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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