Mark 6 (inexorable in mission)

So, this particular Chapter Memory Study is stretching the boundaries of my vocabulary.  In the past, I have given up to quickly with some outlines.  That is what led me to 'inexorable' for this chapter.  I don't mind expanding my (or my readers') vocabularies if it is appropriate.

The 'I' for Chapter 6 of Mark (based on the acronym "JESUS IS THE RANSOM") is Inexorable.  It means:

Not to be persuaded, moved, or stopped: relentless

Jesus and His followers are faced with obstacles and opposition in their ministry, but they remain steadfast and unmovable. Jesus models this character, and His men are learning to walk like Him.

The Thematic Outline for Mark 6 is:

• In His hometown
• In His discipleship
• In John's death
• In feeding the 5000
• In walking on water
• In healing at Gennesaret
  

(by the way, I adjusted the outline for chapter 1; see the sidebar for the update)

"Brief" Commentary  (you know you're in trouble when "brief" has quotes around it :)

In His Hometown
Jesus was not persuaded, moved or stopped from His mission even after being rejected in His hometown of Nazareth.  Even though some were amazed at His teaching, still others mocked Him openly about His 'questionable' birth, His family and His occupation.  So His ministry to His hometown was limited to some teaching and a little bit of healing.  "and He marveled at their unbelief".

In His Discipleship
Jesus was not persuaded, moved or stopped from His discipleship of His guys.  The training continued.  Now it was time for a test.  Jesus paired off the disciples and sent them out, with His authority, to teach, heal, and cast out demons.  For this particular mission, Jesus gave them specific instructions about what to bring, what to wear, and how to interact with people along the way (who either receive or reject them).  And off they went.  They preached repentance and the Gospel, they cast out demons and healed sick people.  Just as Jesus said they would.  If training was going to stick, there needed to be some 'field time'.  They had watched Jesus, they had heard Him preach, and they had seen Him minister to people.  With His power and authority, now it was their turn.  To be continued...

In John's Death
Jesus was not persuaded, moved or stopped by the tragedy of John the Baptist's death.  In this section,  Mark takes an opportunity to finish the story about John the Baptist.  Mark writes that Herod (not the same Herod that ruled when Jesus was born) heard about Jesus' name and activities and feared that John the Baptist had come back to life and was operating under immense spiritual power.  Then verse 17 begins a sort of 'flashback' to what happened to John.

Apparently Herod knew of John and feared/respected him because he was righteous and holy (even though John was speaking against Herod's marriage to his brother's former wife....)  The soap opera continues.  Herod's new wife hated John.  When her daughter was given the chance to dance for Herod, she did so in a very provocative way so that Herod promised her a great reward.  By her mother's counsel, she requested John's head on a platter.  It was granted, though Herod seemed to regret it.

This is the unglorious ending to a man who was indeed 'great before the Lord' (Luke 1:15).  Jesus Himself testified that John 'was a burning and shining lamb, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light' (John 5:35).  But, in accordance with his own stated mission, John had to decrease so that Jesus could increase (John 3:30).

In Feeding the 5000
Jesus was not persuaded, moved or stopped when He and His disciples were tired from ministry.  When His disciples returned from their mission, they reported all they had done.  But it appears that there was weariness in their eyes, for Jesus guided them to a desolate place because there had been people around all the time and 'they had no leisure, even to eat' (31). 

But it was not to be.  They were a conspicuous group now that they had taught, healed, and cast demons out of people.  People saw them and pursued them to their landing.  Jesus again leads His men.  Instead of being selfish and disappointed, He 'had compassion on them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd' (34).  And so He gave them all a big hug, right!?!  Nope.  'And He began to teach them many things' (34).  He starts with what is most important; their souls and their eternity.  He stays on mission by preaching repentance and the Gospel.  That, whether they realize it or not, was their greatest need.

When it got late, the disciples started fidgeting about logistics.  'Um, Jesus.  It's getting late and the nearest Culvers is a long way away.  We should let people go so they can get some chow' (translation mine:).  Jesus' response was not what they expected; 'you give them something to eat'.  Ok, so we don't know how much later in the day this was, but let's not forget from where the disciples just returned; from preaching, healing and casting out demons in Jesus' name!  They had no doubt seen and performed many miraculous things under the authority of Jesus that very morning!  And yet when it comes time to think about doing something miraculous for people, they clammed up.

Please don't hear that I'm mocking the disciples.  I have even preached a sermon (called Philip and Me) in which I stated confidently that I would have been the first to count the people, get on Googlemaps to find the nearest restaurants, calculated the average cost of feeding that many people, and shouted out from my abacus 'we can't do it, it would be too expensive!!!'  It's me.  I would have said the same thing.  So I cast no stones toward the disciples here.  My incredulity is at us; we who follow Jesus, see His mighty work, and then forget about it when something new comes up.  It's me.  It's us.

Jesus finds out how much food they have, miraculously multiplies it, and feeds all 5000 men (plus the women and children) with a full basket left over for each of His guys.  He had compassion on those who had no shepherd, and patience with the ones for whom He was their shepherd.  He was inexorable by tall odds and doubting friends.

In Walking on the Water
Jesus was not persuaded, moved or stopped by fatigue, weather, or His own disciples density.  After feeding thousands of people, Jesus was tired.  He sent His disciples across the lake and He went up the mountain to pray.  Apparently He could see very well from His spot, because He saw the disciples rowing very hard against the wind and waves.  Now this is astounding.  Jesus didn't go take a nap, He prayed...well past midnight until 'the fourth watch' (which is between 3am and 6am).  That's when He walked out (in very choppy water, remember) to meet and help His men.  They were freaked out and thought He was a ghost.  This imagery superimposed onto modern thought has probably helped picture Jesus as always wearing a long white robe all of the time.

I understand that in children's books and Bible stories that they need to somehow identify Jesus.  But it has taken (and will take) a lifetime for me to get the 'Sunday School poster' Jesus out of my brain.  I don't think that guessing what Jesus looked like is idolatry.  He lived as a man with a body, face, nose and ear hair.  We don't have a picture of Him, but an honest attempt to visualize a Jewish man from that time seems reasonable.  He still has a glorified body and will be recognizable when we see Him.  But many people have in their minds a humble, marginalized, Galilean peasant with long hippy-hair, sheep in one arm, child in another, walking around piously spouting off catch phrases like a fortune cookie writer.  That's not Jesus.  It wasn't Jesus.  It won't be the Jesus we see when He comes back (see Rev 19 for the Jesus whose side you want to be on).

Back to the study.  So the disciples saw Him and were freaked out.  Look what He does; 'take heart; it is I.  Do not be afraid'.  What He actually said was 'I AM'.  This echos the covenant name of God given to Moses.  And the storm stops.  And the disciples were astounded, again.  He simply speaks with the power and authority of God, and things happen.  I think He also wanted to remind them who He is.  And Mark points out that even Jesus' closest friends and followers still didn't totally get it.  But He didn't give up on them.

Healing at Gennesaret
Jesus was not persuaded, moved or stopped from His continued commitment to loving people and proclaiming the Gospel.  This is a short pericope at the end of Mark 6 that describes another instance of Jesus' healing ministry.  When Jesus and the disciples finally reached land at Gennesaret people recognized them immediately.  They flocked to Jesus to be  healed.  The astounding healing of the woman with bleeding (Mark 5) may have spread very quickly through the region because they sought to touch 'even the fringe of His garment' (36).  Jesus honored this act of faith and, by His own will, chose to heal people by that means.

I find it interesting in the account of Jesus' ministry that I don't read things like 'and after He healed many, they repented of their sin and believed in Jesus as the Savior', or '...and after He healed them, He preached a killer message and thousands came forward for the altar call'.

It is clear that He taught people.  A lot.  Just a few verses up, after He 'saw the crowd and had compassion on them' He didn't turn all the water into wine and the trees into disco-balls so people could have a party and feel better about themselves.  "And He began to teach them many things".  How many times, by word and action, did He come back to this primary mission; '...that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out' (1:38).

But He loved people and cared for their needs.  He healed them and gave them the Gospel.  He constantly sowed seeds of His message for those who would hear.  And He gave His guys a beautiful model of ministering to people and proclaiming the Gospel.

Mark 5 (rescuing people)

This chapter was fun to outline.  Having to use the second of 4 'S's (out of 'JESUS IS THE RANSOM') for the outline theme drove me right to the thesaurus again.  But what I found there was an absolute jewel that I didn't foresee.

Salvage.

The picture I have in my head when I hear this word is some sort of National Geographic-esque underwater shot of some sunken ship.  So I looked it up.

Salvage:  to save something for further use, rescue something from a bad situation, save something from destruction. 

This is what Jesus did for people in Mark 5.

• Salvaged the man with Legion
• Salvaged the woman with bleeding
• Salvaged the girl who died
  

And the key verse I chose for this chapter is beautiful:

Mark 5:19 (ESV)
And 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.”

The sunken ship can sail again.  The totaled car rolls into town.  What was bound for destruction at the hands of demons has been set free and restored by the hand of Jesus.  That is true for all three of these people in Mark 5.


Short Commentary

Salvaged the man with Legion

Here we see Jesus' confrontation with another person oppressed by foul spirits.  In this case, we find out that there were 'many' spirits inflicting upon this man ('legion' referred to a Roman regiment of up to 6 thousand men, but it also seemed to be used as a euphemism for 'a lot'), maybe even thousands.  At some point, Jesus saw the man and determined that he was demonized.  We know this because after Mark quotes the demonized man he writes that Jesus 'was saying to him "come out..."'  The man runs to the shore, falls down in front of Jesus, and professes Him to be the Son of God.  But in the same breath he (or the demon through him) lashes out and says basically 'mind Your own business, and swear You won't torment me before my time!'  Jesus responds with in authority by asking the demon what his name is.  This is where we find out that the man is demonized by many demons called Legion.  Then the demon (probably the leader) begs Jesus not to send them away.


The first thing that sticks out to me is the vast and varying range of emotions and dispositions of this demonized man.  He 'ran and fell down before him' (an act of worship or submission), he tells Jesus to 'mind His own business' (a statement of defiance), he tries to adjure (dfn. to force to take an oath) Jesus to swear that He won't torment him (an act of brash irreverence) and then begs Jesus not to send them out of the country but into a herd of pigs (a final pathetic plea of desperation).

I just love how Mark writes Jesus' response; 'So He gave them permission'.  He is in charge.  And the demons knew it even though they still tried to weasel out of punishment.

The man was grateful, and offered to follow Jesus.  But Jesus told him to go to his home and testify to the work the Lord had done in his life.  And everyone marveled. 

Salvaged the woman with bleeding
Mark picks up the story on the other side of the lake where another great crowd had gathered (I just did a quick search on the word 'crowd' in Mark; 35 times).  A man named Jairus, who was a ruler in the synagogue, came to Jesus and worshiped at His feet.  He then implores Jesus to come heal his very sick daughter.  As Jesus is going with the man to his house, He stops. 

We find out that a woman had somehow sneaked close enough to Jesus to touch His robe.  When she does, Jesus feels power go out from Him.  He then asks the disciples 'Who touched me'?  They aren't sure what to say because there were so many people around; how would they know?   But the woman who touched Jesus heard Him and was convicted to make herself, and her intentions, known.  She tells them of her disease and that she hoped that by simply touching the garment Jesus was wearing that she would be healed.  Mark says that the flow of blood (her disease) immediately dried up.  And see how Jesus treats this woman; 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease'.  She was no doubt very freaked that He sensed the healing, and came in 'fear and trembling'.  Jesus comforts her and blesses her for her faith.  It was pointed out to me that this woman would have been a social outcast in this town because of her ceremonial uncleanness.  Yet Jesus calls her 'daughter'.  He was on his way to heal the beloved daughter of Jairus, and on the way healed an outcast daughter and gave her back her life. 

Salvaged the girl who died
As he was talking with this woman, a servant of Jairus came to tell him that his daughter was dead.  They told him not to bother Jesus anymore.  Let's not forget the social implications of this.  Jairus was a ruler in the synagogue...which was filled with people (his friends) who hated Jesus (e.g. the Pharisees).  He was taking a huge social risk by coming to Jesus in this way.  Mark doesn't give us Jairus' reaction, but only tells us that Jesus overheard the conversation (how many times do we see Jesus having tremendous hearing :).  And what does He say?

"Do not fear, only believe."

If Jairus had as much faith as it took to come to Jesus so far, he must have displayed a willingness to still trust Him.  Jesus took His executive committee (Peter, James and John) and went to Jairus' house.  Everyone there was sure that the girl had died.  There were already official mourners present (as was the custom).  Jesus asks them "why are you mourning, she is not dead, but sleeping".  They laughed at Him, because it was so obvious that this girl was dead.  Notice how quickly this group goes from sadness/mourning to laughter/scorn.  Jesus walked right through it, took His execs and the parents and went in to see the girl.  He took her by the hand and simply spoke to her (the power of His Word).  She got up.  Jesus raised her from dead.  And then He further cared for her by requesting food for her. 

I have heard Jesus' mission on earth referred to as a 'rescue' mission.  And it was.  But in Mark 5 we see that Jesus also had a 'salvage' mission; saving souls from destruction for further use. 

Jesus sees beauty and value in people the world has cast off.