Comprende?
Seldom do I do this, only once in a great while do I print a sermon, and always hesitantly. But our Tuesday morning Bible Seminar is studying the Gospel according to Mark (NRSV) by reading through, picking apart, and discussing, and this my homily from a couple weeks ago is sort of an introduction to the subject. TW+
21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He[a] commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
Our homiletics professor at Gettysburg Lutheran, my theological seminary, liked to identify two kinds of preaching, two types of sermons, homilies:
Homily Sunday, 1 Feb 2015
Didactic: teaching on the Gospel
Mark 1:21-28
Our homiletics professor at Gettysburg Lutheran, my theological seminary, liked to identify two kinds of preaching, two types of sermons, homilies:
Kerygma is a sermon that proclaims Christ crucified, Christ is risen, Jesus saves. And not only in the sermon; as a worshiping congregation, we proclaim the mystery of faith in Eucharistic Prayer A: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again, a kerygmatic acclamation that might well have come from the mouth of Saint Paul himself. Kerygma is the church’s proclamation of Christ and his saving grace, which is indeed the central purpose of our four gospels, Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, to proclaim Christ.
Didache is teaching. It may be a teaching sermon. Or any teaching, the Catechism in our Book of Common Prayer is didactic, a teaching in question and answer format. If I stand here and tell you about the Gospel according to Mark, and Mark’s agenda, that would be didache, a didactic sermon, a teaching. And guess what! That is what I intend to do, a few minutes to learn a bit about Mark, his gospel, which is his proclamation about Jesus Christ, and his agenda, Mark’s agenda. So, stay awake, you may learn something.
Agenda, by the way, is not a dirty word that means Mark has a sleazy scheme for putting one over on us; “agenda” simply is a literary term that focuses on what Mark intends to convey to his audience, and how he does it, and (in my view, most clearly in Mark’s case), what he hopes those who read and hear his good news will do about it. Mark’s agenda is to stir your strong reaction to action.
So, this is a didactic homily about the Gospel according to Mark. And anyone who has been in my Sunday School class or in Tuesday morning Bible Seminar with me has an idea what I’m going to say, because it’s my favorite theme.
Mark has an agenda then, a gospel to proclaim, and as an evangelist, Mark means to have some solid response from you, his audience. The pericope, the little Bible Story, the snippet from Mark that is our Gospel lesson for this morning, is the beginning of Mark setting up that, his agenda. In the synagogue at Capernaum, Jesus casts out a demon, an unclean spirit. Setting the stage for his entire gospel, this is the very first thing Mark reports Jesus doing, his very first act of ministry. And for Mark, the important thing to notice in the story is not to marvel that Jesus is a miracle worker who can cast out demons (which Mark will develop as his gospel goes along), but three things.
First, that the demon knows who Jesus is, and this will be the case again and again in Mark’s story: the demons know that Jesus is the Son of God. Nobody else in the story seems to know.
Second is what scholars call the “Markan Secret,” or the “Messianic Secret;” and it is that Jesus shushes them, orders them not to tell who he is or what he has done. And this also will be the case again and again in Mark’s gospel, not only with demons, but also with almost everyone Jesus heals: be quiet about who I am (to the demons), be quiet about what I have done for you (to those he heals). Why so hush-hush?! Scholars have for nearly two thousand years been arguing about the Messianic Secret -- whether it comes from Mark, or from Jesus, or even from the Early Church, and what is the reason for it, and nobody truly knows. You may speculate all you want, and anything you think or say about the Markan Secret is ground that has already been covered, a field has already been plowed numerous times since Mark first wrote his gospel about 70 AD. We just don’t know “why?” At any event, the first instance of the Markan Secret is in this morning’s gospel: Jesus rebukes the demon “Be silent.” If you’ve never noticed, start noticing, because every detail is significant.
A third element of Mark’s agenda also begins to show up right here up front, in Chapter One, in Jesus’ very first act of ministry: and it is that those around Jesus have no idea who he is. They have no idea, and they never figure it out, never. All the way through Mark’s gospel, those who are closest to him, even his disciples, four of whom Peter and Andrew, James and John, he has already called by the time this first little story about the demon happens, even the disciples, the twelve apostles, even Mary Magdalen and all the women who love and follow Jesus never see who Jesus is, they never understand, they never, ever “get it.” That’s part of Mark’s agenda -- to make sure that you notice their dimness and that you do get it, and to stir your frustration that they don’t see what’s so obvious..
Mark is not running down the apostles around Jesus, he is not calling them stupid; Mark is an evangelist, and his agenda throughout his gospel, is evangelical: to proclaim Christ and show you that even though you get it, you understand who Jesus is, because it’s obvious, it’s made perfectly clear to us (for one thing, because Mark and the Church tell us right up front -- “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” -- nobody inside the story understands.
So, at this point, who knows then, who knows who and what Jesus is? Well, obviously, God knows. Mark the evangelist knows, otherwise he would not be telling the story, would he! And you know. You know because Mark tells you right up front, remember? “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus knows -- and Mark makes sure that we know Jesus knows by the way Mark describes Jesus‘ baptism, “and a voice from heaven, “thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. And, again, the demons know. God knows, Mark knows, you and I know, Jesus knows, and the demons know. Nobody else knows who Jesus is.
Mark’s agenda is to develop in his audience of two thousand years ago, and in you the reader and hearer of his gospel this morning, the realization that nobody around Jesus sees, understand, perceives who Jesus is, and when Mark is done, his agenda climaxes in your frustration that everybody inside the story is so uncomprehending, so dense, so thick, not to say “so stupid.” Listen to how Mark develops his ingenuous agenda.
Mark chapter 4. One evening Jesus is out in a boat with his disciples, in the Sea of Galilee. A violent storm comes up. Fierce wind and towering waves. The boat is being swamped and is about to sink. The disciples are frightened. They look around and notice that Jesus is back in the stern, sleeping along peacefully. They wake him up, “Lord, we’re all fixin‘ to drown, ain’t you scared? don’t you even care?” Jesus stands up, looks at the raging sea, shouts out “siopo! pefimoso” Silence! be still! and instantly wind and sea go calm. Seeing this, the disciples are terrified of him, saying, “who is this that even wind and sea obey him?” Mark wants you to see, not so much that Jesus is in control of nature, (you might expect nothing less of the Son of God) but that his disciples do not understand who this man is that they have chosen to follow.
In Mark chapter 6, right after Jesus feeds five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two small fish, he walks on the water, and the disciples don’t understand who he is, they just don’t get it.
In Mark chapter eight, right after "dunamis," the work of power where he feeds four thousand people with seven loaves of bread, the disciples are out in a boat, and Jesus along with them. Jesus hears them bemoaning that they forgot to bring bread to eat, all they have in the boat is one loaf of bread. Astonished, frustrated with them, Jesus says Why, with me out here in the boat with you, are you worried about having only one loaf of bread to eat? Didn’t you just see me feed five thousand people with practically nothing? And how many baskets of food were left over? The disciples say “twelve.” Jesus says, and when I fed the four thousand, how many baskets were left over? And the dense disciples say “seven.” And Jesus says, “Don’t you get it, don’t you understand anything??” And they shake their heads, still they do no get it.
In Mark chapter eight, right after "dunamis," the work of power where he feeds four thousand people with seven loaves of bread, the disciples are out in a boat, and Jesus along with them. Jesus hears them bemoaning that they forgot to bring bread to eat, all they have in the boat is one loaf of bread. Astonished, frustrated with them, Jesus says Why, with me out here in the boat with you, are you worried about having only one loaf of bread to eat? Didn’t you just see me feed five thousand people with practically nothing? And how many baskets of food were left over? The disciples say “twelve.” Jesus says, and when I fed the four thousand, how many baskets were left over? And the dense disciples say “seven.” And Jesus says, “Don’t you get it, don’t you understand anything??” And they shake their heads, still they do no get it.
Jiminy Christmas how dense can they be.
It happens again and again in Mark’s gospel, Mark recording stories, incidents, occasions that happen that Mark reports to show you that nobody around Jesus realizes who he is.
From beginning to end of Mark’s gospel, nobody understands Jesus. Yet one more time again, God knows. Mark knows. You and I know. Jesus knows. And the demons know (which is why and how Mark uses this opening story today). Finally, at the very end of Mark’s gospel, an astonishing thing happens: a Gentile, the Roman centurion in charge of crucifying Jesus, realizes who he is. “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”
The gospel and situation rise to climax. Jesus is taken down from the cross and buried. That was Good Friday, as we call it. On the third day, Sunday morning, women who loved Jesus go to the tomb to anoint his dead body with oils and fragrances. But the tomb is empty. There a young man, we are to understand that he is an angel, tells them that Jesus has risen from the dead and will meet them in Galilee.
Even then the women do not realize who Jesus is. Not even then!They are so terrified that they run away and say nothing to anyone. They don’t say nothing to nobody! That’s the absolute bitter end of the gospel as Mark tells it. That’s Mark’s climax, his clincher, his “gotcha.”
Mark’s agenda is that you and everyone who hears and reads his proclamation, will be so frustrated that nobody inside the story could see who Jesus was, when it was so clear and obvious to you -- that you will be so frustrated tha you immediately jump up and rush out to proclaim Christ yourself.
Mark’s gospel is evangelical good news that calls you to proclaim Christ crucified and risen.
Now do you understand?