Sermon Tone Analysis

A New Israel

Text:

Reading:

In Jesus’ enemies are plotting to crush Him.

In v. 9 He is threatened to be crushed by His “followers,” as He heals and restores them.

A bit of foreshadowing by Mark in what lies ahead for Christ.

The way of the cross is not about the last week of Jesus’ life.

The way of the cross is a lifestyle.

The real day-to-day life our Savior and King.

v. 7-12 are a transitional section that connects what’s come with what’s coming.

It echoes the introduction and earlier ministry in galilee as well as foreshadows the passion of the Lord.

says that John was in the wilderness and people were flocking to Him from Judea and Jerusalem.

In we see Jesus continuing His pattern by fleeing from the synagogue and His murderers toward the sea, which is a symbol of the wilderness.

People flock to Him from Judea and Jerusalem, Idumea and Tyre and Sidon.

Jesus is attracting more people from a broader region.

He is mightier than John just as John said on 1:7.

Jesus flees down to the sea, the last two times he was their He was recruiting to His band of misfits.

And we see that He is recruiting again.

In Jesus heals a demoniac after some recruiting.

In Jesus is healing demoniacs after recruiting.

Jesus’ life is full of types and patterns.

Mark has written an account that highlights the typology of Jesus’ life.

The pattern of wilderness and synagogue, recruiting and mission, preaching and conflict continues.

The five conflicts of 2:1-3:6 come to an end and a new series of conflicts arise in Galilee.

Jesus is causing trouble.

He is demonstrating his authority through preaching and service.

In the word “withdrew,” would be better translated as fled.

He flees His murdering enemies.

But why?

What for?

Remember, His life is a retelling or a living out of Israel’s history.

Is Jesus going to leave the land?

Go quiet?

Give up?

Jesus is fleeing, isn’t He the swashbuckling King?

The same Greek word is used to describe Joseph’s flight to Egypt from the Herodians in .

Jesus too is fleeing the Herodians.

In the Greek translation of the OT, the word is used to describe David fleeing from Saul’s attempted murder of David with a mis-aimed spear in .

When David fled from Saul after getting the bread from Ahimelech, a story Jesus reference in , David fled to the cave of Adullam.

And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him.

And he became commander over them.

And there were with him about four hundred men.

David fled to a cave like a tomb, because the kingship of Israel was dying and rising again in David.

Jesus flees first to the Sea, a place of hostility with the dark forces of Satan, before withdrawing further to the top of a mountain.

A place symbolically connected to the meeting of God with Man.

Many flock to Jesus of whom Jesus becomes their commander.

Jesus is the greater David.

But He is the king, not just of Israel, but of the cosmos.

In Him, there is neither Jew nor Greek, but one.

He is gathering the nations under His banner.

And so, He will need new captains of the faith.

New heads of tribes in which all the People of God will flock.

A new band of mighty men.

A new Levitical order.

New wine can’t fit into old wineskins.

New clothe cannot be sewn on old garments.

Jesus is remaking Israel into what it was promised to be to Abraham; a blessing to all the nations of the world and v.7-19 are a glimpse into the new wineskins.

v. 7-12

The Gospel of Mark is unusually particular and concrete, narrating what Jesus did and said in specific situations.

But Mark cannot provide an “unabridged life” of Jesus, and general summary reports such as this one informs and reminds readers that Jesus’ ministry surpassed the stories included in Mark’s Gospel.[1]

This portion summarizes a great deal of Ministry.

Jesus’ ministry and reputation enjoyed extensive geographical influence and dominion over demonic as well as human opposition.[2]

A large crowd” gathers from extensive geographical regions, not only from Galilee but from Judea (including Jerusalem), from Idumea 120 miles due south, from points east of the Jordan, and from Tyre and Sidon fifty miles to the north.

Equally remarkable is the ethnic diversity of the crowd.

Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem were principally Jewish territories; Idumea and Transjordan were mixed Jewish-Gentile regions; and Tyre and Sidon were largely if not entirely Gentile regions (see ; ).54

The fame of Jesus is far reaching and all encompassing, which is all the more remarkable given the social cleavages of the day.

The range of Jesus’ influence exceeds that of John the Baptizer, who had attracted crowds only from Jerusalem and Judea (1:5).

In this reputation and magnetism Jesus is again “more powerful” (1:7) than John.

Like Isaiah’s portrayal of the Servant of the Lord, Mark’s description of Jesus’ geographical influence designates him as a “light for the Gentiles” ()[3]

But the crowd is actually described rather menacingly.

The word for “crowding” (Gk.

thlibein) would better read “pressing” or “crushing”; and “pushing forward” suggests in Greek “mobbing” or “falling upon” Jesus.

The crowd is a paradox.

Its needs command Jesus’ attention, and Jesus is fully attentive to the misery present in its numbers, but its clamor is not a response of faith.[4]

The crowds may fall upon Jesus, but the evil spirits “fall before” him.

The word for “fall before” (Gk.

prospiptein) occurs eight times in the NT, and in each instance save one, it conveys the image of an inferior prostrating himself in homage before a superior.[5]

From this point on synagogues do not figure into Jesus’ preaching or teaching ministry.

On only one other occasion did he enter a synagogue (6:1–6).

With this single exception Jesus turned his back on the synagogues.

He has withdrawn from the institution that had been the center of Jewish religious and cultural life for hundreds of years.[6]

Furthermore, the conspiracy between the Pharisees and Herodians elevated the conflict to a new level.

Up to this point Jesus had faced opposition from religious groups such as the scribes (2:6), the scribes of the Pharisees (2:16) and the Pharisees (2:24).

Now for the first time representatives of the royal family have taken a position against him.[7]

A faction associated with the royal family has aligned itself with representatives of a religious party to kill him.

In response Jesus withdrew from the synagogues[8]

Jesus’ withdrawal to the lake signals an important change in his evangelistic strategy.

The synagogue was no longer the place where he preached the good news.

The references to familiar themes like the popularity of Jesus as a healer and exorcist indicate that his appeal had not suffered.

The size of the crowd (3:9) is much larger than anything Mark has described before, and for the first time Mark portrays a vast following of people from outside of Galilee.[9]

When the demons identified him as the Holy One of God (1:24) or the Son of God (3:11), they were not trying to do him any favors.

Their declarations were a form of opposition—a variation of a prominent feature found in extrabiblical exorcism accounts in which a struggle occurs between the exorcist and demon.

Typically when the exorcist discovers the name of the demon, the exorcism proceeds.

In this case the demons used a similar tactic to resist Jesus: they exposed his identity in an attempt to assert their own power and frustrate the exorcism.

It is an indication of the nearness of the kingdom of God that their tactic was useless.

Jesus first disarmed them by commanding silence, and then he cast them out.

The power of evil was broken, and this is a compelling sign of the imminent triumph of God’s reign.[10]

v. 13-19

The setting for this appointment is “the mountain,” which presumably is meant to be reminiscent of the setting at which Israel was constituted a people (.

The call of the Twelve in 3:14, though, has a markedly different character.