Mark 2 (Evolving Mystery)
Notes
Transcript
Mark 2 (Evolving Mystery)
Mark 2 (Evolving Mystery)
When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So 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. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And 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. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” At 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? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I say to you, stand up, take your mat, and go to your home.” And 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 went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
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. When 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?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
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?” Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.
“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. Similarly, 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.”
One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food, how he 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?” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath, so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They were watching him to see whether he would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then 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. He 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. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
The theme of Mark is this:
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.
You, the reader know this, but no one in the story knows this.
Watch for their reactions!
Okay, so since Chapter 1-2, we have four rapid-fire healings:
The demon (who knows Jesus) is cast out and told to be quiet (important)
He heals more, but forbids the demons to speak about him
Peter’s mother in law is healed from fever and starts to serve them
A leper (skin disease) is healed and sent to the priest for examination and purification
He is told to keep quiet about the healing
He heals the paralytic
It becomes a public engagement with the leaders.
CONTROVERSY!
Thus begins four controversies (Mark 2-3:6)
He heals the paralytic
Authority to forgive sins
Calls Levi the Tax Collector
He eats with sinners and tax collectors
Lack of fasting
While the bridegroom is here, the feast will continue
But when he leaves, the feast will stop
Duh…like patching clothing or using old wine skins
Grain on the Sabbath
The law is made for humans (not just Jews)
Not humans for the law (the law came after humans)
(Next week) Man with withered hand (healing and controversy to close the chiasm)
He heals on the Sabbath
He is being tested and challenged by the leadership
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” At 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? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I say to you, stand up, take your mat, and go to your home.”
Notice a few things…
1. Jesus ‘saw’ their faith and that activated forgiveness
Forgive sins alone: The term forgive in the HB has one and only one subject. It is used 50 times and it is always used of God. No human ever utters the phrase ‘I forgive you’ to another human in the scrolls of the Hebrew Bible. There are some examples of some brothers that ‘make up’ after a wrong:
Jacob and Esau when they meet
Joseph and his brothers
King David and Saul (Kinda)
So their claim that Jesus is uttering a blasphemy is tied to the term selach and nasa (when used of sin) or mahor (cleanse), again when used of ritual impurity.
For Jesus to come along and say this is shocking
Of note…he claims that the ‘Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’
2. Jesus heals the man so they may know he has authority to forgive sins
Jesus does not heal the man to prove he can heal people
He heals the man to prove he has authority to forgive sins
But what does the crowd see?
The healing.
They cheer the healing
So, catch this…
The religious leaders don’t care about the healing, they care about the forgiveness
Something that is under their control!
The crowd does not care about the forgiveness (you and me)
They only care about the healing!
***A key to Mark is understanding that there is a strong presupposition regarding the ‘One who will sit on the throne of David’ and how that is going to look on earth.
In other words…If God ruled the world, what would God do?
Mark shatters these notions of the people
Which is why the whole thing is a mystery to them
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.
If you are a Roman reading this, then you think, okay, this is a Jewish man that does not judge us
If you are a Jewish leader, then you are absolutely flummoxed by the stories elements:
Levi is the tribe of priests (Aaron)
Levi is the tribe that collects the tithe and benefits from it
Levi is the tribe that cannot associate with the unclean
And Jesus turns this around on them.
When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Again, Jesus is saying that LEVI (the money collector) is NOT righteous.
Levi is the sinner that is called to join Jesus
And host a meal for Jesus with the unclean!
The leaders criticize him for eating…
Then they criticize him for not eating!
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?” Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.
In almost all cases of the use of the term ‘fast’ in the Hebrew Bible, they are associated with:
Rebellion
Death
Tragedy
Destruction
Judgment
There is no direct command in Torah to fast.
There is an implied fast on the Day of Atonement, but it is just that, implied.
It is an interpretive choice
There is a term in Hebrew for ‘fast’ and it is not used in Torah
And does not appear until the book of Judges, AFTER the Angel of the LORD leaves the people.
God defines a fast in a curious way:
Is 58, God asks if this is the kind of fast he would choose:
“Would I (God) choose a fast like this: to humiliate the soul of a human being? Is it (a fast) to bow a person’s head, and make sackcloth and ashes to make one’s bed? Is this what you call a fast and a day of acceptance of the LORD?” Is 58:5
The implied answer is: No. God would not chose a fast like this.
Everyone will see it.
Instead…
“This is the fast I (God) would choose for you: Liberate the bonds of wickedness. Smash the ropes of the yoke. Set the oppressed free. Tear off every yoke. Break up your bread for the starving. Make the poor homeless come home. Because when you see one who is naked, you cover him. From your flesh, do not conceal yourself.” Is 58:6-7
You fast in order to execute God’s plan on earth, not to treat him like a magic genie.-
The implication is that Jesus IS FASTING as God defined it in Is 58.
Go read Is 58.
Since we are on food controversies…let’s join Sabbath and food!
And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food, how he 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?” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath, so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
There is so much here…
Of course the Pharisees read this.
There are 2nd temple writings that affirm this thought:
The Mishnah (Yoma 6:6) and the Talmud (Yoma 69b) discuss the incident of David eating the showbread, using it as a basis to argue that the preservation of human life overrides other commandments.
But if your goal is to invalidate, dehumanize, accuse, and judge as guilty your enemy, then you put them under the microscope for any violation of God’s law.
‘The Sabbath was made for anthropos and not anthropos for the Sabbath, so the Son of anthropos is Lord even of the Sabbath.’
Do you understand what this means?
God did not write a set of laws
Then create humans to obey or violate those laws
Instead…
God created humans
Watched how they behaved towards each other
And gave them laws so they would behave well
***Situational ethics
Commandments are for human good
And God is pleased when human good prevails
Moses: I set before you today, life or death, choose life!
In a a conflict between
Obey God and Love Neighbor
choose to Obey God
by Loving your Neighbor
That was the choice of the priest towards David and his men.
I will help you, even though the law strictly forbids it.
The key question, which is a mystery at this point in Mark, is this:
Who is the Christ?
Not who as in what is their name
But who as in how will we know?
Mark 2 (Evolving Mystery)
Mark 2 (Evolving Mystery)
