Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 3:22-27

The conversation about who is right now starts to get somewhat complicated. The scribes are leading the opposition to Jesus. They are concerned about what he is saying and doing. Jesus’ actions are such that his reputation has spread quite a long way very quickly. These scribes have come from Jerusalem. We might expect that it would take something of considerable concern to bring a deputation from Jerusalem to Galilee to investigate the doings of a wayward preacher.

The accusation is that he is under the influence of Beelzebub. Beelzebub is the prince of the devils and is here identified as such. The scribes comment that Jesus can do what he is doing because of the power given to him by the ruler of the demons.

We are told that Jesus responds by speaking parables, though we have not yet had any such reported by Mark. That will begin in, as we have it, the next chapter, though presumably some parables had been included in what Jesus had already said to those who gathered to hear him preach. He certainly defends himself. He points out that simple logic does not support his accusers. He is working against evil things, and it makes no sense to suggest that Satan will assist him (i.e. Jesus) to harm himself (i.e. Satan.) He emphasises this by pointing out that either a kingdom or a house divided against itself will fall and fail. His message is one of healing and wholeness, and is supported by what he is doing. It makes no sense to suggest that Satan is behind his mission.

There is then this rather, initially, cryptic comment about the strong man. Ched Myers (Binding the Strong Man) helps makes sense of this – “Jesus (a.k.a. the “stronger one” heralded by John, 1:8) intends to overthrow the reign of the strong man (a.k.a. the scribal establishment represented by the demon of 1:24.) In this parable the oracle of Second Isaiah lives again: Yahweh is making good on the promise to liberate the “prey of the strong and rescue the captives of the tyrants” (Isa. 49:24f.)

In other words, Mark is hinting at the way in which Jesus will transform how things are to be seen. Strong things (and people) can be undermined and neutralised if the approach is right. The people need to learn that Jesus will teach a new view of strength. They need to see things differently. As Myers has it – “By the close of his defence, Jesus has turned the tables completely upon his opponents: it is they who are aligned against God’s purposes. To be captive to the way things are, to resist criticism and change, to brutally suppress efforts at humanization – is to be bypassed by the grace of God.”

The apostle Paul points out that God’s weakness is stronger than human strength (1 Cor. 1:25). I wonder if there are places where we look for the wrong kind of strength, and fail to see what God brings to the situation. I wonder if we manage to see the conventional view of strength for what it is.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 3:20-21

These verses provide us with an interesting, and unexpected, moment described by Megan McKenna (On Your Mark: Reading Mark in the Shadow of the Cross) – his family “come to restrain him, or take him home, to silence him and stop his traveling and teaching, which attract the crowds.” This will be developed and explained further (in verses 31 – 35) after the description of an encounter with some scribes from Jerusalem.

The crowds remain enthusiastic, or so it would seem. Jesus does not even have time to eat because there is so much interest in what he is saying and doing. His impact continues. However, there are those who are concerned about this, and who seek to prevent his ministry from continuing. The opposition now comes from two very different sources. It has already been made clear that the religious authorities had concerns about how he was functioning. However, they now find support from what might be considered to be the unlikely source of his family.

Nothing is said about why his family want to prevent him from continuing the mission that has begun so apparently spectacularly. Perhaps they were afraid of what would happen to him if he continued. Perhaps they had even been persuaded by the religious leaders to ‘do something’ about this wayward member of the family. Perhaps they thought that what he was doing was wrong and even, in the terms of the day, that he was ‘possessed’ by demons. Anyway, whatever the reason, for the moment Jesus faces family opposition.

I wonder what motives we most allow to influence our actions.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 3:13-19

Here is a key moment in Jesus’ early ministry as he establishes the team that will offer him the most immediate support. Mark has already told us of his initial encounters with, and calls to, four fishermen, the two pairs of brothers and a tax collector, called Levi. But the entire group of twelve are now named and identified as ‘apostles’. These are not the only followers, or disciples, of Jesus, but they are an inner group who receive a particular role and proximity. Leith Fisher (Will you follow me?) reminds us that this is not the whole disciple story – “Here is the symbolic naming of an inner core of twelve disciples. We must remember they are not the only disciples. There are others, particularly the women, who form part of the larger discipleship group. To the twelve is given a special place and task, a task of proclamation and the authority to cast out demons.”

Here is an indication that some people have different roles, an important, if obvious, point for the whole of life, and that certainly includes the question of roles with the band of disciples, or followers of Jesus. Paul will later powerfully compare this fact to the critical role of each part of the body. It leads us to consider the question as to what is our role, for nothing has changed on that front, and whether we are fulfilling it.

It is significant that this group have an identified dual role, which includes both word and action. Both ‘telling’ and ‘doing’ the good news are vital and in a partnership that cannot be separated.

It is also fascinating that in this naming, or announcing, of the apostles, some of them are given new names, or nicknames. We often use nicknames to indicate a person’s character or characteristics, even if that sometimes includes an element of irony (as in the big guy nicknamed ‘Tiny’). As Fisher comments – “some are given new names, symbolic of new identity and purpose within the new community Jesus creates around him.” There could be an interesting point to ponder as we wonder what deserved nickname Jesus might give us. There is also a parallel in that, in some communities and traditions, people take on a new ‘Christian’ name at the point of being baptised. Here it is Simon, who is named Peter, the Rock, and the other fishing brothers, James and John, who are named Boanerges, Sons of Thunder.

Interestingly, none of the New Testament’s listings of the names of the twelve apostles are identical with any other such list, and it is a much smaller group, who get to be frequently identified in the stories of the ministry of Jesus. Perhaps there was more use of different or ‘nick’ names than we immediately realise, or perhaps there was some fluidity in the group, though the fact that they are always identified as twelve would count against this last. It is also interesting that there is no mention of Levi, whose call we have already noted, though most would agree that this is another example of different names, and that Levi and Matthew are one and the same.

So, twelve are named and, even though there is some confusion around the names, the names are important and, in some cases, indicative of what they can contribute. The named twelve are given a dual task involving both word and action. But one last crucial point in this story which summarises the call of these first disciples is that they were chosen by Jesus. I wonder for what tasks, big and/or small, God is choosing us just now?

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 3:7-12

Mark 3:7-12

Jesus came to make a difference, and that is clearly happening as we read of how he attracted attention. It is true that a crowd attracts a crowd, and this seems to be so in these early days of Jesus’ ministry. Mark tells us that people came from all the surrounding area in order to encounter Jesus. The media of the day will have been the grapevine, but it did its job, and folk came to hear Jesus preach and teach and, if they needed it, to receive healing.

The gathering place was the shore of the lake, a useful public space, and Jesus takes advantage of having the two pairs of fishing brothers in order to have a boat on hand so that he may use it to escape the crush of the crowd. His reputation as a healer is probably the biggest draw and it is recorded that he had healed many people.

Clearly people were talking about Jesus in a way that encouraged others to go and see for themselves. I wonder how we might do the same.

There is also an important reference to what are identified as unclean spirits. This is not language that we would use, nor reflecting the way in which we are likely to understand things. However, that does not mean that it should be ignored. The interesting thing, and we are in on the secret, is that, even at this early stage, these are the ones who recognise Jesus’ identity – you are the Son of God! Another interesting point is that he instructs them to keep the secret.

So, here we see the impact that Jesus makes and we have his true identity clearly stated. Surprisingly, the important recognition of who Jesus is comes from the unexpected source. As Denis McBride (The Gospel of Mark) comments – “the demons, the supernatural enemies of Jesus, readily recognise his true identity, while the religious authorities, his natural opponents, do not.”

As McBride adds – “Mark succeeds in keeping us focused as readers on the true identity of Jesus.” However, we are left wondering just what we would have understood if we had been there at the time. Jesus’ mission is under way. He is popular with the crowds, but causing concern to the authorities in a day when the religious and the political overlapped in significant ways. It is not clear who knows or understands what, except that Mark wants his readers to be clear about who Jesus is.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 3:1-6

It is fascinating how many of the incidents recorded in the early part of Mark’s Gospel happened on the Sabbath. It is almost as though Jesus deliberately sets himself against the religious authorities, though it might be that these were the incidents most noted and remembered because they were the controversial ones, and so became newsworthy.

The early part of Mark is certainly full of stories of healing and full of things that happened on the Sabbath. Here a man with a withered hand is healed by Jesus, and the event is accompanied by what is becoming the standard discussion around what is really permissible on the Sabbath.

As D. E. Nineham (Saint Mark) points out – “in this fifth conflict story, the last of the series, it is taken for granted by everyone that Jesus has the power to perform miracles of healing; the one question is whether he will exercise his power on the sabbath and so give ground for an official accusation, for healing was technically work and, as such, an infringement of God’s sabbath law.”

There was a lot of emotion in this situation, as is often the case when we are in a situation of conflict. Perhaps there is room, as we consider this incident, for reflecting on just how we handle conflict and whether we engage with it as constructively as we might. Jesus is described as both angry and grieved as he again confronts the question of whether it is right to offer healing, even though it is the Sabbath, or to delay that action in order to avoid breaching the rules against work. However, it emerges as a rhetorical question. Even his fiercest critics do not voice their opposition. The question is met with silence.

The reaction, then, is behind the scenes. Jesus has not won universal agreement. The plots begin. The point is that this healing could, arguably, have waited and raises the question of where you draw the line, a difficult question in many circumstances. As Nineham comments: if Jesus was justifying – “(all) kinds of benevolent work – on the sabbath …. the effect would have been to supersede the sabbath law entirely, for the prohibition on sabbath work would become simply a prohibition of evil and life-destroying activity on the sabbath, and that is forbidden on any day.”

So, healing is a given; but there are many questions about the Sabbath – and that may get us thinking as to what the ‘Sabbath’ means, and should mean, to us.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 2:23-28

The Sabbath was, and is, a very special part of Jewish faith and life. It is the day of rest, set aside at the end of the week. It is an important recognition of the value of a balanced life, and the fact that we need rest and relaxation. It is a day that is different, and markedly so, and, in order to keep it like that, it was (and is) important to ensure that it felt different, and this particularly came in terms of the things that must not happen as they would be a breach of the Sabbath.

The original intention was not to make the Sabbath restrictive, a point made more than once by Jesus. However, in order to maintain an appropriate ethos, it was far easier to be restrictive in explaining what should be, than to be permissive. This led to all sorts of ‘rules’ about what could happen on the Sabbath. Jesus’ view is summed up in verse 27 – The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath.

The particular issue here is that the hungry disciples pluck some heads of grain to eat as they are making their way through the fields. It may well be that there is a double criticism here as, arguably, they should not have been travelling, and, secondly, reaping the grain would be regarded as prohibited work, as only emergency work was allowed. It was permissible for hungry travellers to get some food in this way, but not on the Sabbath.

The comparison is then made with what King David and his companions did when they were, similarly, hungry. They took the bread of the Presence from the Temple. The point is that hunger trumps the rules, whatever they may be.

There is an interesting tangential as to what might be any issues that we should address that could take across lines that are otherwise appropriate.

Ched Myers (Binding the Strong Man) suggests, with justification, that what we have here is fundamentally a political point – “The disciples’ commandeering grain against Sabbath regulations must from this perspective be seen as a protest of “civil disobedience” over the politics of food in Palestine. Jesus is not only defending discipleship practice against the alternative holiness code of Pharisaism, he is going on the offensive, challenging the ideological control and the manipulation of the redistributive economy by a minority whose elite status is only aggrandized. Mark consistently argues that solidarity with the poor also means addressing oppressive structures.”

Clearly the law is essentially good, and there for a purpose. However, if it is damaging to human life, it may well need to be broken. Here is a relatively early hint that discipleship is a radical calling that may take us to difficult places.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 2:21-22

Jesus continues the theme of the right thing in the right place with two illustrations that make the point. He talks about not using a new piece of cloth to repair an old garment. The point is that cloth tends to shrink and that adding a piece that has not been washed and shrunk is likely to have an interesting effect on the garment that it is supposed to repair.

He then makes a similar point about putting wine into wineskins. New wine needs fresh wineskins. These images take the previous comment about fasting that little bit further. In the end what we are addressing here is that Jesus is bringing something new. As Paul puts it, writing to the Corinthians, so if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Edwin Broadhead (Readings: A New Biblical Commentary – Mark) helps us understand what is being suggested here – “These images share a common message that goes well beyond the initial message of fasting. Those who follow Jesus take part today in a fellowship of wondrous joy. Something new has come that old traditions cannot contain, and this wonder must be celebrated. In this way Jesus’ eating and drinking with sinners is presented as the advent of a new time; and the reader should know that this is the time of the Kingdom.”

As with much of the Jesus story, as well as being about what is new, so much of this is about crossing boundaries. Jesus takes us into new places that challenge us because we would tend towards the way of the world that avoids and marginalises so many. The Kingdom is exciting and full of possibility, but these thoughts remind us that God’s way so often does not match our expectations.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 2:18-20

John the Baptist was the forerunner, preparing the way for Jesus. However, there were stark contrasts between the different ways in which the two cousins operated. John is known for his ascetic lifestyle. His diet and clothing both reflected an austere approach. He encouraged his disciples to fast, a practice that was in line with the teaching and example of the Pharisees.

Jesus’ approach is very different. He readily accepts hospitality and he is therefore often found sharing a meal and in deep conversation. He talks about feasts and banquets, using them as an image of the Kingdom of God.

The religious leaders, and others, criticised him for this approach, inferring that a bit of self-discipline might be a good thing. Jesus’ response is that the important thing is to do the right thing at the right time. Different approaches have their place, and it is a case of timing, not that one is right and the other wrong. He uses the example of a wedding, pointing out that it is a time for celebrating and feasting, not for fasting.

The real point is the question of choice, and the ability to decide whether to feed or to fast. If you have no food, that is not a matter of choosing to fast. Jesus is offering the different possibilities. As John Davies and John Vincent (Mark at Work) explain it – “The righteous are fasting. To fast means not just to go hungry; it means to share in a community’s abstention from celebration. The righteous are already in a community, either the community of the Pharisees or the community of John. They are already in a feast, so fasting is a proper option for them. Up till now, the sinners have not been able to fast; they have had no choices; all they could do was to go hungry. They have not been in any community which could celebrate, so they could not abstain from celebrating either.”

In other words, this is far more about belonging than it is about behaviour. Jesus is relating to the excluded, the ones who have not had a choice. Different behaviours are right in different situation, and we ought to consider what that says to us, but what is more important is building the right kind of community and, with that, behaviours and other matters of choice will fall into place. As Davies and Vincent say – “When the wedding ceremony is over, when the new community is made, then they will also be able to fast. They will be in a community which can choose whether to feast or fast.”

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 2:13-17

Discipleship is an important element in Jesus’ call and ministry. Jesus clearly attracted quite a following, and the broader group of disciples was much more mixed, including by gender, than the core group of twelve men who were those most closely engaged with following Jesus and supporting him in his ministry.

However, that, in itself, was quite a mixed group. In Jesus’ day, tax-collectors were not a well-liked group. They worked for the hated occupying Romans, and they over-charged in order to make a decent living. As a result, they tended to be quite wealthy, but they were also the sort of people that you avoided, if at all possible. Jesus’ ministry is to all sorts of people and he now calls a tax collector, Levi, son of Alphaeus, to be part of the disciple group.

We can assume that Levi was doing well for himself. It is interesting that this call resulted in a dinner invitation, perhaps demonstrating tax collectors were well able to offer hospitality. An ensuing meal is also part of the story of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus.


However, as with the four fishermen, his position and his job do not prevent Levi from an immediate positive response. He, too, is ready to go with Jesus; and there is an obvious complementary question about how ready we are to walk Jesus’ way.

I wonder if Levi threw a party to mark this transforming moment in his life. He certainly invites Jesus and the disciples back for dinner and we are told that there were also many tax-collectors and sinners present. Now I am wondering if we throw enough parties. It is certainly good to celebrate moments with Jesus in our lives.

This, though, makes the religious authorities rather unhappy; and they start grumbling about the fact that Jesus seems to have rather a lot of inappropriate associates. They do not like the fact that he engages with those whom they would identify, to use the Biblical word, as ‘sinners’. And I wonder who are the ‘sinners’ of our day, and what do we do, if anything, about relating to them.

Jesus is rightly dismissive of those who criticise him for helping the group who most need help – Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners. Again, it is significant that this mirrors the comment recorded by Luke at the end of his description of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus – For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).

In a very real sense Jesus is setting out the way ahead. As Tom Wright (Mark for Everyone) puts it – “Mark is continuing to show how Jesus’ early ministry aroused opposition at the social, cultural, political and above all religious levels. This is part of the long build-up of tension that will finally explode in Jerusalem.”

Jesus has come to proclaim the Kingdom of God. There is a lot of learning to be done about what that means.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 2:1-12

Capernaum was one of the early centres of Jesus’ ministry, situated beside Lake Galilee, and so a great base for fishing. It also was probably where Jesus first attracted a crowd. His reputation is getting round, and now so many people come to the house that it is over-crowded and it’s impossible to get close to Jesus unless you got there early, and especially if you have the complication of carrying your paralysed friend on some sort of mattress and stranger.

This is the story of four friends who are determined to get their disabled companion into a direct encounter with Jesus. He desperately needs healing and they believe that Jesus can do what’s necessary. So, in a rather extreme measure they got on to the roof, not difficult as there would be steps and people would go on to the roof. However, they then create a hole in the roof and lower their friend into the house to get him close enough to Jesus. They feel confident that Jesus’ will recognise the deep need of this man and do something about it.

This is in line with the comment made by José Cárdenas Pallares (A Poor Man Called Jesus: Reflections on the Gospel of Mark) – “Jesus cannot be indifferent to human humiliation. He dines with publicans and sinners because they are the ones in need of relief; they are the ones who need emergency assistance.”

Jesus recognises, and is moved by, the faith that is demonstrated here. Faith is important, and it is worth our noting what it achieves in this incident. It is also fascinating that Jesus deals with the whole situation. He does provide physical healing, but the more important element is the spiritual healing. He talks about forgiveness, an obvious link with the message and baptism of John in the wilderness. John had called those who came to hear him to repentance. Repenting is needed in order to find forgiveness. Jesus wants this man to be whole in every way, something which Jesus wants for every one of us. So, Jesus pronounces forgiveness. He then tells him to stand up and walk, something he had clearly not done for a long time. This is the ‘icing on the cake’ in this instance. His healing is physical, as well as spiritual. We need to recognise that things are not always like that, and it can be difficult when the physical healing is missing. But the promise that God offers into our chaotic and messy lives is to be with us, and to walk with us the different ways which we find ourselves treading.

The really important thing is that Jesus introduces us to the wonder of God’s sustaining presence, and he is particularly concerned to open things up for the excluded. As Pallares puts it – “Jesus’ forgiveness is the power to demolish whatever excludes people from acceptance. Jesus’ friendship with sinners demonstrates his power to forgive. Jesus has not come to reinforce society’s barriers but to overthrow them. …. Jesus’ power is at the service of men and women who are thoroughly marginalised.”

The people are amazed. They did not see this one coming. The man who only gets there because his friends carry him walks away unaided. They were surprised, but not so that they forgot to praise God. How do we react when God surprises us? (And do you think we ever miss some of God’s surprises because we don’t notice them?)

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:40-45

Jesus was consistently disinterested in the conventional barriers of the society in which he lived. He reached out to those whom others treated as marginalised and outcasts. One such group were those identified as lepers. There was a great fear of infection and most sensible would steer clear of leper as they did not want to risk catching the disease.

By contrast, Jesus wants to help and heal those who need that. As in this little scenario, Jesus is often described as being “moved by pity” when he encounters those in deep need and who are rejected by the majority society. We need to learn, as Megan McKenna (On Your Mark: Reading Mark in the Shadow of the Cross) points out that – “Such pity is the mark of God and the mark of God’s beloved son and servant. It is also the mark of the new community, the new household that lives in obedience to the Law and with pity for others, willingly putting themselves in jeopardy to set others free and to save others in desperate straits.”

Jesus wants this man to be healed, and he asks him to go and get checked over so that he can resume a normal life where he does not have to be excluded from the community. However, Jesus does not want to use this act to attract or to build a reputation, and he asks the man to keep it quiet apart from doing what is  necessary to have himself declared cured. However, perhaps it is not a great surprise that this healed leper wants to share his good news. He cannot help but tell others with the inevitable result that there are lots of people looking for Jesus.

Of course, he wants to tell others about this wonderful thing that has happened to him, and the only reasonable way to do that is to explain how it happened and who was involved. But it means that Jesus is restricted as to where he can go, but where he goes he will be recognised and, of course, people will be looking for more of the same.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:35-39

Here we get an insight into Jesus’ priorities and it provides an important reminder of essential it is to find that time and space to be just with God. Jesus does this by getting up very early and going to a place where he is not likely to be found. Prayer can happen anywhere and anytime, and communal prayer is valuable and important. However, this is a reminder of those special, important moments. We can assume that Jesus must have been tired. He had been inundated with folk looking for healing the previous evening. But prayer is so important that time for it must be found.

Simon and the other earliest disciples went looking for the missing Jesus. They clearly had not yet got him worked out. If they had, surely they would have left him the space that he needed.

However, Jesus is unbothered by being found. He simply suggests that they get on the road. It is time to move on. This going to other places is important. As Morna Hooker (The Gospel According to Saint Mark) points out – “now it is not simply a rumour which travels through the whole district but Jesus himself …. so that the whole area is evangelized.”

Jesus has come with a message; and it is important for that message to be proclaimed. It is also important that the proclaiming is not just achieved by the medium of words, but also through the actions in which Jesus engages. Interestingly, the place for preaching remains the synagogue. He is rooted in his faith. Alongside that, he casts out demons, thus demonstrating, in a very practical way, the good news about wholeness and healing that he has come to bring. This then becomes a preaching tour across the Galilee region in which, as Hooker puts it – “what Mark describes as having happened in Capernaum is typical of what happens elsewhere.”

So, Jesus’ ministry is well and truly launched.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:29-34

Jesus leaves the synagogues and goes with the first four disciples, the two pairs of fishermen brothers, to the house of one of these, Simon. Simon is clearly married as we now encounter his sick mother-in-law, whom Jesus heals, thus continuing the practice of healing even on the sabbath. This is the first recorded physical healing and, significantly, within the context of the times, it is a woman who is healed. This becomes an indicator of good discipleship modelling by women.

Lamar Williamson Jr. (Mark) points to the significance of this – “The mother-in-law’s response to the healing of Jesus is the discipleship of lowly service, a model to which Jesus will repeatedly call his followers throughout this Gospel and which he supremely models in his own service.” On the other hand, as Williamson also says – “the insensitivity and misunderstanding of the male disciples will become increasingly evident.”

It would seem that all this woman wanted to do was to offer hospitality, but she is not well enough until she receives the healing touch of Jesus. Perhaps we might wish that she had not then immediately conformed to the stereotype. However, I imagine that she was so pleased to be healed that she wanted to fulfil every expectation.

Healing comes in a multitude of forms. I wonder how we react if we experience it.

Returning to the story, word clearly got around as many who needed healing were brought to Jesus. It is after sunset, so we have moved beyond the sabbath problem, but we can imagine the strain of the demands placed on Jesus by this constant stream of visitors. We can imagine them overflowing from the house, and into the street. It says that the whole city came. That is surely an exaggeration, but an indication that there were lots of needy people who came to see Jesus and, doubtless, many onlookers – because onlookers always gather when something unexpected is taking place.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:21-28

We come to the first instance of what we might call Jesus encountering the general public. In view of the fact that this story includes the healing of the unnamed man who takes a prominent role in this incident, it is worth noting that it was the Sabbath. However, there is no suggestion here that Jesus should have refrained from this action because of its being the day of rest. Indeed, the only recorded response is of wonder at what has happened – they were all amazed.

It is also important to note that Jesus was in the synagogue. Jesus radically re-interprets the Jewish faith and teaching, but he never rejects it. His concern is always around what is really meant. He often taught and preached in fields and other open places, but he also consistently goes to the synagogue and, when in Jerusalem, the temple. Jesus is looking for the deeper meaning. That is what will bring in the kingdom of God. However, he frequently struggles to communicate the full importance of the message, even to his immediate disciples. As Donald English (The Message of Mark) puts it – “Both his words and his works evoked attitudes and responses which befitted the immediate presence of God in what was happening. Such attitudes and responses did not, however, automatically produce repentance and faith.”

The man whom Jesus here encounters is an extreme case. He is described as being with an unclean spirit. That is not how we would put it. This was probably some form of mental illness which caused the man to shout out in an inappropriate and embarrassing way. The people of Jesus’ time would think in terms of some kind of demon possession. The details are actually not that important. The point is that this man needed healing, and that is what Jesus provides.

Like the fishermen in the preceding section, though in an entirely different way, his life is transformed by Jesus. We are back to reflecting on what an encounter with Jesus can do for us.

Jesus is now building a reputation. We are told that his fame began to spread.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:16-20

Jesus now comes to invite the first four of the group of disciples, as they became known, to go with him. These four are all fishermen, two sets of brothers, and Jesus uses the analogy of catching people. What is fascinating, and perhaps challenging, is that there is no hesitancy of the part of these first followers. They go with him immediately, and that, right from the beginning, says a great deal about the charismatic leadership that we are going to discover as we walk the roads and lanes of Galilee and beyond with Jesus and the loyal group who identify with him.

This does not, of course, mean that all will be easy, nor that all will always be well. Leith Fisher (Will you follow me?) notes that challenges and difficulties lie ahead – “As the story of the disciples’ life with Jesus unfolds, we will see many painful birthpangs on the way to the establishing of the new order – following Jesus is not instant heaven. …. The story depicts the call to discipleship with stunning simplicity; it is on the way itself that the implications of the call will deepen and unfold.”

James and John would appear to come from a comparatively wealthy family, as we are informed that their father, Zebedee, remained in the boat with the hired men. Perhaps it was not too big a risk to leave home, family and work, at least for a while. We can be less certain as to whether that applied to Simon and Andrew. However, in both cases, they surely left a hole in the family business, and we might assume that this would not be welcome. However, there is no recorded indication of any second thoughts or anyone trying to persuade them to reconsider.

Whatever we are not told, meeting Jesus was a transforming moment in their lives. This may well raise questions about how we respond to God’s call, and just what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in our day.

However, we might also note that Jesus does not appear to have done anything to persuade them. He simply invites them to go with him; and, unhesitatingly, they accept.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:14-15

Having been baptised by his cousin, John, and having spent a significant period of challenging time in the wilderness, Jesus launches his earthly ministry.

As Douglas Hare (Mark) comments – “The Messiah has been commissioned and empowered at the Jordan, tested in the wilderness, and is now ready to fulfil his role.”

As has been the case with everything so far, Mark describes this next step in the story very succinctly. We are given a time. It is after John was arrested. We are given a place. It is in Galilee. And we are given the essence of the message, which is identified as good news. Under that general heading of ‘good news’, four points are named which summarise the message.

In the first place, Jesus tells his listeners that it’s time, time for something special, time for something new. The second element in the message is the proximity of the kingdom of God. The third point, which is a clear echo of John’s message, concerns repentance, and the fourth thing is a call to faith – believe in the good news.

In a sense the implication is that this message is so good that a response is inevitable, and the only appropriate response is that of repentance – and John has done well in proclaiming the right preparatory message. It is certainly true, as Hare says, that “for Mark, Jesus’ entire ministry, including his death and resurrection, signifies that the time has come and that God’s rule is at hand. His ministry in itself constitutes a call for repentance and faith.”

Mark thus quickly launches Jesus into ministry and, right from the beginning, the defining element of his ministry is that he talks a great deal about the kingdom of God. Jesus, as we will discover, will do all sorts of things and meet all sorts of people, but the really important thing is that he is here to announce the kingdom of God. It is a ‘kairos’ moment, kairos being the appointed time within the purpose of God.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:12-13

The high point is followed by the low point. We now come to what we tend to call the “temptations” of Jesus. This might be better termed a time of testing. The idea of temptation is slightly more suggestive of an attempt to trip us up than might be strictly appropriate. As William Barclay (Daily Bible Readings – The Gospel of Mark) explains it – “Temptations are not sent to us to make us fall; they are sent to us to strengthen the nerve and the sinew of our minds and hearts and spirits. They are not meant for our ruin, but for our good.”

If that is so, we might wonder why they occur at all. Yet, thinking about it, such experiences clearly help us navigate a tricky and messy world.

Mark’s account of the temptations is remarkably brief. John does not mention them at all, but we get far more detail from Matthew and Luke, who both identify the three temptations. Mark simply says that this was a time in the wilderness, though, interestingly, begins by saying that the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. I wonder how often, whether for good or difficult experiences, we have allowed ourselves to be “driven” by the Spirit. Mark specifies the length of time as forty days, though that is not necessarily to be taken literally, as it would have been the usual expression for a reasonable amount of time. He identifies Satan as the tempter, and heightens the feeling of danger by mentioning the presence of wild beasts.

However, Barclay suggests, with regard to the presence of the wild beasts, that – “Perhaps this was a lovely thing, for perhaps it means that the beasts were Jesus’ friends. Amidst the dreams of the golden age when the Messiah would come, the Jews dreamed of a day when the enmity between (humankind) and the beasts would no longer exist. Might we possibly hear have echoes of the likes of Daniel in the lions’ den and the prophetic picture of the wolf lying down with the lamb (Isaiah 11:6). If so, it introduces a very positive note to the moment of struggle.

The other positive element is that the angels waited on him. Life does sometimes have desolate moments, and there is no promise from God that we can avoid those. But there is a very clear promise that God is with us – and that God understands the moment of anguished isolation.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:9-11

Mark does not take long to launch Jesus on his ministry. Matthew and Luke have accounts of the nativity. John has his wonderful and thoughtful prologue. Mark, by contrast, fairly briefly describes the preparatory work of John the Baptist before we reach the significant moment when John baptises Jesus.

Interestingly, Mark is the most specific in identifying the place from which Jesus came – Nazareth of Galilee. This underlines an important Gospel theme around God’s acceptance of the marginalised and the outcast. We expect important people to come from significant places, but that is not what we have here. As Ched Myers (“Binding the Strong Man”) expresses it – “One would expect the hero to be credentialed through miraculous origins or a solid genealogy (something Matthew and Luke cannot resist). Mark, however, stresses Jesus’ obscure origins, “from Nazareth,” tantamount to introducing him as “Jesus from Nowheresville.”

But the important thing is not where he has come from, but that he is there, and that he is there to do God’s work.

The moment of baptism becomes a moment of affirmation. Mark here deals in the essentials. Matthew tells us that John was reluctant to baptise this particular candidate, claiming that it should be the other way round, but Jesus sees this as the first step of walking the way that he has come to walk. Let it be so now (Matthew 3:15).

Jesus goes the way of baptism, and then there is a special vision and special words. The heavens are torn apart and the Spirit descends on him like a dove. That is what he sees. You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased. That is what he hears. This is a remarkable moment, what Myers calls a point of “discourse between earth and “heaven”.” It is not entirely clear whether others who were present were fully aware of this remarkable experience but, if that was not so, clearly something of it got out, as it is recorded.

For us, it is a reminder that being baptised is a point of connection to God, though there are many other such points.

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:5-8

John the Baptist must have been a preacher with a reputation. Going on the description that is given of him he must have been somewhere on the spectrum between a bit strange and really weird. He is certainly not what you might expect. His clothing is strange. His diet is strange. His location is strange. Why did so many people make the journey into the wilderness in order to see and hear this eccentric preacher with clothes that were somewhat unique and whose diet was right off the scale of anything that could be considered normal.

Of course, it is worth noting the significance of the wilderness, established by its being the place where the people spent forty years after their escape from Egypt. The wilderness, as Bonnie Bowman Thurston (Preaching Mark) notes, is “the symbol of the time when God was preparing the people for entry into the promised land (that is salvation).” The wilderness is an interesting location, in normal times, probably a place to be avoided. However, it becomes an important place because so many special things happen there. In the past it had been the route from Egyptian slavery to the land anticipated as that flowing with milk and honey. Now it becomes the auditorium for John’s message of repentance and his call to symbolise that by baptism. Baptised with water, the people hear of one who is coming to really make a difference, and who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.

Right from its beginning, Mark’s Gospel is pointing towards Jesus, and that is a useful reminder to us that we should be doing the same. As Thurston expresses it – “Mark’s Gospel, a Gospel especially concerned with discipleship, opens with one person in service to another. John declares his subservience to “the one who is more powerful” and points to Jesus.” John is a key worker, but his role is one of preparation, and pointing out another who is greater. John puts it fairly graphically – “I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.”

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:2-4

In Mark 1:2-4 we get notice of the ministry of John the Baptizer. John is a man with a message. We are told that his proclamation is about repentance and forgiveness. However, even before that, and presumably to stress the importance of the role, we are informed that this was foretold by the prophets. The text claims that the quotation comes from Isaiah. Actually, it is a mix of two quotations, the first part coming from the prophet Malachi (3:1), with the second part certainly from Isaiah (40:3).

However, the critical point is that this is important, though actually of limited importance. Something bigger is going to happen. Someone more important is following. Mark is preparing to introduce us to Jesus, just as John’s role is to prepare the way.

The preparatory role of John the Baptist is so important to Mark that he uses it as the launchpad of his Gospel. There is no hint of a nativity in Mark. It is John’s message that prepares the way.

The good news, as stated in verse 1, belongs to Jesus; but the first voice to be heard is that of John. These early words also surely identify forgiveness as the hallmark of the Gospel. Forgiveness, preceded by repentance, without which it does not really work is what sorts things out. The kinks in the road are sorted as the Lord’s way is made straight.

This is the good news that will bring salvation, to use the Biblical word, to the world. As Eduard Schweizer (The Good News according to Mark) says – “God’s special salvation-tine has begun; therefore, this preaching resounds through the world.” Through the preaching those who are listening are encouraged to change direction. John urges the people to turn around, thus firmly placing himself in the prophetic line as it was often the task of the prophet to offer words that reminded the people of what they were doing wrong, and the point is that a complete change is needed. Responding to that transformative opportunity will pave the way for something – someone – very special. And the people flood to the wilderness, despite the walk, to hear what John has to say. (How many preachers are worth such an effort and going out of our way?)

Reflecting on Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:1

I have elsewhere reflected that a good way of thinking about following Jesus would be to read a gospel - http://gettingthechurchsorted.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-jesus-we-follow.html - so I thought I should perhaps, for once, do what I have suggested and read (slowly) through Mark's Gospel.

Alongside that (and before I get going) just to mention that one of my 'weaknesses' is buying commentaries and I have quite a number on Mark, so I am going to limit myself to looking at one each time, for each little bit of Mark.

Denis McBride (The Gospel of Mark: A Reflective Commentary) says of the first verse of this Gospel - "Mark announces at the beginning of the story what becomes evident only at the end of it: only after the deatb of Jesus does a human being come to acknowledge that Jesus is Son of God. Mark's writing, however, is a post-Easter proclamation of the community's belief in Jesus as Christ and Son of God."

So, right from the beginning, Mark announces that the story is a good news story. That is hugely important and much needed. We should not pretend that Jesus can magically resolve all our problems, but encountering Jesus is always good news, and Mark gives the clear hint as to that being what we will discover in the stories that follow. I was watching a streamed service yesterday in which the preacher, several times, talked about being excited. In saying that, she rightly reminded us that the good news we have is exciting.

So, we can look forward to what we will discover in these words penned by Mark; and we can also look forward to the impact that encountering Jesus will have on our lives. What we are dealing with is good news and whatever happens we cannot help but approach it in the light of Easter. But perhaps it is worth reminding ourselves, in part to give ourselves a jolt when we don't have enough of the excitement that, as McBride puts it - "the blindness of the first disciples will look like stubborn obtuseness in the new light of faith in Jesus as Lord."

We all end up plunging a few depths, but the good news remains, and we are still and always Easter people.