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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