A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house

 

 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him.  And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.  And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, "Where did this Man get these things?  And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!  Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon?  And are not His sisters here with us?"  So they were offended at Him.  But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house."  Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.  And He marveled because of their unbelief.  Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. 

And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.  He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff --- no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts -- but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.  Also He said to them, "In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place.  And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"  So they went out and preached that people should repent.  And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them. 

 

- Mark 6:1-13 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side (after healing a man with a legion of demons), a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.  And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name.  And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death.  Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."  So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.  Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians.  She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.  When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.  For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."  Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.  And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"  But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.  But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well.  Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."  While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?"  As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."  And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.  Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.  When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep?  The child is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.  Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."  Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age.  And they were overcome with great amazement.  But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.

 

 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him.  And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.  And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, "Where did this Man get these things?  And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!  Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon?  And are not His sisters here with us?"  So they were offended at Him.   My study Bible comments that this double response to Christ of being both astonished and offended occurs frequently with those who encounter Him (see Luke 11:14-16; John 9:16).  Christ's rejection in His own country foreshadows His rejection by the whole Jewish nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14-15).  Jesus' brothers and sisters are His extended family; this language is used for relatives such as cousins and nephews in Scripture (as is still common across the Middle East today).  They are possibly children of Joseph from an earlier marriage or other family relations.

But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house."   Of such significance is this statement, that it is found in all four Gospels; see also Matthew 13:57, Luke 4:24, John 4:44.

Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.  And He marveled because of their unbelief.  Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.   My study Bible says that Jesus could do no mighty work there, not because He lacked power, but because of the unbelief of all but a few in Nazareth.  While grace is always offered to all, it notes, only those who receive it in faith obtain its benefits.  

 

And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.  Matthew lists the names of the apostles in pairs, suggesting who might have traveled with whom, as here Mark tells us Jesus sent them out two by two (see Matthew 10:2-4).  The first note regarding their mission is that Jesus gave them power over unclean spirits.  It suggests to us a military parallel to this mission; they are sent out against an enemy force, albeit a spiritual and not material one (see Ephesians 6:12).

 

He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff --- no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts -- but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.  Also He said to them, "In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place.  And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"  So they went out and preached that people should repent.  And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.   My study Bible comments that the mission of the disciples (now "sent out" as apostles) is like Christ's they preached and healed.  It also comments on the single-minded nature of this mission, and how Jesus prepares them for that -- they should carry no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts, to wear only sandals and one tunic.  This humility indicates that the power with which they go out is from God; they go out without ostentation nor can they be accused of greed; and they will learn dependence upon God.  In Matthew's Gospel He admonishes them to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16).  My study Bible remarks also that anointing the sick with oil has not only medicinal value but sacramental value as well.  As God's healing power is bestowed through creation (Mark 5:27; Numbers 21:8-9; 2 Kings 13:21; John 9:6-7; Acts 5:15, 19:11-12), so oil is a vehicle of God's mercy and healing in the Church (James 5:14).  

Why do the people in Jesus' hometown of Nazareth reject Him?  We must note that we're told Jesus marveled because of their unbelief.  It seems that even His reputation, His disciples who follow Him, His wisdom, and His mighty works done elsewhere do nothing for the townspeople's unbelief.  They know what they know, and they think they must know all about Him.  He is the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon.  And aren't His sisters there with them?  He can't possibly be a person who speaks with wisdom and authority and does "mighty works."  The text tells us that they were offended at Him!  In the Greek, the root word for that which is translated as "offended" is σκανδαλίζω/skandalizo.  And yes, we can easily see it is the origin of the English word to "scandalize."  It literally means to set a trap or snare, to cause to stumble.  Their own indignation at what they perceive to be socially incorrect is their stumbling block; it is the cause of their failure to recognize Christ's authority and power.  Christ's response, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house" is very important -- particularly, as is noted above, because it is found in all four Gospels.  For what it instructs us to notice is that the nature of the prophetic is to take us outside of our own narrow definitions of life, to open up to us what we're missing, to show us what lies beyond what we think we know.  The townspeople "know" a particular order of things, a particular ranking and hierarchy, and also a particular set of relationships in and amongst and between themselves.  This includes Jesus the carpenter, and His extended clan, in their hometown and their experience of Him growing up there.  But that does not include whatever was hidden from them.  It doesn't include what we might call the "apocalyptic," which literally means in Greek that which is revealed.  That is, the things which God, of necessity, reveals to us because we don't commonly perceive the things of God with our limited means of perception and ways of looking at things.  Jesus is revealed as divine Son through His ministry, but how can that be true of the Carpenter, from Nazareth, one of their neighbors and relation to the rest of His brothers and sisters and mother whom they know?  God calls us outside of our normal experiences, and outside of our set values on things, outside of the ways we already know and have learned to relate to things and to people.  When that happens, our world is changed, shaken up.  We're taught to rethink, to repent -- which literally means, in the Greek word for repentance, to "change our minds."  But what we might crucially observe from this scene in Christ's hometown of Nazareth is the relationship of faith to our capacity to open our minds to the things of God, even when they shake up our notions of how things have always been, or what we have "always" believed.  Faith asks of us to open up, to look toward something that we don't yet know in full.  It asks us to look toward a future, and to grow in understanding, especially in our relationships both to God and to our neighbor.  It is this crucial aspect of faith that seems to be addressed here by Jesus,  even when He is in their midst, even when His perplexing show of wisdom and His mighty works are on display before them.  ("Where did this Man get these things?  And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!")   Yet God is revealed in this Carpenter whom they've always known but never suspected could possibly play this role.  God's work is revealed in His hands -- those same hands that no doubt they've seen work with nails and will yet bear the marks of nails!  (See John 20:24-29.)  There are times in our lives when, through faith, we will be called out of what we think we know, and asked to expand in faith to something new, a way to shake up our lives and change the way we see the world, even change the way we relate to one another.  These might easily be times of great scandal, when there will be some whose indignation will follow upon the path we choose in faith, in response to a prayerful life.  But Christ has come before us to show us that this is also part of a life of faith, even pronouncing it the lot of a prophet, even when honor is found with outsiders.  Let us remember Jesus' response of humility, and the disciples who will follow Him in the apostolic mission He gives them, as He sends them out in complete humility and dependence upon God, for this is the way of the prophets in the world.

 

 

Talitha, cumi

 

 Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.  And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name.  And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death.  Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."  So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.  

 

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians.  She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.  When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.  For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."  Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.  And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"  But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.  But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well.  Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."  

 

While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?"  As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."  And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.  Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.  When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep?  The child is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.  Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."  Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age.  And they were overcome with great amazement.  But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.

 

- Mark 5:21-43 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus and the disciples came through a windstorm and finally to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.  And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains.  And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.  When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.  And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I implore You by God that You do not torment me."  For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"  Then He asked him, "What is your name?"  And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."  Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.  Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains.  So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."  And at once Jesus gave them permission.  Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.  So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country.  And they went out to see what it was that had happened.  Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine.  Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.  And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that He might be with Him.  However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."  And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.   

 Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.  And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name.  And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death.  Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."  So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.  Jesus is once again in Capernaum, His ministry "headquarters" in Galilee.  Here we see He is well-known enough that one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus, comes to seek Him, for Jairus' daughter is ill to the point of death. 

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians.  She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.  When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.  For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."  Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.  And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"  But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.  But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well.  Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."   Again, we understand the renown of Jesus and His ministry in Capernaum, for this crowd is thronging Him.  Included is a woman with a chronic flow of blood, a hemorrhage which even many physicians have failed to heal, although she has spent all that she had.  We are meant to understand her desperation, and that in the Old Testament, hormorrhage caused ceremonial defilement, and it imposed religious and social restrictions on a person, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  She accounts herself unclean, but nonetheless approaches Jesus secretly and with great faith.  Jesus understands that power had gone out of Him, and wants to seek the person whose faith was garnered such a healing response, telling her, "Your faith has made you well."  He tells her to "Go in peace" because through her faith, her illness did not exclude her from Him.  My study Bible comments that He exhibits her faith to all, so that they might imitate her.  My study Bible also adds that there is a spiritual interpretation of this encounter in patristic commentary:  this woman symbolizes human nature in general.  Humanity is in constant suffering and subject to death, which is symbolized by her flow of blood.  Those many physicians who could not cure her stand for the various religions of the world, including the Old Testament Law,  which were unable to grant life to humanity.  Only through Christ, my study Bible says, are we freed from suffering and bondage to sin.

While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?"  As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."  And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.  Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.  When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep?  The child is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.  Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."  Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age.  And they were overcome with great amazement.  But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.   Note that as Jesus took time for the encounter with the woman healed of the blood flow, in the meantime Jairus' daughter has died.  But Jesus' emphasis is on faith; His confidence in the power of God at work through Him and in His ministry.  So essential is faith that He takes with Him only Peter, James, and John, those disciples who are of the strongest faith and the closest to Him.  The people in the house are already lamenting and wailing; they ridicule Jesus when He says the child is not dead.  My study Bible comments that this is one of three resurrections performed by Christ  as recorded in the Gospels (see also Luke 7:11-17, John 11:1-44).  It says that they confirm the promise given to the prophet Ezekiel that God will one day open the graves and raise all the dead (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  Many people have exercised authority over the living; only the Son of God "has power over both the living and the dead" (quoting from the Orthodox funeral service).  While Jesus has power through His word alone (John 11:43), we observe from the touch of the woman with the blood flow that even His very body is life-giving; with both His word ("Little girl, I say to you, arise") and His touch He raises Jairus' daughter.  

Talitha cumi is the phrase given here as the one Jesus says to the little girl, Jairus' daughter.  It is Aramaic.  "Talitha" is a kind of affectionate diminutive term translated for us as "little girl."   Some sources suggest that it is etymologically related to the Aramaic and Hebrew word for "lamb."  Cum, or cumi, is "arise."  In a certain sense, the words remind us of those who will arise to the word of Christ at the Resurrection.  (It also echoes in the Aramaic-related language of the Paschal Troparion in Arabic, "Masīh qām," "Christ is risen.")    Christ Himself is the Word, the Son who commands by word, and words echo with meanings and poetic reminders of the things of God and the power of Christ.  So His raising of the daughter of Jairus is an echo of the spiritual truths to come and the hope we have in Christ for each of us and all of those whom we love, just the way that Jairus loves His daughter.  On the other hand, we have the woman with the blood flow, who seems quite alone in life, made solitary and excluded through her hemorrhage, the laws of the society, and her exhaustive and failed efforts to find a solution, having "suffered many things from many physicians" and depleting her resources in the process, having "spent all that she had."  Even more distressing is Mark's note that her health had not gotten better, but rather she had simply grown worse.  She is seemingly the opposite of Jairus' daughter, having no one and nothing.  But, there are similarities here.  Mark tells us that Jairus' daughter is twelve years old, while the older woman has spent the equivalent of that lifetime, twelve years, in suffering with her ailment.  But ultimately, both are daughters and "lambs" of Christ through faith.  Remarkably there is still a place for this woman to come for healing, one last place where her endurance through her affliction still has reserves to spend, and that is in her faith in Christ, a faith strong enough to unleash the power of God to heal.  Jesus clearly makes this distinction when He praises her faith, declaring that it is her faith that has made her well.  This is not to say that faith is some kind of magic trick, but rather a testimony to the things we have when we think we have nothing.  It is our faith that calls upon the power of God at work in life.  Let us note that Jesus does not restore all of her money, nor does He somehow reverse time and give her back her twelve years of suffering and ostracization.  But He returns her to community, and through Him, she is beloved by God, and praised for her faith.  She has a new start to make, albeit twelve years on, but she has her health restored and she has her faith and a community to be a part of.  We may presume that for Jairus and his family, this also is a start of a new life, for how could things remain the same for them -- and especially the young girl who is risen from death -- after the healing power of Christ has touched their lives, and similarly to the healed woman with the blood flow, becomes known to all?  And these resources of faith and renewal we may also find in our own lives, when through affliction and difficulties, we are turned with our faith to Christ.  Faith is not a magic restoration of things we once had, but we might find that it is a renewal in the midst of despair, a starting over with a different kind of start and a different kind of life from what we have known:  we find a family and community in Christ, we find that we have something to build up, a new start to make, and new meanings to construct for ourselves, even new roles to play in the world through our faith.  What would become of Jairus and his family after Christ was crucified?  We don't know.  What of this woman?  We don't know that either.  Would she become one of those who followed Him from Galilee to Jerusalem?  Was she a part of the early Church?  Would Jairus and his daughter also face exile for their role in His ministry?  Would he go from a position as ruler in the synagogue to a member of the early Christian church, and endure persecution even from his fellow rulers of the synagogue?  In the persecutions that followed by the Jewish religious authorities (such as those enforced by the young St. Paul, then called Saul, who guarded the garments of those who stoned St. Stephen the first martyr), would they renounce their faith?  We don't know the answers to these questions, but we may easily pose them.  And although we don't today (at least in the West) endure the same types of persecutions as those early Christians, we might still ask ourselves what it means to be healed by Christ and to profess faith in times of despair and distress.  For the new start we encounter may also ask of us some forms of sacrifice and loss, where we're challenged to build a life on new foundations, and a new sense of self.  This is common with people who have struggled with addictions, for example, for whom a new environment, new friends, and a detachment from the old circumstances that seem to enforce their past behavior becomes necessary, but which must accompany faith in a "higher power" as well.   On Saturday, we read about the healed man who had been afflicted with a legion of demons (see above); he also could not return to his environment but was sent back to his friends he knew beforehand, but with a message of the compassion of the Lord who had done great things for him.  Nonetheless, it was a new start, one in which he would have to find his way as the new person he had become, who preached the good news of Christ the Lord.  Let us be prepared to understand that faith in Christ, and especially deep encounters with the power of God which acts upon that faith, is going to change us and change our lives.  When we pray, we call upon God in the exercise of that faith, and should not be surprised if life asks of us a new start from a new place, for God's life adds to us new life, and calls us out of the old.  This renewal for these people can never be a return to the past but a calling to the new, for the healing of Christ gives us a call to Christ, which we may choose to follow or possibly ignore -- but one can't imagine the sad consequences of turning one's back upon a Savior and the power that healed and transformed.  We recall Jesus' words to the man healed by the Sheep Gate, in John's Gospel, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you" (John 5:14).  So often these miraculous stories are presented as if Christ is simply One who bestows great material blessings.  But this was a mistaken view of the Messiah in His own time and remains a mistaken view among us today, even as we read these Gospel stories.  In Christ's healing power, there is also a call to discipleship, and in that call is a challenge for our future lives and how we will choose to build them -- if we will, in fact, grow in our faith.  Let us consider the power of God, for it is the power of life and death (John 5:21).   Even in the midst of our lives, Christ brings the power of resurrection to renew, but then we are called to follow.  For we are all His sheep, and He is at once the Good Shepherd and the true Lamb of God.

Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you

 

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.  And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains.  And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.  When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.  And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I implore You by God that You do not torment me."  For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"  Then He asked him, "What is your name?"  And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."  Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.  Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains.  So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."  And at once Jesus gave them permission.  Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.  So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country.  And they went out to see what it was that had happened.  Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine.  Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.  And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that He might be with Him.  However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."  And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled. 

 

- Mark 5:1-20 

 

Yesterday we read that, when evening had come, Jesus said to the disciples, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along int he boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"

 

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.  And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains.  And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.  When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.  And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I implore You by God that You do not torment me."  For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"  Then He asked him, "What is your name?"  And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."  Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.  Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains.  So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."  And at once Jesus gave them permission.  Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.  So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country.  And they went out to see what it was that had happened.  Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine.  Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.  And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that He might be with Him.  However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."  And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.   My study Bible comments that the country of the Gadarenes was in Galilee, an area where many Gentiles lived among the Jews.  It explains that Gentile influence on the Jews caused many of them to take on Gentile practices, such as raising swine, which was forbidden by the Jewish Law (Deuteronomy 14:8).  Once again, the demons recognize who Jesus is, and identify Him as Son of the Most High God.  We notice the power of Christ:  although the malice of the demons is great, my study Bible point out they can do nothing against the will of God, and so they can only enter the swine at Christ's command.  The destruction of the swine shows the real effect of these demons, and we may conclude that the man had been protected by God's care:  otherwise he would have perished under their influence.  My study Bible adds that it reinforces that swineherding was not lawful for Jews, and shows the incomparable value of human beings, whose salvation is worth every sacrifice.  

There are some details we must notice about this story.  First of all the demon-possessed man clearly reminds us of some things we  might see in a modern Western city:  some homeless who are afflicted with mental illness.  He's wild and disordered, uncontrolled:  no one can bind him even with shackles and chains.  The text says that no one could tame him.  And night and day he was crying out and cutting himself with stones.  He lives among the tombs, because he can't live among the living; he is not a part of any community or society.  But the demons in him nevertheless know Jesus, and Christ comes and restores order; even the effects upon the swine have a reasonable teaching behind them.  For if we look at the environment here, we see several things.  First of all, as Jesus taught His disciples only to go to the Jews we can assume that although this is a region of mixed Gentiles and Jews, these are Jews who are raising swine for the Gentile market, in violation of the Jewish Law.  Therefore we may conclude from several aspects of this story that their values are purely materialistic:  they care about the money they might gain much more than a desire to honor God.  We can see it in their attitude toward the miraculously healed man who is now sitting and clothed and in his right mind:  they are just afraid of Jesus and beg Him to leave their region, for they've lost their swine, and that was clearly the only thing they cared about.  That the healed man becomes an early evangelist for Christ tells us about his transformation and redemption.  He goes to the Decapolis, a region of ten cities (this is the meaning of the name Decapolis, "ten cities") of Greek and Roman cultural establishment, but with mixed populations including Jews.  If we could make a modern metaphor out of this story, we might come to see a disordered environment that produced this tormented man, one that preferred wealth and materialism over the transcendent values of God.  This man is afflicted by what is hidden behind the scenes but nonetheless present and apparently thriving in such an environment:  the demonic activity that destroys souls, and the evil that seeks to afflict those who would come to love Christ.  The life among the tombs is a life we might see as one lived among the spiritually dead, where the only thing that matters is material wealth, and not the things of God.  Certainly love is missing from this picture.  The disordered man, we might say, is simply the evidence of a disordered society with disordered values.  Those who herd the swine are perfectly content with the way things are; they are simply distraught by Jesus who sets things in order, and in so doing upsets their own apple-cart and shakes up their material world.  But the formerly demon-possessed man has found himself, and Jesus sends him out with the gospel message that the Lord has done great things for him, and especially telling the story of the Lord's compassion.  The thing that characterizes those who herd the swine is selfishness; even in the sending away of the demon-possessed man among the tombs and the mountains we can see a world content to distance itself from problems so long as they are compartmentalized away and do not interfere with the pursuit of wealth.  We may find ourselves in such an environment, where the things of God matter not in terms of the real choices that people make.  Healing is fine as long as it simply enables those afflicted by the cold detachment of unloving values can function without disrupting that materialist system.  Some of us may even find ourselves living in a family environment like this.  But, as in this story, in a modern setting we also may find that faith in Christ comes to teach us different values, upsetting the apple-cart of those who prefer their swine to the spiritual health and well-being of those who need the love of God alive in their hearts and in their lives, who cannot truly live among the cold tombs of emptiness and abandonment except in pain and obvious disorder.  Jesus will say to one who comes to Him but wants to delay discipleship for a family duty to bury his father:  "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead" (Matthew 8:21-22, Luke 9:60).  In Luke's Gospel, He adds, ". . . but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  So it is with this man healed from the affliction of a legion of demons, and so it may be with all those who recognize a disordered world without the love and compassion of God to guide us, where the love of money and faith in its solutions prevails instead.

Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?

Christ Commanding the Sea, 16th century fresco; Dionysiou Monastery, Mt. Athos

On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along int he boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"

 

- Mark 4:35-41 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?  For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself:  first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."  Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."  And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.   

On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along int he boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"   On this passage my study Bible has several different observations.  The first is regarding the Lord's mastery over creation:  it's another sign of Christ's divinity and His identity as Messiah.  Commands to the wind and the sea could only be issued by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalms 66:5-6, 107:29).  On the other hand, Jesus was asleep because, as human being, He needed rest.  In His Incarnation, He assumed all the natural actions of the flesh, of which sleep is one.  This image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is traditionally used as an illustration of the Church.  My study Bible adds that God both permits storms and also delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly.  Jesus' rebuke of the storm also serves as illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul.  

Why would God leave us to go through difficulties, fears, and tribulations?  Why, indeed, would Jesus deliberately lead the disciples through this frightening storm as they crossed over the Sea of Galilee?  My study Bible says that Christ deliberately permits this windstorm to arise while He sleeps in order to perfect the disciples' faith and rebuke their weaknesses -- so that they would eventually be unshaken by life's temptations.  My study Bible further points out that in today's reading the disciples' faith is still mixed with unbelief:  they showed faith when they came to Jesus, but unbelief when they said, "Do You not care that we are perishing?"   Many of us might be tempted to ask God the same question when we go through difficulties in life, especially when we can't discern God's response for us to any of our troubles and the pain we are experiencing.   There are all kinds of fears and tribulations that life can bring to us.   The Scriptures do not shy away from illustrating the human experience of fear or despair:  In Psalm 39 we read this plea:  "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not Your peace at my tears! For I am Your passing guest, a sojourner, like all my fathers. Spare me, that I may find the place of refreshment before I depart and am no more!"   In Psalm 44, we read what might be the words of the disciples, "Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise, and do not cast us off forever!"  It seems that we are not spared from all of these experiences of what it is to be a human being; even on our faith journey, we will experience the reality of terror and fear and dread.  This is part of our inheritance of an imperfect world.  And so, we have to ask ourselves why this is so.  Why would Christ coming into our world not simply set it aright, banish death and sins, bring us back to life in the Garden?  I would venture to guess that we are called to a higher purpose than that, that human beings, in our capacity for "God-likeness" are meant to thoroughly experience the reality of our world and its problems, and in so doing call upon faith to transcend and transform, to become a part of that force for change that is our call back to God in the gospel of the Kingdom.  It's not about fixing the world or setting it aright or making it perfect; rather, we are invited in to the beauty of faith, the goodness of the Kingdom, the truth of Christ who is with us even though He may seem to be sleeping.  For despite our fears and despair and dread, God is with us in the form of love.  And although our prayers may seem delayed in their answer, oftentimes our response is subtle, may go without noticing, but is reassurance nonetheless that God listens, hears, and offers not perfection in some worldly sense, but rather a different answer, a peace, a capacity for faith that shores up assurance and confidence, lets fall away the things that will fall, but also teaches us what will endure.  For life is about finding what's real and releasing the false hopes of what isn't.  In today's story, the disciples travel across the Sea of Galilee, where they will find a strange scene of demonic influence, something entirely alien to what they know.  But they will also discover a mission and the power of Christ to set aright and heal and redeem with new purpose.  They will find their calling and the new life to which He leads them.  So may it also be with us.

To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it?

 

 Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?  For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."

And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself:  first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade." 

 

And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. 

 

- Mark 4:21-34 

 

Yesterday we read that once again Jesus began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat on it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns great up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.'" And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." 

 

 Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?  For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."   In the context of the preaching of parables, Jesus teaches about the nature of mystical reality itself.   Those who come to Christ in faith are invited in to hear, learn, and to live the faith.  My study Bible says that Christ's words are a call to attentive listening and discriminating response.  We must not only hear, but hear properly.  More will be given to those who respond to Christ with open hearts; they will grow in understanding.  It quotes St. Mark the Ascetic:  "Do the good you know, and what you do not know will be revealed to you."  Jesus uses this teaching, "With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you" in several contexts (see also Matthew 7:2 and Luke 6:38); my study Bible suggests that He repeated this particular message many times.  Thus, we can be assured of its importance in our lives in many dimensions.

And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself:  first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."  This parable occurs only in Mark's Gospel.  My study Bible explains it as follows:  The kingdom refers to the whole span of God's dispensation or plan of salvation.  The man is Christ, and the seed is the gospel (see verses 13-20).  His sleep indicates Christ's death, from which He will rise.  That the man does not know how the seed grows shows Christ does not manipulate man's response to the gospel, but each person is free to receive it and to let it grow in his own heart.  The harvest indicates the Second Coming, when all will be judged on their reception of the gospel.  

Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."    The mustard seed is likened by Theophylact to the disciples themselves, who began as just a few men, but "soon encompassed the whole earth."  This parable also stands for faith entering a person's soul, which causes an inward growth of virtue.  This soul, my study Bible says, will become "godlike" and can receive even angels (the birds of the air who may nest under its shade).

And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.   To unbelievers, my study Bible says, the parables remain bewildering.  To those with simple faith, these stories using common images reveal truth in ways they can grasp, as they were able. 

The use of parables teaches us something mysterious about the way our own minds and souls operate; that is, Jesus would not use them, and they would not be a staple of Scripture and religious teaching, except if this were so.  Somehow parables tap into the part of us that is capable of receiving spiritual nourishment, the soul that grows through what it can grasp.  Importantly, Jesus teaches us about our own discernment and hearing, that "with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given."  Parables work through the use of symbols and metaphors, similarly to the language of our dreams.  So, we might say, Christ is using the language of the soul, the depths of the mind and heart, to reach down and find ways to communicate the deep things of God.  But this communication also depends upon us, upon our receptivity, our ability to open up to such ways of thinking.  Often, it seems, our rationalistic habits of thought, of grasping information, such as in reading the news or perhaps a textbook, seem to condition us to expect only to be spoonfed something we learn by rote or repeat out of habit, but not to learn discernment, not to appreciate the capacity for a depth of connections and meanings that teach us a different kind of truth, a spiritual truth of the soul.  That requires something different and something more from us.  It requires of us the ability to soften the heart for receptivity to God's way of asking us to live our lives in a prayerful sense.  It asks of us the ability to receive the grace of faith and its working in us.  The capacity to seek to discern Gods' will takes a kind of discipline from within us that is willing to suspend disbelief, to hold absolute convictions at bay, to give prejudices up in order to more clearly hear what God wants for us.  Careful listening to spiritual teachings asks us for the capacity for insight, and for the allowance of God's word to transform our priorities and meanings so that we actually seek more; we become aware, in other words, of how much we don't know.  Christ speaks in parables, in some sense, in order to invite those in who hunger and thirst for more, for what it is He has to offer, who understand their need for spiritual guidance, for God, and for Christ's work in us as the Good Shepherd.  But He promises so much as well:  these parables of the natural beauty of growth teach us about God's life growing in us, and our capacities even for hosting God as God's temple (1 Corinthians 3:16), and our capacities for bearing spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).  We need to be willing to open up to that influence within ourselves, to find God's ways for us, and enter into relationship.  For He is the way, the life, and the truth -- and that is the bounty we seek through discerning listening.  How poetic and beautiful to hear the natural wonder of the world, such as the birds that nest in the shade of the branches of a sturdy herbal bush, and know that as such we may also shade angels in our midst.

These are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred

 

 And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat on it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns great up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that

'Seeing they may see and not perceive, 

And hearing they may hear and not understand;

Lest they should turn,

And their sins be forgiven them.'"

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

 

- Mark 4:1-20 

 

Yesterday we read that, after calling and appointing the Twelve, Jesus and the disciples went into a house.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house.  Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."  Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

 

 And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat on it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns great up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  As Jesus' ministry has evolved to such proportions that now a great multitude was gathered to Him, He begins to teach in parables.  As in Matthew's Gospel, the parable of the Sower could be considered a "seminal" parable, a central means by which Jesus speaks about Himself and His ministry, a image of Himself.  My study Bible describes parables as stories in word-pictures, which reveal spiritual truth.  The word for parable in both Hebrew and Aramaic can also mean "allegory," "riddle," or "proverb."  Parables are widely used in the Gospels; they are images which are drawn from daily life in the world so as to represent and communicate the deep things of God.  As my study Bible puts it, parables give us glimpses of Him whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).  

 

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.'"   Jesus references Isaiah 6:9-10.  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom as teaching that Isaiah's prophecy does not mean God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  This is a figure of speech which is common to Scripture that reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24, 26).  God has permitted their self-chosen lack of perception or understanding.

 

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  Jesus reveals Himself through this parable as the promised Messiah, the sower foretold in Isaiah 55:10-13.   My study Bible also notes that this parable indicates that while some might teach a person is permanently saved at the moment faith is professed (a view which was never held by the historic Church), the teaching of Jesus is clear that it is possible to receive the word with gladness, but endure only for a time.

 

What is faith?  What is rootedness?  One thing we can observe through Jesus' use and explanation of this parable is that, above all else, what He prizes as described in the parable is endurance.  That is, that we endure in our faith, we persist through all things in the practice of and in clinging to our faith.  This is a powerful truth, and one that we have to come to recognize as essential to the Gospels and to the ministry of Jesus.  In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus teaches that His followers "will be hated by all for My name's sake" but "he who endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 10:22).   Mark 13:13 teaches precisely the same thing.  In Matthew's chapter 24, when He speaks of the end times, He repeats this phrase, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved" (verse 13).  In Luke's Gospel, Jesus explains the metaphor of the seed that falls on stony ground by saying that these "believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away" (Luke 8:13).   In the Epistle of James, James uses Luke's language of temptation and endurance:  "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him" (James 1:12).  So, we are repeatedly given admonitions about endurance in our faith, and this parable above all teaches us about endurance and the kinds of things we might be called upon to endure in faithfulness.  In today's reading from Mark, Jesus describes various reasons why our endurance in faith might falter:  when Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts; or when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake; or when  the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word.   We're struck by this language that reminds us of the struggles of endurance in marriage, through difficulties, illness, setbacks or changes in financial matters, family struggles, and so on.  It's no accident that Christ calls Himself the Bridegroom, for endurance in our faith is similar to the things one must endure in a lasting marriage:  tribulation (even persecution), temptations, worldly care, the deceitfulness of wealth, desires for other things, and the influence of evil which seeks to destroy loving relations.  But this Bridegroom endures forever, and so we may be rooted in Him through everything else that comes to us in the course of our lives.  Through Him, as in a good marriage, we may draw strength, and faithfulness when we falter, and love that is always there -- for He is worthy of our faith and of our efforts, even tribulation and difficulties, and what He asks of us is our endurance with Him.   For even if all else falls away, His word remains, and He remains with us.

 

 

 

 

Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother

 

 And they went into a house.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house.

"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."

Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

 

- Mark 3:19b-35 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus then withdrew with His disciples to the sea.  And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.  So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.  For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.  And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."  But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.  And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.   Then He appointed the twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:  Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.  

 

 And they went into a house.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house."  Beelzebub was a corrupted version of a name for the god Baal, worshiped by the Philistines (2 Kings 1:2-16).  In fact, Baal meant "Lord" and was used for a number of pagan gods; but this name Beelzebub, used among the Jews, meant prince of "the dung heap" or lord of "the flies."  Here he is called ruler of the demons.  My study Bible says that the impossibility of demons fighting against themselves illustrates the irrational pride and envy of the scribes from Jerusalem in their opposition to Jesus.   Jesus uses simple logic with them:  how could he work to cast out the demonic if he were working through the power of the leader of demons?  How can Satan cast out Satan?  Christ must be the stronger man who binds the strong man (Satan) and can then plunder his goods; that is, Christ can set free those held captive by Satan.  It is Christ who can plunder his house, taking faithful human beings as His own.

 

 "Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."  My study Bible defines blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as blasphemy against the divine activity of the Spirit; that is, blasphemy against pure goodness.  Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, whose divine activity these scribes knew from the Old Testament Scriptures in which they are experts, will not be forgiven because it comes from a willful hardness of heart, and a refusal to accept God's mercy -- especially the mercy in action of Christ's works of liberating those held captive by demons.  My study Bible also adds that the patristic writers are clear that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not an "unforgivable sin," nor does Jesus call this sin "unforgivable."  St. John Chrysostom teaches that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if a person were to repent of it.  Jesus makes His declaration here knowing that those who blaspheme the Spirit are calling pure, divine goodness "evil,' and are beyond repentance through their own choice.

Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."  My study Bible tells us that Christ's relatives have not yet understood His identity and mission.  He points to a spiritual family based on obedience to the will of God.  My study Bible also notes that in Jewish usage, brother can indicate any number of relations.  Abram called his nephew Lot "brother" (Genesis 14:14); Boaz spoke of his cousin Elimelech as his "brother" (Ruth 4:3); and Joab called his cousin Amasa "brother" (2 Samuel 20:9).   Christ's brothers mentioned here are either stepbrothers (that is, sons of Joseph by a previous marriage) or cousins.  Christ had no blood brothers, as Mary had only one Son, Jesus.  In John's Gospel, Jesus commits His mother to the care of His disciple John at the Cross (John 19:25-27), which would have been unthinkable if Mary had other children to care for her.

It's interesting that just as we're told Christ's fame has spread throughout all the territories of Israel (that is, Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and even among the Jews of the Gentile regions of Tyre and Sidon -- see yesterday's reading, above), so at this time we begin reading about opposition to Jesus' ministry.  We first read about the scribes who've come from Jerusalem.  Allies of the Pharisees, they accuse Jesus here of working through the power of Beelzebub, whom they call the ruler of the demons, whom Jesus names as Satan.  This is opposition indeed, as Jesus teaches them that they are blaspheming the Holy Spirit at work in their midst to heal those who are demon-possessed.  Since we're told that Jesus and the disciples "went into a house" and that the multitude was so great "they could not so much as eat bread," we can conclude easily that the accusations of the scribes stem from envy and jealousy.  For elsewhere Mark reports Jesus' teaching that it is their positions that truly mean the most to them:  "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation" (Mark 12:38-40).   So within the religious establishment, vehement opposition is coming to Christ, the Son, the One whom we call Messiah.   Would we not expect something different if we were writing this story ourselves?   Would we not have a sort of  "magical thinking" that of course the Prince of Peace would be embraced and accepted, particularly by those who longed for this day, who were experts in the Scripture, who considered themselves the true sons of Abraham and Moses?  Yet, that is not the story of the coming of Christ into our world as the human Jesus.  And then there is the story of His family.  They have likely come just because of Christ's overwhelming renown at this point, the multitudes who come to see Him, and knowing of the religious authorities' opposition to Him.  Perhaps they are greatly concerned that they need to bring Him home for His own good, for the fuss the family may be dealing with.  We know that His mother has always understood her Son in accordance with the announcement of Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38) and the prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35).  Perhaps after all, she is reminded of Simeon's prophecy that a sword would pierce her own heart.  We know that she confidently encouraged the first sign in John's Gospel (John 2:1-12).  But would she know all the tumultuous unfolding of this ministry?  That was in the hands of God -- and there in this thought comes Jesus for us all.  For the expectations of the world for the One whom Gabriel said would be called "the Son of the Highest," whom the "Lord God" would "give the throne of His father David,"  Who "will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end" are quite impossibly different from the actual fullness in the unfolding of these words, in the ways that we are taught to understand them, and in the persecution of the Son as Isaiah's Suffering Servant (see Isaiah 53).  For Christ's mission into the world is one that exposes the world's own flaws, its rejection of the purely good, our own envy and jealousy, our failure to accept truths we don't want to hear, our own limited ability to accept God's will when we don't like it.  For here is where Jesus comes in to teach us all, to say that "whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."   This is not a rejection of His natural mother and of His extended family, but it is the final word, the bottom line.  Even Peter will be in for a strong rebuke when Peter denies that Christ should suffer or die (Matthew 16:21-23).  We don't like it when God's plans don't conform to our expectations of what is right and good.  But God's plans are more than the kind of plans that we make for life, for God's plan reveals us to ourselves.  God's plan will show to us that we need repentance and change from selfishness, to embrace what love is and teaches, and that we need to learn God's ways for ourselves, to become "like God" as we follow Christ's commands.  Jesus comes into the world, and His highest loyalty is to God, not to our fantasies and desires and not to our delusions about ourselves and the world.  For this is what love is and does:  love "suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails" whereas we know only "in part," and so we look to the One who comes to bring us to the fullness of perfection, and for whom we meanwhile abide in faith, hope, and love -- love being the greatest of these (1 Corinthians 13).   Let us look to His love, and place our faith and hope where it firmly belongs, for everything else will someday fail.