 28; Isaiah 49: 18; Ezekiel 5:11.

[ix] Psalm 74:18.

[x] Romans 2:24; Isaiah 52:5.

[xi] Healy 78.

[xii] Mark 1:10.

[xiii] Acts 1:14.

[xiv] Mark 10:29-30.

[xv] John 1:12.

[xvi] Ephesians 2:19.

[xvii] Acts 1:14; see also 1 Cor 9:15; Gal 1:19.