NL 220: Jesus' Ministry Begun

Image: Christ Healing Peter's Mother-in-Law by Rembrandt (wikimedia)

Mark 1:21-45

Context and Overview

  • Jesus has just called the disciples and preached his first (albeit, short) sermon, “The time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God has drawn near, repent and believe in the good news.”

  • Stories included:

    • Casting out the unclean spirit

    • Healing Peter’s mother-in-law and Capernaum (physical and spiritual maladies)

    • Jesus goes off by himself

    • The ministry expands beyond Capernaum, Healing of the Leper, & the Messianic secret

Mark 1:21-28

Initial Thoughts

  • Demons. Great.

    • A lot can be made of demons. Are we talking about actual, literal, spiritual beings? Are we talking about figurative demons in the same way we still talk of demons in a psychoanalytical way?

    • Regardless of how they are described, a demon is anything that has power of a human that is not of God. Much like enemies in the Psalms do not have to be read as soldiers, demons do not have to be read as spiritual beings. A demon is anything that has power that is not of God.

    • Questions about demons and miracles are not about “Did this really happen?” Instead reader should ask, “What does this really mean?” (Lamar Williamson, Interpretation: Mark, p. 20). Questions about demonic existence or authenticity of miracles would not have occurred to original readers. To fully appreciate the gospel, it is necessary to understand this worldview, without judging it as right or wrong.

    • “Satan’s power is being broken up because the Lord has come to redeem the people. Therefore, the exorcism indicates what it means for the Kingdom of God to draw near. The kingdom cannot be separated from the person of Jesus, who embodies God’s power… The focus of the story remains the divine authority of exercised by Jesus.”  (Pheme Perkins, New Interpreter’s Bible, v. VIII. p.540).  

Bible Study

  • Literary Context

    • First public event of Jesus’ ministry in Mark.

    • Baptism, Fasting (temptation by Satan is three words), Calling Disciples, Cast out demon.

    • Next scene is healing of Simon’s mother.

    • Gospel parallel in Luke 4:31-37.

    • Set in similar place. Temptation is more extensive. He preaches in Nazareth synagogue and is driven out, then goes to Capernaum. Exchange with demon is verbatim. Response of people is close to verbatim. Luke redacts “not like the legal experts.”

  • Themes of Mark introduced

    • It’s a Secret.

      • Not explicit here, but Jesus orders “Silence.” In other parts of Mark, Jesus tells people to “not tell anyone,” and yet his popularity continues to spread.

      • “He may have avoided public recognition for his miracle-working because he didn’t want to be associated with other, fame-seeking healers of the day.” (The CEB Study Bible, sidebar on “Secrecy”, p. 83 NT).

      • Jesus was not interested in people believing because of signs and wonders. He used them to help people, not build a reputation.

    • Jesus has authority, not like the legal experts

      • Conflict between Jesus and Jewish leadership is setup. “Mark consistently sets up Jewish religious leaders as opponents of Jesus” (Pheme Perkins, New Interpreter’s Bible, v. VIII. p.540).  

      • Authority of Jesus revealed in teaching and in signs.

      • Exorcism of demons is a sign of Jesus’ power and authority over all things. Demons’ power over the person is released on the command of Jesus, who has ultimate authority.

    • People are amazed. News spreads

      • There is an element of fear in the amazement. This is not the same as belief, devotion, or a willingness to follow.

      • There is no ascent to follow, just acknowledgment of Jesus’ power.

Thoughts and Questions

  • Jesus’ ministry begins with the public defeat of the power of evil. It takes place in the synagogue - a very public place of worship. It also projects a larger victory and purpose through the question that is asked, “Have you come to destroy us?” the answer is clear: yes. Jesus’ power is sure, acknowledged, and amazing

  • Vow of baptism in UMC: “Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness and reject the evil powers of this world?” (United Methodist Book of Worship, p. 95). What does this vow mean? What are today’s spiritual forces of wickedness and the evil powers of this world? There is a place for a strong prophetic word against forces of this world that perpetuate unjust systems.

Mark 1:29-39

Initial Thoughts

  • Mother-in-laws get a bad wrap

  • Only reference to Simon being married, or really any family of the disciples (except for the sons of Zebedee)

Bible Study

  • Context

    • Follows the exorcism of the demon in the synagogue

    • Second healing story in Mark

  • Healing

    • fever- not a demon or impure spirit, simply something that renders her powerless

    • ἐγείρω -   to lift up - literally, but same word as in the resurrection in 16:6. He “resurrected” her

    • He doesn’t say anything, simply takes her by the hand and the fever leaves her

    • Does Jesus heal her in a miraculous fashion or does he simply sit with her and his being present heals her?

    • Touch is important- it can be both incredible healing and incredible damaging- how to do it right?

  • Response

    • Διακονέω - service - part of the ministry of deacons

    • Serves Jesus and the disciples on the Sabbath - grateful serving was more important than legalism

    • What did it mean to serve? Not with cookies and iced tea - perhaps Simon’s mother is the first to understand what it is to follow Jesus - to serve

    • Simon’s mother is the first deacon

    • This story does not reaffirm patriarchal gender roles but challenges them

  • Sabbath issues

    • Jesus sits with Simon’s mother, but wait to heal the others

    • It isn’t an all or nothing- Jesus does not simply throw out the law, but addresses the needs as they are presented

  • Jesus’ Real Estate: Location, Location, Location

    • Where does healing happen? Where 2 or 3 are gathered: in the synagogue, in the house, throughout Galilee

    • On the Sabbath and after the Sabbath, in the day and in the night

  • Jesus the introvert

    • Jesus came to proclaim the good news in thought and deed, not to be a healing vending machine

Thoughts and Questions

  • Jesus doesn’t say anything he simply “came”,  “took her hand” and “lifted her up”. We often spend much time and energy trying to find the right words when what is needed is simply to show up and hold someone’s hand

    • We have many people suffering from dis-ease in our congregations, are we willing to sit with them and be with them in the midst of their impotency?

  • This is a great story to preach on the ministry of women. Women in the gospel tend to “get it” long before the men. Service is not the “proper place of women” it is the proper place for all Christians

  • Make room for introverts - Church is not often a friendly place for introverts. How do we allow people to reclaim their deserted places to encounter God and prepare themselves for the ministry ahead?

Mark 1:40-45

  • Leprosy as a social illness, as opposed to individual disease

    • “Disease affects individuals, and only individuals are treated. Illness is a sociocultural perspective that is concerned with personal perception and experience of certain socially disvalued states, including, but not limited to, disease. Illness inevitable affects others.” (J. Pilch, as quoted in Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man)

    • In the healing stories- Jesus is not concerned about the symptoms of the disease, but the results of the illness - “show yourself to the priest” was the method by which the sociocultural status of the afflicted is “healed”

    • Leprosy was notable because it whitened the skin of the afflicted (see Exodus 4:6-7)

  • Radical “healing” (Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man)

    • Jesus touches the leper - one whose disease- or at lease unclean status was communicable

      • By touching the leper, Jesus should have been made unclean, not the leper made whole

      • In doing so Jesus seems to be overturning the religious authority to declare who is clean and who is unclean - something hinted at by the leper himself in saying Jesus need only choose to make the leper clean

    • Overturning the purity tables

      • The priests has complete control over the purity distinctions

      • Perhaps this is why Jesus is angry- not at the leper, but the arbitrary ability of the religious authorities to determine, at whim, who is clean and who is not

      • The leper is supposed to return to the priest and offer a sacrifice as a testimony against them (the priests). In other words, the leper is to give thanks to God for what Jesus has done, which the priests would not.

    • The secret

      • By keeping the secret Jesus seeks to reform the purity system from within - exposing the corrupt religious practices which marginalize the poor and hurting - but doing so privately

      • Since the leper does not keep the secret - Jesus is exposed, perhaps as being “unclean” himself or for subverting the religious purity system

  • Healing as social, not physical wholeness

    • Be careful attributing these miracle stories to be “supernatural” acts

      • By claiming evidence of Jesus’ power was that he was able to overcome nature undermines the presence of God in nature and the inherent goodness of the natural world as created by God

      • Emphasizing these miracles as “correcting a wrong” marginalized differently-abled people who view themselves as already whole. Many believe their ability to live a fully human lives is not dependant on their ability to see, hear, walk or talk. If we claim Jesus came to make people physically whole, then we reinforce the claim that their liberation is dependant on their physical ability.

    • Instead, if Jesus’ focus is not physical wholeness, but social wholeness - then what is being healed is not what some might consider an imperfection, but instead the rejection of those who are seen as different or other.

Thoughts and Comments

  • Repeatedly Jesus undermines those who claim the authority to determine who is clean and who is unclean, or in other words - who is us and who are them. Who makes this choice in your community? In our greater culture? What role does the church have in claiming all people as beloved children?

Year 2Eric FistlerMarkComment