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GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK
GOOD NEWS: LONE CRUSADER COMES FROM NAZARETH.
These are selections from the full 30-page commentary.
This symbol divides selected sections: ==========
Excerpt from author’s journals
January 10, 2001. Volume 92.
I’ll finish my review of my commentary on Mark today. Each time I read his Gospel I get a vivid picture of a young man eager to be up front but ready to run as soon as the work was too long or too difficult. Then he became the companion of Peter in Rome. Peter, too, had to develop a steady approach.
March 28, 1994. Volume. 64.
I’ll be teaching Gospel according to Mark in class tonight. I hope to finish the whole gospel tonight.* Ordinarily, I did not spend time on Mark when I was teaching the gospels because almost all the material in Mark is found in Matthew and Luke. However, I now see that this short changes the whole picture. Mark was very close to the form of the Kerygma or initial profession of faith made by the early converts. Mark’s Gospel is evidence of the oral tradition as handed on by the community in Rome and comes from Peter. So I’ll give Mark separate treatment as I do the other gospels accounts.
*Course was 45 hours to cover overview and some specific information about each of the books in the Old and New Testament.
MARK: A CURIOUS TEENAGER!
APOLOGIA” (Greek word for “reason/explanation”).
These notes on the gospel according to Mark should start with a reference to a teenage boy who was present at the arrest of Jesus. The story is only in Mark’s account. Jesus was in the Garden with the eleven. Judas came - leading the men who were to arrest Jesus. The eleven took off running out of fear. The teenage boy was wearing only a linen cloth. They tried to grab the boy but he took off and they kept his linen cloth. (Mk. 14:50-52)
No name is given to this boy. Many authors think it was Mark himself. I agree. I think it fits the picture of what we are told about Mark later on.
Later, Mark became the companion of Peter and told the Gospel story as he heard it preached by the Peter, Prince of the Apostles. Peter was talking primarily to the Christians in Rome and its environs. The Gospel according to Mark was written in its present form before the others and may have been in existence before the death of Peter and Paul in 67 A.D.
“Be ready always to answer (APOLOGIA) those who ask you for the reason for the hope that is in you.” 1 PETER 3:15.
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INTRODUCTION TO MARK. Mark 1:1-13.
TWO MEN, BENT ON CHANGING THE WORLD, MEET IN DESERT!
Mark tells us nothing about the origins of Jesus. He starts right off with the scene of John the Baptist at work, and Jesus coming to him at the Jordan River. For Mark, the Good News begins with Second Isaiah, the prophet at the time of Cyrus, King of the Persians, who was about to let all captives go back to their native lands. The people would still be captives, but they would be more productive in their own lands.
Additional Information:
FORERUNNER: "METANOIA" - Greek word for "change of outlook/intention".
The description of those days is applied to John the Baptist. He “is the summation of the prophets who were preparing for the coming of the Messiah. He is crying out to one and all about the need to prepare the way into their hearts by penitence, penance, and a complete change of outlook and intention. This was the “metanoia” that John Baptist stressed and the dispositions that would make the people ready to accept the Messiah and his teachings.
“HOLY BREATH” : 2nd CREATION.
John was immersing the people in the waters of the Jordan to signify their readiness to change. Jesus was to immerse the people in the “Holy Breath,” the breath of “cooperation and harmony.” Jesus comes and is baptized by John and as he came out of the water, the heavens opened. The Breath, like a dove, descended on him, and a voice said, “You are my Son, the Beloved. My favor rests upon you.”
This is the NEW CREATION. We have the NEW ADAM who received the new creative breath. The symbol is the dove, the sign of peace, as it was after the waters of the flood subsided and Noah could leave the Ark. (Gen. 9-11).
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CANVASSING GALILEE. Mark 1:14-7:23.
OPENING SALVO. ABOUT FACE AND BELIEVE. “BASILEIA” - Kingship.
HERALD PROCLAIMS: KINGDOM IS HERE. Mark 1:14-15.
Mark presents the preaching style of Jesus as that of the herald who proclaims his message so that all may hear. The basic message is that the kingship (basileia) of God has arrived. Everyone is to effect a complete change of outlook (metanoia) and accept the Good News fully. Know the reason you believe and be ready to express it (apologia).
FIRST HELPERS CHOSEN. Mark 1:15-20.
The first four chosen are fishermen from the Lake of Galilee. They are two sets of brothers: Simon and his brother, Andrew; James and his brother, John - the Zebedee boys. Mark seems to indicate that Mr. Zebedee had a fleet of boats and the fishermen to go with them and he was the boss.
Additional information: All these chosen men were young - probably in their early twenties. Don't make them old men as much of art does. John was a young teenager, about age thirteen. The Greek word “Neaniskos”, teenager, is used to describe him.
NEXT STOP: CAPERNAUM. Mark 1:21-34.
Mark stresses that Jesus taught as a person who knew what he was talking about, and expected people to accept his authority. He backs up his teaching by curing a man who had seizures. The people were really impressed. Jesus did not just talk. He got things accomplished.
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PARALYTIC CURED. Mark 2:1-12. “SINS ARE FORGIVEN.”
Jesus was in a house talking to the crowd. Some men had a paralyzed friend, a young man, and they wanted him cured. They couldn't carry him through the crowd so they went up on the roof of the building. They removed the cover of loosely woven stones and lowered the paralytic to the feet of Jesus. When he saw their faith, Jesus said, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” The scribes sitting there were shaken by these words of seeming blasphemy. Jesus was claiming a power that belonged to God alone. But they said nothing out loud.
Jesus could read their thinking and he said, “Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has the power on earth to forgive sins, (here he turned to the paralyzed young man and) I say: ‘Young man, get up, roll up your bedding, and go home.’ ” The young man did just exactly as told, and the crowd was surprised.
TAX COLLECTOR ACCEPTS INVITATION TO FOLLOW JESUS. Mark. 2: 13-14.
Jesus was on the shore of the Lake of Galilee. The people came to him and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw a tax collector, named Levi. He was at his work in the customs house. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Levi got up, left everything and followed Jesus.
Additional Information:
This story is told the same way in Matthew and Luke. The man called Levi is the same as Matthew. It was quite common for men in public life to have both a Jewish name and a Greek name. This was especially true of men who worked for the Gentiles, such as a tax collector.
Tax collectors were a despised lot as far as the Jews were concerned. They collected the money from the Jews for the Romans. Their wages were a percentage of the money collected. The Romans did not really care how much the collector took in as long as they received their assigned amount.
WHO IS AT TABLE WITH JESUS. Mark. 2:15-17.
All the gospel writers state clearly and often that the sinners and the tax collectors were a big portion of the following of Jesus. Naturally, they invited him to eat with them and Jesus always accepted. The Pharisees considered themselves above such a crowd and would have nothing to do with them. They were careful not even to brush against these people in public. They looked upon them as a contamination.
The Pharisees are impressed by the content and style of Jesus’ teaching. There is no doubt they would have liked it if he had been one of their group. This was true in the beginning when they saw how popular he was. Later, as they heard Jesus publicly condemn their conduct, they were glad he did not belong to their crowd and they wanted to see him put down.
Now, following a coward’s manner of acting, they complain to the apostles rather than directly to Jesus. Jesus answers. He says that he has come to call the people who need salvation, the sinners. The Pharisees claim they are just or holy so they don’t need Jesus.
This was irony or sarcasm at its worst and the Pharisees felt this worse than a simple rebuke.
WHY DOESN'T THE CRUSADER FAST? Mark. 2:18-22.
Fasting was an important action in the thinking of the Pharisees. They preached it to everyone. Many of the Jews followed their advice. Jesus did not say a word about it to his apostles and they did not observe the fasts.
REAL CHANGE - NOT RITUAL ACTS.
It was not because Jesus did not respect doing voluntary penance. However, he says explicitly, he wants a real change of conduct rather than some ritual practices that have no meaning in themselves.
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RIDICULOUS REGULATIONS. Mark 2:21-28.
The Sabbath had become the symbol of the Jewish way of life by the time of Jesus. When the Sabbath came, everything was closed and absolutely no work was allowed. The Jews were even told the exact number of steps they could take on the Sabbath. They had to prepare all their food the day before because they could not prepare it on the Sabbath. Many of the observances prescribed by the Pharisees were utterly ridiculous.
The Pharisees always called on the Torah as the source of their authority. This, of course, stopped any ordinary person from objecting. Jesus now takes the very Torah itself, and tells how David and his men broke the Law publicly because they were hungry. This was such a great deed that it was recorded for posterity.
SABBATH FOR MAN; NOT MAN FOR SABBATH.
Then Jesus drew his conclusion. First he emphasized that Sabbath rest was made for the good of man, not man for the good of the Sabbath. Secondly, Jesus claimed an authority greater than the whole Torah. He said he was master - even of the Sabbath.
The action in question was the picking of a handful of grain as they walked on the paths through the wheat field. This was perfectly licit. The objection was that they rubbed the grain in their hands to remove the hulls before they put the kernels into their mouths. This rubbing was a work forbidden on the Sabbath.
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TWELVE APOSTLES. Mark 3: 13-19.
Jesus went up into the hills with a handpicked group. He appointed the twelve as his special ambassadors to preach and to cast out devils. Then Mark listed these twelve by name. Both of Simon's name were given, but no explanation. John and James were called the "Boanerges" or “Sons of Thunder” because of their fiery dispositions. Judas Iscariot was always given the pejorative title of the “one who would betray him.” Ages of these men were late teens or early 20's.
RELATIVES FEAR CRUSADER UNSTABLE. Mark 3:20-21.
Jesus went back into his home country. The crowd was so great that Jesus did not even have time to eat. His relatives were convinced that all this preaching and flattery had gone to his head. They knew the Jewish officials were opposed to him. Now they were afraid the Romans would come after him, and his whole family would be in trouble. So they tried to take him in tow, but failed.
SCRIBES SQUELCHED BY CRUSADER. Mark 3:22-27.
The Scribes get into the act. They accuse Jesus of being possessed by the prince of devils and all his power is a manifestation of Satan. Jesus merely makes them look foolish in front of the crowd. Jesus says: “If Satan is casting out Satan, then the whole kingdom is divided against itself and a divided household or kingdom can never stand.” The conclusion was obvious: YOUR ACCUSATIONS ARE STUPID!
THE UNFORGIVABLE CRIME. Mark 3:28-30.
The crime that cannot be forgiven is the crime against the Holy Breath - the breath that gives the community its life. The Scribes, by claiming that Jesus works by “an unclean breath,” were attacking the very foundation of the community. There is no forgiveness for such destructive conduct.
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GOOD NEWS: LONE CRUSADER FROM NAZARETH:
STORIES DESCRIBE NEW KINGDOM. Mark 4: 1-34.
Mark gives us a short version of the parables on the Kingdom of God. The teaching or application is the same. The first parable is the story about the farmer who went out to sow grain in his field. The apostles did not get the drift of what Jesus was saying. So, when they were alone with him, they asked for an explanation.
FARMER - SEED - WORD OF GOD - PEOPLE.
Jesus tells them he is describing the people who hear what he has to say. The listeners, because of their dispositions, are like the different kinds of soil in which the farmer plants the seed. The seed is the Word of God as it is being taught and explained by Jesus. Some people never even let the word get a hold in their lives. It is gone! Others see the word as something wonderful but then they run into the problems of daily life and they, too, turn their backs and left. Finally, with the people that do accept this teaching of Jesus, there are varied results. Some are shallow and they produce a small harvest. Some are a bit better and their harvest is bit greater. Some really accept and live by Jesus’ teaching and their results are great beyond compare.
Jesus reminds the twelve that they are getting special treatment and explanations. The reason is obvious. They are the foundation blocks on which the whole community must rest when Jesus is gone. The strength of the structure will be as solid as the foundations on which it rests.
Mark has the parable of the lamp, the parable of the degree of cooperation, and the parable of the mustard seed. He also adds a parable that is found nowhere else. It is called the story of the seed growing by itself or on its own. This story emphasizes the intrinsic power of the seed itself. The farmer tosses the seed into the ground. The seed sprouts, takes root, grows and produces fruit all on its own. The farmer can give a little help but the seed must have an intrinsic life of its own to do its work. Such is the intrinsic power of the Word of Jesus in any person who will let it take root and grow.
STRANGE COMMAND. CALM DOWN. Mark 4:35-41.
This is one of the most dramatic stories in the whole of Testament. Mark suggests that there were other boats with them in the crossing. Matthew and Luke seem to say they were alone in the one boat.
Jesus and the twelve are crossing the Sea of Galilee to get away from the crowds for a while. The Sea of Galilee is beautiful but it is noted for its sudden storms and gigantic waves. Jesus is really tired from his work, and is resting in the stern sound asleep. The apostles were fishermen on this lake all their lives and they knew what to expect. Yet, they are scared that they are about to sink. They awaken Jesus. He sits up. He smiles at their fears and then he says two words in the Greek: “Silence! Quiet down!”
The storm subsides immediately. Then Jesus seems to have lain down again and ignored the whole business.
In telling this story, be sure to keep the words of Jesus at a minimum. His words are the ones used by a parent who is trying to get a rest and the children are scrapping with each other. Jesus woke up. He didn't give a Ciceronian oration. He simply said: “Hey! Quiet!” And there was total silence. That’s the way this story is told in Mark. The Sea of Galilee is rebuked like a naughty bothersome child.
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HOME TOWN REJECTS CRUSADER! Mark 6:1-6.
Matthew and Luke also tell of this event but Mark’s account is the richest in detail. Jesus came to his home town. The people had all heard about the teaching and actions of Jesus. They knew how well he was accepted. But they did not accept him. In fact they belittled his background and family. They saw Jesus as a “nobody” who was trying to make a big splash. Jesus himself was amazed at how opposed they were. Because of this refusal to believe, Jesus COULD work NO miracle there. Note that Mark explicitly says Jesus “could not” use any of his power there. If real “faith” is missing, even Jesus is helpless.
Application to daily living:
Again, I want to emphasize this same lack of true faith in the so-called Christian communities and churches today. There are rituals and liturgical and magical signs. For example, note the way people piously make the Sign of the Cross. Ask them what it actually means as they make it. The vast majority are not even aware they have done it. Yet the power of Jesus is helpless when there is lack of true faith.
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KING HEROD IN QUANDARY! Mark 6:14-29.
Herod was a Jew. He had been picked by Roman authorities to be the reigning King of the Jews. This meant that he had sold out any ideals that he had as a Jew. It meant that he had bribed his way into the pagan system with a lot of money. It meant, most of all, that he must not displease the Roman authorities in any way whatsoever. Otherwise he would be ousted from power and put to death.
Herod already had one serious problem. He had taken his brother’s wife, Herodias, and they were living publicly as husband and wife. John Baptist had rebuked him publicly and Herod was in a real quandary. He wanted to shut John up but he was afraid of the crowds who liked John. Herodias saw John as a real threat to her position so she insisted that Herod do something. Herod tossed John in prison.
Herod’s birthday came and he hosted a big party. He had guests from everywhere. In the middle of it, Salome, daughter of Herodias, came in to dance a provocative dance or display. Herod and all the guests were well into their drink and all were delighted with what they had seen. So Herod stood up and told Salome to ask for anything she wanted and he would grant it - even up to half of his kingdom. Salome was a bright girl. She went right to her mother and sought advice. The mother was a conniving woman. She said, “Get John the Baptist's head on a platter.”
Salome went back and made her request publicly. Herod was caught. He had made the promise publicly. He could not renege and so the order was given. John the Baptist's head was brought into the banquet hall. They gave it to Salome and she took it to her mother.
John the Baptist was the source of many a nightmare for Herod. Now he heard all the stories about Jesus’ teachings and actions. Everybody was trying to label Jesus. Herod believed Jesus was John whom he had beheaded and who had come back from the dead to haunt him.
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“KORBAN”: RUSE FOR SELFISH. Mark 7:1-13.
The “TRADITIONS” of the Pharisees! -- Jesus really lashes out at these so-called “traditions” of the leaders, especially the Pharisees. They had almost unlimited details about the washing of themselves and the dishes before they could eat. Jesus says they are concerned for the outside of the pot or the cup but the inside is full of dirt of every kind.
One of their big obligations was this so-called “Korban.” In Aramaic, the word means an offering only made to Yahweh. The Law also said they were supposed to help their parents and the poor. However, the Pharisees said that if the money was in “Korban” it could not be given to anyone else. The money was “dedicated” and sacred as a result. This meant that their coffers were filled with “untouchable” money. Jesus adds, “And you do many another thing just like this.”
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THE BREAD OF THE CHILDREN. Mark 7:24-30.
Jesus is heading northwest to the area of Tyre and Sidon. He goes into a house and does not want anyone to know that he is there. A non-Jewish woman learns of his presence and comes to him. She begs him to cast the devil out of her little girl.
Jesus sounds very harsh. He says that the bread of the children should not be given to the dogs. This woman’s faith was strong enough for the insult. She answered, “Yes, sir! But even the dogs are allowed to eat the crumbs that fall from the table.” Jesus is amazed at the depth of her faith. He tells her so. He says, “Happy are you because you have believed so strongly. Your daughter is well.” The lady went right home and found her daughter perfectly well.
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NO SIGN IS GIVEN. Mark 8:11-13, Mark 8:14-21.
The Pharisees came up and asked for a sign from heaven to prove that he was authentic. Jesus was disgusted. He said simply and firmly that no sign would be given.
Jesus draws a conclusion from the previous incident for his apostles. He tells them to be on their guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. The apostles missed the whole point. They had not brought bread with them and they thought he was telling them of their failure or forgetfulness.
Jesus gets blunt. He asks them if they cannot understand even the simplest of ideas. “Think back to the way I fed the people in the desert. So I don’t have to worry if you brought food or not.”
Then he told them to think about what he had said. Jesus had spoken of leaven. Leaven is a bit of the raised dough kept over from the previous baking. It is kept in a cool place so that the fermentation process is halted. Then when a new batch of bread is to be made, the dough is readied and the leaven is placed in the mixture and the leaven causes the dough to rise.
Here Jesus is talking of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. He is using the term figuratively. He is talking about their ideas and teachings. They are insidious and if they are allowed to take hold in the minds and hearts of the apostles, they will destroy Jesus work.
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WHO IS THE GREATEST? Mark 9:33-37.
When they arrived in Capernaum, they went into a house and Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” They kept very quiet because they had been arguing about who was the greatest among them.
Jesus gave the most important lesson of all his teaching. In fact, John will make it the central theme of the Last Supper. This theme is SERVICE. Jesus says that anyone who wants to be truly great has to become the servant of all the others. Then he took a little child and put his arms around him. He said, “Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me. Anyone who welcomes me, welcomes him who sent me.”
Service is the central notion of Christian life. It is also the picture easiest to miss and hardest to practice. Everyone wants to be “boss.” To be the servant is for the lesser people. Success, as the world sees it, is the person on top. All the others are second class citizens.
In the society of Jesus’ time, children had no rights at all. So he takes the lowliest people, as society saw it then, and holds them up as the criteria for greatness. The service of others is the secret of a great and powerful society, a mankind that is happy and well-adjusted.
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FINAL SHOWDOWN APPROACHING FAST:
CRUSADER AFRAID AND WORRIED. Mark 10:32-34.
This is the third time that we have a solemn statement about the suffering and death for Jesus. We have to remember two things. All this is being written long after the fulfillment. Secondly, the writers want to point out how real this scenario was to Jesus as he continued to oppose the official teachers and leaders of the Jews. Jesus sees this final result as the necessary conclusion to his teaching. When he is ready, he will give himself up. In the meantime, the suffering and agony were always present to make him fear and worry.
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CRUSADER IN CAPITAL. Mark 11:1-13:37.
The Gospel according to Mark has topographical divisions. There is a short introduction and then we have several passages on Jesus at work in Galilee. Then we have a section that deals with his work outside Galilee, but up north. Now we come to Jerusalem. We will have the account of his work in the last week. Then the last section will be in Jerusalem and will account for the actual death and triumphal resurrection and the mission to the followers.
CRUSADER HAS HIS DAY. Mark 11:1-11.
For this incident in the gospel, it is important to read the parallel passages in the other gospels. Do not sandwich the details together and make a conglomerate picture. Read them in chronological sequence -- Mark, Luke, Matthew, John. Compare the details that each writer includes. When you understand all four masterpieces then you will appreciate the incident all the more but all four masterpieces must remain independent.
Mark says they were drawing near the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two disciples to the village up the road. They would find a colt tethered there that has not been ridden. They are to untie it and bring it back to Jesus. If anyone objects, just say, “The Master needs it and will send it back soon!”
This is exactly what happened and the two apostles brought the colt to Jesus. The apostles put their cloaks on the colt's back and Jesus mounted. People put their cloaks and varied branches of greenery on the path so that Jesus could ride over it all.
They sing Psalm 118 as they march into Jerusalem. Read the entire Psalm to understand what the procession meant to the people, and why the leaders of the Jews realized Jesus had to be stopped now. Remember that Psalms were popular songs among the Jews of that day. Everybody could sing them and some were used specially on certain feast days. There is no doubt that this day was a day of total triumph for Jesus as he rode along in the procession. He was fully aware of the fickleness of the crowd but he truly enjoyed the recognition for all his works. Later on, this procession will become the starting point of the solemn Easter Liturgy.
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HOUSE OF GOD DESECRATED; CRUSADER IN ANGRY RAGE.
Mark 11:15-19.
The little party arrived in Jerusalem and went directly to the Temple. Jesus saw the courtyard had been turned into a regular shopping mall. There were animals of every kind and all the other things that could be used for personal sacrifices or temple offerings. The people and the leaders were haggling over prices just as in any public mart.
Jesus really let his temper take over. He was filled with a holy anger as he looked on the desecration. He overturned the money tables in the sand and upset the chairs of the sellers. ȁMy father's house is a house of prayer and you have made it a den of thieves!”
The chief priests and the scribes were told about this incident immediately. They knew they had to do something about Jesus at once, or he would have all the people backing him. They were afraid of him because the people were so much in favor of his teaching.
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CRUSADER ASKS FOR COIN. MARK 12:13-17.
The leaders realized they had to trip Jesus up in front of the crowd. Otherwise their authority and power were finished. So they brought up a very touchy issue of the day.
Rome had conquered the whole area and ruled Palestine totally. The people had to pay taxes to Rome and if they failed, there were many terrible repercussions. The Jewish people hated the Roman nation and their domination. They talked about it constantly but could do nothing to alleviate the situation.
Now the leaders say, “Master, we know that you are an honest man, that you are afraid of no one, because a man’s rank means nothing to you, and that you teach the way of God in all honesty. Is it allowed to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay? Yes or no?”
This looked like a perfect dilemma from which there was no escape. The leaders smugly waited for Jesus to fall into their trap.
As usual, Jesus lets them cut their own throats. “Why did you set a trap for me? Hand me a denarius so that I may look at it.” They handed him a denarius. Jesus asked, “Whose image is this? Whose signature?” They said, “Caesar’s”! Jesus clipped right back. “Then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God!” This answer stopped them totally. There was no comeback.
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IS RESURRECTION FOR REAL? Mark 12:18-27.
Opposition to Jesus now comes from the group of priests, called the Sadducees. They had put themselves in a social caste above all other Jews and their influence on the popular mind was small. They did wield power because of their closeness to the Roman authorities. They decide to show Jesus up and the Pharisees at the same time.
The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection of all people at the end of time. To make their point, they proposed what seemed like a foolproof case. They used the Torah as their support.
The Law of Levirate or of “brother-in-law” commanded that if a man died before he could have children, the dead man’s brother was to take his sister-in-law to bed with him. It made no difference whether he was already married or not. Any children that came of this union would be raised to the dead man’s name. In the scenario proposed by the Sadducees, there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and died without issue (child). The next one took the widow as a wife and he died with no issue. The marriages and deaths continued right to the end without children. Finally, the widow died. Now said the Sadducees, “In this Resurrection, whose wife is she?”
Jesus said they did not understand the resurrection or the life that followed, and as a result they could come up with this stupid question. In the resurrection, there will be a completely different life and the laws of this life will not be in effect or necessary.
ONE SCRIBE UNDERSTANDS. Mark 12:28-34.
After the altercation above was settled, one of the scribes realized how well Jesus had answered the Sadducees. He decided that Jesus was the person to ask really important questions about the law. So he asked him which is the first of all the commandments.
Jesus quoted the law of love of God and the neighbor as he always did. The scribe was very pleased and said that such love was far more important than holocaust or sacrifice. Jesus liked the man and told him he was not far from the kingdom of God.
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FINAL DAYS OF JESUS. Mark 14:1-15:47.
The chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus quietly. They did not want any disturbance among the people especially during the days of the Passover feast.
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MEMORIAL SUPPER ESTABLISHED.
This action is the uniting of the two rituals from the Old and the New Covenant. At the time of the escape from the slavery of Egypt, centuries before, the Jews ate a hasty meal and then left. This was called the “Passover” and each year there was a solemn remembrance of this Passover meal.
Jesus is celebrating this Passover Meal with his apostles. At the end of the meal, he takes the ritual “Friendship” cup and bread and gives it a new meaning. He establishes the new covenant of love. He will prove the extent of his love by being willing to die for his convictions.
The first followers of Jesus immediately established the custom of commemorating this Supper of the New Covenant. It was called the “Eucharist” because it started with a prayer of Thanksgiving. Instead of restricting this supper to the feast of the Passover, the first Christians celebrated it each time they got together. This “Thanksgiving Supper” (the Eucharist) became the identifying mark of the Christians. It symbolized their harmony and sharing with each other. One of the Elders or Presbyters presided at the meal.
Friendship is the significance and power of the Eucharistic meal. Gradually, theologians and philosophers developed all the esoteric doctrine of transubstantiation, real presence, consecrated fingers, sacramental priesthood and so on. The main symbol of Christian sharing and love became a ritual of mysterious, and often superstitious, practices.
Clouds moved in and it became quite dark from noon until three. Jesus cried out in the opening words of Psalm 22, ȁMy God, My God why have you abandoned me?” It sounds like a cry of despair but the Psalm itself is a song of total confidence in God in spite of the terrible problem. Jesus had been afraid. He was hurting and still scared but he was totally confident in the goodness and power of Yahweh.
At the moment of his death the veil of the Temple was torn in half from top to bottom. The centurion, standing in front of him and seeing how Jesus died, publicly proclaimed his faith in Jesus and his bravery and truth.
THE WOMEN.
No mention is made of the apostles but some of the women are mentioned by name. They were present as were many other women who had come up to Jerusalem with him.
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JESUS APPEARS - AS PROMISED Mark 16:9-20.
Mark gives a fast wrap-up to the life of Jesus on earth. After Jesus had been raised from the dead, he appeared to Mary Magdalen. She went to the apostles and told them but they did not believe that she had really seen Jesus.
Later, two of the apostles were on their way to the country. Jesus appeared to them and they went back and told the other apostles but they did not believe these two either.
Finally, Jesus appeared to the eleven while they were at table. He reproached them for their refusal to accept the messages that had been sent. Then he gives them their mission to go to the whole world and tell them the Good News. Happiness is truly possible. Everyone who believes and is baptized will be saved.
There will be external signs to bolster the authority of the eleven. In the name of Jesus they will cast out devils and have the gift of tongues. They will pick up snakes and be unharmed. If they drink any deadly poison, they will not be harmed. They will lay their hands on the sick and the sick will get well.
When Jesus was finished giving his last minute instructions, he was taken up into heaven, to the right hand of God. The apostles went out and preached the Good News. Jesus was working through them and with them.