We are now at Mark 8:14. After Jesus has told the Pharisees that he won't give them a sign from heaven, he and the disciples get in the ever present boat and cross the lake again. The disciples forgot about bringing food and had only one loaf of bread. To which Jesus says, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and that of Herod." Since we have just encountered Pharisees looking for a sign, I'm assuming Jesus is chiding them for not trusting him to provide for them, which he sees as the influence of the Pharisees. This is further born out in his discussion of the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand, after which he says, "Do you still not understand?" It seems that the disciples had not seen those events as miraculous, and they were there.
Next they were in Bethsaida. Jesus healed a blind man with his spit, but for some reason it took two tries. Not only that, Jesus took the man out of the village to heal him, and after he was healed, he told him not to go back to the village. Doesn't that sound odd? Years later, if anyone asked the people of Bethsaida if Jesus had healed anyone there, they would say no. Then a follower could say that's because it happened outside the village.
Next Jesus and the disciples went to the villages "around" Caesarea Philippi. (No specifics to pin anything down.) On the way there, Jesus went fishing, metaphorically speaking. He asked the disciples what people thought of him. They replied that some people thought he was (the resurrected) John the Baptist. Others thought he was Elijah or one of the other old testament prophets. Then Jesus asked the disciples who they thought he was. Peter said he was the Christ. Note that this does not mean Peter thought Jesus was a literal son of god, but rather the "anointed one" or ruler/leader/messiah that the Jews had come to expect from their interpretation of their scriptures. Of course, Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone about him. Makes you wonder how the author was able to find any sources for this book. Plus, Jesus didn't actually tell Peter that he was correct.
Next, Jesus told the disciples that "the son of man" must suffer many things, be rejected by all the important Jews, be killed, and rise again after three days. Presumably he was referring to himself. Peter thought so and took Jesus aside to rebuke him for saying those things. Jesus then Said, "Get behind me, Satan." Which is not a very nice thing to say to someone who is concerned for your welfare.
Then Jesus tells everyone around him that if they want to follow him, they have to deny themselves and take up their cross. This would have made no sense to people who had no idea what a cross would eventually mean to christians, unless they understood it as a call to willing martyrdom. Then Jesus says, "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." This seems to be a clear call for voluntary martyrdom. Not only that, it elevates those who choose that path, which is sick. What is this gospel Jesus wants people to die for? So far, the book of Mark (1:14,15) has only told us that the gospel/good news is the message that the kingdom of god is near. That's it.
After encouraging people to die for him and his message, Jesus asks the crowd, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world , yet forfeit his soul?" The implication is that if a person is on team Jesus, team die-for-the-gospel, they get to keep their soul forever. If they are not, sure they might have a long, happy life, full of good things. But when it's all over, bam!, bye bye soul. And this is supposed to be a reason to give up everything for Jesus. The crowd is also told that if anyone is ashamed of him and his words (He's looking at you, Peter), then the son of man will be ashamed of that person "when he comes in his father's glory with the holy angels." I find it hard to believe that anyone in that day and age could get away with saying something like that in public and not get stoned.
Last, Jesus says that some of those standing there would not taste death before they see the kingdom of god come. Well. They are all dead now, so what is the kingdom of god? Is it the one we read about in Revelation, the one up in the sky that comes down and settles on earth? That hasn't happened yet. It can't be it, can it? The churches of Christ say that the earthly church (true christians) is the kingdom that Jesus was talking about. However, it seems to me that this is a reference to that time when Jesus is supposed to come back in his father's glory. That kingdom was what was supposed to be near. In that case, Jesus was a liar or a lunatic.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Mark part thirteen
We are now at Mark 7:24. Have you noticed that in Mark, each event seems to happen immediately after the last, in quick succession. There is no real sense of how much time has actually passed since Jesus started preaching. There is also quite a bit of vagueness as to specifically where Jesus was. We get regions and vicinities, as in this next passage. Jesus is said to have left "that place" (what place?) and to have gone to the vicinity of Tyre. Keep in mind that Tyre is not Jewish territory. Jesus was the outsider there. We are told he tried to keep his presence there a secret, but we are not told why. Also wouldn't he have known that wasn't going to work?
While Jesus was in the vicinity of Tyre, a Greek Syro-Phoenician woman (a native of that area) came to Jesus to beg him to drive a demon out of her daughter. Here is another Gentile with a demon. Now comes an extraordinary dialog. Jesus tells the woman, "First let the children eat all they want, For it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs." This is quite shocking because the clear implication is that the "children of Israel" are more precious to god and deserving of healing than this woman's daughter and her people. He is calling them dogs, a clear insult. This is a definite example of prejudice, and by Jesus. Unbelievably, the woman replies, "Yes Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Jesus is impressed with the woman's sassy answer and heals her daughter long distance. So, the only thing Jesus did in Tyre was heal a little girl that he never saw, of a demon that she probably didn't have, while trying to remain incognito? And how did the author of Mark come to know this story? How could anyone have known if it was true?
Then Jesus left that area and into the region of the Decapolis, Gentile territory again. There he heals a deaf and mute man. First he takes the man away from the crowd. Why? Wouldn't these miracles be more believable the more people saw them? Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears, then spit, then touched the man's tongue. Ewww. Jesus then looked up to heaven, heaved a big sigh, and said, "Be opened!" Very dramatic. Of course the man began to hear and speak again or we wouldn't have the story. Jesus commanded the people present not to tell anyone, which of course was futile, as he should have known. They spread the news about how wonderful Jesus was. Again, from where did the author of Mark get this story? And how could anyone know if it was true?
We get to chapter eight and another vague time reference, "During those days, another large crowd gathered." We are not told anything about the location, except that it is remote, again. Again, the people needed to be fed. Again, the disciples ask about how to feed them. Again, Jesus asks how many loaves the disciples have. Last time they had five loaves and two fish. 5+2=7. Seven is a magic number. This time there are seven loaves and a few small fish. This time there were seven baskets of leftovers. Four thousand males were present.(100x40, 40 being another magic number) Again, females don't count. Again, what was done with the leftovers, which were presumably edible?
Afterward Jesus and his disciples got in the boat (Wait! What boat?) and headed to "the region" of Dalmanutha. Funny, There is no reason to believe Dalmanutha ever existed. Here is one man's take on the subject. (Link) The pharisees just happened to appear there to question Jesus. Those Pharisees got around. However, they don't seem to have been around in the places Jesus is supposed to have performed miracles. They asked Jesus for a sign from heaven. Jesus blew them off with a non-insult insult. "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given it." (Get out of here, I'm not going to show you my gun.) The Pharisees were skeptics, good for them.
After that brief encounter the disciples amd Jesus all pile back in the boat and cross the lake again.
While Jesus was in the vicinity of Tyre, a Greek Syro-Phoenician woman (a native of that area) came to Jesus to beg him to drive a demon out of her daughter. Here is another Gentile with a demon. Now comes an extraordinary dialog. Jesus tells the woman, "First let the children eat all they want, For it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs." This is quite shocking because the clear implication is that the "children of Israel" are more precious to god and deserving of healing than this woman's daughter and her people. He is calling them dogs, a clear insult. This is a definite example of prejudice, and by Jesus. Unbelievably, the woman replies, "Yes Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Jesus is impressed with the woman's sassy answer and heals her daughter long distance. So, the only thing Jesus did in Tyre was heal a little girl that he never saw, of a demon that she probably didn't have, while trying to remain incognito? And how did the author of Mark come to know this story? How could anyone have known if it was true?
Then Jesus left that area and into the region of the Decapolis, Gentile territory again. There he heals a deaf and mute man. First he takes the man away from the crowd. Why? Wouldn't these miracles be more believable the more people saw them? Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears, then spit, then touched the man's tongue. Ewww. Jesus then looked up to heaven, heaved a big sigh, and said, "Be opened!" Very dramatic. Of course the man began to hear and speak again or we wouldn't have the story. Jesus commanded the people present not to tell anyone, which of course was futile, as he should have known. They spread the news about how wonderful Jesus was. Again, from where did the author of Mark get this story? And how could anyone know if it was true?
We get to chapter eight and another vague time reference, "During those days, another large crowd gathered." We are not told anything about the location, except that it is remote, again. Again, the people needed to be fed. Again, the disciples ask about how to feed them. Again, Jesus asks how many loaves the disciples have. Last time they had five loaves and two fish. 5+2=7. Seven is a magic number. This time there are seven loaves and a few small fish. This time there were seven baskets of leftovers. Four thousand males were present.(100x40, 40 being another magic number) Again, females don't count. Again, what was done with the leftovers, which were presumably edible?
Afterward Jesus and his disciples got in the boat (Wait! What boat?) and headed to "the region" of Dalmanutha. Funny, There is no reason to believe Dalmanutha ever existed. Here is one man's take on the subject. (Link) The pharisees just happened to appear there to question Jesus. Those Pharisees got around. However, they don't seem to have been around in the places Jesus is supposed to have performed miracles. They asked Jesus for a sign from heaven. Jesus blew them off with a non-insult insult. "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given it." (Get out of here, I'm not going to show you my gun.) The Pharisees were skeptics, good for them.
After that brief encounter the disciples amd Jesus all pile back in the boat and cross the lake again.
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Mark part twelve
I've been think about the feeding of the five thousand, and all the leftovers. Why didn't Jesus let the people keep the left over food? Wouldn't it have been kinder and more practical? What use did he have for twelve basketfuls of scraps? What did the disciples do with those twelve baskets of food, take them on the boat? Throw them away? The only reason I can think of for the twelve baskets is so that the story could be magnified to make it seem a spectacular miracle, and to include the magic number twelve. It may symbolically represent god's care for the needs of the twelve tribes. In reality, it could be that all the people present (not likely to have been 5,000) just shared the food they had brought with them. Jesus needn't have performed any miracle at all. In fact the text doesn't actually say that he did.
On to the end of Mark chapter six, where we are told that Jesus's fame spread so that people all over the region brought their sick to wherever he was. Everyone who touched him was healed. And yet, no person living at that time wrote about him.
In chapter seven, some Pharisees from Jerusalem see some of Jesus's disciples eating food without first ritually washing their hands, according to Jewish tradition. This was a symbolic cleansing of an abstract notion of "impurity" not a precursor of concrete germ theory as some modern christians may claim. This passage may have been written as a natural segue to Jesus being touched by so many people, many of whom were almost certainly ritually unclean. Those with certain illnesses, menstruating women, and even non Jews, were automatically unclean. The pharisees questioned Jesus as to why his followers were not living according to tradition.
Jesus replied to the pharisees with a quote from Isaiah 29:13, which accuses people of just paying god lip service and worshipping god with man made rules. This was meant to burn. Then Jesus mentions a command given by Moses (Ironically, if he ever existed, Moses was just a man.) that the pharisees do not observe. This command is to honor one's father and mother. Presumably part of that honoring would be to take financial care of them in their old age. Yet the Pharisees have allowed/encouraged people to give whatever money they would have used to support their parents to god. (Who doesn't need money. Where does the money go?) That is indeed a lousy thing to do. Much worse than not washing hands before eating.
Jesus used this as a teaching tool, and probably as an added embarrassment for the Pharisees. He told the crowd hanging around that "Nothing outside a man can make him unclean by going into him. Rather it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean." This can be taken symbolically or literally, as we shall see. In the literal sense, it clearly shows that Jesus had no knowledge of bacteria and viruses. Jesus implies that in the literal sense things come out of the body, like blood, pus, vomit, semen, urine, and feces, were unclean, not things that went into the body from the outside, like food and drink. However, there is also a metaphorical sense. To emphasize this, Jesus says food goes into a persons stomach and then out of his body. It doesn't go into his heart. (The author of Mark says this means Jesus declared all foods clean. That is clearly his personal interpretation.)
The disciples didn't get what Jesus was trying to say, so Jesus had to spell it out for them privately, after first calling them "dull." It's the heart that matters, according to Jesus. We are not talking about the actual organ of the heart, but that something we might call the soul, the conscience, our essence, the seat of our emotions, or some other abstract concept which denotes our personality or psyche. Jesus says," what comes out of a man makes him unclean. For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils cone from inside and make a man unclean." Jesus is not talking about bodily fluids and literal uncleanness, but spiritual uncleanness. He's taking uncleanness to another level, a level which makes it even more difficult to know if one is "clean" or not.
On to the end of Mark chapter six, where we are told that Jesus's fame spread so that people all over the region brought their sick to wherever he was. Everyone who touched him was healed. And yet, no person living at that time wrote about him.
In chapter seven, some Pharisees from Jerusalem see some of Jesus's disciples eating food without first ritually washing their hands, according to Jewish tradition. This was a symbolic cleansing of an abstract notion of "impurity" not a precursor of concrete germ theory as some modern christians may claim. This passage may have been written as a natural segue to Jesus being touched by so many people, many of whom were almost certainly ritually unclean. Those with certain illnesses, menstruating women, and even non Jews, were automatically unclean. The pharisees questioned Jesus as to why his followers were not living according to tradition.
Jesus replied to the pharisees with a quote from Isaiah 29:13, which accuses people of just paying god lip service and worshipping god with man made rules. This was meant to burn. Then Jesus mentions a command given by Moses (Ironically, if he ever existed, Moses was just a man.) that the pharisees do not observe. This command is to honor one's father and mother. Presumably part of that honoring would be to take financial care of them in their old age. Yet the Pharisees have allowed/encouraged people to give whatever money they would have used to support their parents to god. (Who doesn't need money. Where does the money go?) That is indeed a lousy thing to do. Much worse than not washing hands before eating.
Jesus used this as a teaching tool, and probably as an added embarrassment for the Pharisees. He told the crowd hanging around that "Nothing outside a man can make him unclean by going into him. Rather it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean." This can be taken symbolically or literally, as we shall see. In the literal sense, it clearly shows that Jesus had no knowledge of bacteria and viruses. Jesus implies that in the literal sense things come out of the body, like blood, pus, vomit, semen, urine, and feces, were unclean, not things that went into the body from the outside, like food and drink. However, there is also a metaphorical sense. To emphasize this, Jesus says food goes into a persons stomach and then out of his body. It doesn't go into his heart. (The author of Mark says this means Jesus declared all foods clean. That is clearly his personal interpretation.)
The disciples didn't get what Jesus was trying to say, so Jesus had to spell it out for them privately, after first calling them "dull." It's the heart that matters, according to Jesus. We are not talking about the actual organ of the heart, but that something we might call the soul, the conscience, our essence, the seat of our emotions, or some other abstract concept which denotes our personality or psyche. Jesus says," what comes out of a man makes him unclean. For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils cone from inside and make a man unclean." Jesus is not talking about bodily fluids and literal uncleanness, but spiritual uncleanness. He's taking uncleanness to another level, a level which makes it even more difficult to know if one is "clean" or not.
Friday, January 18, 2019
Mark part eleven
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.
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.
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Mark part ten
We are at Mark 6:7. Jesus is travelling around teaching. He also sent his disciples out to teach in pairs, giving them the authority to cast out demons. They also performed faith healings. Jesus gave them specific instructions which sound like a religious commitment to poverty, similar to other mendicants throughout history. They were to take no food, no money, and no extra clothing with them. They were to rely on the hospitality of the townspeople, performing a kind of curse if they were not welcomed. ("Shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.")
Basically, they became a kind of "holy" beggar. Their message was that people should repent, but repent of what?
Jesus started to become well known and King Herod heard about him. This is not the Herod (the great) that was supposedly king when Jesus was born, but Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the great. Some people were saying Jesus was John the baptist resurrected, that's why he could do miracles. (Was John the baptist also known for miracles?) Remember, Mark has Jesus's ministry starting after the death of John. This is all significant because this Herod was responsible for John's death. John the baptist had told Herod it was not lawful to marry his brother's wife, Herodias, so Herod had locked him up. Herodias was enraged, and cooked up a sneaky plot. With her daughter's help, she tricked Herod into executing John and bringing his head to her on a platter.
Herodias had an interesting family. Her parents were first cousins. Her father was killed by her grandfather, Herod the great, when she was a child. She was married to her father's half brother Philip, then divorced and married to her other half uncle, Antipas.
Here we have the book of Mark's secular anchor in time. The events are now taking place after Herod took up with Herodias and before Herod was in a war with his first wife's father, in 36 CE. Herod was exiled in 39 CE because of the war. Herod had divorced his first wife to marry Herodias. John the baptist was supposed to have been beheaded after that. Jesus started preaching after John's death. Herod's first wife's father declared war on Herod as soon as he had his daughter safely back home. Common christianity says Jesus died around 33 CE. I think if Jesus lived and taught at the time Mark said he did, that date may be a little off. What do you think?
We are at Mark 6:30. After the apostles have been out teaching, they reported back to Jesus. They all tried to meet in a solitary place, but were recognized and followed by a crowd. So, Jesus began to teach the crowd. Along about dinner time, the apostles advised Jesus to send the people away to get something to eat. Jesus said, "you give them something to eat." The disciples were shocked that Jesus would ask them to spend the amount of money it would take to feed all the people. When Jesus asked how much food the disciples had on them, they replied, "five loaves and two fish."
Jesus had the people sit down in groups of hundreds and fifties. He looked up at the sky and gave thanks. Then he broke up the food and had the disciples distributed it. Everyone got enough to eat and there were twelve baskets full of leftovers. (Magic number alert) "The number of MEN who had eaten was five thousand." Because only men count. Get it? Did you notice that one hundred times fifty is five thousand?
More to come.
Basically, they became a kind of "holy" beggar. Their message was that people should repent, but repent of what?
Jesus started to become well known and King Herod heard about him. This is not the Herod (the great) that was supposedly king when Jesus was born, but Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the great. Some people were saying Jesus was John the baptist resurrected, that's why he could do miracles. (Was John the baptist also known for miracles?) Remember, Mark has Jesus's ministry starting after the death of John. This is all significant because this Herod was responsible for John's death. John the baptist had told Herod it was not lawful to marry his brother's wife, Herodias, so Herod had locked him up. Herodias was enraged, and cooked up a sneaky plot. With her daughter's help, she tricked Herod into executing John and bringing his head to her on a platter.
Herodias had an interesting family. Her parents were first cousins. Her father was killed by her grandfather, Herod the great, when she was a child. She was married to her father's half brother Philip, then divorced and married to her other half uncle, Antipas.
Here we have the book of Mark's secular anchor in time. The events are now taking place after Herod took up with Herodias and before Herod was in a war with his first wife's father, in 36 CE. Herod was exiled in 39 CE because of the war. Herod had divorced his first wife to marry Herodias. John the baptist was supposed to have been beheaded after that. Jesus started preaching after John's death. Herod's first wife's father declared war on Herod as soon as he had his daughter safely back home. Common christianity says Jesus died around 33 CE. I think if Jesus lived and taught at the time Mark said he did, that date may be a little off. What do you think?
We are at Mark 6:30. After the apostles have been out teaching, they reported back to Jesus. They all tried to meet in a solitary place, but were recognized and followed by a crowd. So, Jesus began to teach the crowd. Along about dinner time, the apostles advised Jesus to send the people away to get something to eat. Jesus said, "you give them something to eat." The disciples were shocked that Jesus would ask them to spend the amount of money it would take to feed all the people. When Jesus asked how much food the disciples had on them, they replied, "five loaves and two fish."
Jesus had the people sit down in groups of hundreds and fifties. He looked up at the sky and gave thanks. Then he broke up the food and had the disciples distributed it. Everyone got enough to eat and there were twelve baskets full of leftovers. (Magic number alert) "The number of MEN who had eaten was five thousand." Because only men count. Get it? Did you notice that one hundred times fifty is five thousand?
More to come.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Mark part nine
We are at Mark 5:35. Jesus had been on his way to heal Jairus's daughter but got sidetracked by the woman who had supposedly been bleeding for twelve years. Now someone runs up and tells Jairus his daughter is dead. Jesus tells him to not be afraid, just believe. Only Peter, James and John were allowed to accompany Jesus to Jairus's home. When they got there, the mourners were in full cry. Jesus told them they needn't make so much noise, the child was only sleeping. They laughed at him.
Jesus took only the father, mother, and his three disciples, into the child's room. He grabbed the child by the hand and told her to get up, and she did. Then "he gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this." Which was probably the best way to get the news spread. On the other hand, it's an excuse, when someone says they never heard this story from Jairus, or anyone else. Then a christian could say, of course not, jesus swore him to secrecy. My study bible claims it is because Jesus didn't want to "precipitate a crisis" before his ministry was complete. That is assumed. It is not actually in the text.
By the way, just like the woman in the previous story bled for twelve years, this little girl was twelve years old. Do you think that was a coincidence? I don't. Twelve is one of the Bible's magic numbers.
We are now in chapter six. Jesus goes to his hometown with his disciples. He teaches in the synagogue on the sabbath, amazing his neighbors with his wisdom and miracles. Jesus is a carpenter. He worked with his hands, which would most likely mean he had no formal religious training. The people knew his mother Mary, his sisters, and his brothers James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. His father is not mentioned. It seems that Jesus came from a large family.
Let's talk about Jesus's family. It may have no significance, but I find the names of his family members interesting. If you look at the original text, his mother has the same basic name as Moses's sister, Miriam. His brother James is actually Jacob, the name of the founding father of Israel. This is thought to be the James mentioned in Paul's letters and the one that wrote the book of James. His brother Joseph has the name of one of Jacob's sons, as does Judas (Judah) and Simon (Simeon). Jesus himself is actually named Joshua, the name of the man who led the Israelites in the conquest of Canaan, also the name of a mystical high priest in the book of Zechariah. Another coincidence? Maybe. One thing the bible is good at is reusing names, or using names with specific meanings to the context. It may also just reflect the cultural popularity of those names.
Anyway, the text says Jesus's neighbors were offended by him. To which Jesus makes that famous statement, "Only in his hometown...is a prophet without honor." We are told Jesus was not able to work many miracles there, just heal a few sick people, because of the people's lack of faith. (He's got a built in holy spirit meter.) Can you blame them? What would you think if the local plumber in your town, whom you had known since he was a child, suddenly stopped working and became an itinerant preacher and faith healer? Do you realize that since he is no longer being productive, he must get his food/lodging/clothing from somewhere? That's where you come in. People are expected to physically support "men of god." Nice work if you can get it. Jesus couldn't get it there. You would think he wasn't god in the flesh, or something.
Another interesting thing, even though we are studying Mark as a stand alone book: In the book of Luke, and only the book of Luke, at the age of twelve (there is that number again), Jesus was amazing people in the temple with his wisdom. Yet, in Mark's story, we see no sign that Jesus ever gave his neighbors previous reason to believe he was special.
More to come.
Jesus took only the father, mother, and his three disciples, into the child's room. He grabbed the child by the hand and told her to get up, and she did. Then "he gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this." Which was probably the best way to get the news spread. On the other hand, it's an excuse, when someone says they never heard this story from Jairus, or anyone else. Then a christian could say, of course not, jesus swore him to secrecy. My study bible claims it is because Jesus didn't want to "precipitate a crisis" before his ministry was complete. That is assumed. It is not actually in the text.
By the way, just like the woman in the previous story bled for twelve years, this little girl was twelve years old. Do you think that was a coincidence? I don't. Twelve is one of the Bible's magic numbers.
We are now in chapter six. Jesus goes to his hometown with his disciples. He teaches in the synagogue on the sabbath, amazing his neighbors with his wisdom and miracles. Jesus is a carpenter. He worked with his hands, which would most likely mean he had no formal religious training. The people knew his mother Mary, his sisters, and his brothers James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. His father is not mentioned. It seems that Jesus came from a large family.
Let's talk about Jesus's family. It may have no significance, but I find the names of his family members interesting. If you look at the original text, his mother has the same basic name as Moses's sister, Miriam. His brother James is actually Jacob, the name of the founding father of Israel. This is thought to be the James mentioned in Paul's letters and the one that wrote the book of James. His brother Joseph has the name of one of Jacob's sons, as does Judas (Judah) and Simon (Simeon). Jesus himself is actually named Joshua, the name of the man who led the Israelites in the conquest of Canaan, also the name of a mystical high priest in the book of Zechariah. Another coincidence? Maybe. One thing the bible is good at is reusing names, or using names with specific meanings to the context. It may also just reflect the cultural popularity of those names.
Anyway, the text says Jesus's neighbors were offended by him. To which Jesus makes that famous statement, "Only in his hometown...is a prophet without honor." We are told Jesus was not able to work many miracles there, just heal a few sick people, because of the people's lack of faith. (He's got a built in holy spirit meter.) Can you blame them? What would you think if the local plumber in your town, whom you had known since he was a child, suddenly stopped working and became an itinerant preacher and faith healer? Do you realize that since he is no longer being productive, he must get his food/lodging/clothing from somewhere? That's where you come in. People are expected to physically support "men of god." Nice work if you can get it. Jesus couldn't get it there. You would think he wasn't god in the flesh, or something.
Another interesting thing, even though we are studying Mark as a stand alone book: In the book of Luke, and only the book of Luke, at the age of twelve (there is that number again), Jesus was amazing people in the temple with his wisdom. Yet, in Mark's story, we see no sign that Jesus ever gave his neighbors previous reason to believe he was special.
More to come.
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.
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