Blogging with Mark, Introduction and Chapter 1

My BFF recently challenged me to read the book of Mark to get to know Jesus better.

She wants me to do a book report.

I thought, "I'll see you your book report and raise you a series of blog entries."

So, here we go:

The Gospel of Mark is allegedly the first Gospel written.  This Bible.org article gives its date of authorship as sometime between AD 64-69.  If we accept 33 AD as the date of Jesus' crucifixion, we have a book written some 30-40 years after the fact. 

While there's disagreement among scholars as to who exactly "Mark" was, a possibility is that he was a disciple of Peter.  From the Bible.org article about the book of Mark:

"Papias (the bishop of Hierapolis A.D. 140) wrote in his last work (Exegesis of the Lord's Oracles) the strongest evidence for Marcan authorship tied to Peter:

The Elder said this also:  Mark, who became Peter's interpreter, wrote accurately, though not in order, all the he remembered of the things said or done by the Lord.  For he had neither heard the Lord nor been one of his followers, but afterwards, as I said, he had followed Peter, who used to compose his discourses with a view to the needs of his hearers, but not as though he were drawing up a connected account of the Lord's sayings.  So Mark made no mistake in thus recording some things just as he remembered them.  For he was careful of this one thing, to omit none of the things he had heard and to make no untrue statements therein."

(Bear in mind the words "though not in order".  Mark isn't necessarily concerned with telling Jesus' story in strict chronological order.)

Mark is not a comprehensive biography of Jesus.  Rather, it's Jesus' "highlight reel".  Its first audience was to Christians in Rome, mostly Gentiles. Bible.org points out: 

1. The book translates Aramaic expressions (see Mark 3:17, 5:41, 7:11,34; 9:43, 10:46, 14:36, 15:22, 34.)
2. It explains Jewish customs (see Mark 7:-4, 14:12; 15:42)
3. It uses Latin terms, rather than Greek (see Mark 5:9; 6:27; 12:15, 42; 15:16,39.)
4. It tells time in Roman terms (Mark 6:48; 13:35)
5. He is the only one who identifies Simon of Cyrene as the father of Alexander and Rufus (see Mark 15:21, cf. Romans 16:13.)
6. It uses very few quotations from the Old Testament and very few references to fulfilled prophecy. (Why would Romans care about what a Jewish holy book predicted?)
7. Mark, at the end of Jesus' crucifixion, has a Gentile--a Roman centurion--proclaim that "surely this man was the Son of God".
8. There's a tone in this Gospel encourages Roman believers who were both encountering and expecting persecution (see Mark 8:34-38; 9:49; 13:9-13) 
9. He assumes that his readers are familiar with the main characters. This gives him room to deal with theology and "he writes with more of a theological interest."
10. He addresses his readers by explaining the meaning of certain actions and certain statements (see Mark 2:10,28; 7:19)
11. He doesn't include a genealogy.  

So, let's dive into the text and see what it has to say:

Mark introduces his book as "the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God."The words "good news" here are a translation of the Greek euangeliou, a version of the word euaggelion.  "Gospel" literally means "God's good news."  Mark is not writing a book of bad news, but of good news.  I think sometimes we forget that "gospel" is "good".

In verse 2, Mark includes one of his few Old Testament quotations, first from Malachi 3:1-- "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way," and then from Isaiah 40:3, "a voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"  I'm reminded here of this song from Godspell.  What Mark is doing here is talking about John the Baptist, saying, "It was written, the messenger is coming to say, prepare for the Lord."  In other words, "He's coming!  Get ready for him!"  Like, when your favorite rock group is coming to town.  Or when your favorite show is coming back after a break.  

So here comes this character, named John the Baptist (or, John the Baptizer), "preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."  And he gained quite a following, because v. 5 says that the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to hear him. Which makes me wonder what was so attractive about him as a speaker that the whole countryside and all of Jerusalem would go out to hear him.

But he was very clear:  "After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie."  Guys, I'm not even good enough to take his shoes off.  But he's coming.  I'm baptizing with water.  He's going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

So the crowds leave, wondering, "Okay, who's the guy? Who's the person we're waiting for?

This is when our main character shows up.

If the words, "Jesus, Son of God" weren't hint enough, we should know that something's up about the guy when he comes to John the Baptist and he's baptized in the Jordan.  

In my imagination, I see Jesus standing in line with the rest of the people waiting to be baptized, waiting his turn just like everyone else.  Then John sees him and his eyes turn to saucers.  "You're here!  You're the guy!  But I'm the one who ought to be baptized by you!  What are you doing here asking me to baptize you?"  (I'm borrowing from the book of Matthew here.) 

Over John's protests, he baptizes Jesus.  And heaven is torn open and the Spirit descends on him, like a dove.  (I'm sure there's some symbolism here, given that it was a dove that Noah sent out at the end of the flood.)  And he heard God saying, "You're my Son.  I love you.  I am pleased with you."

So what does he do?

Give a Rocky-esq, fists-thrust-high-in-the-air pose while, "We Are the Champions" plays in the background?

Nope.  "At once," the Spirit sends him out into the wilderness.  Who besides me sees a large finger pointing, "That way"?  What's interesting is that the Greek translated "sent out" is the word ekballei, from the word ekballo, meaning, among other things, "I drive out, I throw, I cast, I banish."  An entry in Biblehub.com clarifies the meaning of this verse:  "to lead one forth or away somewhere with a force which he cannot resist."

I'm not a Greek scholar, but either Jesus didn't have a choice but to go out into the wilderness, or he allowed himself to be thoroughly compelled by the Spirit to go.  

I've also never visited the Holy Land.  I have, however, been out West to the desert, and a comment my husband made sums up southwestern Utah/southeastern Nevada/northeast Arizona perfectly:  "You throw a body out here, and the body will never be found."  I guess it's a good thing I'm not Jesus, because if I were Jesus and I were compelled by the Spirit to go out into that sort of terrain, I'd probably be asking the question, "Uh, excuse me, you said I was your Son, you loved me, and you were well pleased with me.  So what are you doing, sending me out into the middle of nowhere?"

Verse 13 casually comments that Jesus was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan.  I could probably last forty minutes in the wilderness being tempted by Satan.  But I'm not sure if I could last forty hours, let alone forty days. Forty days is about five to six weeks.  Some people with cancer have a chemo regimen that lasts six weeks.  

Six weeks alone.  Six weeks with nothing but wild animals to keep you company.  ("Hello, lizard.  Have we met before, or was that one of your brothers or sisters?")  Six weeks full of rocks, and dirt, sun beating down on you by day and then shivering at night.  And the whole time, being tempted by Satan.  I know in Matthew and Luke, when they write of this event, they mention three specific temptations of Jesus.  But in my mind, that doesn't preclude Satan poking his head over a rock at other times, saying, "Hello, Jesus, remember me?  How about turning that rock over there into a nice loaf of unleavened bread?  You can do it."  And doing this over and over and over.

Fortunately, at the end of the sentence, Mark says, "angels attended him."  I imagine it would have been a relief for Jesus to see them show up. 

Jesus shows up again after John is put in prison.  We don't know why John was put in prison, perhaps this is a fact that Mark assumes his audience already knows.  But anyway, Jesus shows up again, and his announcement is:  The time has come.  It's here.  The kingdom of God has come near.  Repent and believe the good news!  Or, "repent and believe in the gospel".

"Repent and believe in the gospel", in the Greek here, is "metanoeite kai pisteuete en to euangelio".  Metanoeite means "to change one's mind or purpose".  Pisteuete, here, comes from pisteuo, meaning, "to believe, entrust."  Euangelio is the same word Mark used before, in talking about "the good news about Jesus".  

Jesus says, "change your mind, change your purpose, believe the good news.  Trust the good news.  The kingdom of God is here.  Repent and believe!"

When Jesus was baptized, he was in the Judean countryside.  But when he shows up again in public, he's now in Galilee.  He makes a visit to the Sea of Galilee, where he meets two fishermen, Simon and his brother Andrew, throwing a net into the lake.  We don't know from the text if this is the first time they've ever met, or if they've met before and Mark just doesn't mention it.

But for some reason, this call, "Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people," was enough to make Simon and Andrew drop their nets and say, "I'm in!"  Maybe it was nothing more than, "We're wet and dirty, and fish stink.  I'm tired of these wet, stinky clothes.  Let's go fishing for people!"

I don't know if they were "casting a net into the lake" from a boat or from shore, but if they were in the boat, can you imagine Jesus yelling out, "Hey!  You two!  In the boat!"

Two scraggly heads of hair poke up, and Andrew probably tells Simon, "Be careful!  Don't drop the net!  You know how much this cost?" 

"You want to fish for people?  Follow me!"

Simon to Andrew:  "Grab an oar, brother!  I'm in!"

Andrew:  "Me, too!" 

The water splashes as the oars churn up the surface.

A little farther down the shore, they run into two more men, James and John, the sons of Zebedee.  And since they were all fishermen, they probably all knew each other.

"Simon!  Andrew!  Who's your new buddy?"
"I'm Jesus.  You want to fish for people?  Follow me!"
James and John, probably also with scraggly hair and wet clothes, look at each other.  James wrinkles up his nose at the smell of fish, then says, "Let's go!"

They leap over the side of the boat and wade to shore, while Zebedee yells after them, "Hey!  Where are you two going?  You can't make a living by fishing for people?  And what does that mean, anyway, 'fishing for people'?  Come back here!"

Okay, my account of the scene is probably rather irreverent.  But what makes four men leave their boats behind -- what makes four men leave behind a secure job, leave behind their father, leave behind the life they'd known and been trained for to follow a man who promised to teach them how to fish for people? 

I wonder if Mark's audience thought, "They did what?  And why?  Let's keep reading."

Jesus and his disciples show up next in Capernaum, and on the Sabbath, Jesus goes into the synagogue and starts teaching.  And apparently he's no ordinary teacher.  "He taught as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law."  In Greek, Jesus taught as one who had exousian, from the Greek exousia.  As used in v. 22, it means, "physical and mental power; the ability or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises".

What in the world did Jesus have that the teachers of the law didn't?  What did Jesus have that amazed his hearers?  And how could they tell Jesus had it?  

Maybe they knew it when they heard the shriek in the synagogue:  "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are--the Holy One of God!"

Picture this:  Jesus sitting in the "seat of the law", giving his lesson, when somewhere out of the blue, no warning, you hear a shout.  I don't know about you, but if I heard, "What do you want with us?  Have you come to destroy us?"  I'd be worried.  And when he screamed out, "You're the Holy One of God!" I'd either think the screamer was nuts or I'd be scared to death of Jesus.

Jesus' answer (my paraphrase):  "Shut up and get out of him!"

Which the spirit did, leaving with a scream.  The man lays huddled on the floor, maybe curled in a ball, with the crowd in the synagogue probably being afraid to get near him.  And they're all looking at each other, asking, "What's going on?  This guy has . . . authority!  He even tells impure spirits to leave and they do!"

The Twitter feed explodes and the video is posted on YouTube.  Or perhaps it was livestreamed on Facebook.  Well, at least, the 1st century version of Facebook.  Because "news about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee."  When someone orders an impure spirit out a man, and it goes, and you see it happen  . . . 

The best advertising is word of mouth, and the word of mouth--the Galilean grapevine--goes into effect.  "You heard about this guy Jesus?"

In the wake of the excitement at the synagogue, Jesus goes home with Simon and Andrew, and James and John come along. I wonder how long it took them to get home, with people pointing at Jesus, saying, "He's the one!  He cast out the impure spirit!"  Is it possible that he fought a crowd of fanboys to get to Simon and Andrew's house?  

And when they show up at Simon's house . . . they find Simon's mother-in-law ill with a fever.  I wonder if Simon mentioned her while they were on the road.  Did Simon think, hmm, if Jesus can throw out that unclean spirit, can he make my mother-in-law well?  (And since Mark calls her "Simon's mother-in-law" that also tells us that Simon had a wife.  What did they think of Simon's friend Jesus, who caused him to abandon his profession in order to do this crazy new job of "fishing for people"?)

Jesus' response was to not just tell the fever to "get out of here", but to go to her, take her hand, and help her up.  This is a doctor with a compassionate bedside manner.  I cannot see Jesus jerking this woman out of bed.  Rather, I see him saying, "Here, let me help you up." 

Can you see the reaction when she realizes she's well? 

I had a fever on the Fourth of July.  I felt awful.  All I wanted to do was lie in bed and sleep, and the last thing on my mind was to make dinner for everyone.  If I had to get up, I was just waiting to get back into bed.

But when Simon's mother-in-law got up, she knew she was well.  In fact, her first response was to wait on them. "Slow down!  You just got out of bed!" "But I feel great!"  And she probably wanted to show her gratitude to the man who made her well.

The Galilean grapevine, already humming with the news of Jesus, this man who taught with authority and drove out an impure spirit, went into overdrive.  "Not only did he handle that impure spirit, he healed Simon's mother-in-law!"

So that evening, after sunset (in other words, after the Jewish Sabbath was over), Jesus heard the murmurs outside and poked his head out to see a crowd filled with people ill and demon-possessed.  Imagine the E.R. on Chicago Med.  People lying on homemade stretchers, or being supported by someone as they tried to walk.  The hands of the blind groping out towards Jesus.  People seizing or foaming at the mouth, screaming.

Mark says that "the whole town gathered at the door" and that Jesus healed "many who had various diseases".   You had the blind shouting, "I can see!  I can see!"  Or a deaf man jumping at the sound of the crowd, then realizing he could hear.  The lame jumping off their homemade stretcher and maybe breaking it in half.

And then you had the demons; the ones who knew exactly who it was they were dealing with.  "Hey, you're -- " the rest of the sentence being cut off as Jesus orders them out of their host.  He wouldn't let them talk, Mark says, because, "they knew who he was".  

So if he was the Son of God, the Messiah, and people had been waiting hundreds of years for him . . . why doesn't he let the demons speak?  "I don't want your PR.  I don't need your PR.  I'm the Son of God, and I'm the one that gets to decide the time and the place when I tell people.  No one manipulates me into doing anything before my time."  

So after the whole town comes to the door, and Jesus spends the evening healing people, he goes to bed.  Finally.  And then he gets up before sunrise, and goes off to a solitary place, and prays.  Who knows how much sleep he got the previous night? 

And when Simon and "his companions" (probably John, James, and Andrew) came looking for him, and say that "everyone's looking for you?"  he says . . .what?

"Let's go somewhere else so I can preach.  That's why I came."

What?  You don't go back?  You don't make a public appearance on demand? 

No, apparently Jesus will not be manipulated.  His mission is not to hang around one place. So he moved on.  And he continued to travel throughout Galilee, preaching and driving out demons.

And while on his travels, he met a man with leprosy.  The man begged, "If you're willing, you can make me clean."

In the most recent translation, it says that Jesus was "indignant".  I don't understand why they used this word.  To me "indignant" sounds like "Jesus was offended," like, "What do you mean, 'if I am willing?'" said in a huff.  The word here is splagchnizomai, meaning literally, "to be moved in the inward parts"  He was moved.  The suffering of others affected him.  Jesus was not above it all.  

He told the man, "Be clean!" and immediately, the man was clean. 

But when Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone but go to the temple and offer the sacrifices Moses commanded," he went out and started talking about what Jesus did.  The result?  "Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places," . . . and yet, the people still came to him from everywhere.

I sometimes wonder if Jesus felt like our modern celebrities feel at times.  He couldn't go anywhere without being bothered.  Everyone wanted a piece of him.  Everyone wanted a favor.  Oprah would have wanted him on her show.  Barbara Walters would have begged for an interview.  Or Anderson Cooper.  TMZ would have their nightly "Jesus sightings".  Producers would have wanted to follow him around with cameras, maybe pitched a reality show idea to him.     

At the close of this first chapter of Mark, we have a man in demand.  We know he can heal.  We know he can cast out demons.  We know is a preacher.  We see him going from town to town.  We see a man with authority.  We also see a man who will set the time and the place where he will reveal that he is the Son of God.  Jesus, the man, will not be manipulated.  He can be moved, like the man with leprosy moved him, but he will not be manipulated.

Thus ends Mark, Chapter 1.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.