Opposition to Jesus from every direction in Mark 3
Oh Mark—where have you lot been, with your dynamic directness, your parataxis and faux of Sometime Testament narrative, your puns on 'straightway' and your dumbo biblical allusions? We have missed you! And yet—information technology is nosotros who left yous, whilst y'all have been waiting patiently all this time. Nosotros were seduced by the Beloved Disciple, with his dense spirals of recollection, his ambiguous language, and his exalted claims about Jesus. Forgive us for preferring his movement from the literal to the figurative, to your careful intercalation of pairs of stories. We loved his incidental historical observations (about him reaching the tomb alee of Peter)—but we know that you have yours as well! We are back now—volition you continue to teach us about what it means to follow Jesus as we journey with you one time again?
The gospel lectionary reading for the First Lord's day after Trinity in Year B is Marker iii.20–35, which consists of two stories of opposition to Jesus' ministry, intercalated—that is, one story is split to form the outer frame, with another, related, story at the centre. The frame story is his (biological) family going to 'seize' him (Mark 3.21) considering he has clearly been carried abroad with fame and popularity of his ministry, whilst the core story is the accusation by the Jerusalem scribes that Jesus is an ally rather than opponent of the devil. Although the two accusations appear to be quite dissimilar, and coming from dissimilar parties, Marker wants usa to run across the connections by intercalating them in this style. (Note that Matthew and Luke disentangle the ii bug, with Matthew calculation in other elements of Jesus' teaching in Matt 12, and Luke separating and reversing the 2 in Luke 11.14 and Luke 8.nineteen.)
This passage comes near the end of Mark's opening section describing Jesus' dynamic and controversial ministry building in Galilee, spinning out of his baptism and testing in the desert, and opening with the cursory summary of his proclamation of the kingdom. Everywhere he has gone, he has healed and delivered people, fatigued the crowds, and sparked controversy with the Jerusalem government. Two brief interludes interrupt this: his 'praying in a solitary place' in Marking 1.35; and his withdrawing to telephone call the Twelve in Mark iii.13. Afterwards this passage, nosotros finally hear the content of Jesus' preaching in Marking 4.
Our passage begins with Jesus going εἰς οἶκον, literally, 'into a house' (run into TNIV), but the parallel with the phrase in Marker two.one suggests that this was the business firm he had made his dwelling house, in Capernaum, hence ESV 'he went abode'. This is, of grade, not the abode of his birth family in Nazareth, merely the home of his new ministry family, including Peter who is i of the Twelve he has simply called to himself.
In that location is such a crowd that 'they could not even eat bread', a curious and intriguing Marcan detail that Luke and Matthew omit. According to Luke 6.12, Jesus prayed overnight earlier calling the Twelve, then that they would have been expecting to come abode to share breakfast together—only this would besides signify and cement their newly formed relationship.
Marker spares no blushes in describing the response of Jesus' biological family unit to what is going on. In Matt 12.46 they want to 'speak' with him; in Luke 8.20 they 'desire to see you'. Simply here, they desire to 'seize' him, believing he is 'out of his mind', a common accusation well-nigh those who are themselves demon possessed (note the later contrast with the Gerasene demoniac, who after his deliverance is in his 'right mind', Marker v.15). This linguistic communication sets upward the connections of this opening part of the frame narrative with the core story that comes next.
Marker is not as conscientious as Matthew in identifying the particular groups of opponents to Jesus, and he appears to utilise 'the scribes' in quite a general manner. Nosotros have already seen the contrast with the crowds who welcome Jesus's ministry building enthusiastically, and the regime who view him with suspicion, and there is at present an emphasis on the opposition of Jerusalem, which volition give a shape to the whole gospel—the first half, dynamic and successful in Galilee, the 2d half, with increasing opposition and the shadow of the cross looming large. Mark is correct in his topography (as nosotros saw the Quaternary Gospel was also) when he says they 'came down' from Jerusalem, which is in the key hill land, to Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee.
The language of 'Beelzebul' as a name for Satan is unattested elsewhere outside the New Testament. Information technology appears to exist a variation on Beelzebub, which might mean 'Lord of the Flies', and is a parody of the proper noun of the Canaanite tempest god Baal (come across two Kings 1.2). The allegation that Jesus was in league with Satanic forces was non unusual equally a charge against those practicing magic and sorcery, and there is contained attention of this allegation (in a different class) in John 7.20, 8.48, 52, 10.20. But, every bit we noted previously in relation to the deliverance recorded in Mark 1.25:
In contrast to magicians and exorcists of Jesus' solar day, in that location is here no use of spells, incantations, or physical manipulations. And reverse to the impression of James Tissot's illustration, there is no sense in which Jesus is offering a performance for the sake of the onlookers. Fifty-fifty more striking, Jesus does not pray to God, only offers a simple word of powerful rebuke on his own authority. If there is an repeat here of Zech 13.2, then this is a sign of the eschatological (terminate-times) cleansing of the state of 'the unclean spirit', and as well hints at the identity of Jesus.
The scribes take non accused Jesus to his face up, but behind his back, and, every bit with those witnessing the healing of the paralytic in Mark 2.half-dozen, he knows what they are proverb. Information technology is striking that Jesus 'calls them to him' in order to confront them; he wants the accusation to be addressed, and whilst he called the Twelve to him to exist with him in Mark iii.thirteen, he now calls his opponents to him to rebuke them.
Jesus responds to the accusation beginning with a threefold saying 'Kingdom divided…house divided…Satan divided', a saying that is pithy and memorable enough to have found many uses in contemporary civilisation. But its truth depends on the observation that Jesus does non parley with the forces of evil, entering into some kind of negotiation as an equal, but seizes what is theirs by spiritual strength—a reality expounded by his second saying. The merely person who can demark a strong human being is a man who is stronger, and Jesus is here claiming greater power than the ability of Satan. This is a hit and slightly disturbing paradigm; Jesus is depicting himself as, in some sense, a violent burglar, breaking and entering and seizing the occupants to necktie them up. This is no 'gentle Jesus, meek and mild'! Information technology is non possible to read this as a mere projection of an agonistic masculinism; Jesus is telling us that there is a real spiritual battle, and he engages in information technology with violence against the forces of darkness to bring peace and freedom to those he delivers.
The linguistic communication of 'bounden the stiff man' has been interpreted as having stiff political overtones, most notably by Ched Myers in his political reading of Marking. But it is more convincing to run into this language as belonging inside Second Temple eschatological hope—whilst noting that the political and spiritual were not then separated as they are in modern Western thinking.
Two chapters in the excellentReading Mark in Contextreflect on the dissimilarity hither with parallels in contemporary Jewish literature. Elizabeth Shively compares this passage with the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, which (despite the Christian interpolations) offers evidence of Second Temple Jewish thinking well-nigh the connectedness between deliverance and eschatology.
The removal of Beliar's reign over homo beings functions as a watershed in the restoration of God's reign…This shows that Mark's portrayal of Jesus' ministry building every bit a cosmic conflict is at home in the idea earth of Second Temple Judaism, and reinforces the suggestion that Satan's stop is key to Jesus' establishment of the kingdom of God (p 65).
Michael Bird explores the parallel in the Testament of Solomon to the afterward episode of the Gerasene demoniac in Mark v, and notes:
One central element of the Gospel of Mark is that Jesus is described as a divine agent with a unique sense of say-so and power. The Markan Jesus teaches with unprecedented didactic authority, he forgives people their sins with seemingly divine say-so, he has a supernatural power to control nature, he has the ability to heal illnesses, and he has authority over unclean spirits (p 77).
And in relation to the binding of the strong homo specifically, Witherington (The Gospel of Mark) asks:
Once again, one must ask, who is stiff than Satan? Surely the respond is God, and and so once again Jesus is depicted every bit i with a plenitude of divine ability and authority (p 156)
And so much for the idea of a 'depression Christology' in Marking!
The saying almost the 'unforgivable sin' comes, not as a third response to his critics, just equally an bated, commenting on the phenomenon of the criticism itself. Despite being and then brief, it has provoked asymmetric comment and consternation amongst both theologians and ordinary readers all through Christian history (run into the helpful exploration in Mary Ann Beavis Paideia on Mark, pp 70–71). Three things are worth noting.
First, the introductory phrase 'Amen I say to you…' (which should really be translated this fashion, with 'Amen' transliterated, simply equally are other Aramaic intrusions into Greek such as 'Abba' and 'talitha cum') appears to be characteristic of Jesus, and is present in every strand of the gospel tradition, including the Fourth Gospel where is has the double form 'Amen, amen…' Outside the gospels, it is ever used to attest to the truthfulness of someone else's words (1 Cor fourteen.16, 2 Cor 1.twenty, Rev 5.xiv, 7.12) but Jesus hither claims authorisation for himself for what he is near to say.
His authority was charismatic, in the sense that it was immediately received from God, or rather was the firsthand authority of God…It is a style of speaking expressing a consciousness of transcendent authorization…When others in the tradition in which Jesus stood expressed immediacy of their dominance, they prefaced their words with "Thus says the Lord". Simply Jesus said "Amen I say to you…" (James Dunn,Jesus and the Spirit, p 79, cited in Witherington p 158).
Secondly, this proverb is primarily i of great hope and reassurance; 'people volition be forgiven all their sins and all the blasphemies they utter…' is the larger statement before the qualifying 'but…'.
Thirdly, the main debate in its application is whether this saying refers to insiders or outsiders (since the scribes are leaders of the people of Israel simply non function of this new movement following Jesus) and whether information technology can be applied beyond its immediate context. Beavis attributes its wider use to Augustine and his 'non-literal' reading of the proverb, which was picked up by Ambrose, Aquinas and Calvin. Notwithstanding Jesus is non making a full general statement about people who respond to the gospel message in later on ages, but virtually the item accusation of him by the scribes—something that Mark emphasises by adding 'He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit", a comment omitted in the parallel in Matt 12.32.
Clearly this whole discussion is well-nigh something which could only be true during Jesus' ministry building, for we are not talking about blasphemy against the risen Lord, just rather confronting the Spirit who empowered Jesus to act whilst on earth (Witherington, p 159).
We come up, at last, to the endmost section of the frame story, Jesus' mother and brothers who accept been waiting exterior during the atmospherics with the scribes. 'Brothers' is later used metaphorically for boyfriend believers (specially in Paul) arising from this story; some have claimed that the term can extend to refer to other male person relatives such as cousins, based on the equivalent Hebrew termach (see Gen 13.8) only in that location is no attestation for such apply in Greek. Mark is unembarrassed to believe that Mary had other children, and that these are Jesus' actual brothers.
Marker notes that they were standing 'outside', and this physical description gains additional significance when we realise in the adjacent passage the difference betwixt those who are 'outside' and the 'insiders' (including the disciples) to whom has been given the 'secret of the kingdom of God' (Marking four.xi). At this stage, Jesus' family unit are in every sense 'outside', failing to understand his ministry and not attention to his teaching. They were introduced as thosepar' autouin Mark 3.21, those associated with Jesus (hence 'his friends' in the AV), assorted both with those in the house sittingperi autou at his feet listening to his educational activity, and with those calledmet' autou, to be with him in Mark 3.14.
In wrapping the two stories together, Mark appears to be telling us that Jesus' mission and teaching can be opposed and obstructed not only past those in vocal opposition to him, who mistake the work of God for the work of Satan, but besides by those who should be in close association with him, but who have non understood what he is about.
Redefining his family equally those who accept the message of the kingdom of God ahead of those to whom he has blood ties would be deeply offensive in a patriarchal culture where association and family honour was supreme in social relationships. Joseph Henrich (inThe WEIRDest People in the World) has identified this shift, from kin and clan loyalty to some shared, external truth as the measure out of reality, as the thing undergirding the development of Western culture, and his ideas take been picked upwardly by Jonathan Haidt and others in their analysis of Western culture. We need to note, though, that this did not constitute an accented rejection of the importance of family unit; Paul states categorically that 'whoever neglects the needs of their family is worse than an unbeliever' (1 Tim v.eight), and it is articulate that the gospel spread through family unit networks equally much as in other ways. And yet,
Jesus forms a new family that volition exist constituted by those whom he explicitly calls (the disciples) every bit well as those who are gathered effectually him to hear his teaching and are summoned to exercise the will of God (Donahue and Harrington, cited by Beavis p 69).
Given that it is his 'mother and brothers' who are waiting exterior, it appears to be a deliberate addition when Jesus refers to those listening and ready to 'practice the will of God' every bit his 'blood brotherand sis and female parent', thus explicitly asserting the place and importance of women as his disciples.
(The epitome is a colourised version of a woodcut past Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1794–1872)
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