Gospel of Mark
Study
Week Two
1.
Observation, Interpretation, and Application
a.
Example: man on roof with gun
b.
Example: P.O.W. and favorite colors
2.
Jesus’ authority over:
a.
Demons (1.23-28)
b.
Sickness (1.29-39)
c.
Impurity (1.40-45; 5.21-43)
i. Leper
ii. Woman
with flow of blood
iii. Dead
body
·
See Numbers 5.1-4!
·
“As Joel Marcus notes, these three
cleansings/healings—leprosy (see Mark 1:40-45), blood flow, and
death—correspond to the three types of people who were to be excluded from the
camp of Israel (Num 5:1-5).”[1]
d.
Sins: able to forgive them (2.1-13)
i. “Up
to this point, all Jesus’ activities in Mark are commensurate with his being a
charismatic healer: gathering followers, teaching, casting out demons and
healing. But in forgiving sins
Jesus’ action is without parallel and is outside the scope of the law. Besides there is nothing known in any
Jewish literature of any person, including the Messiah, who can or would be
able to forgive sin, except God. Therefore,
although Jesus is being portrayed as a healer, he is more than that: in his
healing (and forgiving) he is acting for God or, perhaps, even as God.”[2]
e.
Sabbath (2.23-3.6)
f.
Nature (4.35-41; 6.45-52)
i. “The
remarkable parallel in this story [4.35-41] to that of Jonah, which has long
been noted, makes it hard to avoid the conclusion that Mark had this Old
Testament story in mind. As the
sleeping Jonah is roused and asked to pray for help (Jon 1:6), Jesus is
awakened and speaks to the wind and sea (Mark 4:39). Then, just like God in the Old Testament, Jesus gains
authority over the natural elements…. In view of the testimony of demons (e.g.,
Mk 3:11) and of God himself (1:11), the readers can conclude not only that
Jesus is the Son of God (c.f. 1:1).
What they must conclude will become clear in the parallel to this story:
Jesus walking on the water (6:45-52).”[3]
ii. “But
he is also showing that in this epiphany [6.45-52] Jesus has been revealed not
only as directly empowered by God but also as God uniquely present. This conclusion is corroborated by the
Old Testament assertion that God can control the wind (Ps 104:4; 107:25-30) and
that only God is able to walk on the waves (Job 9:8).”[4]
g.
Death (5.35-43)
3.
Observation, Interpretation, and Application of
the above material…
a.
Observations: see above
b.
Interpretation: Jesus is one who has authority to stand in the place of God and do the things
that God does
c.
Applications
i. Jesus
is worthy to be worshipped. Will I
worship?
ii. Jesus
is worthy to be followed? Am I
following him with full faith?
iii. Jesus
can be trusted. Am I trusting him
with everything?
4.
Hemorrhaging woman and Jarius’ daughter à Mark 5.22-43
One obvious reason these two miracles are kept together may
be that these two healings are accurately remembered to have happened in quick
succession so the Synoptic Gospels all put these together (Matthew 9.18-26;
Mark 5.22-43; Luke 8.41-56).
Indeed, the intrusion of the hemorrhaging woman delays Jesus a bit from
coming to heal Jairus’ daughter.
Besides this historical remembrance there are a number of thematic
parallels between the two episodes.[5]
|
Mark
5.22-43
|
Hemorrhaging
Woman
|
Jairus’
Daughter
|
|
Number
“12”
|
She has “had a hemorrhage for twelve
years” (v. 25)
|
“…for she was twelve years old.” (v.
42)
|
|
“Daughter”
|
Jesus addresses her as “daughter” (v.
34)
|
Jarius refers to her as, “My little
daughter” (v. 23)
|
|
Wealthy
background
|
She “had spent all that she had” (v.
25)
|
Daughter is lying in a separate
room. This would be a sign of
wealth for the family.
|
|
Touch
|
Woman touches Jesus (v. 27)
|
Jesus takes “the child by the hand”
(v. 41)
|
|
Faith
|
Jesus mentions woman’s faith (v. 34)
|
Jesus urges, “Do not be afraid, only
believe” (v. 36)
|
|
Restoration
of Fertility
|
Potential restoration of fertility
due to healing of hemorrhaging (v. 29)
|
Culturally marriageable age (12);
raised up to potentially marry/bear children
|
|
Ritual
Impurity
|
Menstrual impurity based on Leviticus
15.25-30
|
Dead body becomes a source of
uncleanness (Numbers 19.11-13)
|
In light of the last element mentioned in the chart—ritual
impurity—the words of N. T. Wright are helpful:
Jesus’ healings, which formed a central and vital part of
his whole symbolic praxis, are not to be seen, as some of the early fathers
supposed, as “evidence of his divinity.”
Nor were his healings simply evidence of his compassion for those in
physical need, though of course they were that as well. No: the healings were the symbolic
expression of Jesus’ reconstitution of
Israel. This can be seen to
good effect in the contrast between Jesus’ agenda and that of Qumran. Read the so-called “messianic rule”
from Qumran (1QSa). There the
blind, the lame, the deaf and dumb were excluded from membership in the
community of God’s restored people.
The rigid—ruthless, one might say—application of certain purity laws
meant a restrictive, exclusive community.
Jesus’ approach was the opposite.
His healings were the sign of a radical and healing inclusivism—not
simply including everyone in a modern, laissez-faire, anything-goes fashion but
dealing with the problems at the root so as to bring to birth a truly renewed,
restored community whose new life would symbolize and embody the kingdom of
which Jesus was speaking.[6]
Jesus manifests a “contagious holiness.” When Jesus touches or is touched by
those who are ritually impure he is able to communicate to them
cleanliness. The usual direction
was for those who were ritually impure to contaminate others but in and through
Jesus there flows healing, wholeness, and purity. He is not contaminated but, rather, purifies others.
5.
Jesus choosing the Twelve (Mark 3.13-19)
a.
Shows something of Jesus’ authority
·
“’What clues can we find about Jesus’
self-understanding from the way he related to others?’
[Ben]Witherington thought for a moment, then replied, ‘Look at his
relationship with his disciples.
Jesus has twelve disciples, yet notice that he’s not one of the Twelve.’
While that may sound like a detail without a difference, Witherington
said it’s quite significant.
‘If the Twelve represent a renewed Israel, where does Jesus fit in?’ he
asked. ‘He’s not just part of
Israel, not merely part of the redeemed group, he’s forming the group—just as
God in the Old Testament formed his people and set up the twelve tribes of
Israel. That’s a clue about what
Jesus thought of himself.’”[7]
b.
Discipleship: Mark 3.14-15
i. “that
they would be with him” à
learn from the Master; imitate the Master
ii. “that
he could send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons”[8]
c.
Jesus is the example they are to follow
6.
Miracles in Mark
a.
“Twenty miracle stories and summaries of
healings account for almost one-third of Mark’s Gospel and nearly one-half of
the first ten chapters, a proportion greater than in any other Gospel.”[9]
b.
“While there are many miracles before the
passion narrative, apart from that of the cursing of the fig tree, no further
miracle stories are related after commences. This has the effect of leaving the reader with the
impression that Jesus, the powerful miracle worker, identified as the Messiah
and God, is being portrayed as choosing to offer himself powerless into the
hands of the authorities in order to die (cf. Mk 10:45).”[10]
7.
Next week: Mark 6.7-8.26
a.
Why is there a big section (6.14-29) about John
the Baptist? Of what significance
is this for the ministry of Jesus and the Twelve? (Hint: Watch for what immediately precedes this story
(6.7-13) and what immediately follows (Mark 6.30).
b.
Watch for what we continue to learn about the
authority and identity of Jesus in chapters 6-8.26 in terms of Jesus’ teaching
and miracles. What does Jesus
demonstrate authority over?
c.
As you consider the feeding of the 5000 and the
4000 think about any Old Testament precedents for people being miraculously fed
with bread. How might this help us
understand Jesus?
d.
What were you challenged with or moved
emotionally with as you read?
[1] John DelHousaye, “Jesus and Jewish
Menstruation Traditions: Implications for the Liberation of Women” (Unpublished
paper), 7 quoting Joel Marcus, Mark 1-8: A New Translation with Introduction
and Commentary (AB 27; New
York: Doubleday & Company, 2000), 367.
