Mark 2. Paralysis and Freedom

Mark 2
When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ²So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. ³Then some people^* came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ ⁶Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷‘Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ ⁸At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? ⁹Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”? ¹⁰But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹‘I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’ ¹²And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’

Jesus Calls Levi

13 Jesus^* went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. ¹⁴As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
15 And as he sat at dinner^* in Levi’s^* house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting^* with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶When the scribes of^* the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat^* with tax-collectors and sinners?’ ¹⁷When Jesus heard this, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

The Question about Fasting

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people^* came and said to him, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ ¹⁹Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.
21 ‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²²And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’^*

Pronouncement about the Sabbath

23 One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ ²⁵And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? ²⁶He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ ²⁷Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; ²⁸so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’

Reflection Questions:

With whom does Jesus engage?
What are Jesus' core teachings in this passage?
Where is the trouble or conflict in the story?
How do you feel about Jesus' actions and words?  About those who question him? 

 

the alternative empire

As we read the Gospel of Mark, a perspective drawn from historical context is important.  We may want to define the narrative to understand its meaning.  A gospel is a good news story. in the 1st century world, the Romans sent out messengers (evangelists) to share the good news of Roman expansion, military conquest, and Casesar's unyielding power.  Caesar was called Lord and a son of god.
The gospels about Jesus of Nazareth, therefore, stood as an alternative narrative to the gospels of Caesar.  These stories were, in their first context, about a subversive reality in which the God of the Jews had chosen a servant named Jesus to lead a liberation movement.  This liberation movement was not fought with armed resistance against the imperial powers' military machine.  It was fought with Words (teaching) and acts of healing, as we will see.
In the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, recognized as the first of the four gospels that are part of the New Testament, Mark lays out a story that stands against the Roman imperial story.
He uses language like "Son of God", and "Kingdom of God", and "baptism of repentance" and "forgiveness of sins".  The first two phrases place Jesus in conflict with the identity claims of Caesar.  There is the Kingdom of Caesar and the Kingdom of God.  They are not the same.  We will see the contrast in the gospel of Mark.  Jesus will teach that "the kingdom of God is like...", and this will reveal a very different use of power and authority. This is political language, addressing power and authority over people and land.  How does God's kingdom and chosen ruler differ from Caesar?  The other two phrases discuss how one converts from allegiance to one authority to the other.  How one rejects Caesar's dominion and accepts Jesus' or God's dominion.  Baptism is the personal act of the convert.  Forgiveness is the merciful acceptance offered by the Lord to the one pledging allegiance to him.  Condemnation and punishment for past transgressions against the ruler and the Kingdom are expunged.  The record is reset.  Therefore, the convert is received as a trustworthy and loyal subject, not as a betrayer or turncoat. 

Sins are defined as the ways in which we think and act contrary to the expectation, demands, or rules of the God or Lord.  Everything from breaking the law to personal offense; from stealing to lying; harming others or selfishly hoarding.  Sin is defined as a state or condition in opposition to what is good, right, or true--as defined by the ruler or God.  One can sin by omission or commission---by doing what one ought not to do or failing to do what one ought to do.   To sin against God was to disobey the commandments found in the Hebrew Torah (books of the law).  To sin against Caesar was to fail to pay taxes, fail to acknowledge Caesar's supremacy, stand against the military occupation (i.e., open rebellion). 

The Spirit identifies Jesus as the beloved son of God and sends him to be tested in the wilderness.  This Spirit is understood as an extension of God's self will.  It is the sustainer of life and breath.  It is a source of internal strength, forbearance, and power.  His survival in the wilderness prepares him for his mission/quest.  And what is the quest?
To reclaim sovereignty over the people and land from those that have taken it from him.  This land and this people were occupied, possessed by the Roman Empire through the use of military force. They used violent punishment to maintain control of conquered populations.  Jesus will use nonviolence and compassionate service.  The gospel of Mark is a collision, a confrontation between competing claims of power---Caesar's and God's.  This confrontation will create conflict and tension.  Someone will die.  Will the death be the end of the proposed alternative kingdom or the beginning of a movement?   

Driving out unclean spirits (exorcism) sets people free from the internalized oppression.  They have accommodated themselves to the powers of the empire that oppresses them.  That the first exorcism happens in the Capernaum synagogue suggests that the Galileean Jews have internalized their oppression, adapted to it, accepted it, and need to be released from it.  Their minds and hearts have learned to accept Caesar's lordship and Rome's dominance.  Jesus' teaching will free them from their bondage to Caesar's ways.  For Caesar's ways are destructive, selfish, and emphasize social control through punishment.  His ways are hierarchical and authoritarian.  He is at the top of the pyramid.  The majority are at the bottom.  Rome made use of middle men, people who were part of the oppressed majority who could be persuaded to serve the interests of Rome.  Tax collectors were part of this group. 
The other difference between Caesar and Jesus is that Caesar used propaganda to oppress the people.  The evangelists who brought the "good news" of Caesar's recent conquest subjugate the people, making them feel powerless against Caesar's army.  Jesus, on the other hand, insisted that those he conquered through healing (instead of through physical torture like Caesar) were prohibited from speaking.  He insisted on their silence.  This only encouraged them to share public testimony about him.  But they were not forced or coerced into telling the news, as part of a propaganda machine.  Jesus was not a candidate.  But the people he healed exercised the freedom to speak publicly about him.  Jesus initiated free speech that promoted his mission and stood in contrast to Caeasar's.
Jesus touched untouchable people.  Lepers.  These people stood outside of the community.  They were marginalized because of their disease, twice oppressed---by the Romans and the Jews.  To touch the leper was to infect one's self, to assign one's self to their status.  Jesus became a "leper" by touching a leper.  Jesus also exercised personal authority and power when he healed the leper.  In so doing, he disrupted the accepted status quo.  He rejected the person's assigned identity as a leper and restored his identity as a human, a person with value.  He restored dignity and potential. 

Why does this matter?  Imperialism persists.  The values and actions of empire continue to oppress and limit people.  In the U.S., the original sin of slavery developed a way of seeing people of color as inferior to whites.  This value persists in the form of systemic institutionalized racism.  Internalized oppression continues to challenge racial minorities, long mistreated with disrespect and various forms of violent controls---from Jim Crowe laws to mass incarceration.
Imperialism builds an economy that favors the few at the top and disfavors the few at the bottom, who must work the hard labor to maintain the empire while not benefiting from it.  In the first century world of Palestine, Herod the great used his middle-man status as a puppet rule for Rome to build cities and forts, temples and palaces.  The notion that employment was itself a benefit is part of the economic propaganda that was sold to the people.  Work will make you free is always the propaganda of the empire.  The Jewish God subverted these claims by enshrining in their national charter (the ten commandments) a Sabbath day, a weekly day of rest.  And in order to overcome the imperial claim that work brings economic freedom, the Jewish God established laws of Jubilee.  A 50 year forgiveness of all debts.  In fact, lending was prohibited.  Generosity, the offering of gifts to the poor, characterized Jewish economics found in the Torah law.  

Jesus taught an alternative political and economic system to the values of empire; one that offered freedom from oppression through punishment and healing from the wounds of marginalization and prejudice.  One that emphasized generosity and the sharing of resources/wealth.

Readers of the gospel of Mark might begin to recognize the marks of oppressive empire still at work.  We might also begin to see the proposed alternative laid out by Jesus of Nazareth as a viable way forward in human community. It is a proposed revolution, against the dominant culture's accepted status quo and the empire's logic of power by oppression.   

What questions emerge for you? 
Now on to Mark chapter 2.