June 10th, 2018

St. James’ Episcopal Church                                                                    Jocelyn McWhirter
3 Pentecost, Year B
June 10, 2018
 
 
One of the joys of my profession has been learning the perspective of each gospel.
-          there are four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
-          and each gospel story is different
-          it’s as if four people saw a play, each from a different part of the theater
-          then each viewer went and told one other person about the play
-          Would each person hear the same story?
-          yes, because it’s the same play
-          but not, because each viewer saw it from a different perspective
-          and the viewers have different interests = relate to different bits
-          the people they’re telling also have different interests
-          so the viewers will address those interests
 
That’s how it is with the four stories about Jesus.
-          we don’t usually pick that up, because in church we hear them a little at a time
-          Year A = Matthew; Year B = Mark; Year C = Luke
-          with the Fourth Gospel John sprinkled in now and then
-          but if we read them as stories, from beginning to end, we notice the differences
 
You might want to try this with Mark.
-          16 chapters
-          and you don’t have to be a professional Bible reader like me in order to read it
-          it’s just a story, with characters and a plot; a conflict that gets resolved in the end
 
There’s a lot of conflict in the selection we just read.
-          it starts with a conflict about Jesus casting out demons
-          so far in the story, Mark has mentioned Jesus casting out demons 4X
-          the first act of his public ministry = Capernaum synagogue
-          then three more times Mark says Jesus is casting out demons
-          in Capernaum; throughout Galilee; at the seaside
-          and we’re still only in Chapter 3
-          casting out demons is a conflict, because Jesus enters into conflict with demons
-          but it’s also a conflict because people can’t figure out what he’s up to
 
Some are saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”
-          his family is trying to restrain him
-          they’ve brought out the straight-jacket
-          his own family can’t figure out what he’s up to
 
Neither can the scribes, the Bible scholars of Jesus’ day
-          they say, Jesus himself is possessed by Beelzebul, the ruler of demons
-          that’s why the demons are obedient to him
The scribes don’t understand; his own family doesn’t understand; so Jesus explains.
-          first, he shows that the scribe’s explanation doesn’t make sense <vv. 23-27>
-          if he’s possessed by Beelzebub, why would he want to cast out demons?
-          he’d be shooting himself in the foot
-          you’d think that he’d rather be putting demons in than casting them out
-          once he puts this theory to rest, Jesus then explains what he’s up to <v. 28>
 
This is very short parable, and a tricky one to interpret. <v. 28>
-          our instinct is to say that Jesus is comparing himself with the strong man
-          because a thief is a bad guy, and Jesus wouldn’t compare himself to a thief
-          Jesus is strong, so he must be comparing himself to a strong man
-          but the comparison doesn’t really work if you imagine the strong man as Jesus
-          Jesus casting out demons is not like a strong man defending his property
-          when Jesus casts out demons, he is not defending something
-          he is attacking something, which is more like the thief
 
So if Jesus is comparing himself to the thief, the strong man must be the demons
-          when he’s casting out demons, he is tying up Satan and reclaiming his own
-          he’s engaged in a cosmic conflict, with human lives at stake
 
This is Mark’s perspective on Jesus. Nobody can say to Mark, “Your Jesus is too small.”
-          Mark’s Jesus is not “gentle Jesus, meek and mild”
-          he’s not “Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly”
-          he’s the thief who breaks into our world, disables Satan, and takes over
 
What does this look like, in Mark’s story? What does it look like in our world?
-          it looks like the paralytic in Mark 2, lowered through a roof = corpse into a grave
-          when he lands in the crowded house, Jesus is there
-          “Your sins are forgiven; stand up, take your mat and go home.” He does.
-          it looks like the demoniac in Mark 5 who lives among the tombs
-          he strips off his clothes; he harms himself; he can’t be restrained
-          “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
-          the legion of demons enters a herd of swine; they drown in the sea
-          and the man regains his right mind
-          it looks like the woman in Mark 5 who’s been losing her life’s blood for 12 years
-          “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Her hemorrhage stops.
-          it looks like the girl in Mark 5 who has just breathed her last
-          Jesus takes her by the hand and says, “Little girl, get up!” And she does.
-          it looks like the boy in Mark 9 with a spirit that causes seizures
-          it casts him into fire and water, to destroy him
-          “You spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!”
-          the boy stiffens like a corpse, but Jesus takes his hand and lifts him up
-          it looks like Jesus in Mark 15, the Son of God executed on a Roman cross
-          the sky darkens and the curtain of the temple is torn in two
-          and then, in Mark 16, his tomb is empty
-          it looks like the end of death and the beginning of life
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