Sunday, 28 Sep 2025: according to Mark, chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

+Time blogpost for Sunday, September 28, 2025

Good morning and welcome to session three of what I intended to be four class sessions about Mark and his Good News about Jesus.

The idea is to explore “kata Markon” (according to Mark) from a literary perspective. It is an anonymous writing about Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection, written about 70 AD, forty years after Good Friday and Easter. We do not know who “Mark” was, or where he was when he wrote, or who his intended audience was. Mark’s literary agenda is to persuade his readers that, counter to the Jews’ expectation of a conquering military Messiah (anointed king), Jesus was/is what God planned all along: a servant Messiah who would suffer, die and be resurrected, the Son of Man to rule the kingdom of God on Earth as God’s regent; and to leave you so frustrated that Jesus' followers fail to recognize him that you Mark's reader are inspired to get up and go proclaim Christ yourself.

To create his running narrative, Mark uses both “sayings of Jesus” that he may or may not embellish to create a scenario to give the "saying" context; and “pericopes” (complete short stories) about Jesus. Mark carries out his agenda with various literary devices including the Markan Secret or Messianic Secret in which Jesus himself participates to tell people inside the story to keep quiet about who/what Jesus is (Messiah, Son of God, Son of Man) in order to have Jesus confide in, and convince, Mark’s reader outside the story of who/what Jesus is. Related is Mark’s casting Jesus’ contemporaries as obtuse folks who never understand who/what Jesus is/was.

In the decades after Mark the original author wrote, the early Church copied and copied and copied manuscripts of Mark: no two manuscripts are exactly the same, with scribes, editors, and early Church authorities making changes as they thought best: so there are instances where it’s arguable as to whether Mark wrote a text, or it’s something Jesus really said, or it’s something the Church edited, changed, or added as church doctrine developed (words about redemption for the forgiveness of sins, and promises of an afterlife in heaven if you give up all your wealth, are examples) - - but that literary observation does not change the fact that what we have in front of us is canonized by the church as the inspired word of God.

We’re picking up at chapter 7 now, hoping to complete chapter 11. Today we have the pleasantly-flowing modern English “Good News Translation” of Mark, with some of my observations and comments inserted in bold type for possible class discussion. As we read, I will interrupt with comments, and I invite you to interrupt for discussion when you want to.

In the text below, my comments for class are in BOLD type.

T90

Mark 7 Good News Translation

The Teaching of the Ancestors

7 Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples were eating their food with hands that were ritually unclean—that is, they had not washed them in the way the Pharisees said people should.

(3 For the Pharisees, as well as the rest of the Jews (indicates that Mark's intended audience are not Jews - - so Mark tells them about Jewish customs) follow the teaching they received from their ancestors: they do not eat unless they wash their hands in the proper way; 4 nor do they eat anything that comes from the market unless they wash it first.[a] And they follow many other rules which they have received, such as the proper way to wash cups, pots, copper bowls, and beds.[b])

5 So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Jesus, “Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?”

Proper Jewish life was lived according to many traditional rules.

The proper way to wash hands is the Jewish tradition before a meal, of washing hands from the fingertips to the wrist by pouring water, ensuring it rant off without going past the wrist, and then rubbing palms against fists. As much as for hygiene, this was to maintain ceremonial cleanliness.

6 Jesus answered them, “How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you! You are hypocrites, just as he wrote:

‘These people, says God, honor me with their words,
but their heart is really far away from me.

7 QUOTED FROM ISAIAH 29:13, PROPHESYING JERUSALEM’S DOOM

It is no use for them to worship me,
because they teach human rules
as though they were my laws!’

8 “You put aside God's command and obey human teachings.”

9 And Jesus continued, “You have a clever way of rejecting God's law in order to uphold your own teaching. 10 For Moses commanded, ‘Respect your father and your mother,’ and, ‘If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death.’ 11 But you teach that if people have something they could use to help their father or mother, but say, ‘This is Corban’ (which means, it belongs to God), 12 they are excused from helping their father or mother. 13 In this way the teaching you pass on to others cancels out the word of God. And there are many other things like this that you do.”

The Things That Make a Person Unclean

14 Then Jesus called the crowd to him once more and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. 15 There is nothing that goes into you from the outside which can make you ritually unclean. Rather, it is what comes out of you that makes you unclean.” 16 [c]

17 When he left the crowd and went into the house, his disciples asked him to explain this saying. 18 “You are no more intelligent than the others,” Jesus said to them. “Don't you understand? (No, they do not understand anything, and that’s a key part of Mark’s narrative) Nothing that goes into you from the outside can really make you unclean, 19 because it does not go into your heart but into your stomach and then goes on out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared that all foods are fit to be eaten.)

20 And he went on to say, “It is what comes out of you that makes you unclean. 21 For from the inside, from your heart, come the evil ideas which lead you to do immoral things, to rob, kill, 22 commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly— 23 all these evil things come from inside you and make you unclean.”

Throughout Mark’s gospel, Jesus’ disciples are obtuse, dense, they even seem stupid: they never understand, no matter what Jesus explains to them. Their obtuseness is not simply “true” (so to speak) it’s part of Mark’s narrative scheme to build up our frustration as readers (remember, this is a literary piece, a story written by an early Christian, with an agenda of (1) convincing you that Jesus is Messiah, Son of God, Son of Man; and (2) inspiring YOU to proclaim Jesus)

A Woman's Faith

24 Then Jesus left and went away to the territory near the city of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden (yes, Jesus is compassionate, but he’s being swarmed and overwhelmed by people who need something, so he needs to keep out of sight) 25 A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus answered, “Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.”

28 “Sir,” she answered, “even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers!” (Jesus likes her cleverness)

29 So Jesus said to her, “Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!”

30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her.

Jesus is taken with the woman’s clever response, and does as she asks. FAITH is an issue in Jesus’ healing events; in this case it’s the mother’s faith. Mark shows that Jesus can heal from a distance. ALSO THAT JESUS & GOSPEL are FOR GENTILES.

Jesus Heals a Deaf-Mute

31 Jesus then left the neighborhood of Tyre and went on through Sidon to Lake Galilee, going by way of the territory of the Ten Towns (DECAPOLIS). (I’m not going to do it with you, but scholars like to point out that if you take a map of the area in Jesus’ Time, you will see that Mark’s story has Jesus zigzagging back and forth illogically for walking travel, and clear evidence that Mark did not know the geography of the area, and evidence that Mark was not a citizen of the area, was not a Jew, did not in from the local area, and was writing from elsewhere for a non-Jewish audience) 32 Some people brought him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged Jesus to place his hands on him. 33 So Jesus took him off alone, away from the crowd, put his fingers in the man's ears, spat, and touched the man's tongue. 34 Then Jesus looked up to heaven, gave a deep groan, and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up!” Aramaic word, sounds like a mysterious, powerful healing spell to Gentiles hearing Mark’s gospel

35 At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble. 36 Then Jesus ordered the people not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he ordered them not to, the more they told it. (The Markan Secret at work: Jesus tried to shush people, but they spread the word about Jesus anyway. Again, as we discussed last Sunday and the first Sunday, it’s Mark’s story with Mark’s agenda and Mark’s literary devices: why does Mark have Jesus shush people? It’s Mark’s subtle way of having Jesus himself assure YOU the reader/audience about who/what Jesus is) 37 And all who heard were completely amazed. “How well he does everything!” they exclaimed. “He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!”

Footnotes

[a] Mark 7:4 anything that comes from the market unless they wash it first; or anything after they come from the market unless they wash themselves first.
[b] Mark 7:4 Some manuscripts do not have and beds.
[c] Mark 7:16 Some manuscripts add verse 16: Listen, then, if you have ears! (see 4.23).

Mark 8 Good News Translation

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand People ALSO AT MATTHEW 15:32-39 but not in Luke or John.

8 Not long afterward another large crowd came together. When the people had nothing left to eat, Jesus called the disciples to him and said, 2 “I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home without feeding them, they will faint as they go, because some of them have come a long way.”

4 His disciples asked him, “Where in this desert can anyone find enough food to feed all these people?”

5 “How much bread do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven loaves,” they answered.

6 He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. (Unlike the Feeding of the 5000, Jesus does not have them sit down in groups of fifty and such - - which may have been the storyteller’s answer to anyone asking, “How did they know there were 5000 men? He sat them so they were easy to count) Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks to God, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the crowd; and the disciples did so. 7 They also had a few small fish. Jesus gave thanks for these and told the disciples to distribute them too. 8-9 Everybody ate and had enough—there were about four thousand people. (Again as with the 5000, don’t fall into the ridiculous skeptic trap of suggesting that Jesus merely caused the people to open up and share what they already had: this is Mark’s story, and Mark means you to understand that Jesus fed 4000 people with practically nothing, and therefore understand Jesus’ power over everything around him. and here Mark simply says "four thousand" he does not say, as he did before "five thousand males). Then the disciples took up seven baskets full of pieces left over. Jesus sent the people away 10 and at once got into a boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

Note again the four “eucharistic actions” Taking, Blessing, Breaking, Giving, that occur in every feeding event in the synoptic gospels (but not in John's gospel): some scholars have said that these “actions” may be an addition of the early church as the Lord’s Supper developed in practice and doctrine. HA-MOTZI

The Pharisees Ask for a Miracle (Mark’s NT Greek word is “semeion” - sign)

11 Some Pharisees came to Jesus and started to argue with him. (Mark continues to develop, making it clear to you, that the Pharisees are Jesus’ mortal enemy) They wanted to trap him, so they asked him to perform a sign to show that God approved of him. 12 But Jesus gave a deep groan and said, “Why do the people of this day ask for a sign? No, I tell you! No sign will be given to these people!” MT/LK/Q say EXCEPT as the SIGN OF JONAH was a warning to the NINEVITES, who repented and turned to God: the SON OF MAN is a warning sign to this generation.

13 Jesus left them, got back into the boat, and started across to the other side of the lake.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod

14 The disciples had forgotten to bring enough bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 “Take care,” Jesus warned them, “and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” First, Mark has taken a “saying” of Jesus, and used it cleverly FIRST as a link to what has just happened with the Pharisees; and SECOND as a link to the following story, which will turn into a discussion about Bread.

“Leaven” - - which stirs and bubbles unnoticed to become something significant, was regarded as a symbol of evil’s ability to be planted and grow quietly and unexplainably into something significantly wicked. The “yeast of Herod” was a mediocre king with no sense of morals having John the Baptist beheaded: beware of such people; the “yeast of the Pharisees” is their obsession with keeping rules and tradition that, before Mark’s story is over, will have Jesus crucified: beware of such people. As always, the disciples in the boat totally misunderstand Jesus’ “saying”:

16 They started discussing among themselves: “He says this because we don't have any bread.”

17 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he asked them, “Why are you discussing about not having any bread? Don't you know or understand yet? Are your minds so dull? 18 You have eyes—can't you see? You have ears—can't you hear? Don't you remember 19 when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand people? How many baskets full of leftover pieces did you take up?”

“Twelve,” they answered.

20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand people,” asked Jesus, “how many baskets full of leftover pieces did you take up?”

“Seven,” they answered.

21 “And you still don't understand?” he asked them.

In the boat, Mark’s agenda and literary technique are at work: the disciples are stupidly worrying that Jesus is upset that there’s only one loaf of bread in the boat; Jesus points out that they still don’t “get it” (they don’t understand who/what Jesus is, and his power even after he feeds 5,000 and 4,000 with practically nothing, so “how can having only one loaf of bread be a problem now?” Jesus marvels at their stupidity.

Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

22 They came to Bethsaida, where some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. 23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. (For privacy, the Markan Secret) After spitting on the man's eyes, Jesus placed his hands on him and asked him, “Can you see anything?”

24 The man looked up and said, “Yes, I can see people, but they look like trees walking around.”

25 Jesus again placed his hands on the man's eyes. This time the man looked intently, his eyesight returned, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus then sent him home with the order, “Don't go back into the village.”

Every healing incident is different. But it’s still the Markan Secret, subtly and a bit different: Jesus tells the former blind man to go home, not through the village where it will be found out that Jesus did the healing.

======DEFINING MOMENT. GOSPEL TURNING POINT======

Peter's Declaration about Jesus (Peter’s Confession)

27 Then Jesus and his disciples went away to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Tell me, who do people say I am?”

28 “Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered; “others say that you are Elijah, while others say that you are one of the prophets.”

29 “What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

30 Then Jesus ordered them, “Do not tell anyone about me.”

It’s still the Markan Secret, but now, halfway through Mark’s gospel is the major turning point in Mark’s story: Jesus will head toward Jerusalem and is ready to start revealing who he is and why he came, and the difference between the human expectation of “Messiah” and God’s messianic plan. This is called “Peter’s confession,” Jesus is the Messiah. At this event in Matthew 16, Matthew has PETER say more: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” At Luke 9, Peter says “You are the Messiah of God.” Jesus intends his disciples to begin understanding now, but they still don’t “get it,” as the next paragraph shows:

Jesus Speaks about His Suffering and Death

31 Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life.” 32 He made this very clear to them. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter. “Get away from me, Satan,” he said. “Your thoughts don't come from God but from human nature!”

Remember: always ask yourself who Jesus means when Mark has Jesus speak of the Son of Man; here it’s obvious that Jesus is speaking of himself as Son of Man, the cosmic figure in Daniel 7, who will be God’s regent in the kingdom of God on Earth. But Peter is right: nobody is expecting some new kind of Messiah, like the Suffering Servant in Isaiah, who instead of a victorious king will be cruelly put to death like some criminal. God’s plans are not set up to fulfill human expectations. Outside the story, though, remember that Mark is writing 40 years later in retrospect of Good Friday and Easter, Mark knows what happened to Jesus and this gospel is Mark’s story. Mark is explaining to his readers (you) that this unlikely (brutalized instead of honored) Jesus is/was the Messiah and that everything that happened to him was God’s intent all along.

34 Then Jesus called the crowd and his disciples to him. “If any of you want to come with me,” he told them, “you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. 35 For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it. 36 Do you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not! 37 There is nothing you can give to regain your life. 38 If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Why will the Son of Man come? Daniel 7: sent by God the Ancient of Days, as regent, to rule the new Kingdom of God on Earth. To Jesus, the essence of the gospel of the kingdom of God is where we live selfLESSLY as Jesus lived and died selfLESSLY. As for “carrying our own cross,” 20th century German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that “one’s cross” is not the unavoidable difficulties of every life, but the deliberately chosen life of sacrifice. Bonhoeffer himself exemplified that chosen cross in his speaking out against Hitler and Hitler’s reich church, and being imprisoned and executed when Bonhoeffer could have either kept his mouth shut or escaped to America.

Mark 9 Good News Translation

9 And he went on to say, “I tell you, there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power.”

I appreciate the Good News Translation, which is authorized by our General Convention for liturgical reading in the Episcopal Church, but this is not the best translation of Mark’s NT Greek of 9:1 - - Καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι εἰσὶν τινὲς [a]τῶν ὧδε ἑστηκότων οἵτινες οὐ μὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου ἕως ἂν ἴδωσιν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐληλυθυῖαν ἐν δυνάμει. A better literal translation is “And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with (or in) power,” where THE KEY WORD is ἴδωσιν which means perceive, realize, understand, see in the mind as a moral or spiritual awakening. To Jesus, the kingdom of God is spread upon the Earth and people do not perceive it. He’s not talking about an afterlife, he’s talking about people realizing that God’s reign is available to us here on earth. How do you get into the kingdom? You step into it by living in the Way of the Cross.

The Transfiguration

2 Six days later (LUKE SAYS EIGHT DAYS) Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain, where they were alone. As they looked on, a change came over Jesus, 3 and his clothes became shining white—whiter than anyone in the world could wash them. 4 Then the three disciples saw Elijah and Moses talking with Jesus. 5 Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, “Teacher, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He and the others were so frightened that they did not know what to say.

In Mark, Jesus takes Peter, James and John to the most important events. It always leaves me feeling bad for Peter’s brother Andrew: why is Andrew not included? Perhaps because he’s enough younger that he’s not taken all that seriously. Perhaps because, as his Greek-not-Hebrew name suggests, he’s only a half-brother and not all that close to Peter.

Confused and frightened, Peter utters something nonsensical that’s related to the Jewish festival of booths, little tents for people to shelter in.

7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow, and a voice came from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son—listen to him!” 8 They took a quick look around but did not see anyone else; only Jesus was with them.

The Hebrew Bible centers on the Law and the Prophets. Moses stands for the Law and Elijah stands for the Prophets; and God tells Peter, James and John that Jesus, God’s Son, stands above the Law and the Prophets; in Mark’s story, Peter, James and John now know who and what Jesus is because God himself has told them. Mark presents it as a momentary, highly significant spiritual event, even a vision or dream that you wonder later, “Did that really happen?” But of course, three of them witness it, so it’s not just a dream, and in Mark’s literary intent, God tells you the reader who Jesus is. In the church we celebrate this event as the climax of the Epiphany Season - - but, like God speaking at the Baptism of Christ it’s more, it’s a Theophany, God showing himself.

9 As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has risen from death.”

Okay now it’s clarifying. The Markan Secret is still in effect but Jesus’ three key disciples are now in the know.

Further, that yes, Jesus, who will die and rise again, is indeed the cosmic figure in Daniel 7, the Son of Man. Further, Mark’s text is Jesus’ words intentionally informing Mark’s audience, you the reader, that this suffering and dying man is indeed God’s new Messiah.

10 They obeyed his order, but among themselves they started discussing the matter, “What does this ‘rising from death’ mean?” 11 And they asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?”

Confusion about “rising from death” is reasonable, even as the disciples try to understand Jesus, death is death, you don’t return! “Elijah has to come first” because of the prophetic oracle at Malachi 4:5 “… before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, I will send you the prophet Elijah."

12 Jesus’ answer was, “Elijah is indeed coming first in order to get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man will suffer much and be rejected? 13 I tell you, however, that Elijah has already come and that people treated him just as they pleased, as the Scriptures say about him.”

Again and always, Mark is writing in retrospect, 40 years after Good Friday, Easter, and Ascension, and part of his agenda is to explain why God’s Messiah is/was a brutally rejected traveling preacher instead of the military leader that the Jews had long expected as Messiah (anointed king) to drive out the Roman occupation. “Suffer much and be rejected” -> prophecies about a mysterious Suffering Servant: this prediction fulfills prophecies from the Old Testament, particularly Isaiah 53, which describes a suffering servant "despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.” In Mark’s story, Jesus is merging Daniel 7’s cosmic Son of Man and Isaiah’s Suffering Servant. Mark 1 presents John the Baptist as preparing the way for Jesus, then John being brutally treated and murdered, and Mark here completes that story with Jesus saying that Elijah has already come and been mistreated, (i.e., in John the Baptist.

===THIS BASICALLY COMPLETES MARK’S RE-DEFINING POINT/CLIMACTIC MOMENT IN HIS STORY ABOUT JESUS==

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Evil Spirit (Now we’re sort of back to Jesus’ ministry as usual, but not quite

14 When they joined the rest of the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and some teachers of the Law arguing with them. 15 When the people saw Jesus, they were greatly surprised, and ran to him and greeted him. 16 Jesus asked his disciples, “What are you arguing with them about?”

17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, because he has an evil spirit in him and cannot talk. 18 Whenever the spirit attacks him, it throws him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth, grits his teeth, and becomes stiff all over. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not.”

19 Jesus said to them, “How unbelieving you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy to me!” 20 They brought him to Jesus.

As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a fit, so that he fell on the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 “How long has he been like this?” Jesus asked the father.

“Ever since he was a child,” he replied. 22 “Many times the evil spirit has tried to kill him by throwing him in the fire and into water. Have pity on us and help us, if you possibly can!”

23 “Yes,” said Jesus, “if you yourself can! Everything is possible for the person who has faith.”

24 The father at once cried out, “I do have faith, but not enough. Help me have more!”

25 Jesus noticed that the crowd was closing in on them, so he gave a command to the evil spirit. “Deaf and dumb spirit,” he said, “I order you to come out of the boy and never go into him again!”

26 The spirit screamed, threw the boy into a bad fit, and came out. The boy looked like a corpse, and everyone said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took the boy by the hand and helped him rise, and he stood up.

28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn't we drive the spirit out?”

29 “Only prayer can drive this kind out,” answered Jesus; “nothing else can.”

First of all, this is Mark’s story, Mark as the writer exercising storyteller’s license about details of the event and conversation (both Matthew 17:14f and Luke 9:37 tell Mark’s story with different details). Although Jesus does the healing quickly before the crowd arrives, Mark does not invoke the Markan Secret here (perhaps because, as with the Geresene demoniac, there would be no point: the witnessing crowd is too large anyway). Was the boy dead? Mark does not say so, and we don’t take it that he’s dead, only collapsed in exhaustion; and Matthew and Luke don’t even mention that people think he’s dead. Jesus lifts the boy, restored to perfect health. Again, Mark (and Matthew and Luke) asserting that FAITH is a factor in Jesus’ power to heal: someone involved has to have faith or the healing won’t work. Mark’s lack-of-faith-chastisement is at Jesus’ disciples and by extension, to Mark’s readers (us). Some scholars suggest that Jesus saying “ONLY WORKS WITH PRAYER” may be an addition of the early church as it developed prayer and faith as key aspects of Christianity.

Jesus Speaks Again about His Death

30 Jesus and his disciples left that place and went on through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was, 31 because he was teaching his disciples: “The Son of Man will be handed over to those who will kill him. Three days later, however, he will rise to life.”

Second of three Times that Mark reports Jesus predicting his death and resurrection and relating it to the Son of Man, Mark having Jesus assure Mark’s readers that Good Friday and Easter were God’s plan all along.

32 But they did not understand what this teaching meant, and they were afraid to ask him.

Why were the disciples afraid to ask Jesus? Because it’s Mark’s story and Mark says they’re afraid, the disciples’ awe of Jesus is an ongoing factor in Mark’s story. In Matthew’s account they’re not afraid, they are sad. Luke says Jesus couched his assertion in such veiled language that the disciples never understood and were too upset to ask Jesus to explain. Artist’s license/writer’s license is always at work. Some churches teach that God personally dictated the literal word for word text: you will not get that here, it’s not a teaching of the Episcopal Church.

++++++++++

Following (9:33-50) are several orally passed down “sayings” of Jesus that scholars have identified as Mark skillfully linking together showing how they were linked for easy recall and retelling in that oral age before everyone could write and read. A separate, tucked-in handout shows what Mark has done”

Who Is the Greatest?

33 They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?”

34 But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. 35 Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them,

(SAYING 1.) “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.”

(SAYING 2.) 36 Then he took a child and had him stand in front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.”

Whoever Is Not against Us Is for Us

38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man who was driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn't belong to our group.”

(SAYING 3.) 39 “Do not try to stop him,” Jesus told them, “because no one who performs a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say evil things about me. 40 For whoever is not against us is for us.

(SAYING 4.) 41 I assure you that anyone who gives you a drink of water because you belong to me will certainly receive a reward.

Temptations to Sin

(SAYING 5.) 42 “If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around the neck and be thrown into the sea.

(SAYING 6.) 43 So if your hand makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand than to keep both hands and go off to hell, to the fire that never goes out. 44 [a] 45 And if your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot than to keep both feet and be thrown into hell. 46 [b] 47 And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out! It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell. 48 There ‘the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out.’

(SAYING 7.) 49 “Everyone will be purified by fire as a sacrifice is purified by salt.

(SAYING 8.) 50 “Salt is good; but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?

(SAYING 9.) “Have the salt of friendship among yourselves, and live in peace with one another.”

Footnotes

[a] Mark 9:44 Some manuscripts add verse 44: There ‘the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out’ (see verse 48).
[b] Mark 9:46 Some manuscripts add verse 46: There ‘the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out’ (see verse 48).

Mark 10 Good News Translation

Jesus Teaches about Divorce (In our culture today, this is an uncomfortable, difficult, awkward passage for teaching and preaching)

10 Then Jesus left that place, went to the province of Judea, and crossed the Jordan River. Crowds came flocking to him again, and he taught them, as he always did.

2 Some Pharisees came to him and tried to trap him. “Tell us,” they asked, “does our Law allow a man to divorce his wife?”

3 Jesus answered with a question, “What law did Moses give you?”

4 Their answer was, “Moses gave permission for a man to write a divorce notice and send his wife away.”

5 Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you because you are so hard to teach. 6 But in the beginning, at the time of creation, ‘God made them male and female,’ as the scripture says. 7 ‘And for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife,[a] 8 and the two will become one.’ So they are no longer two, but one. 9 No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together.” (Jesus saying divorce, and its causes, are contrary to God’s loving purpose in creation)

10 When they went back into the house, the disciples asked Jesus about this matter. 11 He said to them, “A man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against his wife. 12 In the same way, a woman who divorces her husband and marries another man commits adultery.”

This is a difficult passage in our 20th/21st century culture when divorce is so common and no longer a “scandal”; plus, variations about what Jesus said make it more difficult to explain or rationalize away: Mark 10:11,12 and Luke 16:18 have Jesus condemn all divorce; Matthew 5:32 has Jesus make an exception for adultery. The Episcopal Church position has changed in my lifeTime, FROM excommunication (exclusion from Holy Communion) for divorced persons who remarry TO no excommunication, but a priest who intends to officiate the wedding of divorced persons must get the bishop’s consent (only once did my bishop telephone me to discuss my request before approving it). As for preaching, whenever this gospel lesson showed up as the Sunday reading, I always ignored it and preached on one of the other lectionary readings for the Sunday (I only tried to preach it once, and it did not go well at all!).

Jesus Blesses Little Children

13 Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples scolded the people. 14 When Jesus noticed this, he was angry and said to his disciples, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” 16 Then he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on each of them, and blessed them.

It is characteristic of Jesus to turn our cultural garbage cans upside down and reverse our certainties, to say the opposite of what the culture practices. Here, Jesus reverses the then-regard for children as the lowest of the low: Jesus says children come first in the kingdom of God, which is a place of childish innocence, not a place of self-important people.

The Rich Man

17 As Jesus was starting on his way again, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely; do not cheat; respect your father and your mother.’”

Jesus diminishes himself (God alone is good), Jesus is a monotheistic Jew (Shema, Yisrael, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echad, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One). In Mark’s gospel Jesus does not define himself as God or equal with God, he defines himself as an unexpected sort of Messiah who is not a royal majesty but the Suffering Servant of Isaiah who must be rejected, suffer and die; and the Son of Man of Daniel 7, whom God will send to reign in God’s kingdom.

20 “Teacher,” the man said, “ever since I was young, I have obeyed all these commandments.”

21 Jesus looked straight at him with love and said, “You need only one thing. Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.” 22 When the man heard this, gloom spread over his face, and he went away sad, because he was very rich.

23 Jesus looked around at his disciples and said to them, “How hard it will be for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God!”

24 The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus went on to say, “My children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! 25 It is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.”

It is Jesus’ common theme to condemn our obsession with wealth and teach that we must share with the poor. However, the saying about “riches in heaven” with its allusion to life after death, many scholars regard as a later addition of the Christian Church as it shifted FROM Jesus’ view of the kingdom of God as “here and now” TO reward of heaven after death.

26 At this the disciples were completely amazed and asked one another, “Who, then, can be saved?”

A common view in that day and age was that being rich was a sign of God’s blessing and being poor was a sign of God’s displeasure or punishment for our sins or the sins of our ancestors.

27 Jesus looked straight at them and answered, “This is impossible for human beings but not for God; everything is possible for God.”

28 Then Peter spoke up, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

29 “Yes,” Jesus said to them, “and I tell you that those who leave home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and for the gospel, 30 will receive much more in this present age. They will receive a hundred times more houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields—and persecutions as well; and in the age to come they will receive eternal life. 31 But many who are now first will be last, and many who are now last will be first.”

Remember that Mark wrote some 40 years after Jesus’ Time on Earth and that what Jesus says and does in Mark is whatever Mark writes that Jesus said and did. Many scholars attribute the promise of rewards not to Jesus but to an early Church practice of encouraging people to sell everything and give the proceeds to the church for communal living. Again, many scholars attribute the promise of eternal life to the later Church shift in its view of the kingdom of God from here and now to an afterlife. Perhaps a shift because the kingdom of God failed to come immediately as they (and Paul) anticipated.

Jesus Speaks a Third Time about His Death

32 Jesus and his disciples were now on the road going up to Jerusalem. Jesus was going ahead of the disciples, who were filled with alarm; the people who followed behind were afraid. Once again Jesus took the twelve disciples aside and spoke of the things that were going to happen to him. 33 “Listen,” he told them, “we are going up to Jerusalem where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn him to death and then hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will make fun of him, spit on him, whip him, and kill him; but three days later he will rise to life.”

Again, Mark writes in retrospect 40 years after Good Friday and Easter. Part of Mark’s agenda is to persuade his audience/readers/you that what happened to Jesus (as opposed to what people expected of the new Messiah) was God’s foreordained will: AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN, Jesus as the prophesied Son of Man (of Daniel 7) is the Suffering Servant (of Isaiah) who will reign in the forthcoming kingdom of God on Earth. Does Mark believe that Jesus is divine/God (“high christology”)? Mark is generally view as having a “low christology” (i.e., Jesus is cosmic, but not God). The Church’s doctrine of Jesus as God the Son comes from the Gospel according to John a generation after Mark’s writing.

[[SECRET MARK, “Secret Gospel of Mark”. In 1958, professor and bible scholar Morton Smith found a letter of Clement of Alexandria at the Mar Saba monastary near the city of Jerusalem. The Secret Gospel of Mark is known only from the references in this letter.

Although there has been some controversy over the letter, today many scholars agree that the letter is authentic correspondence written by Clement. In his introduction in The Complete Gospels, Stephen Patterson notes: "The handwriting can be dated to around 1750. Smith published the letter in 1973. Early discussion of it was marred by accusations of forgery and fraud, no doubt owing in part to its controversial comments. Today, however, there is almost unanimous agreement among Clementine scholars that the letter is authentic."

The first passage is a story of how Jesus miraculously raises a young man (neaniskos) who has recently died, at the behest of his bereaved sister. According to Clement, the story was added to Mark between verses 10:34 and 10:35. The story bears a striking resemblance to the raising of Lazarus in the Gospel of John (John 11:1-44). However, since it shows none of the typical marks of Johannine redaction which so strongly color the story about Lazarus, it is unlikely that the Secret Mark story is directly dependent upon its Johannine parallel. For its part, the version of the story from Secret Mark has its own peculiarities not found in John, such as the initiation of the young man into the "mystery of God's domain." The basic story, however, probably derives from the common stock of miracle stories available to both Mark and John, or their sources.

"And they come into Bethany. And a certain woman whose brother had died was there. And, coming, she prostrated herself before Jesus and says to him, 'Son of David, have mercy on me.' But the disciples rebuked her. And Jesus, being angered, went off with her into the garden where the tomb was, and straightway a great cry was heard from the tomb. And going near, Jesus rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb. And straightaway, going in where the youth was, he stretched forth his hand and raised him, seizing his hand. But the youth, looking upon him, loved him and began to beseech him that he might be with him. And going out of the tomb, they came into the house of the youth, for he was rich. And after six days Jesus told him what to do, and in the evening the youth comes to him, wearing a linen cloth over his naked body. And he remained with him that night, for Jesus taught him the mystery of the Kingdom of God. And thence, arising, he returned to the other side of the Jordan."]]

The Request of James and John

35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “there is something we want you to do for us.”

36 “What is it?” Jesus asked them.

37 They answered, “When you sit on your throne in your glorious Kingdom, we want you to let us sit with you, one at your right and one at your left.”

38 Jesus said to them, “You don't know what you are asking for. Can you drink the cup of suffering that I must drink? Can you be baptized in the way I must be baptized?”

39 “We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup I must drink and be baptized in the way I must be baptized. (Mark’s writing reflects the church’s later doctrine and practices of Baptism and Holy Communion) 40 But I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left. It is God who will give these places to those for whom he has prepared them.”

41 When the other ten disciples heard about it, they became angry with James and John. 42 So Jesus called them all together to him and said, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. 43 This, however, is not the way it is among you. If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest; 44 and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”

Mark’s literary device supporting his agenda is the stupidity of the disciples from beginning to end: no matter what Jesus tells them in private, or shows them by his exercise of miracle power, they still are too dense to understand who/what Jesus is, not a royal king in gold and purple like Herod but a servant, and a suffering and dying Messiah.

Mark 10:45b (“and to give his life to redeem many people”), has Jesus turn a saying about servanthood into a theological assertion about redemption that Luke (Luke 22:27) omits. Whether this about redemption was said by Jesus himself, or by Mark the writer, or by the early Church as it picked up on Paul’s words about Jesus dying for our sins, is scholarly debate: decide for yourself!

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

46 They came to Jericho, [SECRET MARK "And the sister of the youth whom Jesus loved and his mother and Salome were there, and Jesus did not receive them.”] and as Jesus was leaving with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!”

48 Many of the people scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called the blind man. “Cheer up!” they said. “Get up, he is calling you.”

50 So he threw off his cloak, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

“Teacher,” the blind man answered, “I want to see again.”

52 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your faith has made you well.”

At once he was able to see and followed Jesus on the road.

Does Mark’s “Markan Secret” or Messianic Secret” seem to have run its course? Is Mark satisfied that he has had Jesus persuade Mark’s readers that Jesus is the holy one of God? The healing is public. And now there’s the title “Son of David” which is essential for the Messianic claim, and which Jesus does not shush.

Footnotes

[a] Mark 10:7 Some manuscripts do not have and unite with his wife.

Mark 11 Good News Translation

The Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem

11 As they approached Jerusalem, near the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, they came to the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead 2 with these instructions: “Go to the village there ahead of you. As soon as you get there, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 And if someone asks you why you are doing that, say that the Master[a] (Greek Ὁ Κύριος αὐτοῦ, the master of it, its owner, but English translations make it seem that Jesus is referring to himself as Ὁ Κύριος, “the Lord”) needs it and will send it back at once.”

4 So they went and found a colt out in the street, tied to the door of a house. As they were untying it, 5 some of the bystanders asked them, “What are you doing, untying that colt?”

6 They answered just as Jesus had told them, and the crowd let them go. 7 They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the animal, and Jesus got on. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches in the field and spread them on the road. 9 The people who were in front and those who followed behind began to shout, “Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 God bless the coming kingdom of King David, our father! Praise be to God!”

11 Jesus entered Jerusalem, went into the Temple, and looked around at everything. But since it was already late in the day, he went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples.

We love the Palm Sunday story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The king riding a colt fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” and symbolizes Jesus’ peaceful humility contrasted with a military king who would arrive in a horse-drawn chariot. Also, again, Mark’s Greek does not give the impression that Jesus is calling himself “LORD” (Kyrios), but says “tell them the owner (lord, master) of the donkey needs it and will send it right back.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

12 The next day, as they were coming back from Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 He saw in the distance a fig tree covered with leaves, so he went to see if he could find any figs on it. But when he came to it, he found only leaves, because it was not the right time for figs. 14 Jesus said to the fig tree, “No one shall ever eat figs from you again!”

And his disciples heard him.

Like the story of Talitha and the woman with the flow of blood, Mark uses an “intercalation,” which is inserting one story inside another, HERE FIG TREE/TEMPLE/FIG TREE, marking the passage of Time.

Jesus Goes to the Temple

15 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus went to the Temple and began to drive out all those who were buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the stools of those who sold pigeons, 16 and he would not let anyone carry anything through the Temple courtyards. 17 He then taught the people: “It is written in the Scriptures that God said, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations.’ But you have turned it into a hideout for thieves!”

18 The chief priests and the teachers of the Law heard of this, so they began looking for some way to kill Jesus. They were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples left the city.

In the synoptic gospels, the story of Jesus driving out the money-changers is positioned near the end of the gospel, where it serves as a final straw in the Temple leaders’ determination to kill Jesus (Gospel John positions the story up front at the beginning of his gospel, the first of Jesus’ several visits to Jerusalem - - in the synoptics Jesus only goes to Jerusalem one Time). Jesus “saying” seems to come from Isaiah 56:7 “my house will be called a house of prayer, ” and Jeremiah 7:11, “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?”

The Lesson from the Fig Tree

20 Early next morning, as they walked along the road, they saw the fig tree. It was dead all the way down to its roots. 21 Peter remembered what had happened and said to Jesus, “Look, Teacher, the fig tree you cursed has died!”

We may feel sad for the poor fig tree, but Mark means the story to be one more example of Jesus’ power over nature.

22 Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 I assure you that whoever tells this hill to get up and throw itself in the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 For this reason I tell you: When you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for. 25 And when you stand and pray, forgive anything you may have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive the wrongs you have done.” 26 [b]

Jesus’ promise that we will be given whatever we ask for may be difficult for us, incompatible with our life experience of unanswered prayer. And again, some scholars suggest that the prayer promise reflects the later church’s emphasis on prayer now that Jesus is gone from the daily scene of life.

The Question about Jesus' Authority

27 They arrived once again in Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the elders came to him 28 and asked him, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?”

29 Jesus answered them, “I will ask you just one question, and if you give me an answer, I will tell you what right I have to do these things. 30 Tell me, where did John's right to baptize come from: was it from God or from human beings?”

31 They started to argue among themselves: “What shall we say? If we answer, ‘From God,’ he will say, ‘Why, then, did you not believe John?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From human beings …’” (They were afraid of the people, because everyone was convinced that John had been a prophet.) 33 So their answer to Jesus was, “We don't know.”

In Jesus’ confrontations with people, especially his enemies, it’s common for him to meet their challenging question not with an answer but with a returning challenging question that outwits them.

Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things.”

Footnotes

[a] Mark 11:3 the Master; or its owner.
[b] Mark 11:26 Some manuscripts add verse 26: If you do not forgive others, your Father in heaven will not forgive the wrongs you have done (see Mt 6.15).