7 And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

Jesus is in Galilee still and calls his 12 apostles to him, specifically separating them off from the other disciples. He had hundreds following him and this separation is necessary as the hierarchy of the Kingdom of God is to be mirrored on earth. Not everyone is equal. The twelve are singled out for the purpose of their namesake. Apostle comes from the Greek Apostello and it means to be “sent out”.

Jesus will be sending them out on their first ministry journey without him. Up until this point they have been following him as he does healings, exorcisms and teaching, now they are to be sent out and do what they have learned. It is important to note that Jesus gives them authority to do this, this isn’t just casual language, this is divine legalistic language, the authority given to them by Jesus, gives them power over the demons. Before they have this, they cannot do what he is doing, he must extend it to them. Jesus sends them out in pairs so one can act as a witness and back them up in their claims.

8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;

9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.

Jesus commands them to take nothing for their journey, only a staff is permitted along with their sandals and no extra clothing. This is to force them in a sense to rely on the providence of God. Their only real thing they have is the authority Jesus has given them.

10 And he said to them, “Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.

11 And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them.”

They to go out and preach in the surrounding towns and villages, they are not going door to door but preaching in the public squares of each locality. If they are invited into a house they should accept it and stay there as long as they are doing ministry there. Considering Jesus’ agricultural parables we should perceive a house that is open to them as a bountiful harvest and it should not be squandered but if they come to a place barren of such hospitality they should leave, not argue, simply leave.

A hint of divine geography is reference in verse 11, they are to shake the dust off their feet from places that reject them, although we understand this as an ancient insult, what is the root of why it was an insult? Jews when travelling from Gentile lands, locations not considered Yahweh’s inheritance for the Hebrews, would cast off the remnants of Gentile territory from their sandals because it was not worthy to be on the same ground as the Promised land. So here we see the rejection of what the Apostles are to preach (identified in verse 12 as repentance) those lands should be treated the same way that Gentile lands are regarded. Not a part of the covenant family, until they repent.

12 So they went out and preached that men should repent.

13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.

The apostles apostello, they go out, sent by Jesus to preach to the villages and towns. They are not being sent out to preach God’s love and how we should all just get on but that men should repent. Metanoia is the Greek term, it means to turn back on ones direction or change the mind. They are being sent out to Jews, not Gentiles, the Jews are the first in need of this conversion and repentance.

On the authority of Jesus they are able to do what he can do but only because he granted it to them, this is not extended to all Christians. They cast out many demons and anoint the sick with oil and heal them. This practice of anointing the sick with oil is very ancient and no one actually knows when it began but this section of Mark’s Gospel is the proof-text for the Sacrament in the Church of the Anointment of the Sick.

1 He went away from there and came to his own country; and his disciples followed him.

Jesus returns native home of Nazareth from his ministry base of Capernaum. This is about a one day walk. From Capernaum to Jerusalem his fame has spread wide and he is surrounded by many hundreds of people but he is not well known (beyond his immediate identity) to his home town. He is returning with his disciples which considering he left Nazareth alone, this is like a miniature triumphant return.

2 And on the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands!

As he has done in the other towns and villages, Jesus teaches as rabbi’s do in the Synagogue. For Mark’s narrative, as well as Matthew’s, this placement of Jesus’ rejection in Nazareth as a teacher is placed later in his ministry. It is important to note that Matthew and Mark’s operate under thematic purposes for the teachings and sayings for Jesus, for example, here we are given the taste of Nazarene disbelief juxtaposed to the Capernaum belief.

Luke’s account which gives much more attention to a detailed chronological format places this moment at the beginning. Luke himself at the start of his Gospel explains that he is essentially writing a history. Ancient Greek biographies were more typically like the narratives of Matthew and Mark whereas what Luke did was kind of a new concept. It may seem odd to us in world recorded with cameras, transcripts and timestamps but the ancients did not record history the same way we do in the 21st century.

Teaching in the Synagogue on the Sabbath as was the custom of a rabbi, his audience, people that know him personally, Nazareth only has a population of around 300 people, are correctly astonished at this young man who they saw grow up in a completely normal way. I’ve noted before about the “secret years of Jesus” these are from age 12 at the finding in the Temple, to age 30 when Jesus is baptised by John the Baptist. This span of years although not recorded, by the evidence before and after imply that he has done nothing but be a normal son to Mary and Joseph. He didn’t live an adventurous life as some people like to assume. He was modest and obedient to his earthly parents.

Since his fellow Nazarenes are such a small community, they would have eyes on experience of his upbringing, Jesus was not being trained by the Rabbi’s to teach, nor was he taken under the wing of a Scribe. His appearance in Nazareth as wise teacher is a massive shock and is reasonably confusing to them. We should also note that to be astonished is not necessarily a positive thing, historically it actually carries more negative connotations of shock than positive.

3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

They Nazarenes, Jesus’ audience in the synagogue speak among themselves. Asking if he is not a “carpenter.” The Greek word here is actually tektōn which does not mean carpenter specifically. It means “builder” or “craftsmen.” This translation choice is an example of how editors have essentially created devotional mind imagery that, although nourishing to the soul, is not explicitly in the text. Considering the typical structures of this time period and the specific wording for particular crafted items, you could deduce that Jesus was a carpenter or at least had the general training as one since that was a vital building material.

The following lines cause much controversy amongst readers, especially outside of the Catholic Church “the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, are are not his sisters here with us?” The typical focus by apologists is that these men James, Joses or Joseph, Judas and Simon are all explicitly identified as the sons of another Mary and considering the term from brother adelphos had a broad meaning this simply means cousins. I’d like to focus on the primary particle kai translated as “and”.

It implies their brotherly connection to Jesus being separate to who his mother is. If connected you would use the definite article “the” in Greek ho which is used previously in the passage relating to him being a carpenter. The fact it does not use the definite article implies that he is a brother to them in some other respect than immediate family, i.e. they are cousins. Why would they say any of this? In my observation the Nazarenes are pointing out that his immediate family, do not have wise rabbi’s and neither are the siblings his parents from families with rabbis. It’s not in his immediate family (a tekton family) or extended. The same extends to his sisters as well, they are simply extended female family members of the same generation.

The preconceived ideas of Jesus become a stumbling block, to being able to receive him as a teacher. For this they take offense at him. Their pride is essentially blinding them.

4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”

Jesus now tells the rigid truth of what every prophet in Israel’s history has gone through. Rejection and that rejection is strongest from their closest relations. Israel has a long history of being desperate to listen to and imitate the nations and kill their own prophets, something that Jesus will elaborate on later in his ministry, especially in Jerusalem. He is admitting to being a prophet sent by God and as proof, he is rejected by those closest to him and as most of the other prophets, he will be put to death for his mission.

5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them.

Now our little insight into the divine machinations of miracles, we should make it clear that Jesus’ power is not limited but our free will can never be “turned off” as we need it to choose to accept him but because we have that we can choose to not have faith, we can choose to reject him instead of accepting him and this channel of faith is the primary link for miracles to take place in a person. Since the Nazarenes have such little faith he does no mighty works there except healing a few sick people. These were people probably so desperate in their illness that they could swallow their pride and embrace faith in Jesus as opposed to the other Nazarenes who were too puffed up to see someone they considered an equal to actually be above them to their perception.

6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.

Contrasting with the faith filled gentiles and Jews of other towns and villages Jesus is amazed at the lack of faith in his own town. Since nothing else can be done there, he goes among the other villages near Nazareth to continue his teaching custom in the Synagogues.

21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him; and he was beside the sea.

Following the episode of the Gadarene demoniac in the Gentile territories, Jesus has sailed back with his twelve apostles and other followers to Capernaum. His fame has already spread through the fishing town, all the way to Jerusalem itself and people are flocking at the shore waiting for his arrival. Jesus is back in Yahweh’s land now, the regions bestowed as an inheritance to the Hebrew people.

22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and seeing him, he fell at his feet,

The synagogue was the community hub of Jewish life in second temple Judaism, it was where the people met to learn the Law of Moses, hear from rabbi’s on interpretations of the Prophets, it was not a casual place of socialising thus it had an organised hierarchy, on earth as in Heaven. Although they weren’t as rigid as the Temple cult structures, they were still organised institutions.

The ruler of a synagogue was a lay administrator selected by popular acclaim, typically one of the elders of the community with appointment influence coming mainly from the other elders of the community. They would need to be knowledgeable of Jewish Law, tradition as well as capable of handling the economic affairs of the building. They were also responsible for the allocation of local charity funds for the poor, widows and orphans which the Law required them to support.

I highlight these aspects of the ruler of a synagogue for a significant purpose, in a local first century Jewish community, this was the most respected figure and held the highest social rank and he, in this case, falls at the feet of Jesus. Essentially prostrating before him, something only done before royalty and God. Mark rarely mentions figures by name, unless they are known by the early Church community and in this situation it is revealed to us by Mark that the mans name is Jairus. This name comes from the Hebrew Ya’ir, which means “He Will Enlighten” a fitting name for a community leader that bows before Christ.

23 and besought him, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”

Jesus’ fame of healing has spread throughout all the land the leader of the local Jewish community knows exactly who to beseech in order for his daughter to be healed. The extremes of the illness are specified but the diagnosis is not, she is at the point of death. Child death was pretty common in this time period because of the lack of medical knowledge and their seems to be no indication of demonic activity. The girl is simply very sick, either way, Jairus knows that simply by laying his hands on her, Jesus can heal her.

24 And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.

We know from previous passages that Jesus’ following at this point was so large that entire synagogues were filled to bursting with crowds flocking outside of them, time has moved on and he is likely even more popular by this point in his ministry. So when we see phrases like “a great crowd” we should be thinking in the hundreds and very densely packed, this helps explain the following situation a little better since typical visual representations of this do not really encapsulate just how crowded Jesus was.

25 And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years,

26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.

27 She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.

28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well.”

29 And immediately the hemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

A woman in the crowd who is unnamed, is suffering from a blood haemorrhage for 12 years. The number of years may be significant in both their totality of how long the woman has suffered and also the symbology, 12 is the number of the fullness of Israel because of the 12 tribes. She goes through the usual routes to amend her illness, approaching doctors and spent all the money she had in order to be cured (no free healthcare) but she ended up worse. Although it may only make us squeamish, why might this be such a harrowing affliction beyond its “ick” factor? By the emission of blood, this woman is ritually unclean. She would not be able to enter the Temple complex for the required feasts and not be able to take part in much of Jewish life. She has been suffering from it for 12 years and has essentially, in a spiritual sense become a leper, receiving similar treatment because of the blood flowing from her. This cuts her off from the covenant family.

She, as with Jairus and the crowds, are fully aware of Jesus’ healing ability but the woman’s faith goes somewhat further. She believes in heart that if she just touches Jesus’ clothing she will be healed.

30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone forth from him, immediately turned about in the crowd, and said, “Who touched my garments?”

31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

Jesus perceives that the healing power has gone out of him to someone of strong faith and he turns about the crowd to look for the faithful culprit. He asks the question “Who touched my garments?” Considering the context of how huge the crowds were that we went through earlier, this question is funny and explains why the disciples have the reaction that they do but also speaks to faithfulness of the woman. Hundreds of people are looking to see a magic trick and thus receive nothing, but this woman is so desperate in her faith she has received healing without Jesus’ actively doing anything. In his ministry days of Nazareth, Jesus could not do many miracles because of the peoples lack of faith, here the faith is so strong in this one woman that it just kind of leaks out with his intention.

Jesus is pressed up on all sides and the disciples are reasonably baffled at why he asks who touched him, again when we stress the size and density of the crowds beyond typical visualisations of this moment this reaction makes much more sense.

32 And he looked around to see who had done it.

33 But the woman, knowing what had been done to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.

34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Jesus continues to look around physically but I think it is not beyond reason to assume in his divine knowledge he already knows who it was. But the Incarnation is a mystery in space and time and there his human knowledge is a required participant, not that it is divided but to our human perception it might look like it. He wants to see her with his eyes and talk to her with his mouth. If it was just about the healing as many people assume Jesus’ miracles are, this part of the event would be unnecessary.

The woman reveals herself and is in fear and trembles before Jesus, it’s like she feels that she has stolen the gift of healing from him. She falls down before him, a sign of worship and adoration, and tells him everything. This would include how long she suffered and what from and why she reached for his garment. This act of faith only makes the circumstance from Jesus’ position better and he commends her. Calling her “daughter” and saying it was her faith that made her well. She is to go in peace because her disease is healed. Now that she has been healed of this physical ailment not only does the bleeding stop but she can be reincorporated back into the covenant life that she has been separated from for the past 12 years. She can finally enter the Temple again, albeit only the Court of Women but still, its a W.

35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”

The Markan Sandwich, as scholars call it, makes an appearance in these verses. We start with Jairus and his daughter, then the woman with the haemorrhage, now back to Jairus’ daughter. This is perceived as a typical element of Mark’s writing but it could also just be the sequence of events as they played out, I think scholars spend to much time sometimes imagining overly complex theories of story structure instead of the obvious reason; this is literally how it played out.

While Jesus is still speaking to the woman, people who have come from the Jairus’ house have come to him to inform him that his daughter is dead. And that Jairus should stop troubling Jesus since from their point of view, its over and nothing can be done. The tone of these people from Jairus’ household implies relatives and not servants, it is unlikely that a servant would speak like that to their master.

36 But ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”

Jairus has just seen what an act of faith can achieve, the healing of the woman with the haemorrhage acts as a sign for him that Jesus’ uses as his witness. He ignores what the messengers have said and says to Jairus “Do not fear, only believe.” Jesus has done many healings and exorcisms by this point, many of which beyond the typical comprehension of his audience but now he is going to go even further, raising someone from the dead.

37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

38 When they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, he saw a tumult, and people weeping and wailing loudly.

39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.”

40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.

Jesus, taking with him only his inner-inner circle of the twelve. Peter (always named first as chief of the apostles) and the brothers James and John. These three reflect Aaronic types of the High priest Aaron and his two sons who acted as the chief priestly authority of the Hebrews in the exile. What truth we find in this is found in the even greater truth of that making Jesus the new Moses. These three will be separated off at various occasion like the Agony in the Garden and the Transfiguration.

They arrive at the house of Jairus and as the custom was, the household was weeping. This is the typical emotional response to death in the family but was also a religious prescription and wealthy people even hired professional mourners who would weep, kind of an odd concept I know but its also very interesting. Jesus enters asking them why they are weeping, stating that the child is not dead but sleeping. The people laugh at him which is rather bizarre considering the morbidity of the situation. He makes them all leave and only allows Jairus, his wife and the three apostles Peter, John and James to go into to the room where the Child is.

41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi”; which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”

42 And immediately the girl got up and walked (she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Every so often in the Gospels we get a little taste of our Lords native tongue, a language that used to be the Lingua Franca until Greek took over. Aramaic. Mark tells us the exact words that came out of Jesus’ mouth in this miracle in the original language and then gives us the translation.

First of all this miracle extends Jesus’ perceived power from healing the sick, exorcising demons into the realm of conquering death itself. Through his previous miracles this has been hinted at as we have observed in previous commentaries. The ancient perception of the water depths being emblematic of death and Jesus conquers it. The Gentiles in the shadow of death, possessed by a legion of demons, Jesus conquers it. Death was the final boss basically, but Jesus until this point has only hinted his ability to conquer it. This little girl is the first evidence of actual power to conquer what no one else could, death itself.

The usage of the original Aramaic speaks to the authenticity of the event. Mark is keen to use the exact words spoken by Jesus because he too sees how momentous this event is. The girl who died and was raised is the same age as the time of suffering endured by the woman with the haemorrhage, two 12’s in the Markan Sandwich. Again, literally true but also symbolic, its the second most important number to ancient Hebrews after 7 because of its representation of Israel as a whole. A symbolic reading is the Israelites being able to return to true worship and conquering death, kind of interesting. This is a climax of sorts of Jesus’ healing ministry and despite his telling them to not spread what has occurred, they will because how could you not?

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.

The beginning of Chapter 5 of Mark’s Gospel marks the end point of the boat journey from the Jewish majority Capernaum shore of Galilee to the Gentile majority side. This would have been a Southern way journey to “the country of the Gerasenes.” It’s kind of a confusing name because the city, one of the ten hellenistic cities of the region (hence Decapolis) to match that label would be Gerasa but that city is much further south, far from the shore. Early Church writers such as Saint Jerome and Origin proposed that it was meant to say Gergesenes which is found in some ancient manuscripts , there was a village on the shore called Gergesa so I am inclined to follow that. If we are to take Gerasenes as the name, it could be because the city of Gerasa was such a major influence that existing on the periphery of it, even to the shore of Galilee, made you a “Gerasene.” Similar to how London is today or New York. The main point to take from the text is that they are now in Gentile territory.

2 And when he had come out of the boat, there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

3 who lived among the tombs; and no one could bind him any more, even with a chain;

4 for he had often been bound with fetters and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the fetters he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him.

5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out, and bruising himself with stones.

When Jesus gets out of the boat, a man who runs to meet him, he has an unclean spirit. The word for unclean, akathartos, carries the connotation of ritual or moral impurity in both the Hebrew and Hellenistic world, this when attached to the Greek for spirit, pneumati, informs Marks mainly Greek speaking audience that this is an evil spirit possessing the man. In Hebrew culture, that was a given but the Greeks had a much more neutral understanding of spirits.

The man lived among the tombs, a dark place for a Greek to live and an unthinkable place for a Jew to live. Even stepping over a grave or being near a dead body would cause a Jew to be ritually impure and require cleansing. This man literally lives among the dead, a symbol of how all Gentiles lived, in darkness and death. His possession causes him to have a supernatural strength that even when other had attempted to bind him in chains, he could break them. At all times even during the night, implying his possession also causes him to not sleep, he cries out and bruises and cuts himself with stones.

This action, plus the demon possession is very interesting, although we might just see an insane person or a demon harming their vessel, a pagan ritual in the region mentioned in the Old Testament was that of cutting oneself with stones in order to appease the gods. We understand at least some of these pagan gods to be real and actual demons, whereas others are pure imagination. We could be looking at the last vestiges of that demonic cult, still lurking in the land of the Gentiles. Something that Jesus, in his mission will vanquish.

6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him;

7 and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”

8 For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

When the man sees Jesus, he runs and worships him. This is very curious, is the man at war internally with the demon possessing him or does the demon controlling him know his place, to be at the feet of the Lord? Whatever the reason, the reaction to Jesus as something to be worshipped, an action reserved for God alone to the Hebrews and the various gods for Gentiles means that this man, through the angelic knowledge of the demon, has a better understanding of who Jesus is that his own inner circle who at the end of the last chapter were left questioning each other who this Jesus’ is that can essentially control the weather.

Verse 7 throws something into the mix that many people would not think twice of. The man says “what have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God?” That is not the normal phrasing by mortal people. Son of the most high will be used by Gabriel when telling Mary of her virginal conception of Jesus but Gabriel is an Archangel, an obedient but fellow elohim. It is legalistic in tone, the entire phrase of the demon is. Within the land assigned by God to the Hebrews, the demons just say “holy one of God” no need to specify because in a divine legal sense, Yahweh, God, owns that land but according to the divine geography at this point in history, Yahweh has not claimed the Gentiles yet, the other lands, so, although he obviously outranks them still, the demons have to specify in these regions which Elohim they are referring to.

Mark jumps back and forth a little bit here in verse 8, the previous verses and phrases by the demon are said in response to what Jesus says. “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.”

9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”

I find this verse fascinating because we get to see into a world that is largely hidden from us. Jesus asks the demon for his name. Considering the legalistic language the demon used previously, this is like a divine cosmic version of a landowner catching a trespasser. The demon’s response, if it is true, which likely it is considering I don’t believe they could lie to Jesus is interesting. It obviously isn’t his actual name but it also isn’t a lie, it is a description. A legion of demons are possessing this single individual and they are terrified of Jesus.

10 And he begged him eagerly not to send them out of the country.

11 Now a great herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside;

12 and they begged him, “Send us to the swine, let us enter them.”

Back to our cosmic and divine geography we see another hint, the demons begs “not to send them out of the country.” Their power is limited to the borders set up by God after the tower of Babel incident, illuminated further in Deuteronomy 32 by Moses. Outside of their allotted lands, they are powerless, they are like little fish in a tiny pond, if they’re thrown into a Lake they nothing but food.

A further indication (if you needed it) that this is gentile country, is that there is a herd of pigs feeding on the hillside, Jews were forbidden from pork and considered the animals unclean and definitely would not keep them. The demons would rather be sent into the swine than be taken out of the region of their allotment. This speaks volumes of how low demons will go in order to avoid judgement, anything to extend the time until the end, even living inside of pigs.

13 So he gave them leave. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.

Mark gives us an approximate number of just how many demons were inhabiting the man if we understand each spirit to possess one pig. Two thousand, that is a lot and where do they rush to? The sea. In my previous commentaries I have highlighted the ancient worldview by both Hellenistic and Hebrew peoples. The water, the abyss of the deeps, is the home of dark spirits. I don’t think it is a coincidence that they run off there, that is where they feel safe and also still with in confines of the divine geography.

14 The herdsmen fled, and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened.

The herd of swine were not alone, they had human caretakers who found this entire event very disturbing. They flee into the city and the rest of the country to tell people of what had happened.

15 And they came to Jesus, and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the man who had had the legion; and they were afraid.

16 And those who had seen it told what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine.

17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their neighborhood.

The people of this region had been dealing with the poor man for a long time, he must have been pretty infamous, especially since they had numerous times attempted to shackle him for his and their safety but could not be held down. He is now clothed and in his right mind.

The people are fearful of what had just happened. Seems odd doesn’t it? Wouldn’t they rejoice at such a thing? We are receiving the true and correct perception of this event but that leaves us not understanding why they, the pagans, would have this reaction. Well what if you were a pagan and had pagan gods running your territory and some Jew just turned up and evacuated them into the sea? Gentiles worshipped their gods out of fear and someone just turned up who made their gods scared. They are right, out of ignorance, to be afraid.

Because of their fear they beg Jesus to depart from the territory. These people essentially have a cosmic Stockholm syndrome, they are terrified of both the demons and Jesus but would rather things stayed as they were than change. It is a confusing notion from our modern point of view but these are not Christians with two thousands years of the Church to hold them. They are pagans through and through since the Babel incident.

18 And as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.

19 But he refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and all men marveled.

It appears that Jesus only came here for this single reason, to plan a seed of what is to come. Once he is done with the demoniac he gets in the boat to leave but the man begs Jesus to allow him to follow him and be with him. Jesus says no because the point of this incident was to plant a seed of hope, a sign that initially is contradicted, in the Gentile territories. There is a much more powerful God here who will free them and this man is to act as proof of it, a messenger to the Gentiles. The man then goes out to all the cities of the Decapolis, telling how much Jesus had done for him and all the men that heard it from him, approved and marvelled.

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”

On the same day as what scholars call Jesus’ Sermon on the Sea, at evening Jesus tells his disciples to go with him across to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Up until now they have been on the western side where Capernaum is, Jesus’ home base of his ministry.

36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.

Up until the moment of their departure Jesus has been teaching the crowds with parables on the Capernaum shore. Jesus cyclically preaches to large crowds then seeks solitude to pray or spend time with his inner circle, reminiscent of the Sabbath rest in the seven days of creation. It appears that the twelve are with Jesus in one boat and also other disciples closer to Jesus go along with them in “other boats”, a plural is used but no specific number.

37 And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

The centre of the Sea of Galilee was somewhat famous for stormy weather, especially strong winds. Typically fishermen stayed closer to land and would circle around the Sea of Galilee instead of going through it.

In both the Hellenistic and Hebrew worldview the inner part of the lake had nefarious supernatural connotations. Something leftover in the minds of ancient peoples from the primordial waters of the abyss, it was a place of death and foreboding. This idea is amazingly present in most cultures even European ones, many a tale is told in Britain and Europe of spirits in lakes that drag people to their doom. I highlight all these notions because it is important to take in hand that this isn’t a casual undertaking despite how simply Mark narrates it, with this stage set, the follow verses make much more sense.

The supernatural fears and the natural fears of a ship being buffeted by storms and waves, the boat itself is even filling with water, there is in fact a huge amount of fear building up in the occupants of the boats.

38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?”

With our horror background set, Jesus shows just how unlike he is than anyone else. He is not even remotely moved by the catastrophe that the disciples perceive. He, is asleep on a cushion. He has zero fear but his followers do not share this peace of mind. They wake him up and call to him basically saying “We’re going to die and you’re sleeping?!”

39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Jesus was not calm and peaceful because he was some stoic who was unabashed by the environmental destruction going on around him, nor was he ignorant of it either. Jesus was at peace because he himself is in absolute control. He speaks to the sea, like its a creature and says “Peace! Be still!” and…it listened to his order. The wind ceases and the sea calms down. Bodies of water as we highlighted earlier are symbolic of chaos, destruction and death, no man can control it and is at the whims of the elements when he sails out to it. Jesus is not just a man.

40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”

Jesus after calming the waves and winds asks his disciples a simple question said in two different ways. “Why are you afraid?” and “Have you no faith?” Their fear of the deep, though deeply ingrained is unnecessary if they realised who Jesus was. Who are they to have faith in that would make them fearless in opposition to the elements? The creator of them.

Here we should highlight Jesus’ command that he gave, as it points to what the disciples are not understanding that requires Jesus to ask these questions, he is actually trying to lead them to the right conclusion. Only one entity can do what Jesus did. In the Old Testament we find numerous references to how only God can control the storms, winds and the sea because, back in Genesis, he made them.

Psalm 107:28-29

“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.”

Psalm 89:9

“You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.”

Nahum 1:4

“He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers.”

Acknowledging that Jesus has left the crowds to be with his inner circle he is not “just” resting in the boat. He, as he does when he is alone with his inner circle, teaches them the secrets of the Kingdom of God, one of these secrets is Jesus’ identity. In a much less blatant way this is done for the crowds but here Jesus is practically screaming from the rooftops “HEY IM GOD” but in a very Hebraic way. The prideful will merely covet the power expressed like a cheater wanting to learn the slight-of-hand tricks done by a magician but the humble, in these actions of Jesus, will see the God-Man.

41 And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”

The disciples are filled with awe and ask one another a curious question “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?” They obviously know the human person of Jesus, they know his name. This speaks to the more substantial question of “who”. Jesus is expressing divine abilities that to the Hebrew mind were limited to Yahweh alone. This reading is another fun example of where 21st century western atheists and gospel sceptics show their context blindness. They will all state that Jesus never says that he is God outside of what they perceive to be the unreliable Gospel of Saint John, that Gospels like that of Saint Mark just record the ministry of a nice rabbi hippie or something but if you understand the ancient Hebrew context, this is bigger than any vocal statement made by Jesus in all of the New Testament. The primordial chaos and death symbol that is the sea is conquered right here through actions that are only done by God.

26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground,

Continuing our parable chapter of Mark, chapter 4. The lectionary again inserts “Jesus said to the crowds” but there is no actual specification in the text itself except was is indicated at the end of the passage and through cross-referencing, he is in fact talking to “the crowds.” He privately explains the truths to his inner group of disciples and gives parables only to the crowds and today we receive two parables.

In todays parables Jesus is explaining the “Kingdom of God.” We should first break down this phrase so we can better understand what Jesus is talking about, his focus is that he is here to reveal this “Kingdom of God.” So what is it? A kingdom is a nation with a sovereign ruler called a King. A nation is an extended family of people who share genetic and linguistic roots. God is the king of this nation, but he as a spiritual entity has no such genetics or human linguistic roots, so their must be by implication a type of origin in both body and communication that supersedes our human understanding of biology and language. Is there anything that we can point to biblically that seems to bond people together deeper than genetics and language? Yes, covenants do. Covenants made with God transcend the human paradigm of blood and language. In fact our having blood and language is a sign in itself made by God that points to this transcendent ideal, that is why Covenants are made with two particular things; Blood and promises (words). So that is the subject that Jesus is explaining with parables.

Jesus as he usually does, expressed his parables with common frameworks that his listeners understand, his most common expression is that of agriculture which we’ll see today used twice. The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. This implies that the Kingdom of God on earth has a starting point, a moment of coming into the world.

27 and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how.

When the man goes to sleep at night and rises in the day, at some point the seeds that he has scattered will grow, the first century farmer not knowing the scientific aspects of agriculture is being used as a form of our not knowing how the mystery of Kingdom grows, just because we know how plants and their biology works now does not undo the point Jesus is making. Our understanding of how the Kingdom grows is like that of person who doesn’t know something, it just works, that’s Jesus’ point.

28 The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

The Kingdom will organically grow, small at first and follow a natural growing cycle like a plant. A plant grows in order to produce fruit. The purpose of what Jesus is saying is that what he leaves on earth in the hands of his Bishops, the Apostles, is not the final product.

29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The the fruit of the plant has finished it’s growth, well beyond the early germination stage of a plants biology it is time for the harvest to occur. In Jesus’ time with the crops he is referring to this was done with a sickle, a big curved blade. The Kingdom of God is something that must grow and ripen in order for it to be harvested, elsewhere Angels will be referred to as the harvesters of this crop. Typically crops are grown in cycles but to our comprehension of time it is in each persons lifespan. Though to God, who is not in time at all but the eternal now, maybe we all do get harvested in the same cosmic moment, I don’t know, I’m rambling.

30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?

Mark continues the summaries of the Kingdom parables, it is likely that Jesus gave many others and repeated certain ones that had the best mass application, these are those that Mark records. This is not a chronological undertaking, Mark is taking snapshots of particular moments of the ministry that he has received from Saint Peter, allocating all these parables to the same section of his narrative for thematic reasons.

Jesus knows the divine truths cannot be explained to the common people so in order to explain the Kingdom of God how it will be observed on earth he must use a parable to explain it, something that he can compare it to that the common people do in fact understand.

31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;

Jesus takes the smallest seed that is known to his listeners, you are not “um aschually’ing” Jesus by pointing out that it is not the actual smallest seed. What use would it be to talk about a seed they do not know? The mustard seed is the smallest they know and turns into the biggest of shrubs, in some cases in can actually turn into a tree. The purpose here is for his listeners to see that, yes, right now this community is small and maybe perceived as unorganised and chaotic but like a small seed, it isn’t always like that, it is full of potential life.

32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

After the mustard seed is sown and grows it does in fact become the largest of shrubs and as I said earlier, even tree-like, with large branches. This is an organised structured living body. A tiny seed in the first century, will grow into a large, hierarchal structured body over time, reflecting the eternal, large, hierarchal structured body of the Kingdom in the heavenly realm. If you’re looking for the true church, you should not be looking for a mustard seed of the first century, you should be looking for a two thousand year old tree that has become so large that many creatures can rest in its shade.

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it;

34 he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

Mark returns to his summarising narration, informing the reader that Jesus spoke with many such parables, these are ways that they were able to understand. Mark maintains that Jesus did not speak to the crowds without using parables but to his disciples he explained everything. In some cases we see examples of this and it is always amusing that despite his explanations they still do not understand and although we may intellectually grasp some of these concepts now, after two thousand years of Church explanation and tradition, we will not fully grasp them until our hearts are opened to them and to its fullest extent, we will not understand them until the veil is removed after we die.

21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a bushel, or under a bed, and not on a stand?

Chapter 4 of Marks Gospel has a collection of sayings but still only a summary of what Jesus said in his ministry to both crowds and his inner group of disciples. The lectionary inserts “Jesus said to the crowd” for todays readings but as you can see from the text this is only an addition one that can be misleading but Mark does not actually tell us who he is saying this to. Considering yesterdays readings we understand that some things are reserved for the crowds and others for his inner circle. So the context could be different depending on what way you want to read this text.

These sayings, repeated in the other Gospels are likely a common saying that Jesus used on multiple occasions which is why Mark uses them in this chapter. Jesus speaks about lamps, which in first century Palestine were obviously not electric lamps. The most common form of lighting was a stone or clay pot that look somewhat like the lamp you see in Aladdin. It would be filled with oil and a wick would come out of it that you lit on fire.

Like his other sayings, Jesus uses common frameworks and items that everyone understands. Here he uses lamps, everyone knows they are for lighting up a room so you would not put it under a “bushel” which is a woven basket, under a bed instead of putting it on a stand? Its a common sense rhetorical question use to illuminate something difficult for the listeners to understand.

22 For there is nothing hid, except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret, except to come to light.

The following saying seems disconnected and many exegetes stress this is to do with the hiddenness of the kingdom of God now and how it will be revealed but when correlating it with another saying of Jesus, that we are the “light of the world.” We can possibly make more sense of it. Nothing is actually hidden, it will all appear eventually in due time, for example at the end of time, that is what I think Jesus is getting at, especially in context with the verses that come after this. If we are lights, our words and actions are our heat and illumination, none of this, especially our sinful behaviour is actually secret even if we think it is, it will come come to light.

23 If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.”

This is a common phrase of Jesus especially after saying something rather cryptic that require a humble heart and patience to understand. Although people can read entire books on understand Jesus now, back then all they had were his words without explanation, we shouldn’t assume just because we can read or write a commentary that we are fully hearing what he has to say.

24 And he said to them, “Take heed what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you.

25 For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Here we see why I think the theme is our behaviour in both word and action because in these verses we essentially receive a warning. “Take heed” so “Pay attention, I’m giving you a warning.” What measure you give, or how you act toward people will be what you get and still more will be given you. It is kind of the golden rule of Jesus, do unto others what you wish done unto you but there an extension on what is received. Act wickedly and you receive wickedness in this life and you will receive even more in damnation. Act with love and you will receive love in this life and you will also receive more in eternal beatitude.

The possibility of eternal damnation or eternal beatitude is the other worldly more that is given or more that is taken away on top of what is received or taken in this life. This provides one of the foundations for understand evil to be a deprivation of good. Enmity a deprivation of love. The same way cold is an absence of heat, not its own active force. He who is evil lacks something, he does not have a lot of evil gathered up in a sack, he has less and even more will be taken away. He who has love has much and will receive even more in the beatific vision.

1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.

Likely still in Capernaum, the large bustling fishing town by the Sea of Galilee that has served the purpose of a home base for Jesus during his ministry, Jesus begins another teaching moment on the shore. Since it was a fishing hub, this area would be filled with common working people, a perfect place to teach the masses. A large crowd at this point is already following Jesus, so by teaching here he can pick up any stragglers that have up to this point not heard from him or maybe perceived their work as more important, well here he is in their place of work preaching.

He gets into a boat that is floating on the sea, close to land and uses it has his cathedra, his teaching seat to preach. All of the crowds line up on the beach in order to listen to him. Some scholars have to referred to this moment as the Sermon one the Sea, in reference to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Sound carries well over water and the shore naturally rose up in height the further in land you got, this created a natural amphitheater for his teachings.

2 And he taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:

Mark summarises with this statement and follows it with an example of one of the many parables that Jesus teaches. As was prophesied, Jesus teaches in parables, many things can be considered parables; metaphors, stories, analogies and so on.

The question of why Jesus teaches in parables might come to your mind, it isn’t just because we like stories, it is a much bigger reason. Parables have an ancient history amongst the Hebrew peoples, God himself will speak to his people in signs and symbols that point toward a truth that can’t truly be pronounced in words. Signs and symbols are like miniature visual parables. The point of them is to tell a micro or common truth that explains a macro or uncommon truth. Typically something that is invisible and unknowable to a persons senses.

Parables are also used to expose our own blindness, the greatest example of this is that of Nathan the Prophet and King David. David is doing sinful behaviour but does not examine himself correctly and blinds himself to it, the taking of Uriah the Hittites wife, it is not until Nathan tells David the story of a rich man who takes the treasured lamb of a poor man that David suddenly ignites his sense of justice and declares the man should be punished, Nathan then states “You are the man.”

So parables can expose to us the truth of a situation, either natural or supernatural. It also relies on the instinctual sense of justice within a person, if a person is predisposed to immorality and deceit they will not understand the parable being told but if they are not, they will understand. Parables are not just about exposing truths but concealing them from those who are not worthy of them.

3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow.

4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil;

6 and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away.

7 Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.

8 And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus uses a common paradigm that all his listeners will understand and he repeats such features in his parables, changing details when and where he needs to in order to apply to different people. Here he is speaking to common people, so the common framework of agriculture is being used. The point is to apply this framework to something invisible, Jesus will go on later in the reading to explain the parable itself to his inner circle, the twelve so we won’t get into that here.

Verse 9 Jesus says “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” This is to emphasise the point we made earlier, if you are humble in heart and some fruit is born within you from this story, take it all in and understand but if you do not understand it do not attempt to stop others from receiving. Basically Jesus is saying “If you get it, you get it” but as an addendum he adds notes of cruciality and urgency to those who do in fact understand. You cannot be neutral in the face of a parable, it provokes you to think, either you’ll understand how it applies to greater things or you’ll just respond to it on a surface level.

10 And when he was alone, those who were about him with the twelve asked him concerning the parables.

11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables;

12 so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven.”

After the crowds have gone away and Jesus has retreated to a place of solitude with his twelve disciples and some others (it is not clear how many others outside of the twelve are there), he is asked by them about the parables that he gave. We only see one in the text but parable is pluralised again letting us know that Mark is only giving a summary of events. They do not understand the purpose of the parables, that is what they are concerned with.

Jesus responds first with the point of the parables or what the fruit of them are. They are the secret of the kingdom of God or more literally the mystery. He will outright say this is the fruit for this inner group of his followers but the outside group, the crowds, can only receive the parables. It acts as a litmus test of pride, a prideful person if told the true fruit of the parables might covet it and seek it out for vain reasons, by restraining the preaching to parables only the humble can seek out the fruit.

They might see physically but they will not perceive substantially, they might hear the words but not fully comprehend their meaning. Some of what Jesus says in his explanation almost comes off as if he does not believe the people are ready for the substantial truth of what is happening and considering how people act 2000 years later, he was obviously completely right.

People are not able to comprehend the gravity of the New Covenant upfront, they need it in small relatable bitesized chunks because if they fully perceived and then rejected it, they would be guilty of the unforgivable sin if they do not fully comprehend then their rejection is less damning. Jesus is purposefully giving a stiff necked people a buffer space to make mistakes, similar to notion of “fencing” in Pharisaic teaching, creating a buffer zone before the breaking of the Law that gives people opportunity to not actually break the Mosaic Law.

13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

14 The sower sows the word.

15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown; when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which is sown in them.

16 And these in like manner are the ones sown upon rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;

17 and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

18 And others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word,

19 but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

20 But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit,

Jesus seems almost amused at verse 13. His inner group who are told the secret fruit of the Parables and to them is revealed the point of what is happening, at least as much as they can understand in human words, but they still do not understand the point of the parable he gave. These people are supposed to be the ones who are sent out on his authority to teach these very things, it is like a substitute teacher not being able to spell basic words.

Jesus then goes onto explain the meaning behind the parable that Mark narrated for us. They are in fact supposed to be the sower, who sows the Word of God in the people. The people are different environments described. Some people are like a barely path, when the Word is sown in them Satan immediately, like a bird, eats up the exposed seed. Then some people are like rocky ground, the seed of the Word can be sown in them and it is concealed from the evil one and they feel joy but because of their barrenness the Word cannot grow roots in them and after persecution or pressure, they give up and fall away. Another is sown among thorns, a place obviously fertile for seed growth if there are thorns but unfortunately these people are growing too much material delights and this strangles the growth of the Word of God and proves to be unfruitful. Only those who are fertile ground, without competing plants growing can receive the Word as it is sown, accept it and grow to bear all the fruit needed for spiritual nourishment.

31 And his mother and his brethren came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him.

Because of the way Mark orders events it can sometimes be confusing to see where particular narratives connect up. Scholars call this the “Markan Sandwich” it is where Mark is telling the orderly narrative, then inserts a non-chronological element and then returns to the orderly timeline. He does this with John the Baptist, reaching back to explain the martyrdom then jumping to the present moment in Jesus’ ministry.

For the sake of todays readings we should look to the previous component to explain why Jesus’ family is looking for him and this takes us to verse 21, where Jesus’ relatives hear of his ministry and preaching and basically assume he has lost his mind. It is important to understand that nothing spectacular occurs in Jesus’ life between the finding in the temple in Luke’s early life narrative and Jesus’ ministry beginning. From the age of 12 to 30 Jesus has been nothing but the obedient son of Mary and Joseph the Carpenter.

It’s not like they had Rabbi vocation courses that Jesus scored 10/10 in, he really was nothing but the obedient son to them until his ministry, working with his father as all sons did, so all of what Jesus has been doing in the past 3 chapters is a massive shock. Mary and Joseph had some knowledge but if he was “normal” for 18 years they would still be in a state of shock that things suddenly change.

So Mary, Jesus’ mother and his “brethren” are standing outside looking for him, this would be outside of the Synagogue he is preaching in. The term in Greek is adelphos although the masculine noun is used, it is being used in a general gender neutral sense, as “sisters” are mentioned a few verses later. Jews commonly called their relatives brethren and after the new covenant this general term becomes evne more broad, encompassing all the members of the Church. On top of that considering the authoritative nature of their approach and their chaperoning of Jesus’ mother we can confidently assume they are male relatives older than Jesus, especially because of the interaction in verse 21.

They are most likely blood relatives of Mary but could not be her children, the names of the male relatives are not mentioned here but elsewhere they are, James, Joseph, Judas and Simon and they are clearly established as sons of a different woman also named Mary.

32 And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brethren are outside, asking for you.”

The crowds that are listening to Jesus’ preaching, sitting around him notice the commotion outside of the Synagogue involving his mother and fellow Nazarenes. They tell him that they are looking for him. It is important to remember that the crowds following Jesus around at this time fill and surround the buildings he enters, you might think that his family are for some reason locked out of a sparse room but that is not the case despite the artwork that typically depicts this scene, we know from elsewhere how massive these crowds are. He could not physically see them, nor they him.

33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brethren?”

Jesus is not denying knowledge of his family, pretending or otherwise. He has people hanging on every word from his mouth as he preaches the Kingdom of God, the New and Eternal Covenant family about to be brought into the world. He uses this as a teaching opportunity for how these disciples of his should act in the future, they must understand just how deep the New Covenant goes, as we mentioned earlier, Peter will use the term Adelphos to refer to the members of the Church, the new family, deeper than the natural families we are accustomed to.

34 And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brethren!

Jesus looks around the crowds in order to springboard off the commotion to give one of the deepest lessons about the New Covenant. He tells them that they are his family now. Mother and brethren are mentioned but there is a component of the family missing; the Father. This is because in the New Covenant God the Father is our Father. All fatherhood stems from him and in him.

35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Verse 35 brings us the qualifier for what makes those around Jesus his brother and sister and mother. “Whoever does the will of God.” Just like Luke 11:27-28, where a woman calls out ‘ “Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou didst suck. But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” we see the higher highlight of Mary’s role. It isn’t that she is “just” the biological mother of Jesus that makes her his mother it is that she completely and absolutely submitted to the will of God when she gave her fiat. Be it done unto me, according to your word. No one can ever say they kept closer to this rule than Mary herself which is what makes her the perfect type of Christian to imitate.

Chapter 3 of Marks Gospel begins with the pharisees testing Jesus in the Synagogue during his early ministry and also he has just appointed the twelve apostles to be his inner circle and minister with him. Jesus has extended his authority to heal and exorcise demons to these twelve, following this returns to Caperanaum to continue his Synagogue service visits on the Sabbath to teach the crowds.

22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Be-elzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”

Jesus has reached a certain point in his fame that scribes from the capital city have been sent to observe him. Scribes were Mosaic lawyers, experts in the Law of Moses who offered a service of consultancy on the Law. Think of it as hiring a lawyer when pursuing legal enterprises, the difference is, the entirety of the life of a Second Temple Jew was dictated by the Law, not just some aspects.

Previous to this Jesus has exorcised demons and extended this authority to his twelve apostles. Exorcism was not uncommon to Second Temple Jews but their methodology was dramatically different to what Jesus and his disciples were doing. Although specific examples are sparse, they do exist both the historian Josephus and the Dead Sea Scrolls witness to similar things.

1. Invoking Sacred names, like that of God, Archangels or Prophets
2. Incantations derived from scripture, reciting the Psalms (for example Psalm 91)
3. Ritual objects like rings (See Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews Book 8), roots and/or burnt offerings

This is not how Jesus or his disciples exorcise demons which to the experts of the Law, make them suspect of demonic association. They accuse him of doing these acts by Be-elzebul or Beelzebub. Beelzebub is a name derived from a title given to deity of the Philistines. Beel comeing from Ba’al which means Lord and zebub meaning Of Flies. So it means Lord of Flies. It became associated with the god of the Caananites Ba’al. It is hard to tell when exactly it became synonymous with the evil one but it is not too hard to see how the Hebrews saw the chief deity of their enemies as the chief evil cosmic force opposing God or at least having some association with each other.

23 And he called them to him, and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?

Jesus responds to his critics with parables. A parable is a story that enables the listener to understand something invisible or complex with something simpler. They are not always one to one with the reality of the situation, it depends on the context.

First Jesus responds to the wording of their accusation, that the evil one is the leader or prince of the other demons. If we interpret this through the organic model, which is the typical outlook of ancient peoples the other demons are of the same “body” as the Satan who is the “head” of said body. Satan as the head of the body couldn’t cast out himself, his demonic minions are of his own evil “body.”

24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

Explaining further, beyond the organic model, Jesus turns to the kingdom model, which still appeals to the simplicity of the organic one but it is fitting since they consider Satan a prince. If he was attacking or divided against his own kingdom, it would fall which would actually benefit human beings, so why would they complain about what Jesus is doing if they truly believed that to be the case?

25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

He shrinks the kingdom model to the domestic model next, if a house is divided or fighting amongst themselves it will not able to to stand, it will fall. Jesus is explaining their own logic when applied to multiple scopes is stupid and makes no sense.

26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.

Shrinking back to the organic model, seeing satan as the head of the demons who are of his body, if he rises up against himself he cannot win or stand and in fact, will destroy himself.

27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house.

Thus begins the parable, a strong man has his own house and goods. Since he is strong it is impossible to seize what is his unless you bind him, tie him up. Once he is bound, you can plunder his goods. Some have difficulty with this phrasing as it portrays Jesus as a type of thief and Satan as a strong man who owns people but that is actually how it works, the point of the parable is that the “goods” are possessed people. From the moment of the Fall and the disinheritance at Babel, all peoples, including the Hebrews have been subject to a fallen nature. This allows us to be held captive by Satan and only baptism places a seal of ownership upon us. This is how we become members of God’s family and until we’re members of God’s family, we’re owned by Satan. Jesus comes to weaken and bind Satan, to conquer death and then we can be taken by him out of the grasp of Satan.

28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;

29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—

To some this seems like an unrelated piece of dialogue that Mark has added to the Scribe vs Jesus interaction but they’re completely wrong. The Holy Spirit is kind of like the conduit by which salvific acts are done. Think of it as the wire between a power source and a component, obviously not in a literal sense, the Spirit is a person not just a connection but I am just trying to simplify things for my own brain and yours. All sins will be forgiven but blaspheming the Holy Spirit makes you guilty of an eternal sin. This is what the Scribes did, by Jesus authority, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is exorcising and they accuse this method of being demonic and are therefore rejecting the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is not just the conduit for exorcisms, it is the invisible conduit for the entire economy of Salvation. What binds you to Christ? Through what “channel” do you ask for forgiveness? It is through the Spirit, if you reject it, you reject forgiveness which paves the way for final impenitence. If you were to always reject the Spirit then you would necessarily reject forgiveness and be guilty of an eternal sin.

30 for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Mark clarifies in his own Gospel that this is not just a random addition of dialogue, the reason Jesus says this is because they accuse the Spirit that Jesus has (the Holy Spirit) of being a demonic one.