Session 5: Class Notes

Wow!  Last night we lived into the feeding of the multitudes stories with a variety of delicious contributions.  I'm not sure if there were 12 (or 7) baskets left over but there was certainly plenty for all.  Many, many thanks!

Here are the notes from our discussion last night on Mark 7.  Also, if you haven't yet checked out Pastor David's Daily Devotional then I encourage you to find it by clicking here.  Aligning with his Daily Devotion was a big part of why were studying Mark.

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We began by following up on the question,"How do we discern Jesus from Mark?"  In other words, in reading Mark's Gospel can we separate Jesus from Mark's interpretation of Jesus?  Well, let's take a look at some possible responses:

• Yes!  A group of biblical scholars, clergy, and theologians came together about 30 years ago in their mission to identify what they called, the Historical Jesus.  This group, known as the Jesus Seminar, used a variety of criteria to determine which parts of the gospel stories were likely something Jesus actually said or did and which parts were likely embellishments developed by the early church (perhaps because of how stories passed through oral tradition evolve or because the early church was responding to issues or their day and they were envisioning how Jesus would have responded).
• No!  Jesus, as all of us, was birthed from and rooted in a particular context.  All we have (past and present) are people's observations and experiences of Jesus.  Rather than attempting to strip Jesus of subjective testimony to give us a clear picture, it is our collective shared experience that gives us a fuller understanding of the person and work of Jesus.  The scriptures themselves lean towards this perspective by giving us multiple perspectives on Jesus.
• Well...  At the core of this question I hear a desire to get to the heart of the matter.  What is truly at the core of Christ's teaching, of his life?  Moving to the heart of the matter is a great direction to move.  It is a thoughtful movement, it is a prayerful movement.  It is a movement that cannot be limited to an "out there" exercise but also an inner journey with God (What I am seeking?  Why am I seeking?  How will this journey change me?). 

Cleanliness is next to Godliness?  Mark 7:1-23
Subtlety is slipping away as Jesus becomes increasingly direct in his confrontation of practices and perspectives that are contrary to his vision of the reign of God.  Jesus takes head on the beliefs about what makes something (or someone) clean or dirty.  Remember, ritual purity had implications that extended beyond, "Eeeww, he has cooties".  If the community deemed a person or persons unclean then they were cut off from relationships, access to resources, and from the divine.  Taking a swing at the purity code was also implying a decreased importance of the temple and it's role in religious life.  Imagine a popular preacher coming to town, setting up a big tent, captivating the city with healing and teaching and saying something that sounded like, "Going to services on Sundays is not important to God."  How might local pastors react?

In this story and teaching around purity we noted a couple of details.

• Verse 3 explains the custom of ritual washing.  Is this evidence that Mark was writing for a primarily non-Jewish audience as he had to explain this custom?
• Verse 19 gives a side bar that Jesus declared all foods clean.  Is this evidence that Mark was writing for a primarily Jewish audience as non-Jews would have already treated all food as clean?
• What's corban?  When the Jesus' accusers attempt to discredit him by pointing out that he disrespects tradition (eg not washing hands).  Jesus goes on the offensive and exposes the way they disrespect the law of God with loopholes.  In first century Judaism a persons adult children were their support system.  It seems though that some were ignoring their responsibility to their parents and the law (honor your father and mother) by using a religious loophole.  An individual could set aside some or all of their assets as an offering to God called corban.  A corban would be taken to the temple as an offering to God and a portion of the offering would go to the religious functionaries for their services.  However, an asset could be designated as corban payable after death.  So, a son (or a daughter, but it was a patriarchal society so likely, a son) could say, "Sorry mom, sorry dad, I can't give "X" to help support you because it is corban" while still using and reaping from their benefits of "X" because it will not be given to the temple until the son dies.  It appears that some religious authorities were either advising this action or at least condoning it (likely for personal gain as they received a percentage of the offering).  Devious.
• What’s missing?  There's a good chance that your Bible does not have Mark 7:16 and if it does then there is a footnote.  This is because not all of the early manuscripts of Mark are the same.  Some include “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” in between what we have labeled verse 15 and verse 17 and other manuscripts do not.  The general rule of them applied here is that the older and simple variations are considered the more accurate.  Thus verse 16 was removed from most bibles as it was not included in many of the older manuscripts more recently discovered.  This idea of variance in the text will be important later in Mark's Gospel.

Gentle Jesus?  Mark 7:24-30

This story is difficult.  You might want to read it a couple of times.  Here's a quick breakdown.

Icon of the Faithful Mother

• Jesus (and likely friends) are in the gentile city of Tyre.  The people of this city would have been seen by-and-large as "less-than" in the eyes of a pious Jew.  This is an "unclean" place.
• Jesus is trying to hide but is discovered by a gentile woman who has heard of him.
• The woman comes to Jesus begging for her daughter to be healed.
• Jesus initially responds by saying that his power is first and foremost for the Jews, that it would not be right to give her, a non-Jew, priority.  In his response he equates her to a dog (dogs in that time were thought of as disgusting scavengers).
• The woman persists and asserts that even if she is a "dog" that she too has a claim to the power of Christ to heal (remember, healing is symbolic evidence or a manifestation of the reign of God, she is claiming that she has a right to live in, and enjoy, the reign of God).
• Jesus heals her daughter thereby confirming her conviction.

This passage can be difficult, if for nothing else than the idea of Jesus calling a mother seeking healing for her daughter a dog, is shocking.  What do we do with this?  How does this fit with the Jesus who was breaking down societal barriers and was uplifting the marginalized?  Is this the same Jesus who just a few verses prior said, "It is what comes out of a person that defiles"?   Why would Mark (and Matthew) include a story of Jesus that seems so contrary to what Jesus had been teaching?

I can't answer all those questions.  I can share a few details.

Many scholars attempt to soften the blow of Jesus' "dog" comment by saying:

• The term Jesus used for dog could be translated more as puppy so perhaps it was a term of endearment.
• Surely there was compassion in his eyes and gentleness in his voice that communicated for more powerfully than his words.
• Jesus was simply testing her faith and she passed.
• Jesus already knew how she would respond and he did this as an example to his followers (likely present) in order to expose their latent prejudice and override it by her faith.

Personally, I'm more apt to agree with theologian Sharon Ringe who calls this a moment when Jesus was "caught with his compassion down."  To own the weight of Jesus' words is to give full weight to the mother's persistence and faith (virtues extolled by Jesus).  I don't know why Jesus would say such a thing.  I do know that:

• Jesus was born into a cultural that exhibited racial and religious prejudice that had become woven into the fabric of their society, it had become institutionalized and systemic.
• The text says that this event interrupted Jesus as he was seeking some time to be alone.
• Jesus was fully human.  Perhaps, this is the most important thing that I know.

Let us also not lose sight of the rich beauty of this text.  The gentile woman exhibits extraordinary faith as she trusts in Jesus even when Jesus isn't being very Jesus-like.  She demonstrates a trust in the vision of the reign of God for all even when it appears at first that she is being denied entrance.  The faith of this gentile woman in this scene brings to mind the faith of the Jewish founding fathers.

• Exodus 32:9-14.  God sees that the Israelites are worshiping a golden calf they have made.  God decides to wipe them out and start again with Moses.  Moses says no!  Moses convinces God of the need to be faithful to his people.  In other words, Moses demonstrates faith in God even when it seems like God isn't acting like God.
• Genesis 18:20-33.  God shares his plan with Abraham to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.  Abraham says, "Wait!  If you destroy the whole city because of the wickedness of some then you may also be destroying the righteous for no fault of their own."  This isn't just.  Abraham negotiates with God seeking to save the lives of the righteous (and everyone) in the city.    In other words, Abraham demonstrates faith in God even when it seems like God isn't acting like God.
• Psalm 44 (particularly verses 23-26).  The psalmist is crying out to God for justice.  He acknowledges what God has done in the past, he claims continued faithfulness to God and yet it seems like God has abandoned his people, that God has forgotten his covenant.  The psalmist cries out for God to wake up!  Through prayer to God, the psalmist calls out to God asking that God would be their God.  In other words, the psalmist demonstrates faith in God even when it seems like God isn't acting like God.

So why would the gospel writers include this story?  This question leads me to my, "So what?"

I am convinced that Christianity means following the way of Christ.  In this story I see Christ listening to another person that society deemed as "less-than" and opening himself up to be influenced, perhaps even changed by her.  In our society, the voices of those considered uneducated, poor, disreputable, unwelcome, are often the voices of the oppressed and their stories are sidelined.  Can I hear them?  Can their cries for healing pierce my heart?  Can they influence me and open me to the possibility of change?  I thank God for the foreign mother's faith, for Jesus' listening ear, and for the healing of this text.  I hope that I too will have the courage to hear and the opportunity to heal.

Final Notes Mark 7:31-37
Quick shout outs to Markan themes present in this story.

• Immediately!  Verses 25 and 35 once again demonstrate the urgency of Mark's Gospel.  Where are we going and what's the rush?
• Shhhhh....!  The Messianic Secret lives again in this story, this time with a comedic twist.  The man with a speech impediment is healed and is able to speak.  Jesus tells him not to talk though, which of course, is the first thing he does.  I outline some theories for the Messianic Secret in the Session 1 notes.  My theory, Mark wants us to understand that Jesus' identity is more than a healer and it's an identity he'll reveal later in the story.
• Faith Healing  Once again the role of faith is intimately tied to healing.  Faith is playing a prominent role in Mark's gospel.  But what is faith and how is it connected to healing?  We'll talk about this in the weeks ahead.