Bible Studies Jeanie C. Crain http://crain.english.missouriwestern.edu

The Gospel of Mark: A Study Based on the Old Testament

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Summary Jesus continues his mission in Galilee, controversy following him; this chapter opens in Capernaum, a city on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee, a fishing village of not more than one thousand in the first century. He creates controversy by healing a paralytic and telling him his sins are forgiven.   The scribes accuse him of blasphemy. He calls the tax collector Levi, son of Alphaeus, to follow him, again causing the scribes to cite him for the offense of eating with sinners. Next, the people generally see that Jesus and his disciples are not fasting like his predecessor John the Baptist and followers, and they want to know why; Jesus replies in the parables  of the bridegroom and new wine in old wineskins. His disciples again cause offense when they pluck from corn on the Sabbath and eat.  This time, Jesus responds by telling his critics that the Sabbath is made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath. He bases himself authoritatively in scripture, citing I Samuel 21.1-6 and the example of David and his companions eating from the bread of Presence.

Largely, the controversies in Galilee mark Jesus knowledgeable of scriptural traditions but resisting the current pious and legal interpretations. He is in Capernaum, his home town. Characteristically, people have crowded around him, in this case so many that the small house has no room for them and not even when they crowd at the front door. Determined, some seeking aid for a paralytic dig through the roof and lower the man whom Jesus, on seeing their faith, says "your sins are forgiven." Scribes in the gathered turn to each other, whispering among themselves that he has blasphemed in indicating he can forgive sins.  Dwelling houses in Palestine usually had a flight of stone steps built on the outside and leading to the roof, which was flat and made probably of sticks and packed earth (ON). Apparently, the scribes see Jesus as claiming divine prerogative. Jesus perceived in his spirit what the whispering was about and confronted them openly by asking them why they raised such questions in their hearts.  Is it easier, he asked, to say your sins are forgiven or to tell the paralytic to take up his mat and walk?  He continues by referring to himself as the Son of Man and telling the paralytic to take up his mat, to walk, and go home.  Characteristically, those gathered marvel once again relative to the marvelous results they behold. Jesus is clear: "the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." Concerning the title, Oxford notes delineates at least two meanings:

Son of Man, a title which Jesus used of himself, probably seemed to his listeners to carry either of two meanings: (a) that Jesus called himself a typical human being in accordance with the common meaning of son of (see Matthew 5.45 n.); or (b) that Jesus (contrary to the humble conditions of his daily life) linked himself to the prophesied figure of Daniel 7.13–14 who was popularly regarded as the coming Messiah (see Acts 7.56 n.). Jesus nowhere fully discloses his own understanding of the term (but see Mark 8.32 n.). However, each meaning by itself, as well as both together (see Matthew 25.29 n.), could have appealed to him. It was also characteristic of him to speak in such a way as to oblige his hearers to determine their own personal attitudes toward him as part of the process of understanding his words (see Matthew 13.3 n.).

The verses alluded to in Daniel describe the Son of Man in the following way: 13 "As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. 14 To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed."

Tax collectors in Jesus' day were no more liked than tax collector today:

Both Greek states and Rome had only a rudimentary civil service and budgeting process. Hence minor taxes were regularly sold to a private company, which would pay the agreed price to the treasury and collect (in principle, at the fixed rate) from the taxpayers. These telżnai had long been known and disliked in the Greek East (an Alexandrian comic poet calls them "birds of prey"). Roman publicani, while they always performed this service, had an essentially different origin. They were state contractors who would buy at auction both performance contracts (e.g., building contracts or contracts for army supplies) and collection contracts (as for taxes or the revenues of mines or ponds or forests). During the age of Roman expansion and public building, in the Middle Republic, they made most of their money from the former and, as Polybius tells us, they widely distributed prosperity among Roman citizens. This changed when the reformer Gaius Gracchus in 123 bce entrusted them with the collection of the principal tax (the tithe on produce) of the province of Asia, which Rome had just acquired, and also with staffing the criminal courts, which tried senators for mal-administration and, in due course, for other crimes. This vastly increased the scale of their undertakings, and made them a major power in the state, though they always narrowly defended their economic interests. Their power in the courts was temporarily removed by Sulla (81 bce), but was soon essentially restored. As a result, governors and their staffs, instead of regulating their activities, tended to become their partners—often in collusion with the provincial upper class, which could pass the burden on to those below—in grossly exploiting the provinces, especially in the east, where Pompey introduced the Asian system to all the new provinces he organized, including Syria (OC)

In the late Republic, the power of the publicani led to major abuses, which we know from Cicero’s speeches. Illegal extra charges were widely added, and permitted by the governor, and violence was used to extort compliance. Although there was more control under Augustus, this is the background to what we find in Judea. The Jews soon hated the Roman occupation even more than they had hated Archelaus, whose deposition they had demanded. Native collectors of taxes were now seen as collaborators with the oppressor, using his backing for their illegal profits. The problem was apparently worse in Judea than elsewhere, presumably because of the religious element in the national resistance; it is interesting that the "publicans" appear only in the Gospels, not in the rest of the New Testament, even though they were of course active in all the provinces. They are regularly coupled with sinners (note that where Matthew 5.46 has "publicans" Luke 6.32 has "sinners"), with prostitutes, and with gentiles (OC)

Jesus clearly is not worried about his social reputation when he befriends Levi and makes him a follower. On this occasion, when questioned by the scribes, he replies "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." By his act, though, he sets himself apart from the accepted social order and pointedly positions himself with the lower class.

Jesus next calls attention to himself and his disciples by not fasting; John the Baptist and his followers had managed to escape this level of social scrutiny by fasting in the accepted tradition. 

Fasting in connection with prayer, penitence, and preparation for new ventures has been practiced from early times in many cultures and religions. The Bible recognizes it as regular in mourning for the dead (1 Samuel 31.13), expressions of penitence (Nehemiah 9.1), intercession (2 Samuel 12.16), and prayer for God’s aid (Judges 20.26). Fasting was undertaken for personal reasons (Psalm 25.13), as a national act in the face of calamity (Joel 2.15), or as a periodic liturgical observance (Zechariah 8.19); normally it involved abstinence from all food to show dependence on God and submission to his will. The great national and liturgical fast was that of the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16.29–34), but fasting was generally recognized, especially after the exile, as a meritorious pious practice and as a potent aid to prayer (Tobit 12.8; Luke 2.37). Later, the author of Isaiah 58 claimed that if fasting was to be of value, it must be accompanied by compassion and a concern for social justice (ON).

The Pharisees fasted on Mondays and Thursdays.  Jesus reminds them that scripturally, not fasting can sometimes be sound: his disciples have him with them; he uses the metaphor of the bridegroom, signifying a time when joy is the appropriate expression.  He also remains firmly aware of his mission to move beyond the current religious observances: his "new wine" cannot be poured into old wineskins, which would burst from the fermentation.

The Pharisees next observe Jesus' disciples eating corn in the fields on the Sabbath and attack Jesus through their act.  Jesus demonstrates superior scriptural knowledge and reminds the Pharisees that David himself had suspended the rules and eaten from the bread of the Presence. Jesus clearly does not ascribe to any rules ethic where the rule always holds regardless of circumstance; he clearly sides with the act and reminds his critics that the Sabbath is for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath.

Jesus uses, it would seem, the process of civil disobedience.   He knows the law and traditions and sees in them the purpose of serving the greater needs of humankind.  He is clearly opposed to a purely legalistic keeping of laws.   In the face of the religious establishment, however, he seems clearly defiant.   It should not be overlooked that these religious leaders are indeed pious; for Jesus, though, something more than piety is necessary.  One must go beyond the mere law in meeting the contingencies of a pressing humanity.

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Last modified: December 07, 2009