Gospel of Mark: Many Healings

 

Many Healings

Text: 1:21 – 3:6. 

Comments: The number of “healing” stories is symbolic – maybe there is a paradigm of 10 commandments behind it, or maybe not.

1. 1:21-28, Jesus heals a man with unclean spirit. We talked about this story last time, but some things should be clarified. Note that Mark talks about “unclean” spirit not an evil one. It doesn’t make spirit “good,” what it does it presents a “specialization” of the spirit. It is not a spirit of sin; it’s a spirit that disqualifies a man from godly worship. In the Old Testament the Israel’s camp should be kept clean (not only tidy) – see Deuteronomy 23:9-14. Worshiping community is the LORD’s Army – therefore, keeping it clean (from within) is the utmost responsibility of the Church. His ‘authority’ is the authority of true King – he talks (teaches) and acts (Mark 1:27).     

2. 1:29-31, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law. Then He goes from the synagogue to the house – all aspects of life are in submission to Jesus: church, home, and the world (see next stories – city, v. 33 and desolate place, v. 35). When the mother-in-law is restored – she begins to serve (v. 31).   

3. 1:32-34, Jesus heals many. They (?) bring Him people at the sundown – the last moments of a day (see Genesis 1:5b, 8b, 13). When the New day will come, they want to be sure to begin it as a “new creation.” Same as before, Jesus rejects the testimony of demons – He doesn’t want to be associated with them in any way.

4. 1:35-39, Jesus preaches in Galilee, casting out demons. He goes through the synagogues turning them into holy army of the Lord. Jesus says He wants to preach and Mark records that demons were cast out. It’s not a contradiction – for it is not “either/or” scheme. It is plan and result: preaching (His Word) results in cleanness/readiness for service (action).

5. 1:40-45, Jesus heals the leper. Two things: again, leprosy in the Bible is not simply a disease, it’s a sign of uncleanness and, therefore, is treated in isolation (Leviticus 13:46). Leper couldn’t be a part of worshiping community. So, when Jesus restores the guy, from now on he can be a part of spiritual army of the LORD (note, it is a priest who “lifts up the ban,” not a healer, prophet, or a king, Leviticus 14:1-7). As a result: many are coming to Him. Why? They found a way to overcome their isolation… Jesus brings people together!

6. 2:1-12, Jesus heals a paralytic. This story is in some respects a reversed story of a previous visit to Capernaum synagogue (1:21-28). Same city, not a synagogue but a home, but scribes (synagogal authorities) are there. Instead of marveling, they accuse Jesus of blasphemy (2:7). Jesus IN His spirit (same as the guy in the synagogue, lit. 1:23 should read IN unclean spirit) knows what they are trying to do and ruins their plans – by Word and Action!       

7. 2:13-17, Jesus calls Levi. Please note that in a call of Levi Jesus refers to the sick who needs a doctor. So, it is a story of “healing.” Also, Jesus calls Levi by the sea – like Simon/Peter and Andrew, James and John. This will “qualify” him to become a fisher of men, the sinners who want to be righteous, and not those who are satisfied with their own righteousness (2:17).   

8. 2:18-22, Question of fasting. In the presence of Jesus people should rejoice! That’s why in the West liturgical tradition 40 days of Lent do not include Sundays (do your math).   

9. 2:23-28, question of Sabbath. Jesus justifies the behavior of His disciples by referring to 1 Samuel 21:2-17. For a fuller understanding of the Bread of the Presence see Exodus 25:30 and Leviticus 24:5-9. Yet, the main question is who or what has the higher authority. The Man of God is the one who should’ve practiced the authority in the Garden (by kicking off the serpent), now Jesus brings this power back to humanity.   

10. 3:1-6, Jesus heals a man with withered hand. There is a possibility for an interesting parallel with Psalm 137:5 but we’ll save it for another time. Here again Jesus reinstitutes the PURPOSE of Sabbath – to restore a man, to make him about to worship properly – with raising his hands (1 Tim. 2:8). Also, note Jesus’ [holy] anger when He notices the hardening of their hearts (3:5). Their inability and rejection of acting godly did not stop or prevented the execution of His mercy.

 

VISIONS: Cornelius and Simon

Visions of Cornelius and Simon  

The Passage: Acts 10:1-23

Structure:

a. 10:1-2, Cornelius, devout God-fearing man

  b. 10:3-6, angelic call to Cornelius

    c. 10:7-8, messengers are sent

      d. 10:9-16, the vision of Peter in a trans

    c’. 10:17-18, messengers arrive

  b’. 10:19-20, Holy Spirit addresses Peter

a’. 10:21-23a, Cornelius, devout God-fearing man  

Historical and geographical context:

Simon (St. Peter) stayed at the house of another Simon in Joppa – a tanner – for many days (Acts 9:43). The next two-part story is a part of St. Peter’s “pastoral vacation.”

Cornelius lives in Caesaria – about 40 miles north of Joppa, on the same Mediterranean shore. Note that the whole story takes 4 days. Day 1, Cornelius sees a vision and sends the men. His servants and a soldier arrive on the next day little after noon – at noon St. Peter was praying. The messengers stay overnight at Simon’s house, which makes it Day 2. Day 3, two servants, a soldier, Simon/Peter, and “some brothers from Joppa” went to Caesarea. (Acts 10:23). Day 4, the party arrived at Cornelius’ house (Acts 10:24).      

Theology:

Unity of the believers. The main point of these stories – visions of Cornelius and Peter, outpouring of the Holy Spirit during St. Peter’s sermon, and the reception of the news by Jerusalem congregation – is the unity of believers in God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob regardless of the national background.

Under the institutions of Torah there was a separation between Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. People were born or converted into Jewish lifestyle. Yet, a gentile who believed or trusted to God of Abraham, Isaak and Jacob did NOT have to convert – he or she could maintain a status of God-fearing believer. To be a God-fearing gentile is not the same as to have the fear of the LORD (cp. Pr. 1:7). This status had some ramifications – for example, a non–circumcised person could NOT participate in Passover ceremony – Seder. Later, in the times of the Second Temple, apparently there was a wall that would separate the “house of men” from “the house of women and gentiles”. It is possible that St. Paul mentions this partition in Eph. 2:14, building up his theological argument of universal grace.       

The most profound expression of the theology of unity is a meal together (apart for intimate relationship that reserved only for a husband-wife pair). Eating and drinking together creates a very special environment of companionship, trust, and ultimately love. Think about your own birthday parties – who do you want to see there? Or high school or college graduation? Or a wedding or wedding anniversary? Usually, you do not invite strangers there. No, you invite people who shared their lives with you, and you want this “togetherness” to go to another – deeper – level.  

That’s what triggered a harsh response on the side of the Jerusalem congregation – “you ate WITH them” (Acts 11:2-3), will talk about it in a couple of weeks. To be a God-fearing gentile would presuppose that a person would follow the dietary laws of Torah (Lev. 11). Therefore, the vision of Simon/Peter should be interpreted in this light – as a symbolic revelation of unity of brothers and sisters in Christ. Therefore, the vision of St. Peter is not about the food, it is about the communion of the saints where everyone has an equal part in the distribution of the Lord’s gifts because “God has no partiality” (Acts 10:34).       

Other themes:

Angel of God vs. the Angel of the LORD. The term angel (lit. messenger) in the Bible can be used in a variety of meanings. First – most obvious one – a specially created being (not a human) for a specific task God would require (cp. Geb 28:12). Second, it can be a human being who delivers a message of God. We have a whole Biblical book named after such a guy – Malichi, lit. my messenger (cp. Mal. 1:1; 3:1). Third, the Angel of the Lord – the Second person of the Trinity, appearing during the times of the Old Testament or technically before Incarnation (cp. Josh. 5:13-15; Judges 13:21-23; John 1:14). After the Incarnation in Christ humans are restored to their high position of creation leadership (cp. Ps. 8:3-5; 1 Cor. 6:1).