Chapter 7-8 - Signs, Signs...

I might sigh deeply in my spirit too. Immediately after Jesus feeds 4000 people with seven loaves of bread and a few fish, the Pharisees ask him from a sign from heaven – as if everything he’s done in the last seven chapters isn’t enough. In his exasperation, he replies: “Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation” (8:12). Is a sign only a sign if it’s understood?

It’s odd at times what Jesus tries to keep secret versus what he says quite openly. In these chapters, he insists on healing a deaf man in private and orders people to tell no one. He takes a blind man out of the village to heal him and tells him to avoid the village on the way home. He sternly orders the disciples not to tell anyone about him, even though he has just heard how confused the people are as to his identity.

Yet he says quite openly 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” (8:31). We’re now at the halfway point of the story. Has Jesus always known this? Is that why he’s so bold about calling out the Pharisees and scribes on their hypocrisy? What’s the point of being subtle?

Even when he’s clear, the disciples still think he’s speaking in parable. “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile…for it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come” (7:15, 21). But how did those intentions get there in the first place? Better yet, what is to be done about them?

We’re given our first hints of an answer at the end of chapter 8: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For 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” (8:34-35). How do we go about losing our lives?

Chapters 5-6 - Eyes to See and Ears to Hear

How is it that we always seem to pay attention to the wrong things? Here in these chapters, Jesus demonstrates extraordinary compassion – first to the man living among the tombs who was “always howling and bruising himself with stones” (5:5). After Jesus heals him, the man begs Jesus to let him go with him. Yet for once, Jesus tells him to share his story instead. (Meanwhile, he raises a young girl from the dead and swears the family to silence!) By encouraging him to go back to his people, Jesus gives the man a purpose and restores him to his community. 

Soon after, we read about a woman “who endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse” (5:26). She was used to hiding and making herself invisible; yet Jesus insists on seeing her. He holds up her faith and, in addition to healing her, makes her visible to her own community again.

Later, at the feeding of the 5000, when all Jesus really wants is to be left alone to rest and pray, we’re told that he sees the crowds and that “he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (6:34). He sees their need and addresses it.

What more do the disciples need to see? Even after having some success on their own teaching and healing others, they still can’t see Jesus clearly. Mark tells us that “their hearts were hardened” (6:52).

If their hearts were still hard even after witnessing Jesus’ compassion firsthand, what hope is there for us? The people of Jesus’ hometown grew up with him. Yet they reject him because they think they know everything they need to know; they know his family. Talk about misplaced focus.

Perhaps the death of John the Baptist in chapter 6 best illustrates our focus on the trivial and the devastating effect of our selective sight. King Herod knows from his own experience that John is “a righteous and holy man” (6:20). Yet he allows palace intrigue to override his conscience and judgment. What kind of world do we live in when prophets end up on platters?

How do we respond? Writer Barry Hannah* offers these suggestions in a poem inspired by the Gospel of Mark:

Do not think so much.

Surrender. Believe.

Unprepared, move out to the world and testify.

The words will come. Serve.

From now on service is kingly.

There are no more kings.

Serve. Help. Love. Others as thyself.

This is impossible but do it.

You have seen enough…

*Introduction to The Gospel According to Mark. New York: Grove Press, 1999.

Chapters 3-4 - It's a Mystery

Even the Sower doesn’t understand exactly how the seeds grow. In these chapters, we find a little parable unique to Mark: “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself…” (4:36-27).

If Jesus has given the disciples the secret of the kingdom of God (4:11), apparently it’s still a secret to them as well. Holding the answer key seems to do them no good in the storm just verses later. We as readers are given the inside track along with the disciples. We’re given the “explanation” denied to the crowds about the different kinds of soil and are left to speculate who’s who – as if we can place people in neat categories. We can guess where the scribes and Pharisees might fall, but what about Jesus’ family? They suspect he’s out of his mind. As for the disciples themselves, we’re told from the outset that one of the Twelve will betray him. One would think that sheer proximity to Jesus would tell them everything they need to know.

Or maybe it’s not about knowledge. The unclean spirits recognize him as the Son of God, but I’m not sure that makes them good soil. We know the soil by what it produces. Jesus says here that “whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” Knowing and doing are two different things.

We might not know what kind of soil we’re dealing with or why some seeds grow and others don’t. But we do know something about the harvest. When a seed finally does take hold – as in the parable of the mustard seed – even the birds that once ate up the seeds on the path now have a place to make their nests in the shade. If there are boundaries to the kingdom of God, I’m not sure where we can draw them.

We don’t get many of Jesus’ teachings in the Gospel of Mark. With Mark, we get no Beatitudes, no Sermon on the Mount, no Good Samaritan, no Prodigal Son. For the most part, Jesus lets his actions speak. What do they say to you?

Click on "comments" below and add your thoughts!

Chapters 1-2 - Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

Only Mark doesn’t. The author skips over Jesus’ birth, childhood and adolescence entirely and begins with a description of John the Baptist instead. How is this “the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1)? What’s the story of Jesus without Christmas? What kind of biography is this?

We’ll soon find out. One wonders what the Spirit of God is up to with Jesus. We’re told that Jesus sees the heavens torn apart at his baptism (imagine that!) and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. He hears a voice from heaven saying: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (1:11). We’re not told what anyone else sees or hears. Then the Spirit immediately drives Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. It’s only after John the Baptist is arrested that we hear Jesus speak for the first time: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (1:15).

We don’t know what others saw in Jesus at first, but it must have been something powerful. Simon (otherwise known as Peter), Andrew, James and John all leave their livelihoods behind to follow him – before he’s had a chance to do anything. It’s only after they join him that we read of his powers to heal the sick and relieve the tormented. What did they see and hear?

All sorts of people find themselves drawn to Jesus in these early chapters. So-called “sinners” have no problem being around him. It’s the religious leaders who find themselves nervous in his company. Why do you think he attracts the crowds? Is it just for the spectacle – or the promise of healing? What draws you to Jesus here (or not)?

Do you see a question you’d like to respond to – or have a question of your own? Add a comment, and join the conversation!

The Jordan River Today - near the Traditional Site of Jesus' Baptism

Welcome!

Inspired by the Bible Challenge occurring within churches all over the Anglican Communion (see thecenterforbiblicalstudies.org), we've decided to challenge EVERYONE at St. Matthew's to read the Gospel of Mark this spring from start to finish. (Why Mark? It's the Gospel we'll hear most Sundays this year.) It's hard to get the flow of this fast-paced story the way we hear it in bits and pieces on Sundays. While the language is simple, it's not exactly straightforward.

What does that mean? Start reading, and find out for yourself!

Don't have a Bible? We can supply you with one. Better yet, join us for a potluck breakfast and presentation on "Which Bible Should I Read?" this coming Sunday, March 11th at 9:00am in Parish Hall - and decide which translation might work best for you.

If you start now and read two chapters each week, you'll be done by the end of April. Check back here from time to time as we reflect on each week's "assignment." Feel free to add your own thoughts and reflections in the comments. (Click on "comments" below to get started!)

In the meantime, save the date: Sunday, April 29th at 5:00pm in Parish Hall. We'll start with a 1st century-style Middle Eastern meal (complete with 1st century-style lighting!) - after which we'll split into different age groups to discuss what we've read. Read, then come and see why it's "the greatest story ever told"!