We are at Mark 6:45, which says, "Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray." When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake. They had made good time. However, now the disciples weren't getting anywhere because they were rowing against a strong wind. I would have thought Jesus would have known that was going to happen before he sent them out. He could see them from the land yet did nothing until "the fourth hour of the night."
The fourth hour of the night is a phrase for the three hour period just before dawn, about 3-6am. These guys must have been rowing in the boat all night, about nine to twelve hours, getting nowhere fast. It seems a little ridiculous to me. The lake is 8 miles wide and 13 miles long. Why didn't they just go back to the shore and wait out the wind, when they first saw that it was futile to go on? And these are supposed to be men experienced with boats. Does the author of Mark actually know anything about this area?
So, what does Jesus do? He walks right out onto the lake and is about to walk past them when the disciples yell with fright because they think he is a ghost. Not only that, they must have been utterly exhausted and the mind plays tricks on you when you are tired. He told them not to be afraid and identified himself. He got in the boat and the wind died down. The text says they were amazed "for they had not understood about the loaves (aka miraclulous feeding) and their hearts were hardened." Harsh.
Reading this story makes me think it actually could have happened, but not the way we are meant to think it did. Let's try looking at it this way: Suppose Jesus did send the disciples across the lake and they got to the middle fairly quickly but a strong wind came up. By that time, it was evening and getting dark, but it was still light enough for Jesus to make them out on the water, especially if he was on high ground. Let's suppose that he also saw that they gave up trying to fight the wind and decided to head back. Then night fell. Remember, this is the first century, no electricity, no flashlights, no matches. Have you ever been in a remote place after dark? What about when there is cloud cover and no moon? What about on the water at night with no light at all? How far can you see? Yeah. Same here.
I don't know if this boat had sails. It definitely had oars, and must have been big enough to hold twelve people. I don't even know how sail boats work. How much can you do in pitch black, in a high wind, on any boat? It's my guess that you would hunker down and ride it out, hoping for the best, bailing water as fast as you can, if need be. Maybe they rowed in the direction the wind was pushing them, just hoping to reach land quickly, not knowing for certain exactly what spot they would end up at. We aren't even told exactly where they began. What was Jesus doing in the dark and the wind? Any normal human being would have found shelter and had a snooze, if possible. He surely wasn't standing on the hillside watching the disciples struggle with the boat for nine hours.
The hours between 3-6am are when the sky begins to lighten and visibility improves as dawn approaches. Jesus heads for the shore. By the time he gets there, he can see the boat rocking on the waves, anchored just off shore, with the crew of exhausted men limp and dozing. The wind has died down but they hardly notice. The tide is low, so Jesus walks out to the boat. There is a light morning mist hovering on the water. Someone is startled awake, sees Jesus appear to be gliding above the water, and yells. Everyone wakes up. Jesus looks ghostly in the early morning light. He laughs and says, "Relax, it's just me." He gets in the boat and they all realize the wind has died down, so they easily cross over and landed at Gennesaret, which is not where they had been heading the first time, but maybe it was the closest place, and they were probably hungry.
It could have happened that way.
Showing posts with label Sea of Galilee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sea of Galilee. Show all posts
Friday, January 18, 2019
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Mark part eight
We are now in Mark chapter five. Jesus and his disciples are still in the boat. " They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him." This guy had super human strength and couldn't be controlled by anyone. He was also strong enough to break any restraints. "Night and day...he would cry out and cut himself with stones." Frankly, if this person existed, he is more likely to have had a mental illness than a demon. Also, the fact that he is alive means that he is receiving some kind of basic sustenance from somewhere.
When the man saw Jesus, he fell on his knees in front of him. Jesus ordered the evil spirit to come out. The man yelled, "what do you want with me, Jesus, son of the most high god. Swear to god you won't torture me." So, the evil spirit didn't immediately obey Jesus. First it tried to bargain with him. Jesus ask the spirit what its name was. It said, "Legion, for we are many." Sounds like Schizophrenia.
The demons begged Jesus to allow them to go into some nearby pigs. Jesus "gave them permission." The spirits came out of the man and into a large herd of pigs. About 2,000 pigs ran down a steep bank into the river and drowned.
Interestingly, there actually wasn't any region of the Gerasenes with ten miles of the lake (Sea of Galilee) which Jesus is supposed to have just crossed. It's like the author of Mark doesn't know the region very well. Second, the story suddenly jumps from the lake to a river, possibly the Jordan. Also, this is the east side of the lake, or river, gentile territory, as seen by the herds of pigs. What is Jesus doing here any way? Not to mention, he is now responsible for the death of about 2,000 pigs owned by some sure to be angry pig farmer(s).That's a lot of dead pigs in the river.
The news got out and people came running to see what had happened. They saw the formerly demon possessed man dressed and in his right mind. (This version never says the man started out naked.) The people were told the story and clearly were not happy, because they begged Jesus to leave. Jesus got back in the boat. The cured man wanted to come with him but Jesus ordered the man to go and tell his family how the lord had mercy on him. The man went around the whole region telling what Jesus had done. But there is no extrabiblical record of it.
Next, Jesus goes back to the other side of the lake. Among the large crowd gathered there was a synagogue leader Jairus. This man begged Jesus to come heal his dying daughter. Jesus followed Jairus with the large crowd milling about them. In the crowd was a woman with some kind of ailment that caused her to bleed for twelve years (and she's not dead or an invalid?). It doesn't say what kind of bleeding, presumably it was menstrual. This would have made herself, and everyone who came in contact with her, ritually unclean, including Jesus. She came up behind Jesus and touched his cloak, thinking that just touching Jesus's clothes would give her access to his healing powers, which the story says it did. Jesus felt the power go out of himself and turned around saying, "Who touched me?" The disciples reminded him of the press of the crowd, but Jesus kept looking. Funnily enough, he didn't have the power to know who touched him. The woman confessed, "trembling with fear." Jesus told her that her faith had healed her. Here's the thing about that: this woman's problem was of a hidden/private nature. She could have lied. Jesus could have lied. Even if we were right there, we wouldn't know the truth of the healing without an examination, which of course wouldn't happen. Should we just believe?
Of course we mustn't forget about Jairus's daughter. The story seems to have gotten side tracked. More next time.
When the man saw Jesus, he fell on his knees in front of him. Jesus ordered the evil spirit to come out. The man yelled, "what do you want with me, Jesus, son of the most high god. Swear to god you won't torture me." So, the evil spirit didn't immediately obey Jesus. First it tried to bargain with him. Jesus ask the spirit what its name was. It said, "Legion, for we are many." Sounds like Schizophrenia.
The demons begged Jesus to allow them to go into some nearby pigs. Jesus "gave them permission." The spirits came out of the man and into a large herd of pigs. About 2,000 pigs ran down a steep bank into the river and drowned.
Interestingly, there actually wasn't any region of the Gerasenes with ten miles of the lake (Sea of Galilee) which Jesus is supposed to have just crossed. It's like the author of Mark doesn't know the region very well. Second, the story suddenly jumps from the lake to a river, possibly the Jordan. Also, this is the east side of the lake, or river, gentile territory, as seen by the herds of pigs. What is Jesus doing here any way? Not to mention, he is now responsible for the death of about 2,000 pigs owned by some sure to be angry pig farmer(s).That's a lot of dead pigs in the river.
The news got out and people came running to see what had happened. They saw the formerly demon possessed man dressed and in his right mind. (This version never says the man started out naked.) The people were told the story and clearly were not happy, because they begged Jesus to leave. Jesus got back in the boat. The cured man wanted to come with him but Jesus ordered the man to go and tell his family how the lord had mercy on him. The man went around the whole region telling what Jesus had done. But there is no extrabiblical record of it.
Next, Jesus goes back to the other side of the lake. Among the large crowd gathered there was a synagogue leader Jairus. This man begged Jesus to come heal his dying daughter. Jesus followed Jairus with the large crowd milling about them. In the crowd was a woman with some kind of ailment that caused her to bleed for twelve years (and she's not dead or an invalid?). It doesn't say what kind of bleeding, presumably it was menstrual. This would have made herself, and everyone who came in contact with her, ritually unclean, including Jesus. She came up behind Jesus and touched his cloak, thinking that just touching Jesus's clothes would give her access to his healing powers, which the story says it did. Jesus felt the power go out of himself and turned around saying, "Who touched me?" The disciples reminded him of the press of the crowd, but Jesus kept looking. Funnily enough, he didn't have the power to know who touched him. The woman confessed, "trembling with fear." Jesus told her that her faith had healed her. Here's the thing about that: this woman's problem was of a hidden/private nature. She could have lied. Jesus could have lied. Even if we were right there, we wouldn't know the truth of the healing without an examination, which of course wouldn't happen. Should we just believe?
Of course we mustn't forget about Jairus's daughter. The story seems to have gotten side tracked. More next time.
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Mark part four
We are in the second half of Mark chapter two. Jesus now has five disciples, Simon, Andrew, James, John, and Levi. Levi is a tax collector. In verse 15, we find Jesus at Levi's house eating with many tax collectors and "sinners." Three times sinners are mentioned in this passage and all three times the word is put in quotation marks with no explanation for that. My study bible also says that these sinners were "notoriously evil people" like adulterers and robbers. It is also unclear how that conclusion was arrived at.
The pharisees apparently saw Jesus eating with these social outcasts and criticized it. How did they see that? Was everyone eating outside? Were the Pharisees looking in the windows? Jesus's defense against the pharisees charges was that he was not there to call the righteous, but the sinners.
Next, we are told that John's disciples and the pharisees were fasting, which probably made them cranky. The story doesn't say the occasion of the fast, but it was presumably religious. People wanted to know why Jesus and his disciples were not fasting. Jesus uses a metaphor to say they don't need to fast because he is with them, when he is gone then they will fast. He's special. Then Jesus makes another metaphor about old wine skins and new wine skins, which, to me, makes no sense at all in this context.
The next story takes place on a sabbath. Jesus and his disciples are walking through grain fields and the disciples begin picking heads of grain, presumably to eat. The pharisees, who must have been walking with them, tattle to Jesus, saying what the disciples are doing is unlawful on the sabbath. Jesus then gives an example of David breaking the mosaic law when he was hungry. He says "the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." Yeah, right. That is why god gave a death penalty for breaking the Sabbath. The story of David breaking the law and getting away with it only proves that no one was willing to kill him for that transgression, if it actually happened. In fact, throughout history, Jews have been reluctant to carry out all the various death penalties mentioned in the law of Moses.
Chapter three tell us that "another time he went into the synagogue and a man with a shriveled hand was there." Jesus was watched carefully to see if he would heal the man on the sabbath. Of course, Jesus bucked convention and healed the man's hand with a great deal of show. Apparently these healings did not impress the pharisees, because they began to plot Jesus's death. I wonder how the pharisees would have told this story. Did they think Jesus was a charlatan? Or were they actually so mean hearted as to prefer Jesus's death over his miraculous healings?
In chapter 3, verses 7-12, Jesus is being followed by crowds of people from all over the region, because of the healings. Demon possessed people are falling down before him and calling him the son of god, but he is adamant that they should not tell anyone. It does not say he exorcised all those demons. If he did, why would he have to tell them to shut up? Because of all the crowds, Jesus had a boat ready to take him away, at the sea of Galilee.
In verse 13, Jesus decides to take a few select people with him up on a mountainside. There he selects his twelve apostles. We've only read of five up to now. The twelve are Simon, who we are told Jesus names Peter, which means "pebble." Does this say something about Peter's personality? There are also James and John, who Jesus calls "the sons of thunder." Then we have, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Matthew, another James, Thaddeus, another Simon, and Judas Iscariot, who is said to have betrayed Jesus. There is a little foreshadowing there.
More to come.
The pharisees apparently saw Jesus eating with these social outcasts and criticized it. How did they see that? Was everyone eating outside? Were the Pharisees looking in the windows? Jesus's defense against the pharisees charges was that he was not there to call the righteous, but the sinners.
Next, we are told that John's disciples and the pharisees were fasting, which probably made them cranky. The story doesn't say the occasion of the fast, but it was presumably religious. People wanted to know why Jesus and his disciples were not fasting. Jesus uses a metaphor to say they don't need to fast because he is with them, when he is gone then they will fast. He's special. Then Jesus makes another metaphor about old wine skins and new wine skins, which, to me, makes no sense at all in this context.
The next story takes place on a sabbath. Jesus and his disciples are walking through grain fields and the disciples begin picking heads of grain, presumably to eat. The pharisees, who must have been walking with them, tattle to Jesus, saying what the disciples are doing is unlawful on the sabbath. Jesus then gives an example of David breaking the mosaic law when he was hungry. He says "the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." Yeah, right. That is why god gave a death penalty for breaking the Sabbath. The story of David breaking the law and getting away with it only proves that no one was willing to kill him for that transgression, if it actually happened. In fact, throughout history, Jews have been reluctant to carry out all the various death penalties mentioned in the law of Moses.
Chapter three tell us that "another time he went into the synagogue and a man with a shriveled hand was there." Jesus was watched carefully to see if he would heal the man on the sabbath. Of course, Jesus bucked convention and healed the man's hand with a great deal of show. Apparently these healings did not impress the pharisees, because they began to plot Jesus's death. I wonder how the pharisees would have told this story. Did they think Jesus was a charlatan? Or were they actually so mean hearted as to prefer Jesus's death over his miraculous healings?
In chapter 3, verses 7-12, Jesus is being followed by crowds of people from all over the region, because of the healings. Demon possessed people are falling down before him and calling him the son of god, but he is adamant that they should not tell anyone. It does not say he exorcised all those demons. If he did, why would he have to tell them to shut up? Because of all the crowds, Jesus had a boat ready to take him away, at the sea of Galilee.
In verse 13, Jesus decides to take a few select people with him up on a mountainside. There he selects his twelve apostles. We've only read of five up to now. The twelve are Simon, who we are told Jesus names Peter, which means "pebble." Does this say something about Peter's personality? There are also James and John, who Jesus calls "the sons of thunder." Then we have, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Matthew, another James, Thaddeus, another Simon, and Judas Iscariot, who is said to have betrayed Jesus. There is a little foreshadowing there.
More to come.
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Mark part two
We are in Mark chapter one, at verse twelve. Jesus has just been baptized by John the baptist who was said to have been in a desert area. The spirit, which has descended on Jesus sends him "out into the desert," which must have been nearby. Jesus stayed in the desert forty days (magical number) being tempted by Satan. Mark says he was with wild animals and angels attended him. This story is much shorter than the similar event recorded in other gospels. It includes very few details. Notice that no one else was with him as a witness. So, if this was Jesus's claim, everyone who heard it would have had to take his word that he was telling the truth. Can you think of any reason why he would lie?
From there, the text jumps to John the baptist being in prison, after which Jesus went into Galilee telling people to repent because the kingdom of god was near, they were to believe the good news (aka gospel). Do you see that? Jesus didn't start preaching till AFTER John was out of the way. John could not publicly contradict Jesus's claims if he wanted to. Also, the "good news" here was the approaching kingdom of god. It feels like there are so many different gospels in the new testament.
When Jesus was at the Sea of Galilee (which is actually a lake) he recruited Simon (later called Peter) and his brother Andrew by telling the two fishermen that he would make them "fishers of men." How punny. Naturally, they dropped everything and followed him. In this same way, he also recruited James and John, who were just about to go out to fish in their father's boat. Now there are four disciples. Disciple just means student.
They all went to Capernaum. On the Sabbath (Saturday), Jesus taught in the synagogue. This is not anything special. I'm pretty sure any male Jew was allowed to get up and say something in turn. However, the text claims that what Jesus said impressed everyone, but it does not record his words on the occasion. While he was speaking, a man possessed by an evil spirit starts yelling at Jesus. He accuses Jesus of coming to destroy them and says he knows who Jesus is..."the holy one of god." (What if it was actually just some guy yelling, "Hey, I know who he is." Then the story got stretched. It could have happened that way.) Jesus commands the spirit to be quiet and come out of the man, which it does with a shriek. Good cinema. In fact, if this actually happened, who's to say Jesus didn't plant the man in the audience. That kind of thing happens today.
The people were sogullible amazed that they began gossiping about this guy who taught like he knew what he was talking about and could exorcise demons. Naturally the news spread quickly. The five of them then went to the home of Simon and Andrew, where Jesus got rid of Peter's mother-in-law's fever. Then she began to wait on them, 'cause that's what women were expected to do after recovering from a fever and they needed someone to wait on them. Jesus did all this stuff on the Sabbath. The mother-in-law also waited on the men on the Sabbath. Was it just men who were not supposed to work on the Sabbath? Or was waiting on men not considered work?
After sunset, when it was no longer the Sabbath, people began to bring all their sick and demon possessed to Jesus to be healed. He apparently healed a lot of people with "various diseases" and exorcised many demons. (I wonder if had the same success rate modern faith healers have.) However, he didn't let any of the demons speak "because they knew who he was." Ha. That's kind of funny if you think about it. People who knew who Jesus was were not allowed to speak and were said to have demons. Hmm. There is definitely more than one way to look at that.
More to come.
From there, the text jumps to John the baptist being in prison, after which Jesus went into Galilee telling people to repent because the kingdom of god was near, they were to believe the good news (aka gospel). Do you see that? Jesus didn't start preaching till AFTER John was out of the way. John could not publicly contradict Jesus's claims if he wanted to. Also, the "good news" here was the approaching kingdom of god. It feels like there are so many different gospels in the new testament.
When Jesus was at the Sea of Galilee (which is actually a lake) he recruited Simon (later called Peter) and his brother Andrew by telling the two fishermen that he would make them "fishers of men." How punny. Naturally, they dropped everything and followed him. In this same way, he also recruited James and John, who were just about to go out to fish in their father's boat. Now there are four disciples. Disciple just means student.
They all went to Capernaum. On the Sabbath (Saturday), Jesus taught in the synagogue. This is not anything special. I'm pretty sure any male Jew was allowed to get up and say something in turn. However, the text claims that what Jesus said impressed everyone, but it does not record his words on the occasion. While he was speaking, a man possessed by an evil spirit starts yelling at Jesus. He accuses Jesus of coming to destroy them and says he knows who Jesus is..."the holy one of god." (What if it was actually just some guy yelling, "Hey, I know who he is." Then the story got stretched. It could have happened that way.) Jesus commands the spirit to be quiet and come out of the man, which it does with a shriek. Good cinema. In fact, if this actually happened, who's to say Jesus didn't plant the man in the audience. That kind of thing happens today.
The people were so
After sunset, when it was no longer the Sabbath, people began to bring all their sick and demon possessed to Jesus to be healed. He apparently healed a lot of people with "various diseases" and exorcised many demons. (I wonder if had the same success rate modern faith healers have.) However, he didn't let any of the demons speak "because they knew who he was." Ha. That's kind of funny if you think about it. People who knew who Jesus was were not allowed to speak and were said to have demons. Hmm. There is definitely more than one way to look at that.
More to come.
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