13 He went out again beside the sea; and all the crowd gathered about him, and he taught them.

Jesus is still in Capernaum, a fishing town right by the Sea of Galilee. In this early stage of Jesus ministry he stays within Capernaum and the surrounding towns, he has not yet preached in Jerusalem according to Mark’s account. Mark narrates the story thematically Jesus starts small in the less populated towns and then at the end of the ministry ventures out to Jerusalem. Considering the yearly obligations of pilgrimage to the Temple at least three times a year, we know he would have actually gone to Jerusalem, John’s account records this but Mark chooses not to for thematic reasons.

Similar to how he approached the first four disciples for recruitment, Jesus goes to the shore which was on the perimeter of Capernaum. As a fishing village it was located right on the shore itself so one side of it faced the sea. As a fishing village, most of the population were working on this shore, Jesus uses it as a place to teach the most amount of people, he sees the beach of Galilee as his own auditorium.

14 And as he passed on, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

As he passes on from the place he was teaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee Jesus sees Levi the son of Alphaeus also known as Saint Matthew, the author of the Gospel. Since Capernaum is a bustling fishing hub, filled with trade and the region is under the authority of the Roman empire, it would have its own tax office. This is where people were required by Roman law to pay their taxes on their fishing profits. This is where Levi works, he is a Jewish Palestinian working for the romans.

Jesus simply tells Levi to follow him and without question, Levi does exactly that. Mark keeps this action short and sweet but great admiration should be felt when reading between the lines here. Levi is working a pretty financially rewarding job albeit socially reprehensible and this new popular rabbi has approached him, told him to follow him and he simply rises and follows. Unlike the disciples who had previous interactions with Jesus during John the Baptist’s ministry, Levi has no such history from what is told to us in the Gospels. Though considering the constant flow of people in and out of the tax office he is definitely likely to have heard of the new miraculous rabbi.

15 And as he sat at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him.

Mark’s account is brief in many respects and leaves some details a little ambiguous. Verse 15 simply says “And as he sat at table in his house” it does not actually clarify whose house this is. Luckily cross-referencing with the other accounts we get additional details, Luke’s Gospel explains this is Matthew’s house, here called Levi. Jesus is sat at table in Levi’s house with many tax collectors, sinners and his other disciples. This phrase at table might seem like they are just having a meeting or something but this phrase explicitly refers to eating together, clarified by the following verse.

Eating together was a sign of familial and covenantal connection. By eating with people you are essentially saying “I am in community with these people”. This is extrapolated from the Passover meal which unified those of the covenant family which in itself is the earthly representation of the divine banquet that Moses shared with God. You do not just casually eat with people, a lot of this ancient covenant context to meal eating is lost on the modern reader because we simply do not practice this style of intimacy anymore, even with our own families.

16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

The scribes of the Pharisees see that Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners and catching the ear of his disciples they ask a question radiating their disapproval of his welcoming of them to a covenantal meal. “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

The Pharisees were the biggest religious-political party among the first century Judeans, they were considered the rightful inheritors of Moses’ teaching office in the same way the Sadducee party of priests were the rightful inheritors of the Aaronic and Levitical ministerial office. The scribes were legal consultants of the Law. So the legal consultants of the Pharisaic party are proposing the question.

Since tax collectors were working for the Romans in order to do their job and were collecting profits from the Judeans in order to the fund the Roman empires inherently pagan civilisation they were seen as racial and religious traitors to their people. On top of this already negative connotation they were largely corrupt and took more than they were told, extorting many poor Hebrews out of the money they worked so hard to earn. They were essentially treated like lepers and the worst of sinners, they were not included in the covenant family of common Jewry, excluded from social and religious functions but here is Jesus sharing a meal with them, the most common sign of covenantal communion.

17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus overhears this question that the scribes have proposed to the disciples. He answers them himself by pointing out that his very decision to mingle with and eat with them is because they are sick, spiritually speaking. He uses the analogy of a doctor and the physically sick, someone healthy does not need a doctor but the sick do. Jesus positions himself as the divine physician who can heal with spiritually sick people. He is not being tarnished by eating with them, they are being purified by eating with him.

Jesus says he comes not to call the righteous, but sinners. This is kind of a trick statement, everyone knows they are not perfect or righteous, especially not these gossiping scribes. Anyone who was by some miracle already righteous at this gathering would not need fixing and also would not be complaining that he has come to those that need spiritual healing.

1 And when he returned to Caperna-um after some days, it was reported that he was at home.

Jesus’ healing of the leper took him outside of Caperna-um, this makes sense since lepers were required to live outside of the towns or city limits. Jesus returns from the Judean countryside to Caperna-um, his home base of operations. His arrival is reported because of his fame, previous to the healing of the leper, Jesus heals all the sick and possessed in the city so his appearance is obviously very exciting even if they do not know who he actually is yet.

2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word to them.

In chapter 1 we are told all of the town came to Jesus to be healed, we are seeing a repeat in a sense, everyone wants to see the new miracle making rabbi. The house they are gathered in is likely Simon’s house which was in Caperna-um and was rather large but apparently not large enough for the huge crowds. Jesus is preaching to them from the house, this is likely continued teachings on the Mosaic law and the prophets, this was the footing he used to preach the kingdom of God, it is was foretells it after all.

3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.

4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay.

Jesus has attracted so much attention and the crowds have grown so large that people are unable to approach the house in the normal way. Four men have bringing their paralytic friend to be healed by Jesus but they can not get through the crowds. In order to get to Jesus they remove the roof from above him and let him down on a pallet through the opening. This can be a confusing text if you aren’t aware of the common house layout in this culture and time.

A typical first century Judaean house did not have a set of stairs on the inside of the building, but on the outside. This would lead to the roof which was flat, it was not just shelter from the skies but also served as a floor for a communal area. This is where most families spent their time when it was hot, which it was a lot of the time. People did not have gardens to relax in, they relaxed on their roofs. So the men have climbed the side stairs and dug through lattice of mud, reeds and would that would have made up the walls and roof of the structure.

5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

Upon seeing the tenacity and willingness to dig through Simon’s roof in order to get the paralytic to Jesus, he acknowledges their faith. Miracles are worked through faith in Jesus’ ability to do the act, elsewhere it says he did not do many miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith. Here they filled with faith and demonstrate through how far they are willing to go to reach Jesus.

Instead of concentrating on the obvious physical problems the man has, Jesus focuses on the spiritual well being of the man. This spiritual ailment, our fallen nature, is in fact the root of sickness and death, unfortunately normal people do not have the ability to fix this invisible fallenness or its symptoms. Jesus however is not a normal person, he is fully man but he is also fully God. He also calls the man son just before forgiving his sins,

6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,

7 “Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Some scribes in sitting by the house, probably keeping watch on the large crowds and what they are focusing on, it would likely draw their curiosity. They were the consultants of the Law, whether a member of the Pharisee or Sadducee parties or even the regular people, you sought out the services of the Scribes for they were experts in the Law. They would be particularly curious of why the people were so excited; is the crowd excited by something unkosher?

Upon hearing Jesus’ mending of the man spiritually by forgiving his sins the scribes are left “questioning in their hearts” this means their convictions by which they live are being challenged by the very words of Jesus. They need not vocalise it out loud. Although verse 7 is put in quotation marks, there was no grammar in the original Greek and Mark is actually describing the thoughts the Scribes were having in opposition of Jesus. Instead of being amazed by the mass healings which lured them to the place they get stuck on his statement of forgiving sins which in the first century Jewish context, this is actually a REALLY bad thing. Unless you happen to be God that is. Jesus is putting himself in the place of God, whose authority it is that can forgive sins. People complain about Jesus not claiming divinity outside of John’s Gospel but this alone is a beacon of divinity if you understand the context

8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question thus in your hearts?

“Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit” so Jesus is essentially reading their minds or more in line with the context of the passage, reading their hearts. He does not physically hear the statements from them, he can supernaturally read their very thoughts. So he questions them back, out loud. This interaction always seems funny to me, imagine thinking something and someone responds to your thoughts, challenging what you were seething about. He simply asks them why do they question his statements in their hearts. If his actions demonstrate his words to be true, why are they mad?

9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your pallet and walk’?

Because of their hardness of heart, Jesus seeks to solidify his implicit divine statement by doing a divine action. He asks what is easier to say “your sins are forgiven” or “rise, take up your pallet and walk”? He is essentially, “you don’t believe these words I speak? how about a miracle before your very eyes?” Upon seeing this they should have no reason to argue with him, unless they continued to harden their hearts.

10 But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—

11 “I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home.”

The forgiving of sins and the fixing of our fallen nature isn’t just one of the nice things that Jesus does in his ministry. One of the core parts of the incarnation is the fixing of our fallen human nature. This is why, like in other places, he does a physical miracle, a sign to the Jews, that acts as a witness to his claims.

One of his most important missions is fixing our nature, forgiving our sins so for them to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he does a physical healing as a witness before them. The use of the Son of Man title, the divine figure from Daniel continues to hint at Jesus divine identity.

The Son of Man is the one who will receive power and authority from the Ancient of Days, the Father in Heaven. He basically does a cluster bomb of divine statements and actions that would take a long period of time to process intellectually, but something people with faith would just submit to. So he tells the paralytic to rise and go home.

12 And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

The man who was literally paralysed rises, picks up the pallet that once supported him and walks before all of those present. People are rightly amazed and give thanks to God. They are not recognising Jesus as God but definitely recognise him as a Prophet through whom God works. This is positive development unfortunately it does not go much further.

The people exclaim that they had never seen anything like this before. Although the Old Testament is filled with the miraculous the Jews have been living in a silent period of several centuries without a prophet or a king. That along with the declaration that he can forgive sins, this episode with Jesus is definitely not like anything they had seen. This authority to forgive sins is proven and demonstrated by Jesus here and in other places and later in the Gospel narrative he will explicitly breathe on his apostles and bestow upon them this exact same authority to bind and loose sins.

40 And a leper came to him beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”

Leprosy although today being a specific thing, back in the first century it was used to describe a variety of skin disfigurement problems. It was considered a death sentence that only God could heal, it could lead to blindness and loss of limbs. Since it has such physical disfiguring effect it was perceived as not only physically unclean but ceremonially unclean, this would cause lepers to be exiled from the covenant community as is laid out by the Mosaic Law. They were also required to wear rags and wear their hair loose, this was to indicate from some distance that they were lepers so people would not approach them.

Following the healing and exorcising of all those in Capernaum Jesus is approached by a leper. This leper kneels before him, an action typically reserved for nobility, so he perceives Jesus to be of something above him. The leper states that if Jesus wanted, he could make him clean. He does not ask to be cured necessarily but asks to be made clean, his priority is ceremonial cleanliness before God which would include being healed but that is not the root of his request.

41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I will; be clean.”

Jesus is “moved with pity” or “with compassion” so he stretches out to the leper with his hand and touches him. This is completely against the norms of this society, the only reason Jesus does it is because he can actually cleanse the leper, typically people kept a very large distance between themselves and lepers.

After touching the leper with his hand, Jesus responds “I will; be clean.” Jesus without any other action except the statement “be clean”. He simply agrees to do as the man asks because he is moved by his suffering. Some healings have more actions going on, others he just states things, altering reality as he does so. This speaks to the many methods that Jesus can heal us.

42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

The leprosy leaves the man “immediately”, Marks favourite word to denote instantaneous action. There is no gradual healing. The man is cured of the leprosy AND he was made clean. Important to note that two things are going on here. He is healed and is made clean, ceremonially speaking. Jesus cures him of the illness and makes him clean before God.

43 And he sternly charged him, and sent him away at once,

44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.”

Jesus sends that man away at once, sternly charging him. More immediacy and action even after the healing episode for Mark’s Roman audience, there is never a dull moment in his Gospel, everything is happening immediately, at once, all the time.

In order to keep the messianic secret, the purposeful retention of Jesus’ divine identity from spreading too far, Jesus says to the man to say nothing to anyone. All the man is to do is to show himself to the priest, offer a sacrifice for thanksgiving for his cleansing as Moses commanded. After being cured of leprosy you could not just re-join the covenant community, leprosy was a dangerous disease and was taken very seriously from ancient times.

A priest would have to inspect the now cured leper, outside the city limits before he would be welcomed back in. He is also to make an offering in the temple, an animal sacrifice of thanksgiving for his cleansing. This offering in the temple and the priests acknowledgement of being healed will act as the public declaration that he could re-join the covenant community and live amongst the people again.

45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

The now cured leper does not do as Jesus asked, he speaks freely about his healing. This was a miracle, something that only God could do, even in the Old Testament such healings were still done by God just through a prophet. That means Jesus is like one of great prophets of old or he is God, that is something that would be very difficult to not talk about especially if you had been suffering for so long outside the covenant community as a leper.

Ironically the lepers desire to sing Jesus’ praises causes Jesus to suffer like a leper. As we had mentioned, a leper was forced to live outside the city limits, away from the covenant community and now that the cured man has spoken so freely and spread the news of the miracle, Jesus is unable to enter the towns freely and was restricted to being outside the geographic limits of the community. Despite this, similar to John the Baptist out in the wilderness, people will come from all over to the countryside to try and find Jesus.

29 And immediately he left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

Directly following the exorcism of the demon possessed man in the synagogue Jesus enters the house of Simon Peter and Andrew. Archaeologists have actually found the foundations of this first century building and you can visit it on tours in the holy land. This house belongs to Simon and Andrew, their home and base for their fishing enterprise. James and John have gone with them, the other disciples have not been chosen yet, we are very early in the stages of Jesus’ ministry.

30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her.

Simon’s mother-in-law is sick with a fever in bed and because of Jesus’ previously miraculous healings they go to him so he can heal her. If you have a mother-in-law you have to be married or at least, were married and are now a widow. The fact Andrew and his mother-in-law both live here indicates that Simon does not own a small house, the archaeological evidence also shows that there were quite a few rooms and a second floor, as most houses in this culture had back then.

31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them.

Jesus, upon their asking, comes to Simon’s mother-in-law, in Marks account Jesus says nothing, he simply takes her by the hand and lifts her up, the fever immediately leaves. After being healed Simon’s mother-in-law begins to “wait on them” or “she served them”. This was the job of the woman of the house, it was the woman’s job to be in charge of the domestic economy. Zero mention of Simon’s wife but his mother-in-law takes on what would have been her job once she is healed implies that Simon’s wife is dead.

A marriage covenant binds two to become one, your spouses parents become your parents, even if one of you dies. Peter appears to be a widow, honouring his mother-in-law by taking care of her in her old age and letting her live with him. This housing serving position should be done by his wife, unless she has died which is what the text implies.

32 That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.

That evening at sundown, if you remember it was the sabbath but a Jewish day ends at sundown so now people do not have to worry about travelling restrictions and the weight carrying laws of the Sabbath. Everyone who is sick or possessed are brought to him. These two types of individuals are essentially the two main methods of the evil ones “work” in our world. Physical suffering and spiritual suffering. Jesus has demonstrated he can perform an exorcism in the synagogue and that he can heal sicks in the bedridden mother-in-laws, obviously more people want to receive such graces.

33 And the whole city was gathered together about the door.

His fame as a healer and exorcist precede him and now the entire city of Capernaum are gathered at the door of Simon’s house. This is likely only to include the peasant population and not a literal every person of the city but the poor commoners.

34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Jesus demonstrates that his physical healing abilities are not limited to fevers but extend to various diseases he will also be able to exorcise anyone that comes to him that is possessed. There definitely appears to be at this height of messianic fervour a much larger dominance in demonic possession, this makes sense when you consider that this is the fullness of time, the most desperate demonic effort would take place during this period, not that we don’t still have things to worry about but in this time it basically seems to be common place.

Jesus does not permit the demons to speak “because they knew him” they are aware at least to some degree of his identity. The Messianic secret is required in order to time Jesus’ “hour” that he must endure. He stops the demons from “outing him” so to speak. If the people are to come to an understanding of who he is, it must be through faith, not the demons just outright saying something.

35 And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.

Similar to the highlights of Luke, here in Mark we see an emphasis on prayer after significant events. In the case of verse 35 it is after Jesus has healed all the sick and possessed of an entire city, he still takes time to be alone with his father and pray.

36 And Simon and those who were with him pursued him,

37 and they found him and said to him, “Every one is searching for you.”

Simon as chief apostles, even when there are a total of four of them, leads the others in finding where Jesus has gone. Pursuing him to the lonely place where he was praying they find him and say that he is being looked for by everyone. Jesus is not here of the adulation of the crowds, he wants the people to give thanksgiving to God from their hearts not outward expression but the disciples seem almost confused at why he would avoid a bunch of people he just helped. Jesus’ mission is much more than just curing people of ailments, these are just signs that are to point people into understanding who he is.

38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.”

39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus instead of seeking back out the people he just previously healed instead states he wants to go to the next towns so that he “may preach there also; for that is why I came out.” His message is the important part of his mission, the healings and miracles are only signs that act as witnesses. If he starts saying divine things people might presume anyone could do that, but if he says these things whilst doing miraculous acts at the same time it will be seen as proofs of any claims he makes.

He goes on throughout all of Galilee, going into the synagogues at the times of the services and preaching that the Kingdom of God has arrived. This is the message the Hebrews were supposed to be waiting for in these exact services. Whilst going out preaching he casts out more demons from those who are possessed and we can imply also that he is curing the sick.

21 And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.

Jesus has been spending a lot of time in Galilee, he has just called four of the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He goes to Capernaum which is one of fishing towns surrounding the large body of water. This was where Simon Peter lived and will become Jesus base of operations.

Jesus enters the Synagogue in Capernaum, the Synagogue is the religious community hub in each town or district, a place of prayer and study. Not to be confused with the Temple. The rise of the synagogues come from the Babylonian exile when Jews could not go to the Temple so schools of prayer were set up locally to teach the Law of Moses and also to keep the proclamations of the Prophets in mind. It was followed by a teaching on the scriptures that were read out. This is also where the rise of the Pharisees and Scribes came from, they were the teachers within these buildings. He enters on the Sabbath which was Saturday.

22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

Every week the locals would attend a “synagogue service” which is essentially the root of the Liturgy of the Word in the Mass. They have heard the scribes, pharisees and rabbi’s make their teachings every week but when Jesus teaches they are shocked by it. Jesus teaches “as one had authority” which is unlike the usual teachers of the scriptures there. This could imply that the typical teachers just used the teaching seat to push their own ideas, that they did not actually understand what they were talking about or what is more likely, that they did not teach much at all beyond general ideas of understanding.

When Jesus comes into teach he has a large advantage over the teachers of the Law. They cannot really go beyond the text itself without making mistakes but Jesus who has been sent by the Father and who is God in the flesh knows the substantial root of the meaning behind every line ever written down in scripture. He is their actual author after all. He can declare how and what things are to be understood in an authoritative manner that the scribes and pharisees simply could not.

23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit;

The second appearance of “immediately” in so few verses. On average Mark uses the word “immediately” twice, he uses this word over forty times in his Gospel account. It drives home the action pact nature of each episode with Jesus, something to grab the attention of his Roman audience.

Within the synagogue itself is a man with an “unclean spirit”. The term for “unclean” is akathartos which in the Biblical context means ceremonial uncleanness, unessentially ungodly. Outside of the Biblical context like in Plato it has more of a physical dirt notion of uncleanness. The point of this articulation is that although to Jews there is only the Most High Spirit, Elohim, God and his servants, the pagan word had a grey view of the spiritual world. Telling someone that they had a spirit didn’t strike up much issue so Mark makes it clear that it is an ungodly spirit, this is helpful for his mainly Greco-Roman audience.

24 and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”

The possessed man cries out, asking what Jesus wants with them and even knows Jesus’ name. He seems to be aware that Jesus has something to do with the destruction of demons as well, claiming to know that he is “the Holy One of God”.

25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit, commanding him with nothing but his words to “be silent, and come out of him!” This is dramatically different to the elaborate exorcism practices of Second Temple Jewish Exorcists who required the invocation of Patriarchs, Angels and God.

Jesus tells the demon to be silent, some think this is to do with the messianic secret. He does not want the crowds to hear anything from the man that could further give away details about him, they must come to the understanding of who he is by faith in his actions, not the words of demon but this is just speculation. Others think Jesus is just further demonstrating his ability to command all of creation.

26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.

The demon possessed man convulses meaning he shakes his body in a somewhat violent manner. He cries with a loud voice before coming out of the mans body. Nothing is said of if the entity was visible after this fact, since Mark doesn’t mention it we can assume the demon is invisible and only “visible” within the actions of the man he possessed.

27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

All the people in attendance at the synagogue are amazed, first with Jesus demonstration of his understanding of the written word of God and teaching it with authority and now to hit the point home harder, with only the words of his mouth he commands unclean spirits to dispossess a man they have forcefully taken control over. They ask the question “what is this?” again it is important to point out that exorcisms by Jews in this time and previous were not done by the authority of the exorcist, he was merely acting as an intermediary to higher powers like the Angels but Jesus in his own person has done what other require God to do. This should generate the question in the crowds minds, “If only God can do that and he just did it who is he?” They will not be able to answer this question until more signs give them the faith to though.

28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

This episode in the synagogue causes Jesus fame to spready everywhere through the region surrounding the sea of Galilee but since the people are not actually willing to come to the conclusion yet that Jesus is maybe more than a man, Jesus does not seem perturbed by the news spreading. It is just the news of a great exorcist not the news of the Messiah so it does not cause any issues for his future “hour” that he must endure as the Messiah.

The beginning of the Gospel According to Mark, the previous thirteen verses have been Mark’s introduction, John the Baptist’s ministry by the Jordan, Jesus baptism and Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. These are the preceding events to todays readings, a rather long period of time, summarised by Mark for literary efficiency.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,

John has been arrested, for many years previous to this, Herod Antipas had feared the influence of John, attested to by Josephus the Jewish historian. Herod has feared not just John personally but the way the people perceived him. John had to do something significant in order for Herod to take action against him because of the possible revolt by the people, Herod does not take this action until John rebukes him for his unlawful marriage to his brothers wife, this will be explained later in the Gospel.

Following this arrest, Jesus comes into Galilee from the wilderness where he stayed during his temptation. This brief sentence does not quite articulate the multi-day journey of continuous walking this this journey actually entailed. Jesus is in the Judean desert near Bethany where John was baptising, the walk from there to Galilee is between 80-100 miles which could be up to a week long walk depending on terrain.

Jesus comes “preaching the gospel of God”. Preaching means public proclamation and “gospel” or euangelion in Greek. This means the “Good News”. Typically associated in Greco-Roman culture with the news brought by a messenger of a new King of a region. Euangelion comes from the word Angelos which means “messenger”. Jesus is proclaiming the Good News that God has come to lead his people as king, a long awaited expectation by the Jewish people.

15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.”

He continues saying the “time is fulfilled” so the long time of expectation is up, they do not have to wait for God to come as king, the time has arrived. The “Kingdom of God is at hand; repent” the Kingdom is here and they must repent. Most people think of repent as meaning “admit you’re wrong” and although by extension it does mean this, its direct meaning to turn to turn back on the direction you’re going. In this context it means “stop going in your own direction, turn back and follow God because he is here and you can directly follow him.”

He tells those listening to “believe in the Gospel” this means for them to believe in the Good News of the Kingdom of God that has arrived. The current Jewish position is that they are still waiting for this event. Jesus said two thousand years ago, “hey, believe it, it’s here”. This was supposed to be an end to their millenia of waiting, even extending back to the beginning in Genesis with the proto-evangelion itself but many still rejected this message regardless of how clear it was.

16 And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.

Jesus walks by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, this was a prominent place of the fishing industry. It his here he sees Simon who he would later call Peter and his brother Andrew. Both fishermen by trade, they are going about their daily work, casting nets into the sea. This was the common method for hauling large amounts of fish, as its a job not a hobby.

This is not actually Jesus’ first seeing of Simon Peter and his brother. The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus met and interacted with both of them before they were called to follow him. This explains what is typically seen as an immediate sense of obedience in accepting their calling but their following disobedience whilst being Jesus’ disciples. They were not actually immediately obedient in their calling by a stranger that they just trusted upon first hearing him, although that makes for a good homily, this is actually at least their second meeting with Jesus so he is not a stranger to them.

17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.”

Jesus uses their livelihood as a living parable, “follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” The brothers understand their occupation as fishermen, Jesus is inviting them to join him and they will become fishers of people, they will act as messengers and recruiters for Jesus mission and the Church.

It was common in this era, and later for that matter, for disciples to choose their rabbi’s. This was the typical order of things. If you wanted to study, you found the teacher you liked and listened to them and learned but in the case of Jesus and his disciples, he chooses them. This reverses the normal paradigm between Rabbi and disciple. This is a limited occupancy in Jesus’ inner circle and you do not get to choose to be a part of it, he picks you. This sets the standard for religious vocations even to our current time, Jesus calls men to the priesthood. Vocation actually comes from the Latin word vocātiō which means “to be called” or “to be summoned”.

18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Upon being called by Jesus personally and having their earlier interactions with him during John the Baptists ministry both Simon Peter and his brother Andrew drop their nets and follow him. This immediacy is still to be commended even without it being done by a stranger, they are still abandoning their livelihoods to follow Jesus without even putting away their equipment. It’s like they don’t care about their current way of life anymore when compared to what Jesus can offer them.

19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.

20 And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

The situation repeats itself with the two brothers James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were mending their own fishing nets on their family boat whilst Jesus came by. He calls them just like Andrew and Simon and they abandon their fathers boat (which had hired servants, implying a much larger enterprise than that of Simon and Andrew) and follow Jesus.

Not only do they abandon a prosperous fishing business (they did have enough success to have servants) they abandon their family business with their father no small action. What Jesus is calling them to must be more important or otherwise this would be breaking the commandment of dishonouring your parents. Their vocation with Jesus must honour their father more than fishing with him.

Following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus seeks to give his disciples another sign of his identity. Although they and the crowds are amazed at the multiplication of loaves and fish they do not understand who Jesus is claiming to be by these signs. So he gives them another one.

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Beth-saida, while he dismissed the crowd.

“Immediately” after the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus instructs his disciples to get into a boat without him and to take it to the other side of the lake, to Beth-saida. Mark regularly uses the term euthys which means “immediately”. He uses it over forty times to display the urgency and moving nature of Jesus’ ministry. Mark is writing for Romans, power and action are the two focal points of his Gospel. Some suggest that this is evident of Mark’s simpler understanding of the Greek language, compared to historians like Saint Luke or Theologians like Saint John and Saint Paul whose command of Greek was very eloquent.

Jesus tells them to go by boat to Beth-Saida but verse 53 reveals that actually landed in Gennesaret. Some scholars suggest that there are actually Beth-Saida’s, one by Gennesaret and another more popularly known about. This is not such a far-fetched idea, there are many important places that do not actually have unique names. For example there were two Jericho’s and two Bethlehem’s. It is also possible that they simply chose to go ashore in a different place out of convenience.

After instructing his disciples to make the 6-8 mile journey across the sea of Galilee without him, Jesus dismisses the crowd. Five thousand men, not counting women and children were among their company at this point. Now that they have all been fed, he sends them away home.

46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

Once the disciples have left for the short sailing voyage and the great crowds have left, Jesus goes up a mountain to pray. The Sea of Galilee was surrounded by rolling hills, so it is likely Jesus went to the top of one of these, instead of travelling even further off to one of the much larger mountains. Before the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus and his disciples were seeking a moment of peace and quiet from the roving crowds who had been following them. Jesus did not want them to leave without being cared for so once he had multiplied the loaves and fish, feeding them to the crowds, he now seeks his alone time to pray.

Jesus constantly balances perfectly work, prayer and rest. Living out God’s work of creation and resting on the seventh day, for our benefit and for us to imitate. Not because he himself is limited. Jesus also takes these moments to pray before particular signs he is going to give, like when he named the twelve. Big signs in his ministry are preceded by alone time in prayer.

47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.

Once evening had arrived, the disciples were already significantly out from the shore on the sea of Galilee and Jesus is alone on one of the rolling hills surrounding the body of water. Jesus has planned this situation out in order to deliver a sign to his disciples, through concealment he will perform actions that will cause his disciples to ask questions about who he really is. Beyond that of just his name, they already know that.

48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them,

Despite the great distance, the lake spanning 6-8 miles, they’re probably half way across, Jesus can see they are struggling quite clearly from 3-4 miles away. “The wind was against them.” This was the common struggle for sailors on the sea of Galilee, the center of the body of water was ripe for storms and strong winds. This is a feature of nature that no man can conquer, this provides Jesus his avenue to demonstrate one of his most recognisable signs.

Mark uses the Roman “watches” time frame work to mark out the times of the night. The Roman system divided the night into Four Watches. The first from 6PM-9PM, the second 9PM-12AM, the third 12AM-3AM and the final fourth watch 3AM-6AM. There was actually a Jewish night watch that divided the night into three watches, this can be found recorded in the Hebrew Bible but Mark is writing for a Roman audience, so he uses the Roman system.

In the fourth watch, between 3AM-6AM, Jesus goes toward them, walking on the sea. His intention was to pass by them and go onto the other side. A miraculous feat of course but it’s Jewishness is lost on a Gentile audience. This is not a magic trick, the water is symbolic of chaos and death, to the mortal man it was God’s domain and a sailor could only pray that he is spared from Sheol if he ends up in its death. God however “alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea.” Job 9:8. God alone walks on the waves of the Sea. The Jewish eyes that see this know the implication Jesus is making.

49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out;

The disciples see their master walking on the sea and they cry out. The sign is so shocking they can only assume that Jesus is a ghost or phantasma in Greek, the origin of our word “phantom.” It’s an odd word to use, pneuma is the term used for spirits, good or bad, elsewhere in the New Testament, Phantasma on the other hand is only used here in Mark and in Matthew’s account of the same story. It has the connotations of a transient spectre, Greco-Roman and Jewish thought considered the Sea to be a place of malevolent spirits so maybe this term is being used to evoke the confusion and fear that the disciples are feeling but it is hard to pin down why this word is used here. The root of phantasma is phaino which means “to shine” or “to appear” and although phantasma is not used in the Greek Old Testament, phaino is and it is used most commonly to describe the manifestations of God’s divine glory. A possible connection, maybe I’m reaching.

50 for they all saw him, and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.”

All the disciples see Jesus walking on the water and they are rightly terrified of the spectacle, only God could do such a thing and they do not understand who Jesus is yet. But immediately he says to them in response “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” or more accurately, considering the Greek words actually used, “Take heart, I am; have no fear.” Jesus tramples the waves like God in Job, and his way of explaining his ability he tells his disciples “I AM” this is the Divine name God reveals to Moses.

51 And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,

Jesus gets into the boat with them and caps all of these divine claims that have gone substantially unnoticed by his disciples by doing a final sign, “the wind ceased.” A recurring theme in the Psalms like Psalm 107:29 “He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” He simply causes the wind to cease. Only God can do this and his disciples are “utterly astounded”.

52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

They did not understand what Jesus was saying by his actions in the feeding of the five thousand, so Jesus seeks to demonstrate his identity to his twelve followers more clearly with specific actions that if they entertain the questions they evoke, they could come to the correct conclusion of who Jesus is. Unfortunately these questions and answers require a soft and open heart and Jesus’ disciples hearts were two hard to see.