Gospel of Mark
Study
Week Three
1.
Jesus choosing the Twelve (Mark 3.13-19)
a.
Shows something of Jesus’ authority
·
“’What clues can we find about Jesus’
self-understanding from the way he related to others?’
[Ben]Witherington thought for a moment, then replied, ‘Look at his
relationship with his disciples.
Jesus has twelve disciples, yet notice that he’s not one of the Twelve.’
While that may sound like a detail without a difference, Witherington
said it’s quite significant.
‘If the Twelve represent a renewed Israel, where does Jesus fit in?’ he
asked. ‘He’s not just part of
Israel, not merely part of the redeemed group, he’s forming the group—just as
God in the Old Testament formed his people and set up the twelve tribes of
Israel. That’s a clue about what
Jesus thought of himself.’”[1]
b.
Discipleship: Mark 3.14-15
i. “that
they would be with him” à
learn from the Master; imitate the Master
ii. “that
he could send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons”[2]
c.
Jesus is the example they are to follow
2.
Mark 6.7-13
a.
The 12 are sent out with the authority of Jesus
to cast out demons and to heal
b.
This successful mission shows the power of Jesus: he is able to transfer
his power to his followers so that, in his name, they are able to do what he
did
c.
This section serves to set up the next section
concerning the death of John the Baptist
d.
The death of John the Baptist serves to
foreshadow Jesus’ death by a similar political leader who is manipulated by the
crowd
e.
Also serves to show that faithful followers will
face opposition and death
3.
Mark 7.24-30: Syrophoenician woman and demonized daughter
a.
Is Jesus being callous and mean?
b.
Keep in mind the big picture of what happens…
i. Woman
comes to Jesus and her daughter has a demon
ii. This
woman leaves the presence of Jesus and her daughter does not have a demon
iii. Her
request is answered …
iv. but
she is challenged in her faith (cf. the same dynamic in Mark 9.14-27 with the
man and his demonized son)
c.
“It is most unlikely that Mark would have
included this story in his Gospel if he thought that it would have a negative
effect on his gentile readers.”[3]
d.
Use of the word “first” in v. 27 is crucial to
note. Jesus is not giving a
blanket denial but speaking of timing.
i. Jesus
is stressing his mission to the Jews; he is the Jewish messiah
ii. Woman
accepts this; she owns the distinctions that Jesus lays out
iii. She
seeks, in faith, for an overflow of the Jewish blessings
e.
“It is worth noting, however, that the woman
does not take offense at Jesus’ response.
Instead, she detects in Jesus’ words an element of hope for her
daughter.”[4]
f.
“One of the unfortunate liabilities of written
speech is the fact that the tone of voice cannot be recorded. In conversation a change in tone, a wink,
a pause, or a smile suggest how the words are to be interpreted. This text uttered with a frown would
mean something quite different than if it were uttered with a wink or a smile. The former would mean, ‘Be off! Don’t bother me, for it is not right to
take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs!’ In the latter instance it would mean, ‘It is not right to
take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs, is it? What do you think?’
“In the
absence of voice tone, these words of Jesus must be interpreted with any verbal
hints the verse contains and in the context of Jesus’ life and teachings…it
seems best to interpret the text as a match of wits in which Jesus seeks to
lead the Syrophoenician woman to a more persistent and deeper faith.”[5]
4.
Mark 6.33-44: feeding the 5000
a.
Jesus “felt compassion for them because they
were like sheep without a shepherd” (v. 34)
i. “sheep
without a shepherd”: Numbers 27.17; Ezekiel 34 (esp. vv. 5-8, 11-12, 14-16,
23-24)
ii. “feel
compassion” (splanchnizomai/σπλαγχνίζομαι)
12 x’s in NT
·
Matthew 9.36 generic statement about Jesus’ view toward people (esp. the sick, v. 35)
·
Matthew 14.14//Mark 6.34 saw a large crowd and felt
compassion for them (and healed them in Matt.)
·
Matthew 15.32//Mark 8.2 Jesus feels compassion for
4000 people who need food
·
Matthew 18.27 in parable, the lord feels compassion toward his slave and forgives his debt
·
Matthew 20.34 Jesus feels compassion toward two blind men as he is going into Jerusalem
·
Mark 1.41 Jesus’ compassion for a leper who he heals
·
Mark 9.22 father of demonized boy pleads for Jesus to have compassion
·
Luke 7.13 Jesus’ compassion for a woman with a dead son
·
Luke 10.33 good Samaritan’s compassion for injured man
·
Luke 15.20 father of the prodigal son
“Matthew tells us that when Jesus
saw the great multitude he had compassion for them and healed their sick (Matt.
14:14). My question is simple: As
the exalted Son of God looks down from the right hand of the Majesty on High,
does he feel differently toward the sick and infirm? Is he now apathetic toward their pain? No one denies that miraculous healing
now is less frequent than it was then.
But what shall be our response to this? Personally, I am not content to deal with this problem by
minimizing, if not denying, compassion as a preeminent factor in why God heals
the sick. I would rather ground my
confidence in the immutability of God’s character, lay prayerful hands on the
sick with the unfailing assurance that whereas the church may have changed, God
has not, and live with the mystery of unanswered prayer until Jesus returns.”[6]
5.
Miracles in Mark
a.
“Twenty miracle stories and summaries of
healings account for almost one-third of Mark’s Gospel and nearly one-half of
the first ten chapters, a proportion greater than in any other Gospel.”[7]
b.
“While there are many miracles before the
passion narrative, apart from that of the cursing of the fig tree, no further
miracle stories are related after commences. This has the effect of leaving the reader with the
impression that Jesus, the powerful miracle worker, identified as the Messiah
and God, is being portrayed as choosing to offer himself powerless into the
hands of the authorities in order to die (cf. Mk 10:45).”[8]
6.
Laying on hands/touch in healing
a.
Jesus often uses his hands in healing
i. Mark
1.31 “taking her [Peter’s mother-in-law] by the hand”
ii. Mark
1.41 leper; “stretched out his hand and touched him”
iii. Mark
5.23, 41 Jarius; “lay your hands on her,” “taking the child by the hand”
iv. Mark
6.2, 5 hometown people; “…and such miracles as these performed by his hands,” “he laid
his hands on a few sick people and healed them”
v. Mark
7.32-33 deaf man with speaking disability; “…and they implored him to lay his hand on
him… and put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting, he touched his
tongue with the saliva”
vi. Mark
8.22-23, 25 blind man; “implored him to touch him,” “spitting on his eyes and laying his
hands on him,” “again he laid his hands on his eyes”
* People
touch or seek to touch Jesus: Mark 3.10; 5.26-27; 6.56
b.
Jesus doesn’t always use touch
i. Mark
1.25 unclean spirit; speaks
ii. Mark
2.11 paralytic; speaks
iii. Mark
3.5 man with withered hand; speaks
iv. Mark
5.8-13 demoniac with “legion”; speaks
v. Mark
7.29-30 Syrophoenician woman’s daughter with a demon; thinks
vi. Mark
9.25, 27 demonized boy; rebukes the spirit, “took him by the hand and raised him; and he
got up”
vii. Mark
10.52 Bartimaeus (blind); speaks
c.
“It appears that the miracles of healing by a
mere touch of his hand ascribed to Jesus are unique… Thus ἁπτομαι in the sense of
‘touch-for-healing’ is really a word from the Christian vocabulary. It would seem that the practice
described goes back on Jesus himself, who broke the barriers of uncleanness
reaching out to the sick and allowing them to touch him.”[9]
d.
Followers of Jesus continue the laying on of
hands for healing[10]
i. Mark
16.18 “they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover”[11]
ii. Acts
5.12; 9.17; 14.3; 19.11; 28.8
iii. “Since
there was, as with the other means of grace, no automatic or magical power
inherent in the hands of the early Christians, but healing and other kinds of
blessing only came as God himself was pleased to work through the laying on of
hands, it is not surprising that the early church prayed specifically that God
would stretch forth his hand to heal…
They realized that while they stretched forth their hands to touch those were
sick it would not be effective at all unless God’s own mighty hand of power was
working through their hands.”[12]
(see Acts 4.29-30)
e.
Application: Pray for someone with the laying on
of hands!
7.
Next week: Mark 8.27—10.52
a.
Remember the “hinge”! Mark 8.27-30
b.
Consider the following chart as you read:
|
Jesus predicts his
death
|
Disciples
misunderstand
|
Jesus teaches about
the cost of discipleship
|
|
8.32
|
8.32-33
|
8.34-38
|
|
9.30-31
|
9.32 (33-34)
|
9.35-37
|
|
10.32-34
|
10.35-40
|
10.41-45
|
i. What
do you observe about Jesus’ predictions?
ii. In
what ways do the disciples misunderstand?
iii. What
does Jesus say about discipleship?
c.
In this section (8.27—10.52) watch for the
geographical markers. Trace on a
map where Jesus travels.
d.
What especially moved you? Any thing new you saw in your reading?
[6]
Sam Storms in Are Miraculous Gifts for
Today? Four Views (ed. Wayne Grudem; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996),
323-324. Also see my blog post,
“Praying the Character of God” for a quotation by Charles Spurgeon in which he
speaks of “laying hold upon God in his own revealed character” in relation to bodily
pain he was experiencing. Online: http://whiterosereview.blogspot.com/2011/06/praying-character-of-god.html.
[11]
“Whether or not these words go back to Jesus, they surely reflect the practice
of the church in the apostolic and sub-apostolic period.” John F. Tipei, “The
Function of the Laying on of Hands in the New Testament” The Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association 20
(2000), 100-101.
