The Gospel of Mark (Part 11)

What the 4 Gospels meant to early believers

(And what we can learn from them today)

Part 11

Gentle Reader,

We have been looking back at the 1^st century believers understanding of the Gospels. We have begun with Mark as the shortest of the 4. You need to copy the study so that you can refer to the historical insights and my understanding of the issues. Now understand that as Paul said " For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1Co 13:12) Those who claim to have everything worked out, all the answers, don’t! It’s rather like a jigsaw puzzle in which we worry over one piece of the puzzle when there are other pieces yet to be found (understood).

It’s only when we look closely and then take a step back, consider all the evidence at our disposal with one eye on the possibility that we might be wrong but ‘pressing toward the mark" of the high calling or better the calling upon high to as it were see over the next hill that we will begin to grasp in some small way the wisdom, knowledge and understanding of our heavenly father.

So with that in mind lets see if we can’t get a wee better grasp of what the early believers might have thought of Mark’s gospel.

Remember last time I told you to put your self in the sandals of those readers who were being persecuted and having to flee to the gentile country of Syria and then reading about Jesus two trips and why it would have special meaning for them!

Jesus first trip to Syria

The first trip into the Gentile territory follows immediately on Jesus’ use of a parable that describes the gathering-in of the Gentiles (into to Kingdom of heaven). It is the parable of the mustard seed, small at first, that grows into a huge bush where " But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it." (Mar 4:32) this image of birds for gathering nations is familiar in the Sacred Writings. At Ezekiel 17:23, the lord takes a tiny slip from a cedar tree which, planted, grows so large that "In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing [of every kind]; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell". (Eze 17:23)

While Ezekiel 31:5-6 describes the Assyrian empire before pride led to its downfall, as the great cedar of Lebanon:

"Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. " (Eze 31:3-6)

Daniel 4:21 describes Nebuchadnezzar, before he was cursed as a great tree "Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation

The parable of Jesus thus says that his reign will gather in the nations. These passages from the Sacred (Hebrew) Writings are the kind Mark’s community would be meditating on as they recalled the parable of the mustard seed, and its connection with the Gentiles of Syria.

They would have also reflected on other passages having to do with fear and persecution when they heard how Jesus crossed to Syria over the Sea of Galilee. When the grart storm tossed the boat, yet Jesus sleeps peacefully through it all. The disciples are panic-stricken. Mar 4:38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? That cry would be familiar to the Marken community, since the Levites were required to recite "Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? "(Psa 44:23-24) every day (which they were called Wakers). And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. (Mar 4:39)

We find Jesus the wind "silence " and tells the sea "be bridled". Reining in the sea is a divine act, what God does at "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. "

(Gen 1:9), where He reings in the sea to make land appear. And in Job He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. (Job 26:10-11).

In Psalm 104 "Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth." (Psa 104:9). While in Isaiah "Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst." (Isa 50:2). Psalm 106:9 "He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. "

These last two citations are especially important as we shall see- the Exodus imagery runs all through this Gospel.

Tell next time,

Love,

Denis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Run Into the Hills"

The Gospel of Mark (part 11)

Gentle Reader,

I do apologize for the time that it takes me to post our studies, if things were on a even keel I would be teaching a wee bit each day. However with Marti as sick as she has been and at times all I can do is sit sadly by and watch her suffer as this cursed disease takes its toll. And on the other hand our studies are not for those who are weak kneed, in their faith. As Paul our Apostle to the Gentiles once said Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:"

 And as I have pointed out several times we are looking at the 4 Gospels from the point of view of the 1^st century Believer as if the ink was still wet on the parchments.

This is an new study for me as I wish to push your understanding and mine as far as we may go in this direction.

We might point out the Luke takes "the Defilement that desolates" (to bdelygma tes eremoseos) from Daniel 11:31, 12:11 "And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. (Dan 11:31) And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. (Dan 12:11) which describes the pollution of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes who in 168BCE placed a pagan altar above the altar of sacrifice, which "put a stop to sacrifice and offering (Dan 9:27). This is not parallel to the Romans’ total destruction of the Temple, but it does have a parallel in the Zealots’ seizure of the Temple in 67CE, which escalated the Jewish War. The Zealots maintained their military camp in the Temple until it was destroyed. Josephus, the Jewish historian, calls these Zealots "outlaws" lestai (Jewish War 4.13 ) . The same term Jesus uses in Mark 11:17 " And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves". For those who abuse their roles in the Temple. Which convinces me that the action of the Zealots in 67 CE and the following years is what prompted the Markan community to "run away in the hills" in Syria, escaping the war that would soon destroy the Temple. The Zealots are the Jews who would have been persecuting the Markan community just as the next wave of Zealots would do under Bar Kakhba in 132 CE.

The nearest hills for the persecuted Christians in Judaea ro run toward were in the Syrian Decapolis, a Gentile area where Paul had been active in his preaching. Mark shows that Jesus visiting Syria twice, crossing the sea of Galilee to reach it. If that indeed was where Mark’s listeners had run from their persecutors, both of the times when Jesus entered that territory would be rich with personal meaning for them, and Mark’s emphasis on the two trips would become more understandable.

Now Gentle Reader, for next time re read the 2 times that Jesus crossed into Syria and think about if you were living in that 1^st century what would you have thought and felt and how close would you have felt to the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords?

Till next time then,

Love,

Denis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gospel of Mark and suffering- the why of it?

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:6-8 ) 

Part 9 Mark- A divided community

Gentle Reader,

In the gospel that we ascribe to Mark, we see that Mark speaks not only of Persecution from without but he also points out defection and betrayal within. You must remember first of all that the first readers of these gospels were "living them"! No wonder were are told by the author in the book of Hebrews "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Heb 4:12)

Brother is betraying brother-as happened with the Lord Christ Jesus. Mark alone of all the evangelists speaks and writes of Jesus’ sisters and brothers and he gives the names of all 4 brothers. Unlike Jesus himself they were all named for patriarchs - James (half-brother of our Lord Yeshua) ...Yes! it is the English - as would be translated from the Hebrew name, Ya'akov (Jacob), then Joseph, and Judas, and last Simon. The most important of these was the eldest Jacob ( James ) who presided over the gathering in Jerusalem during the middle years of the 1st century (Acts 21:18 ) Note: we might point out here the while in our English versions of the Bible Jacob is translated James and is used, yet in the Hebrew Scriptures and the English versions retain the form "Jacob" One would do well to try to remember that "Jacob" (JAMES) tried to keep the Jerusalem community observant of the Jewish Low, which became the cause of his conflict with the apostle Paul in the Galatians epistle "For before that certain came from James [Jacob], he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? "(Gal 2:12-14)

That conflict must have left it’s imprint of the communities that Marks Gospel addressed. But before we leave and move on I feel constrained to point off another wee bit of controversy. There are many that try to make Scripture fit in or squeeze into a particular doctrine taught by a denomination of church hierarchy. And that is that some Christians have tried to deny that Jesus had "brothers and sisters", because they take "born of a Virgin" as a biological, not a theological, datum. And while I could (and perhaps will at some point explain Scripture on this matter).

One suspects strongly that Mark addressees must have included believers who had suffered and failed- a community that offers hope and not condemnation, since it points out that even Jesus did not want to drink the cup of suffering and that even his most intimate disciples failed. Since evangelistic theology is geared to spiritual response, this is a Passion Narrative that had and will have special meaning for those who seek to follow Christ. But find the cross that they bear is virtually insupportable in life. To those of the early believers and those of us today who cry from the brokeness of heart "My God, My God, for what reason have you forsaken me?" But never fear Gentle Reader, God has not forsaken the early believers nor you! He is with each of us as we go through the sufferings, and will bring us through with a hand held high in victory.

Enough for now,

next time....

Love,

Denis