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Getting to the Heart of the Matter: Mark 7:1-23
By Phil Higley Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010Mark 7:1-23 (ESV)
Now when the Pharisees gathered to [Jesus], with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, whatever you would have gained from me is Corban’ (that is, given to God)- 12then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” 14And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” [16 ] 17And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Introduction
Verses 1 through 23 in chapter 7 present a very detailed account of Jesus’ ability to clarify and challenge the religious standards and authorities of the culture. In this portion of scripture we see Jesus speaking in the following chiastic structure:
A Purity of heart is what God seeks (v. 6)
B Human based religious teachings are worthless (v. 7)
B’ The teaching of the elders nullifies God’s word (vv. 9-13)
A’ Only evil from the heart defiles (vv. 14-23)
The Issue: Commands of God and Traditions of Men (vv. 1-13)
In the beginning verses we find that Jesus’ theology and praxis is attracting the attention of major “theologians” from Jerusalem itself. These religious teachers from Jerusalem immediately inspected the conduct of Jesus’ disciples and proceeded to direct their criticism to Jesus himself. The Pharisees’ questioning was of ceremonial purity verses ceremonial defilement. And this makes sense because we know that the Pharisaic Jews emphasized “ceremonial cleanness” because a whole section of the Mishnah is devoted to the subject. However in Jesus’ time there was no written form of the Mishnah (that came about 200A.D.) so it is likely an oral tradition that arose out of an interpretation of religious cleanness from the Old Testament. This cleanliness is likely what is meant by “tradition of the elders” (v. 3).
Basically this whole section and the complaints of the Pharisees directed toward Jesus had to do with the religious authorities elevating human tradition above God’s Word. It’s sometimes easy to do this in culture when scripture is taken for granted and irresponsibly used and interpreted. Case in point is Jesus’ quotation of Isaiah. Jesus is calling the religious authorities—in a theologically explicit way—unequivocal spiritual phonies. They followed the traditions of men because such teaching required only mechanical and thoughtless conformity without a pure heart. To make his accusation concrete Jesus uses the example of declaring “Corban.” What’s Corban? Mark tells his gentile readers that it means “given to God.” Through their religious tradition, some of the Pharisees’ were able to break the commandment of honoring father and mother by devoting their resources to God. Here’s how this worked, for example: “If a son became angry with his parents, he could declare his money and property “Corban.” Since Scripture teaches that any vow made to God could not be violated (Num 302), his possessions could not be used for anything but service to God and not as a resource to assist his parents financially.” But Jesus obviously condemned this practice by showing that the Pharisees and scribes were guilty of canceling out God’s Word (and his command to honor one’s parents) through their tradition. Hence Jesus’ quote of Isaiah and his calling the Pharisees hypocrites is quite apropos to the situation at hand.
The Real Problem: Legitimate Defilement (vv. 14-23)
If the Pharisees wanted to know what Jesus thought about the human condition in relation to their religious traditions, then he clearly states what he thinks in v. 15. Jesus proclaims what does and does not make a person unclean. What is external cannot defile a person. Food, for example, cannot do this—not even if it is eaten with unwashed hands or declared unclean by kosher food laws. (Keep in mind that this must have sounded quite shocking to Jesus’ audience.) What really makes a person unclean comes from within; out of the heart and will—what one thinks, says, desires, and does—these only can make a person unclean. This is part of the Gospel message.
But the disciples still aren’t apprehending Jesus’ message, so they ask him about the parable in v. 17. It seems that from Jesus’ response in v. 18 that he expects them to “get it.” But in his grace he answers: The reason nothing entering a person from the outside can defile him is because it enters into the stomach, not the heart (v. 19). And it is in the heart where the true issues of life are found. In Semitic expression the heart is the center of human personality that determines man’s actions and inaction (e.g., Isaiah 29:13 says “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me”). The Gospel Jesus proclaims is not a set of “new” laws, but a changing of the heart. When the heart changes then the rest of a person’s being changes.
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Water and Bread: 6:45-52
By Phil Higley Thursday, May 27th, 2010Mark 6:45-52 (ESV)
Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, [52for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. 53When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.]
Introduction
Our story here of Jesus’ walking on the water picks up directly after the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. Although Mark does not record the reaction of the crowd to the multiplication of the loaves, some scholars think that the hurried departure in v. 46 implies (like in other places) that there was danger of a messianic uprising as a result of the miracle. (John’s Gospel 6:15 refers specifically to this.) We are told that after sending the disciples away in the boat, Jesus stayed to dismiss the crowd.
Prayer on the Mountain (v. 46)
Mark’s mentioning of Jesus going up on a mountain to pray is an evidence of the crisis nature of the situation within the story. Why? Because there are only three occasions in this Gospel in which Jesus withdraws to pray, and each time some sort of crisis is involved (e.g., 1:35; 6:46; 14:23-36). Each incident involves the temptation not to carry out God’s mission for him—a mission that would ultimately bring suffering, rejection, and death. These crises seem to represent an ascending scale and reach their climax in the agony of Gethsemane.
Vv. 47-48
The time of the incident is “evening” (v. 47). Since it was “already very late” (v. 35) before the feeding of the five thousand, “evening” here must mean late at night. The Lake of Galilee is only about four miles wide. Thus a boat in the middle of the lake could easily be seen in the full moon of Passover time from the shore.
Apparently the wind was blowing from the north or northeast and had blown the disciples off their course. We are told they were “straining at the oars” (v. 48)—an indication of a stiff headwind. Jesus came to them “walking on the lake,” about the fourth watch. According to Roman reckoning, (and Mark follows this), the night was divided into four watches: 6-9pm, 9-12pm, 12-3am, and 3-6am. “He was about to pass by them.” But what does his passing by him imply? Was Jesus going to pass by for any particular reason?
Vv. 49-51
To try to rationalize Jesus’ walking on the water as anything but a miracle is to royally miss the point of what Mark is communicating. But this doesn’t mean that the disciples instantaneously thought they were seeing a man walking on the water either. We’re told that they were terrified. In fact, we are told that the disciples thought they had seen some sort of water spirit—or water demon. Jesus calms their fears with words of assurance about his identity and commands them to “take heart/courage.” After Jesus climbs into the boat another miracle seemingly occurs in the text; e.g., “the wind died down.” Mark includes this for a reason. Then Mark says that the disciples were “utterly astounded.” There was unmistakably some sort of relationship between his getting into the boat and the calming of the wind. Only this explains the attitude of the disciples.
The Problem is with the Disciples’ Christology Vv. 52
Mark relates his explanation of the disciples’ panic at seeing Jesus walking on the water and their amazement at the calming of the wind to their failure to understand about the multiplication of the loaves. Had they understood about the loaves, i.e., that the sovereign Lord of the universe was in action there (in front of their very eyes!), they would have been prepared to understand walking on water and calming waves. Jesus was likely testing his disciples in some way when he was walking “past” them. Their response, however, to Jesus in their struggle was one of unbelief, doubt, and fear. Their problem was a Christological one. We are therefore told that their hearts were hardened.
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Notes from:
The Oxford Bible Commentary, Edited by Barton and Muddiman, 2001.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol 8, Edited by Gaebelein, 1984.
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Rejection and Commission: Mark 6:1-13
By Phil Higley Monday, May 3rd, 2010Mark 6:1-13 (ESV)
He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
7And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff- no bread, no bag, no money in their belts- 9but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
Rejected at Homecoming (6.1-6a)
The themes of faith, and the growing opposition faced by Jesus, are continued in the story of the rejection of Jesus in his hometown. Jesus has come into conflict with the authorities (2.1-3.6) and with his own family (3.21-35). Now the opposition seems to spread to the town where he grew up. As in 1.22-23, the occasion of Jesus’ arrival in his hometown is not for a family visit, but for ministry and teaching (v. 2); and again Mark seems more interested in the negative reaction this provokes than in the actual contents of the teaching. This reaction is articulated in the rhetorical questions about Jesus’ origins and family (v. 3). At one level, all that is said is that Jesus’ origins imply that he is a very ordinary person. Whether anything more is implied is not very clear, but it’s possible to take the rhetorical questions as somewhat offensive. For example, it was very unusual to refer to a Jewish man as the son of his mother, rather than his father. Various possible interpretations have been suggested by scholars: is this hint of doubt about the legitimacy of Jesus’ birth (Joseph was not really his father)? Is this a hint that Jesus has no human father because he is the Son of God? It is doubtful though if Mark sees any great significance in the words here: any hints of the type suggested are at most extremely allusive. That said, it’s possible that Jesus’ audience was recalling the rumors about his illegitimate birth (see John 8.41; 9.29)—a man was sometimes called the son of his mother in ancient society if his father was unknown—which may indicate that the audience was purposely insulating him with this title as a reference to illegitimacy.
Likewise the mention of Jesus’ brothers and sisters is probably taken at face value and poses problems on a theological level to the Roman Catholic doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary, which actually comes at a much later period in Christian history. But perhaps more importantly, Mark here shows us that Jesus’ reply in v. 4 implicitly compared his own position with that of a prophet. But nowhere else in this gospel does Mark make much of the idea of Jesus as a prophet.
The story concludes with the note about Jesus’ inability or possibly unwillingness to do any miracle because of the unbelief of the people. This is the negative side of the positive correlation between faith and miracles seen already in Mark: miracles can and do take place in a context of faith. Conversely, where there is no faith, miracles cannot occur. Did Jesus not have the power to do miracles? No. He had the power to do miracles, but not the will, because they rejected him. Again, miracles belonged among those who were ready to believe.
Men on a Mission (6.6b-13)
This section consists of a preliminary commission where Jesus calls the Twelve and sends them out two by two so that they can (1) depend fully on God for all their needs, (2) proclaim a message of repentance, and (3) heal people. All of these acts were also associated with Jesus’ ministry. By these activities they were demonstrating that the kingdom of God had come with power. But the mission of the Twelve is a mere extension of the ministry of Jesus that completely overshadows it. Their independent mission waits till after Jesus’ resurrection of course.
The call and sending of the disciples is paramount in this version of the story. Jesus had carefully prepared his disciples for this mission. He had called them with the promise “I will make you fishers of men” (1.17). He had withdrawn on several occasions to give them special attention (3.7, 13; 4.10). And, all the while they had been with him, they had witnessed his mighty acts and had listened to his wise words. Now it was time for them to be sent out (e.g., 3.14-15: “that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons”). The sending of the disciples in pairs was so that the truthfulness of their testimony about Jesus might be established “on the testimony of two or three witnesses” (Deut 17.6).
Jesus says in v. 11 that if anyone doesn’t welcome the disciples or listen to them in a given region, they are to shake off the dust from under their feet as a witness to them. But what does this symbolic gesture mean? We know that it was customary for Jews to shake foreign dust off their clothes when they had been traveling outside the Holy Land. Thus perhaps the point is to treat such inhospitable people as foreigners, subject ultimately to God’s judgment (see Acts 13.51; 18.6).
Lastly, notice that in v. 12 it says the apostles preach so that people would repent. Jesus’ disciples, like their Master and the Baptist, seem to be involved in the same sort of eschatological preaching that requires repentance and turning back to God. Repentance is part of the Gospel message. They are also said to cure many sick and cast out demons. As pointed out earlier in our Mark series, demon possession and sickness are oftentimes distinguished; and that is the case here because notice that they require different sorts of remedies. Mark, it would appear, does not see demon possession as just another form of physical or even mental illness.
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Notes from:
The Oxford Bible Commentary, Edited by Barton and Muddiman, 2001.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol 8, Edited by Gaebelein, 1984.
The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, Witherington III, 2001.
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Demons and Swine: Mark 5:1-20
By Phil Higley Sunday, April 18th, 20105.1-20 (ESV)
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.
6And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”
8For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
11Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.
14The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.
18As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Intro:
Within the text of Mark 5 we have one of the most graphic and interesting exorcism stories in the NT. This story has more elaboration than any other tale prior to the passion narrative, which may suggest that it had particular importance for Mark’s largely Gentile/Roman audience. It has been called the second inaugural exorcism by various scholars due in part to the close similarities of language to the exorcism tale in Mark 1. Yet one of these exorcisms takes place on sacred soil in a sacred place (i.e., the synagogue), the other in an unclean land in an unclean place. This suggests that Mark saw this story as particularly revealing of the identity of Jesus. It is not clear if we are to see this story as the immediate sequel to the storm incident, but in any case Jesus and the disciples go across the Sea of Galilee to a region called the Decapolis (literally ‘ten cities’). Most of the population in this area was non-Jewish. Evidence of this is obvious from the heard of pigs. No practicing Jew would have had such a heard, nor for that matter would they have been found residing in a graveyard. Just as Jesus has had confrontations with his own people, he is about to have an encounter with a gentile population.
Exegesis:
In the preceding passage (4.35-41) Jesus had demonstrated his power over the forces of nature by calming the winds and the waves; in this passage he demonstrates his power over the forces of evil by casting out demons from a possessed man. The two stories seem to connect to one another by virtue of Jesus’ power and authority as it is being communicated by Mark. Both stories reveal, in essence, that Jesus is truly divine.
Verse 2 seems to indicate that as soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, he was immediately confronted by the possessed man, but v. 6 provides a little clarification of this. The man actually saw Jesus from a distance and came running to him. We are told that the possessed man lived in the tombs. Often in Palestine people were buried in natural caves or in tombs cut out of the limestone. These provided excellent shelter for anyone desiring to live in them. It was a natural place for a possessed man to dwell because of the popular belief in ancient culture that tombs were the favorite haunts of demons. This demon possessed man had likely been driven from ordinary society into the tombs. Mark explains in the story that many efforts had been made to control the man, but they were all without success. One scholar says that vv. 3-5 “give a vivid picture of a manic stage of a manic depressive psychosis.” This is true, but Mark is communicating something much more profound. This man has been relegated to a psychotic, animalistic, self-destructive, and enraged state. The man was unequivocally out of control and therefore out of society. What is society supposed to do with such a person?
We are told that the possessed man, in direct response to seeing Jesus, “fell down before him.” The reason the man fell down before Jesus is not because of worship, but out of homage because the demon recognizes that he is confronted with one greatly superior to him. James 2.19 says “…even the demons believe and shudder!”
Upon falling before Jesus, the demon cries out: “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” This cry was a way of saying in a hostile way, “What do we have in common?” or “mind your own business.” The demon recognizes that he is in the presence of one who threatens his very existence. Like earlier in Mark, the demon addresses Jesus by using his personal name. The demon also uses the title “Son of the Most High God,” a title that implies that the demons recognizes Jesus’ deity. The demon, however, uses the title, not to express his belief in the Lordship of Jesus, but in the hope of controlling him (again see Mark 1.24). The demon fears that he will be damned to eternal punishment right there on the spot.
But it is quite interesting to note here that the demon pleads not to be tormented by Jesus’ presence or eternal judgment. This is the demon(s) rather than the man speaking, but they ironically are the ones torturing the poor man. Equally ironic is the fact that they are adjuring Jesus by the name of the one who is Jesus’ Father, as if that could give them power over Jesus! The demons appear to fear that Jesus will torture or destroy them, and to be sure, that is his long-range goal—to destroy the works of the devil. It is also obvious to mention again that the demons would see it as torment simply be in the presence of Jesus.
At v. 9 the demons are asked to name themselves, but it is hard to know what to make of the reply. Clearly Luke believed in the concept of a person being possessed by multiple demons (Lk 8.2). And at first glance, the demons response: “My name is Legion, for we are many” is a curious response. In an exorcism ritual, naming is a crucial part of trying to gain control of the demon, and it is possible to see this response as an attempt to avoid giving Jesus the power of the personal name over these spirits. A legion in Roman military terms was 6,000 soldiers, but it is doubtful a specific number is meant (though notice that the about 2,000 pigs are said to be destroyed). The military metaphor could imply that many demons were involved in the possession like a military force, taking captive the man’s spirit and being.
Verse 10 is very interesting because both the singular and plural occur in the text: “He begged…not to send them…” This is likely Mark’s way of indicating that the demons are speaking through the lips of the demoniac. What they request is that they not be sent “out of the country.” In Luke 8.31 the request by the demons is that they not be sent into the Abyss (Rev 20.1-3), the place of confinement before judgment. What this demonstrates is that the demons are afraid for their very existence in the face and presence of Jesus.
The presence of a large herd of swine (v. 11) in the Decapolis is not surprising. This region, on the eastern shore of Galilee, was largely Gentile. Mark’s account shows that what caused the stampede of the pigs was the entrance of the demons into them. This is crucial for the contemporary readers of Mark’s Gospel: The demons were/are bent on destroying. Not having been able to destroy the man, they destroyed the pigs. Demons are emissaries of Satan, the Destroyer. But why did Jesus, having exorcised the demons, allow them to enter the pigs, an act that ultimately resulted in the destruction of the entire herd? A tentative answer is that Jesus wanted to give tangible evidence to the man and to the people that the demons had actually left him and that their purpose had been to destroy him even as they destroyed the pigs.
A particularly relevant point in our culture’s reading of this text is that some people have gotten upset with this story because it involves the destruction of animals, but here is a matter of priorities. The Bible is emphatic that a human life is seen as more important than a heard of pigs, even though the Gentiles who came afterward to see Jesus seem more concerned with the lost pigs than the restored man. Humanity is made in the image of God, not animals. The early church fathers Jerome and Chrysostom dealt with this issue and stressed that it was for the greater good of eliciting faith and attesting God’s power that the pigs were slain. Jerome stresses that no one would have believed so many demons came out of the man unless a similarly large number of swine had been afflicted thereafter (Life of Saint Hilarion 32). The pig herders were the ones who spread the tale in the towns and villages of what Jesus did (v. 14).
Also notice that the man for whom nobody had been able to do anything, not even chain him down so he would not hurt himself, is now said to be clothed, sitting, and sane—things no one who had known him expected to see him do or be again. Once more Jesus’ miracle working causes a great fear to come on the people—fear of the awesome supernatural power Jesus must have in order to do what he did to the demons and the pigs, a power even greater than a legion! There is a rather sad point and counter point between the Gentiles who want Jesus to go and the restored man who wanted to go with Jesus. Instead Jesus tells him to return to his village and resume a normal life, except that in addition he is to be a witness. Jesus’ answer shows how impossible it is to have a stereotyped definition of discipleship. One person is taken away from home and family (1.16-20), another is sent back to them contrary of his own wishes. There can be little doubt that the man did indeed wish to be a disciple, not only because of what follows in v. 20 but also because the description of his longing to be “with Jesus” is a deliberate echo in the Greek of the earlier description of what would be true of Jesus’ inner circle.
Lastly, in v. 20 we hear of the obedient response of this man. He went and preached in the Ten Cities about what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed. Again notice that amazement and fear do not equal full or true faith in Jesus. Jesus would have been perceived in this region, and perhaps by parts of Mark’s own audience, as another Hellenistic wonder-worker that wowed the people like a Simon Magus or an Apollonius of Tyana. But the ability to impress a crowd and the ability to call out and make disciples are not one and the same.
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Notes from:
The Oxford Bible Commentary, Edited by Barton and Muddiman, 2001.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol 8, Edited by Gaebelein, 1984.
The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, Witherington III, 2001.
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Calming the Chaos: Mark 4:35-41
By Phil Higley Sunday, April 11th, 20104:35-41 (ESV)
On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”
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The calming of the storm on the Lake of Galilee is a classic example of a nature miracle. Miracles of this kind seem to present the greatest problem to contemporary analysis. The NT, however, makes clear that Jesus Christ is not only Lord over his church but also Lord of all creation. “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him” (Col 1.16). The Creator-Lord also controls what he has created. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col 1.17). It is completely inadequate to explain this miracle of Jesus by coincidence or to relegate it to myth or imagination. One’s conclusion about the historicity of this and similar stories in the Gospels will inevitably depend on one’s Christology. If Jesus was, as he claimed to be, the strong Son of God, a miracle of this kind is not inconsistent with that claim. If, on the other hand, he was less than God, there is a serious problem.
Mark’s portrayal of this event seems to indicate that it was from first hand evidence. Note the details in the story: the mention of the time of day, the reference to Jesus “just as he was”, the statement about the “other boats,” the position of Jesus in the boat, the mention of a cushion, the sharp rebuke made by the disciples, and their terror and bewilderment. All of these details, scholars believe, are demonstrative and only reasonable based on firsthand experience. It is likely that Peter’s rendition of the story is what Mark is recalling.
Overall, the story shows Jesus’ ability to deal with the primeval forces of chaos. The “sea” in the ancient Hebrew culture and as seen in the OT typologically stands for primal chaos which God alone can order and calm (see Ps 65.7; 74.13). The sea can also be seen figuratively as a symbol for the sufferings endured by human beings (Ps 107.23-32). Mark’s verb in v. 39, referring to Jesus ‘rebuking’ the wind, is the exact same as that used in 1.25 where Jesus’ ‘rebukes’ a demon. Perhaps it is implied that the ability to control the storm shows a victory over the demonic powers of chaos and evil. Notice that the result of Jesus’ command concerning the storm was instantaneous—the wind dropped and a great calm came over the sea. The portrayal of Jesus here certainly suggests divinity, and it cannot be doubted that Mark’s audience would have instantly equated Jesus’ actions with only those of God, or to pagans at that time, a god. According to Job 26.11-12; Ps 104.7; Isa 51.9-10, the commanding of the sea is something only God can do, or could do. Interestingly, there is a contrast here with the historical account of Antiochus Epiphanes’ idiotic and contemptibly stupid attempt as told in 2 Macc 9.8, to command the sea to demonstrate his divine power. For Antiochus Epiphanes it didn’t work, but for Jesus, it did—and it terrified the disciples.
But right before the storm was calmed, the disciples’ reaction to Jesus’ sleeping through the storm is absolute shock (note that this is the only time in any of the gospels that mentions Jesus sleeping). Indeed, the disciples’ initial reaction is not presented by Mark as positive. Their question in v. 38 (“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”) suggests a harsh accusation against Jesus. Jesus’ reply, however, is to still the storm and then address them with the rhetorical questions: “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” By implication of Jesus’ questions they do not have the faith Jesus is speaking about. They are blind. They ask “Who then is this?” (v. 41). One may contrast Jesus’ trust in this situation with the disciples’ panic. Jesus’ miracle, however, does not produce this faith even in those who are already disciples. Instead, we are told that they respond rather like the crowd in the face of the supernatural. It says literally, “they feared a great fear,” a Semitic form of expression that echoes Jonah 1.10. They were terrified.
What we can see from the disciples’ reaction is that fear is seen as the opposite of faith (see also 5.36). The focus again is on the fact that miracles raise the question about Jesus but do not give the answer or key to his identity. In fact, miracles can often times confuse and confound the witnesses of such miracles. But for Mark, the key point in all of this, in light of the larger Gospel message, is that the man who will later be crucified is the man who without prayer to God or adjuration in God’s name successfully commands the winds and the sea. He is a divine man who represents the one true God.
As for the disciples, they have acted like the crowd elsewhere in Mark, even though they are insiders in the same boat with Jesus. Mark is perhaps almost as concerned about revealing the discipleship secret, the clues to what makes for a real disciple, as he is the messianic secret. Awe or even terror in the face of the divine is not enough, as not only this story but also others in Mark will reveal. Yet Mark does not treat these disciples as simple outsiders. They have not rejected Jesus, they have simply failed to understand him, and the reprimand of their lack of faith assumes that they should by then have had more faith than a member of the crowd.
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Notes from:
The Oxford Bible Commentary, Edited by Barton and Muddiman, 2001.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol 8, Edited by Gaebelein, 1984.
The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, Witherington III, 2001.
The Moral Vision of the New Testament, Hays, 1996.
The Method and Message of Jesus’ Teachings, Stein, 1994
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