Mark 8. Who do you say that I am?

In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, ²‘I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. ³If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.’ ⁴His disciples replied, ‘How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?’ ⁵He asked them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ They said, ‘Seven.’ ⁶Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. ⁷They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. ⁸They ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. ⁹Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. ¹⁰And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.^*

The Demand for a Sign

11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. ¹²And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.’ ¹³And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod

14 Now the disciples^* had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵And he cautioned them, saying, ‘Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’^{* 16}They said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ ¹⁷And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ They said to him, ‘Twelve.’ ²⁰‘And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ And they said to him, ‘Seven.’ ²¹Then he said to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’

Jesus Cures a Blind Man at Bethsaida

22 They came to Bethsaida. Some people^* brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. ²³He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ ²⁴And the man^* looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ ²⁵Then Jesus^* laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’^*

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ ²⁸And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ ²⁹He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’^{* 30}And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³²He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel,^* will save it. ³⁶For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸Those who are ashamed of me and of my words^* in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’

Reflection Questions:

What do you think of Jesus?  What is he like?  How does he treat his disciples?  How does he relate to the other teachers and religious leaders (Pharisees)? 

Why does it take two tries to heal the blind man?  Why does Jesus feed a second crowd of 4,000 people after feeding a crowd of 5,000?

What does Jesus teach about his mission and future?  Why does he order their silence?  Why does he ask his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?"

Who is Jesus?   

Mark 7. Losing my Religion

The category, "spiritual but not religious" has been an emerging, growing trend among younger adults for about a decade now.  Much has been written about it and discussed.  Whole books have been dedicated to the subject. Just Google "Spiritual but not religious" to see what I mean.  The suggestion is that there is something wrong with organized religion, but that spirituality might define someone who is seeking a deeper connection with the invisible God.  We know that a deep skepticism toward institutions has infected the west, and that both government and the church have been affected by it.  Religion is about morality and rules that restrict and exclude.  Religion puts certain people on pedestals, only to have them abuse power by abusing the people they were called to serve.  Catholic priest sex scandals and evangelical pastors affairs merely confirmed what many westerners already thought of Christianity.  And we know from a recent Pew Research poll that about 25% of Americans consider themselves unaffiliated with any religious tradition or group.  They are called the "Nones", because of the category they checked next to their religious preference. 
What can we say about Jesus of Nazareth, 1st century Jewish Rabbi?  Though he worshiped in the synagogue, he flouted customs and rituals of purification specified in the Old Testament law.  he broke Sabbath law to heal the physically broken and to feed his hungry disciples.  Breaking cleanliness laws included association with notorious sinners---women, lepers, demon-possessed people, immoral men, the sick, and the disabled.  His contact with them and with the dead make him ritually unclean, according to Jewish law.  He became a religious outcast in order to be in community with religious outcasts.  His behavior excluded himself in order that he might include the excluded in his life and teaching.  He brought hope and healing from God to people who were told that God had rejected them.  He sees the hypocrisy of the religious elders in his community.  And he says that it is not what is outside a person that defiles, but what is in one's heart and mind. 
Jesus' own radical inclusion of religious outsiders is put to the test by a Syrophoenician woman---a gentile and former enemy of Israel.  (Think Lebanese woman).  Her daughter is demon-possessed.  (Must have been a teenager):) She challenges his reluctance to help her.  Why is he reluctant?  Because Jesus was raised within a context of prejudice and boundaries. Discrimination and segregation was a part of Jewish law, meant by God to demonstrate holiness, but used by people to divide and hate.  But his ministry of hospitality and inclusion expands over these 7 chapters of Mark. The circle of inclusion widens. This is the most radical inclusion scene yet.  A gentile woman whose daughter is demon-possessed.  This woman might as well be a Zombie!  And she is brave enough to challenge Jesus' prejudice and invite him into her suffering.  And he sees faith in her, faith enough to heal her daughter.  For Jesus, faith is not a religious category.  Being a Lutheran or a Christian or a jew does not make one faithful.  Faith is a relationship of trust between God and us. 
I think many people see Christianity as divisive, hateful, and prejudicial.  Moral issues divide Christians.  Homosexuality has been the moral issue of the last 30 years.  Jesus is silent about homosexuality.  But we cannot be.  Jesus abandons moral boundaries to walk in solidarity and love with marginalized people.  He looks at religious traditions that exclude as distortions of God's intentions.
"Spiritual but not religious" is a way that some people reject the prejudicial, exclusionary aspects of Christianity.  Unfortunately, they often throw the baby out with the bathwater.  How can we invite and challenge people back into gospel community, where the marginalized are welcome and all are loved back to life?  How do we embody Jesus' mission and embrace the "nones" or the "dones" (those who have left the church in protest)?  Perhaps we begin by examining and confessing our own prejudices or ways of excluding.  And then move toward authentic relationship one day and one person at a time. 
     
   
  
            

Mark 7. Losing My Religion

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, ²they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. ³(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands,^* thus observing the tradition of the elders; ⁴and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it;^* and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.^*) ⁵So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live^* according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ ⁶He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
“This people honours me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me;
⁷ in vain do they worship me,
   teaching human precepts as doctrines.”
⁸You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’
9 Then he said to them, ‘You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! ¹⁰For Moses said, “Honour your father and your mother”; and, “Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.” ¹¹But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, “Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban” (that is, an offering to God^*)— ¹²then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, ¹³thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.’
14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’^*
17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸He said to them, ‘Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, ¹⁹since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰And he said, ‘It is what comes out of a person that defiles. ²¹For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, ²²adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. ²³All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre.^* He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, ²⁵but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. ²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ ²⁸But she answered him, ‘Sir,^* even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ ²⁹Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ ³⁰So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Jesus Cures a Deaf Man

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. ³²They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. ³⁴Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ ³⁵And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶Then Jesus^* ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’

Reflection Questions:

What were the exclusionary rules you learned as a child? What were you taught about gay people, the racial other, the mentally ill, law-breakers? 

Are there 'untouchables' in the U.S. today?  Who are they?  What are we taught about 'them'?  What keeps us away from 'them?'

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being very open and accepting, and 1 being very cautious and selective about others where do you put yourself? 

What does it mean to be open to new things, to diverse relationships?  How inclusive ought Christians to be?  Are there good reasons to exclude people? 

Jesus rejects conventional religious behaviors  What religious behaviors have you rejected?  Why? 

Mark 6. Community Conflict and Multiplying Mission

I still remember the first time my dad let me mow the lawn on my own.  I guess I was 12.  I think I wanted to try it for about 2 years.  It was a riding mower.  I had seen him mow hundred of times.  He showed me how everything worked, talking to me about the gears and throttle, the mower deck and blade.  I knew how to be safe before I ever sat in the seat.  I had even driven it in his presence several times.  He corrected me more than once as I failed to turn off the blade or missed a spot of grass.   Then one day, he handed me the keys.   
Jesus' rejection in his hometown causes a shift in his ministry strategy.  Did  you see it?  First, he becomes more itinerant, traveling to more villages.  Second, he sends the twelve out to do what he has been doing.  They become spirit-filled practitioners of his gospel work.  He is not so interested in growing a single community of believers or followers.  He sends them out like a scattering of seeds in the rich soil of Galilee.  What they do in those villages and homes and communities brings life and hope to people that one man couldn't possibly accomplish alone.  His mission spreads like an infection.  It is passed on through person- to- person contact.  It seems like his rejection there motivates him to move in a new direction. Why?  His movement is bigger and broader in scope than he can build alone.  He is building a culture of disciples, a culture of shalom, of life and health and peace.  And he is not a one-man show.  He knows that the mission's long term sustainability must not depend on him.  Because he will die.  So, the movement must be passed on to others, who can learn to do what he does.        
Just when this new strategy unfolds, we hear the story of John the Baptist's death.  The significance of which we can begin to understand in retrospect.  John's movement in the wilderness, like the Essene community of desert dwelling ascetic Jews of which he was likely a part, dies with him.  There is no longstanding Jewish community observing baptism for the forgiveness of sins, even after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.  What does this teach us?  Jesus practiced a discipleship that apprenticed people into his ministry and mission.  John did not.  His mission was to identify Jesus and to prepare the way of the Lord.  Jesus mission is to change the world by making disciples who make disciples. When faith communities become leader dependent, they live or die with that leader.  When faith communities become leadership schools, the mission long outlives its founder. 
The story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes is more than a feeding miracle.  The real miracle is that the disciples become agents of God's divine power and grace.  They get to become part of God's daily feeding miracle, as the creator provides food for the earth and all its creatures.  They get to be part of God's grace economy.  And, their work does not end with one day's feeding.  Twelve baskets of leftovers remind them that their work, the mission continues. They are invited and challenged to join the mission of God to take, bless, break, and feed, the hungry world.  They are called to bring the healing, to bring the peace, to bring the kingdom to a suffering world.  This whole chapter reveals the intention of discipleship---to multiply the mission, to feed more hungry people, and to strengthen our faith in Jesus.  He is not absent.  He is observing us to correct us.  He has not abandoned his followers.  He did not abandon them then.  He has not abandoned us now.  He has just given us the keys and said, "You do it.  Keep going.  It's your turn."    It may be that, like the 12, we fail to understand our role in God's just and peaceful rule.  But we have one.  We must discover it.  Our calling.  Our gifts.  Our tasks. The good news is that we get to discover together and see the Jesus movement unfold before us. 

Mark 6. Commnity conflict, Multiplying Mission

He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. ²On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! ³Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary^* and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence^* at him. ⁴Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ ⁵And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. ⁶And he was amazed at their unbelief.

The Mission of the Twelve

Then he went about among the villages teaching. ⁷He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; ⁹but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. ¹⁰He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. ¹¹If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ ¹²So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. ¹³They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

The Death of John the Baptist

14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’^* name had become known. Some were^* saying, ‘John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ ¹⁵But others said, ‘It is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’ ¹⁶But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’
17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod^* had married her. ¹⁸For John had been telling Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ ¹⁹And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, ²⁰for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed;^* and yet he liked to listen to him. ²¹But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. ²²When his daughter Herodias^* came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ ²³And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’ ²⁴She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the baptizer.’ ²⁵Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’ ²⁶The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s^* head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

Feeding the Five Thousand

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. ³²And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. ³³Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. ³⁴As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. ³⁵When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; ³⁶send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ ³⁷But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii^* worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ ³⁸And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ ³⁹Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. ⁴¹Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²And all ate and were filled; ⁴³and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
47 When evening came, the boat was out on the lake, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the lake. He intended to pass them by. ⁴⁹But when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; ⁵⁰for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ ⁵¹Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, ⁵²for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Healing the Sick in Gennesaret

53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. ⁵⁴When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, ⁵⁵and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the market-places, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

Invitation/Challenge Matrix.
What culture did Jesus experience in his hometown?  What did he do about it?  Why was he rendered powerless there?
Jesus sends the twelve out to multiply his ministry. When he does, we learn about the death of John the Baptist.  Why are these two stories connected?  How does John's death affect Jesus and the 12?
What culture does Jesus create with the hungry crowds?  With the disciples at the end of a long day?
Why does it matter that Jesus "walks on water"? 

Jesus goes there

The Gerasenes on the other side of the lake take Jesus and his disciples to new territory, gentile territory.  This is the first time Jesus intentionally crosses a boundary.  He has healed in synagogues and among the Jews, but now he extends his healing ministry beyond the borders.  He breaks Jewish holiness laws to do it.  He is found among the pig farmers, among the dead, with a demon-possessed outcast.  This scene would have turned the stomachs of the Jewish leaders in his day.  They would've been horrified that he, a rabbi, would enter this place.  Are there such places in our world?  Unsafe, unclean, dangerous, deadly places?  Places where you wouldn't take your children?  Jesus goes there.
He goes there with a singular mission:  To meet and heal this man.  One man.  Demon-possessed by 'legion'.  Everyone knew what a legion was---about 5,000 Roman soldiers.  As a people experiencing a powerful military occupation, the implications of this healing are more than personal.  It is political, too.  Driving a legion of demons out of the man is to drive a Roman legion out of Israel.  Its as if Mark is calling a legion of Roman soldiers "a bunch of pigs that we wish would fall into the sea and drown!"  Imagine how Roman soldiers would have taken this story!   Jesus' ministry has broader implications.  It calls into question the systems and structures that prevent people from thriving, that kill our bodies and souls.  This reveals that the confrontation Jesus brings goes from the bottom to the top of the food chain!  He's setting individuals free as a sign of God's intention to set all people free.
In our world, healing has become scientific and individual.  And yet, we see communities rally behind causes like breast cancer awareness.  People come together to find a cure, to support people who are suffering, and to encourage health.  Fundraising walks for Lupus, heart disease, cancer, and ALS bring communities together to fight illness.  The Race against Racism fights the disease of prejudice. This is what Jesus is doing when he brings his disciples to Gerasa.  He is exposing them to the dehumanizing effect of illness, mental and physical, and invites them to become part of the healing. 
Jesus is anti-incarceration! Because he sees that it does not work.  When the man is set free, he begins to tell others about Jesus.  A man others gave up on is a changed man because of Jesus.   He is the first evangelist, telling the public about Jesus.  Notice that Jesus encourages him to tell others what God has done for him and he tells others about Jesus?  This man experiences the power and presence of God in Jesus!  For people of faith, the work of Jesus is the activity of God in the world.

The next scene is a Markan sandwich, a writing method Mark employs to tell two stories at once.  The story of the daughter of Jairus and the bleeding woman are connected and must be interpreted together.  After all, the woman has been bleeding for 12 years and the girl is 12 years old. 
This story conjures up concern for sexual abuse of women and girls, human trafficking, child marriage, inadequate women's health care, and the unequal treatment of women.  Neither of these two people were afforded adequate and effective health care.  Doctors couldn't help them.  Rather than provide help, a community gathers to mourn.  Even before the child dies! 
There is empowerment in this story, too!  The woman approaches Jesus and touches him.  Her action immediately draws Jesus' power to heal, without his consent or choice.  He says that her faith has healed or saved her.  Salvation and healing are the same word in Greek! And she initiates it!  Go to Jesus and be healed/saved. Salvation is both physical and spiritual. 
The crowds laugh at Jesus when he suggests that Jairus' daughter, presumed dead, is sleeping.  Laughing mourners?  He is exposing their falseHe encourages Jairus to not doubt but believe.  When Jesus commands the girl to get up, she does!  He does not help her up.  She sits up and Jesus commands them to give her something to eat.  Eating is a sign of life! 
Jesus confronts the enemy, death.  It takes many forms.  Illness, isolation, imprisonment, misogyny, abuse, neglect, suffering, bleeding, dying.  Jesus confronts gender inequality.  In our world, 1 in 4 women experiences sexual abuse in their lifetime.  Jesus brings healing to them.  In so doing, he breaks cultural taboos.  He is touched and touches a woman and a girl---property of another man or household.  This was unlawful and exposes Jesus to public shame. 
In this chapter, Jesus joins a dirty, sick, dying, sinful world by becoming one of us.  He becomes a sinner by breaking cultural taboos, by breaking cleanliness laws, and by defying death itself.  He rejects the Roman military occupation, viewing it like demonic possession.  He goes where he is not supposed to go to bring God's goodness, mercy, and healing.
Notice how little the disciples do at this point.  They are learning by exposure, and likely shocked by his actions. 
If church follows this Jesus, where and to whom would we go?  What message would we send?  Anti-military occupation; pro-women's health, pro-girl; joining those who suffer with mental illness in isolation; anti-incarceration; defying death by providing people access to what they need to free them from their suffering.  He goes where others won't go.  And his disciples go with him.     





  

Gospel of Mark 5

They came to the other side of the lake, to the country of the Gerasenes.^{* 2}And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. ³He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; ⁴for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. ⁶When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; ⁷and he shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.’ ⁸For he had said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ ⁹Then Jesus^* asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’ ¹⁰He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; ¹²and the unclean spirits^* begged him, ‘Send us into the swine; let us enter them.’ ¹³So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned in the lake.
14 The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. ¹⁶Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. ¹⁷Then they began to beg Jesus^* to leave their neighbourhood. ¹⁸As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹But Jesus^* refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ ²⁰And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat^* to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. ²²Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet ²³and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ ²⁴So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. ²⁵Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. ²⁶She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. ²⁷She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ ²⁹Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ³¹And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ ³²He looked all round to see who had done it. ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’
35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ ³⁶But overhearing^* what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ ³⁷He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. ³⁸When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ ⁴²And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. ⁴³He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Questions for reflection:

Jesus pushes boundaries.  Jew/Gentile; male/female; clean/unclean (moral/immoral); dead/alive.
Jesus increases the intensity of his actions---driving out 'legion'; raising the dead.

What is Jesus facing/confronting in this chapter?  What challenges must he overcome?  What are the barriers he has to cross, literally and figuratively?
What are the results, realized and suspected, of Jesus' actions? 
What does Jesus teach about healing and the power of faith?
What do we learn about Jesus' power? 

Seeds, Soil, and Sailing

Reflection

Mark 4 really begins Jesus' teaching ministry.  He teaches in parables, illustrative stories set in a familiar context that point to another reality.  Jesus uses the language of seed and soil to teach about the kingdom of God.  From the indiscriminate scattering of seeds to the way seeds take root, emerge, and grow Jesus invites us to see God's activity in the world as a natural reality within and around us.  He also teaches that there is a kind of hidden aspect to God's activity.  It is not always overt, obvious, and clear that God is the active agent behind the good life.  Jesus' teachings are meant to shine light, to reveal what God is doing in the world.  Some will be given the ability to see, others will not.  We might wonder why some have faith and some don't.  We might wonder why God is obtuse or hidden from us. 
In the parable of the sower, Jesus suggests that the seed is scattered indiscriminately.  Only a quarter of the soil is good soil that receives the seed and produces.  Most of the soil is not good soil.  It's rocky or weedy.  Some of the soil isn't even tilled land, it's a path!  The point is that God, the sower, is not a good farmer. He scatters seed, even where it is not received or accepted.  There is no judgment on the "bad soil" and we ought not to think literally about the application of this story.  We are tempted to think of the different soils as categories of the human heart or mind.  And then we judge who is "good soil" and who is "bad soil".  Not Jesus' point.  Even in Jesus' interpretation of the parable that he gives to the disciples, he is not passing a judgment on those who do not receive the Word.  God sows lavishly, excessively, and foolishly in the world.  We are recipients.  Sometimes we're ready. Sometimes we're not.   What do you think God is sowing in the world?  I think God sows peace and mercy.
The two parables of the seed scatterer and the mustard seed show us that God's activity does not depend on our intervention or work.  There is mystery about some of the things tht God does.  God's activity is often subtle, missed, small, seemingly insignificant.  But what God starts, grows and becomes something large and significant.  Church started with a small group of students, following a 1st century Jewish Rabbi.  Now there are over two billion Christians in the world.  How did a movement so vulnerable and insignificant become something so important to so many people? 
Finally, the parable of the boat on the sea. Is this a literal event?  Or a teaching moment? Or both?  Jesus teaches his disciple that faith is the absence of fear.  It is peace in the middle of chaos, rest in the middle of life's storms.  Jesus is in the boat with us.  He signifies God's peaceful presence with us in the midst of life's turmoil and dangers.  To have faith is to trust that God cares that we are all perishing, enough to show up and take action! 
So, how do we begin to see with the eyes of faith, to trust that God is in the boat with us, and to receive what God is sowing into our lives, into the world?  How do we recognize the activity of God around and within us?  How do we become aware of the presence, protection, provision, and peace of God in daily life?  This is the art of discipleship.  To become aware.  To wonder about the soil of my own life.  What obstacles, barriers, trouble is preventing God's word of life from penetrating my life? 

Prayer.
Lord, let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word.  When I am afraid, drive my fear away.  When I am in need, provide for me and protect me.  When I am uncertain of your presence and activity in my life, awaken my inner senses to know you are near me.  Amen.     

 

Mark 4

Mark 4

The Parable of the Sower

4Again he began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land. ²He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, 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. ⁸Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ ⁹And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

The Purpose of the Parables

10 When he was alone, those who were around him along 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 comes in parables; ¹²in order that
“they may indeed look, but not perceive,
   and may indeed listen, but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.” ’
13 And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴The sower sows the word. ¹⁵These are the ones on 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: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.^{* 18}And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²⁰And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’

A Lamp under a Bushel Basket

21 He said to them, ‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? ²²For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. ²³Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ ²⁴And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. ²⁵For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’

The Parable of the Growing Seed

26 He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. ²⁸The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

The Use of Parables

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; ³⁴he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

Jesus Stills a Storm

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

Questions for reflection:

What do you think Jesus meant by "the kingdom of God"?
Why does Jesus teach with parables? 
What do the disciples learn from Jesus on the sea? 

Opposition and Family. Mark 3

Reflection.

As Jesus' public ministry builds momentum, we see two things happen.  We see opponents resisting Jesus' teachings and we see a core group of twelve students coalesce around him.  These 12 disciples are also apostles.  They are both gathered around him as learners and sent from him as practitioners.  The learning model is an apprenticeship, action/reflection model.  He expects more from them than belief or faith.  He expects them to act---to do what he does, not just know what he knows.  His teachings are often examples.  When he heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day, he defies the letter of the law that prohibits work of any kind.  But, he redefines the spirit of Sabbath by asking, "Is it lawful to do good or harm on the Sabbath, to save life or destroy it?"  Who would suggest that  God's law permits one to destroy or do harm?  Jesus suggests that to do nothing is tantamount to doing harm or destruction.  So, he acts.  He sees that we create barriers that prevent people from getting access to health care.  By healing the man he calls these barriers unjust.  Whenever a leader publicly challenges systems of injustice, those who benefit from that system (and someone always does) become angry.  We haven't even gotten through the 3rd chapter and already people are plotting against him! 

We see a variety of opponents.  Jewish leaders.  Demons.  Jesus' family members.  His teaching practice is confrontational and controversial.  He is upsetting the status quo by healing people!  We can say that following Jesus will create opposition or resistance.  Why?  People hate change.  And people are invested in maintaining their own comfort, sometimes at the expense of others.  Jesus threatens the delicate imbalance that exists between the people at the top and the people at the bottom.  Jesus crosses boundaries, norms, and rules that define place.  The man with the withered hand was considered cursed by God.  It was assumed that some moral failure caused God to punish him.  So if Jesus healed him, he must be working for God's opponent---Beelzebul.  We see Jesus as a divine healer.  But they saw Jesus using demonic powers to oppose God.  That is why Jesus quotes Abraham Lincoln (a house divided against itself cannot stand).  Jesus sees the withered hand as a work of the devil not of a punishing God.  Jesus has a perspective on the human condition that says evil is at work in the world and it is not God's doing!  He has been sent by God to confront the evil forces at work in the human family by healing those who are suffering.           

Jesus redefines the family, too.  Who is his family?  Those who do the will of the Father.  And what is that?  We look at Jesus to understand the will of God, assuming that he demonstrates it in his actions.  So, we might say the will of God is a reorienting baptism and time of wilderness trial; a public announcement about the coming of the reign or kingdom of God, works of healing and mercy.  Jesus will continue to show us what God's will looks like in action.  He will continue to redefine family.  Beyond blood and ancestry.  God's family is bigger than Israel. This is a major theme and a massive shift that Jesus proposes about God.  God may not look like, sound like, or think like us!  God may not be male or white or English-speaking or American, either.  Wait and see what happens in chapter four...
   
  
   

Opposition and Family

GOSPEL OF MARK 3

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ²They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ ⁴Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. ⁵He looked around at them with anger; he was 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 conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Multitude at the Lakeside

7 Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; ⁸hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. ⁹He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; ¹⁰for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. ¹¹Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ ¹²But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

Jesus Appoints the Twelve

13 He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles,^* to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, ¹⁵and to have authority to cast out demons. ¹⁶So he appointed the twelve:^* Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); ¹⁷James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); ¹⁸and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus and Beelzebul

Then he went home; ²⁰and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. ²¹When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’ ²²And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’ ²³And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. ²⁷But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
28 ‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; ²⁹but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— ³⁰for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’

The True Kindred of Jesus

31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. ³²A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and sisters^* are outside, asking for you.’ ³³And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ ³⁴And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’

Reflection:  Who opposes Jesus?  Why? 
What is the emerging conflict in the story?
Some people suggest that there is something wrong with him.  Why?
Jesus calls 12 disciples/apostles to be with him and to be sent out to proclaim the message.  Why?
What do you think about the way Jesus describes 'his family'?   

Paralysis and Freedom

In Mark 2, Jesus is showing his people a new kind of freedom.  As he forgives sins, eats with sinners, and breaks the Sabbath day law.  Why does Jesus do these things?

Paralysis is not only caused by a spinal cord injury.  Many things paralyze us, prevent us from getting up and doing what we are made to do.  The people were paralyzed by moral religion and the rules.  They were paralyzed by internalized oppression and fear of the Roman army.  There was (and still is) a great deal of judgment, shaming, and hypocrisy going on in the religious community.  Sinners are law breakers, offenders, rule breakers, wrong doers.  Sometimes people are treated as criminals and not as human beings.  People are seen as 'bad' or 'dangerous' or 'offensive'.  They are treated as subhuman, untouchable, lost losers.  Minorities know what it is like to be abused to the point of paralysis, afraid to go out in public or to stand up for one's self. 
People are still paralyzed by abusers of power, by fear, by guilt or shame, by vulnerabilities, inadequacies, and perceived incompetence.  People are paralyzed by their own egos, their own need to be above the rest, their need to succeed.  The stress caused by these things is unhealthy.  Some people are even physically disabled by these spiritual, mental/emotional struggles.  I wonder if this person was depressed? Or grieving?  Or in pain?  Empathy never dismisses or ignores the other, but invites them in for healing and hope.  
Jesus sees people as children in need of forgiveness, so that we can stand up and live.    
I think the four friends who bring the paralyzed person to Jesus represent the mission of the church.  We are called to bring people to Jesus, who are paralyzed by shame, guilt, grief, anger, mistrust, fear, etc... 
Jesus represents the God who gives us freedom.  We are freed from the power of sin, telling us we are bad, broken, and worthless.  We are freed from judgment and condemnation--God's or other's.  We are free to be the person God made us to be, to exercise that freedom to become children
n of God and coworkers in the ongoing stewardship (act of love) of creation.  We are invited to stand up with those who are oppressed and broken, threatened and afraid.  We are challenged to confront hypocrisy and moral condescension.  We are invited to enjoy the fruit of the earth and to share it abundantly with those who need it the most, every day.  Nothing should prevent us from thriving or helping others to thrive in God's world.       

What paralyzes you these days? 
How do yo hear Jesus' message of forgiveness?  Does it free you to be your created self? 


 

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.         


 

identity and calling

WORD: 1 Samuel 16

¹The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” ²Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” ⁴Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” ⁵He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
  ⁶When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” ⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” ⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” ¹¹Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” ¹²He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” ¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

OBSERVE:

The covenant with God was not enough for the people.  They wanted a King.  They didn't know what they were asking for.  The Covenant with God was a binding relationship and promise made by God to the people.  This covenant gave them their identity as God's chosen people. 
Kingship entails responsibility to represent God.  The King idea was not Gods.  It was the people of Israel's complaint for a King, despite God's warnings.  Kings will take your sons and daughters, raise taxes, start wars.  God gives them a King.  King Saul, first of Israel's Kings, lost favor with God.  Saul's hubris, self-determination, and the misuse of power compel God to turn away from him.  He did not represent God's interests.  God is determined to replace Saul with a new King, from Bethlehem. 
Samuel the prophet/judge is sent to the household of Jesse, grandson of Ruth and Boaz, from the family of Judah, son of Jacob (Israel).  A procession of sons is brought before Samuel, God's representative. We are told God does not choose people based on outward appearance or stature, but God looks on the heart.  When all the sons of Jesse are rejected, the last son, the forgotten shepherd boy David is brought in.  He is young, ruddy, and handsome.  God chooses David to become King.  Unexpected.  The last son becomes the first.  Not unlike the story of Jacob or Joseph (Genesis 26-50).  God chooses what is foolish to shame the wise; the weak to shame the strong. 

REFLECT

In God's Kingdom, the last and the least become first. This pattern is critical in understanding the mission of God.  God chooses the weak, the small, the despised, the last, the least, the losers, the bottom, the desperate, the hungry, the humble shepherd to represent God's interests in the world.  Those who sit on thrones in halls of power in fancy clothes with rich foods and comfortable beds are not chosen by this God.  God empowers the powerless. God lifts up the lowly.  And the mighty are cast down from their thrones.  This theme, beginning with David, becomes the story of Jesus, a humble servant, carpenter's son, rabbi to fishermen and tax collectors. In Baptism, we are chosen and anointed to serve.  We are invited into the family of God and challenged to build the Kingdom.  We are given a new identity as sons and daughter of God.  We are called to a new obedience to represent God's interests in the world.  Jesus reveals to us God's interests, God's desire, God's hope and intentions for human kind.  He teaches us what God wants us to become and do.   He inspires us with His Spirit and words. 
We elect representatives in this country to represent our interests in the halls of power and to use the authority given them by their constituents to enact and enforce laws for the common good.  When those people fail to represent us, they are defeated in future election. 
What happens when we fail to represent God's interests in the world?  Can we be replaced?  Though our covenant identity as children of God never ends, we have responsibility to uphold as God's chosen ones.  Not to preserve ourselves, but to bless others.  That is the role of God's children--to be a blessing to others, a light to the nations, a feast of rich food, a well in the desert.  When we don't, God empowers others in our place.  Sometimes, God's people forget that we get to be part of God's kingdom-building work.  That we're charged to live as humble servants.  We are invited and challenged to embrace both our identity and calling; our relationship and role as God's  representatives. 

PRAY

 Father,  in Holy Baptism, we were anointed and chosen, identified as beloved children of God and sent to bless the world.  Claim us.  Empower us.  Send us.  When we fail, forgive us and give us another chance to represent you.  In the name of Jesus. Amen.