They Call Me "Satan" (and "Crazy")

Have you ever done anything that caused people to think that maybe you’d gone over the deep end? How about when you risked everything because of a “call”? Was that enough for them to think you were “crazy”?

We’ve reached that moment when those close to Jesus – be it friends, associates, even some family members – reached the conclusion “He is out of his mind.” [i] Even Jesus’ brother, James, didn’t believe in what he was doing. Not until much later. Another story for another time.

When you think about why they were concerned, consider…

·         Jesus had been an excellent carpenter; now he’s a wandering preacher/healer;
·         Jesus had a paying job; now he’s playing “Occupy Israel” for no pay;
·         Jesus had been safe back at home; now he’s ruffling feathers, taking on the big boys;
·         Jesus had been surrounded by his circle of respectable family and friends; now he’s keeping constant company with a bunch of low-life, out-of-work folks.

Is it any wonder they thought Jesus needed an intervention?

Jesus didn’t let their concerns stand in his way… or the accusations being thrown about by those opposing him – in this case, religious scholars (Pharisees). To discredit Jesus as being aligned with Satan would possibly bring about his downfall. That was their hope.

Did You Know…?

Beelzebul (or Ba’al-Zibbul) was a derogatory name for “the Adversary” – a name for Satan. It was derived from the Canaanite high god Baal – “Baal, the prince.” [ii]

Of course, Jesus scoffed at the name-calling and replied to those who would listen to use rational thinking. Why would he bear good fruit for sinister reasons? Nevertheless, as Beverly from the study group mentioned, “You can’t change the status quo without people (those who have been in control) starting to scream.”

Within Jesus’ retort though is something which can be seen as extremely judgmental and with finality. It’s all in the interpretation, and for those who see life in only black-and-white terms, it’ll have only one meaning.

“Truly, I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” [iii]

Never be forgiven; eternal sin.

God isn’t big enough to take a little name-calling? God actually reaches a point where forgiveness isn’t available? On the surface, that could be the interpreted meaning, but let’s dig further.

In Jewish thought, the Holy Spirit enabled persons to recognize God’s truth when it entered their lives. If a person refused the guidance of God’s Spirit often enough, they became (in the end) incapable of recognizing the truth when it was in front of them to be seen. [iv]

Okay. That brings a bit more clarity, but still… would such a sin against the Holy Spirit have no forgiveness whatsoever? Especially from God?

The translation of these verses in The Message comes at it in a different way, and in my opinion, it’s more in line with what the author, John Mark, intended.

“There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you persist in your slanders against God’s Holy Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives, sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.” [v]

In this instance, the person who deliberately (some would say “maliciously”) rejects the One who forgives… who affirms life… they’ve made the choice. Not God. They are distancing themselves for the Creator. It’s a warning Jesus gives – to not make that choice. It’s also a direction to everyone to carefully watch what is said when choosing to address others, as well as God.

I’ll leave you with something else to ponder.

Does God, our Creator, pursue everyone? Does God give up on anyone? For those who have rejected God (openly or otherwise) and physically died, is that the end of our Creator’s pursuit? Is that the absolute breakpoint, end-all-that-ends-all? One (earthly life) and done?

Call me “crazy” but I believe there’s more to God than meets the eye and is on the page. To limit God is to limit life and all that is within our being.

NEXT…

Who really is my sister, brother and mother?

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[i] MARK 3:21b, NIV

[ii] Jewish Annotated New Testament, NRSV, p. 66

[iii] MARK 3:28-29, NIV

[iv] The Gospel of Mark, Barclay, pp. 75-76

[v] MARK 3:28-29, The Message

The Calling of Your Name

MARK 3:13-19

Time to round out the God Squad!

Jesus headed up the mountainside (a symbolic reminder of Moses receiving the covenant on Mount Sinai) to call those he wanted on his team. He had a plan in place that his disciples, who would learn from him, would eventually become apostles. Can you imagine their excitement? They would carry out the ultimate mission -- being messengers of the gospel.

Little did this rag-tag bunch know what they would have to go through and witness to gain a greater understanding of their calling.

What in the world was Jesus thinking though? These 12 persons, who constituted a team led by Jesus, included five fisherman, one tax collector, and as for the other six, their occupations were unknown. [i] As Lance from the study group pointed out, these weren't professionals -- in the sense of the word as we know it. Yet, as Norma, stated, they were a true representation of the community -- the one Jesus wanted to reach.

Why 12…?

The number 12 corresponded to the 12 tribes of Israel showing the continuity between the old religious system and the new one based on Jesus' message. [ii]

In the team mix… there were two brothers known as "sons of thunder." Sounds like a wrestling team! Interestingly, the name "Boanerges" (Greek) describing the brothers actually doesn't mean anything at all. Substitute words in Hebrew were used though which provided insight to the brothers -- James and John. 'In Hebrew, B'nei-Regesh means "sons of feeling, hence emotional people, people who get excited easily." B'nei-Rogez means "sons of anger," that is "people who easily become angry." ' [iii]

Two emotional, easily excited, angry men? Great googly-moogly (as a friend of mine says when describing something of significant magnitude). You'd have to tread carefully around those guys or see a fireworks display.

Then there was Simon the Zealot -- a Jewish nationalist -- whose viewpoints on the Roman occupation of Palestine were anything but demure. Add Matthew (a tax collector who had worked for the financial gain of Rome) to those gathered around the campfire, and one can just feel the love.

Did You Know…?

Thaddaeus is the only name of the 12 that isn't on all of the New Testament lists. MATTHEW calls him Lebbaeus (with Thaddaeus as a surname); LUKE and ACTS have him as Judas the son of James; JOHN refers to him as Judas (not Iscariot). [iv]

To reemphasize my previous blog post -- regarding the far-reaching impact of Jesus and those who would travel great distances to see him -- one of the disciples came from a town (K'riot) about 20 miles south of Jerusalem, which would've been approximately 100+ miles from Capernaum. Who was this disciple? …Judas Iscariot.

Point of information: "Iscariot" was probably not Judas' surname. How's that? Because "Iscariot" is 'a rendering into Greek of Hebrew ish-K'riot, "a man of K'riot" ' [v]

Again… what in the world was Jesus thinking?!? What wonderful traits, talents, abilities, did these 12 have to be called? What credentials did they carry?

Putting it a different spin on it… how many times have we questioned God's call? Questioned our own abilities? Questioned our own credentials and felt we weren't good enough? Questioned the one who called us by saying others were more qualified, more experienced, more intelligent, more stable, more…?

Study group member, Gene, spoke up and stated it very well -- "If God is calling you, then you have the right credentials." No matter what anyone else says. No matter what you may feel.

And in response to what in the world was Jesus thinking… he had tremendous faith in those whom he called. They were willing to follow Jesus. He knew those on his team who would carry forward the gospel -- the message. Those messengers had exceptional strength of character, amazing faith, the power to change lives for a better world.

Jesus saw more in them than they could realize themselves. Even in the one who would sadly betray him.

So… when you hear the calling of your name, how will you respond?   

NEXT…

Occupy Galilee; Lord of the Flies

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[i] Living Application Bible -- pp. 1734-1735

[ii] Living Application Bible -- p. 1733

[iii] Jewish New Testament Commentary, Stern -- p. 89

[iv] MacArthur Study Bible -- p. 1464

[v] Jewish New Testament Commentary, Stern -- p. 38

Jesus-Mania!

MARK 3:7-12

Break-time! What better place to relax than at the lake -- so think Jesus and his small team. But… like the celebrities of our time, popularity knows no bounds. Where they go, people follow. Not only from Galilee. From far and wide.

50 miles to the north; 130 miles to the south. That’s the straight-shot distance traveled by those wanting to meet Jesus. The Marine (Joe) in our study group, estimated it would take about a week, with good fortune on your side (and no challenges along the way), to travel the terrain – coming from the south.

You’ve gotta want something BAD to go to those lengths!

And there are so many people. Unlike previous times where Jesus would approach those in need, crowd control was necessary as they rushed to see the healer. To avoid being trampled, Jesus stepped into a boat. Jesus-mania!

Most intriguing though in this section are the last two verses.

Are they "evil" spirits or "impure" spirits? Depends on the translation. There is definitely a tie-in later to the use of  “evil” but that’s for the next blog post. Yet it's important to understand the usage of both descriptive words.

“Evil” spoke clearly to people of the time – especially in relation to demons, in which many believed. Possession was like a go-to reason for those troubled. "Evil" was startling, frightening and could be interpreted as intentional.

What about those "impure" (or "unclean")? While the person who was "impure" needed to be helped, this specific word was meaningful to those who understood the rituals of cleansing – the required purification process. Jesus understood this too. Also, "impure" has less bite to it -- harm had been done but it wasn't malicious, as our former librarian, Norma, pointed out.

Go back to the earlier passage where Jesus healed the leper -- MARK 1:40-45. What did Jesus say to the man? Something stated on seven separate occasions in MARK – “Tell no one.” But he also had followed it up with a directive to see the priest. Why? To follow the ritual of purification – thereby incorporating something new (Jesus’ healing power) with something old (Old Testament rituals). “Purity codes are not set aside, but people are cleansed of their impurities.” [i]

Then there’s the “Son of God” phrase. Some want to believe this is set in stone, as in there is only one "Son of God", however…

‘In the ancient world Son of God was by no means an uncommon title. The kings of Egypt were said to be sons of Ra, their god. From Augustus onwards, many of the Roman Emperors were described on inscriptions as sons of God. The Old Testament itself has four ways in which it uses the term.

1)    The angels are the sons of God (Genesis 6:2, Job 1:6);

2)    The nation of Israel is the son of God (Hosea 11:1, Exodus 4:22);

3)    The king of the nation is the son of God (2 Samuel 7:14);

4)    In the later books, which were written between the Testaments, “The good man is the son of God “ (Sirach 4:10).

In all these cases the term son describes someone near and close to God. [ii]

Am I purposely trying to blow up the Gospel? No. What I am sharing is… there’s more to the story that is just on the page. And… it's abundantly clear with a small “s” or a big “S” – the relationship between Jesus and God was extremely close.

This son, Jesus… was different. He was not going to be the hoped-for, political / military leader who would squash Rome. But to reveal that “truth” would’ve side-tracked what Jesus was called to do. He wanted to show a vital, spiritual component to God’s kingdom. And the bigger difference would be with “Love.”

NEXT…

Rounding out the team to 12

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[i] Jewish Annotated New Testament, NRSV – p. 63

[ii] The Gospel of Mark, Barclay – p. 66

Try, Try Again

I’m glad Jesus has a whole lot of patience mixed in with his persistence. He’s doing his level-best to get an important point across. Again. On the heels of MARK 2:23-28, even when he knows they’re gunning for him, Jesus poses a question – appealing to the hearts of his accusers – yet the answer he seeks and the one in which he hopes, it is met with… silence.

MARK 3:1-6

Shriveled hand. Crippled hand. Withered hand. Paralyzed, deformed, diseased, congenital. No matter the description which could be any of these – the man with a physical challenge happened to be at the synagogue when Jesus made an appearance.

For the conspiracy theorists, was it a set-up? Certainly, as Gene from the study group stated, "They’re testing Jesus. He has a pattern going against the established rule.”

Their thoughts could have been along the lines of… “It’s the Sabbath. We all know the rules against working. Oooouuuu, let’s see what kind-hearted Jesus will do. He’ll spot this guy with the bad hand and wanna heal him. Then we’ve got him. Let's try this again!"

DID YOU KNOW…?

The gospel according to the Hebrews – a gospel which is lost except for a few fragments – tells us the man was a stone mason. His livelihood was in his hands. Through it all, he was ashamed to beg and believed Jesus could help him. [i]   

Regardless of the ill intention of others, Jesus wants to pierce the hardened hearts in this meeting place to gain greater understanding of what God wants in all of our lives.

Jesus sees the man who needs his help and asks him to stand where everyone can see him. Then a question is asked with clear-cut extremes being used. Depending on the translation,… “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”

Good versus evil; saving a life versus killing someone.

Absolute silence. Not a word. In this instance, silence kills. And Jesus seethes at these people who are so afraid of losing their power, their control, the way it’s always been done.

Before moving into the other verses in this section, I posed several questions to the study group – “Is anger wrong?” “Is it a sin?” “Can anger be a good thing and if so, how?” As we discussed the possibilities, it was clear that anger can be used in wrong, selfish, hurtful ways, but in contrast, it can also be used constructively, for solutions.

While some Biblical texts have Jesus solely angry and furious, I find it interesting in the NIV where Jesus looks in anger (at those who are silent) while also being deeply distressed. Quite a mix of emotions.

“ ‘Deeply distressed’ was a phrase from the Greek sullupoumenos, found only here in the New Testament, which means ‘grieving with someone.’ ” [ii] Jesus’ heart breaks while the hearts of his accusers remain hardened. They are more entrenched in ritual, strict obedience and correct performance than attending to a person in need.

Those who were out to get Jesus wanted him to physically touch this man and heal him.

What better opportunity for Jesus to turn the “game” on its head? All Jesus does is say, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretches out his hand and finds it restored. “The passive – was restored – may indicate Jesus in fact did not do anything that could be considered work.” [iii]

Can you imagine the sputtering, the kvetching, the boiling anger of these accusers? This is where high irony comes.

Two vastly different political parties – the Herodians [a secular group which took its name from Herod Antipas (son of Herod the Great)] [iv] and the Pharisees – normally enemies, being opposed on almost all issues – come together to plot how they might kill Jesus.

Where Jesus is about life, they want to snuff out this amazing, divine light. “Saving life versus killing someone.” “Good versus Evil.” And they plot to murder Jesus on… the Sabbath.

Now who is breaking God’s law?

NEXT…

Coming from far and wide; “Son” or “son”; then there were twelve

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[i] The Gospel of Mark, Barclay – p. 62

[ii] Jewish New Testament Commentary, Stern – p. 89

[iii] The Jewish Annotated New Testament, NRSV – p. 65

[iv] The MacArthur Study Bible – p. 1463