Leper: Page 3.10-21:
Observations:- Clean 3x cleansing 1x, connects back to unclean man/spirit in synagogue; desolate place 1x connects back to John, temptation, Jesus in prayer;
- Second story in a row about a man with desires in conflict with Jesus: Peter above, leper’s public story; First instance of human defiance of Jesus’ authority; Jesus’ expressed desire ‘to go on to the next towns…’ is thwarted by the leper’s public storytelling;
- Jesus’ emotion and motivation is noted: pity>compassion; man seems not to doubt Jesus ability, but Jesus’ will;
- Jesus physically touched the leper – connection to Peter’s mother-in-law; leprosy ‘left him immediately’ – link to immediacy; When Jesus touches unclean, the unclean becomes clean, rather than the clean becoming dirty;
- Jesus ‘sternly charged’ the man to observe Moses’ commands for cleansing; the reason: ‘a proof to them’: the priest.
- The lepers free talking prevented Jesus from entering towns, but people instead came to him in the wilderness ‘from every quarter’; link back to John: came from ‘all Judea, Jerusalem’
- What is leprosy and its consequences? Cf various OT references, esp Leviticus; current practice: excluded from community until proven to be cured of disease; see Lv 14.1-32 for description of cleansing ceremony. In his book Hawaii Michener tells a moving story of the leper colony of Hawaii in the 1900’s, the unbelievable suffering, isolation on a desolate peninsula, social ostratization, and the heroic sacrifice of those who gave their lives to serve these cast-out.
- Jesus authority: efficacious so far in Mark over people (4 disciples), scripture, unclean spirits, sickness, leprosy: but restrained in terms of human will: the leper is commanded, but not compelled
- Jesus’ is willing to free the man from his suffering, and also from his emotional and social suffering: he touches the leper to demonstrate his compassion, and charges him to fully reintegrate into society by accepting that society’s established method of formal cleansing:
- Hermeneutical leap: who are the lepers of today: those excluded from ‘normal’ life, existing in marginalized and despised settings, blamed and loathed both by society, and by themselves?
- Jesus is willing and able to cleanse and restore those most hideously disfigured by the fruits of evil
- Can you identify with the leper’s feeling: you are so unclean that you doubt Jesus would want anything to do with you? What does it mean to you that Jesus is not only willing to free you, but will personally touch you, and help you reconnect with your community?
- Who are the ‘lepers’ here in Chico? In your personal hierarchy of values? Would Jesus ask us, as a way of practicing externally focused ministry, to extend his pity and compassion to these folks? What is a practical way we could actually touch the ‘lepers’ of Chico?
Four Faithful Friends: Page 3.21-4.12
Observations:- Sins 4x; forgive 4x link back to John’s sermon page 1; questioning 3x; authority 1x links back to ‘new teaching w/ authority; scribes 1x but linked back also to teaching w/ authority ‘not as the scribes’
- Jesus back in Capernaum; again great crowds
- Jesus has returned to his stated goal: preaching in the towns; preaching repeated in 3.8, links back to page 1 proclaiming the kingdom
- 4 friends, going to extraordinary lengths, precipitate momentous events: Jesus’ declaration of God-specific authority; their friends spiritual forgiveness and physical restoration; initial questioning by the scribes, and eventual rejection of Jesus by the religious, and of Jerusalem and the temple by Jesus
- Jesus specifically claims the authority to forgive sins and performs a miracle to validate that claim
- First references to: preaching the ‘word’ – prep for parable of sower; Son of man, faith, God glorified by Jesus’ miracle/teaching/preaching;
- The scribes ask the right question, and have the correct answer: only God can forgive sins
- This is the first reference in Mark to the emerging conflict between Jesus and Jewish religious leadership; this comes to a preliminary head in 3.6 where the Pharisees and Herodias initiate a murder conspiracy, ultimately with the crowds, agitated by the religious leaders, demand Jesus’ crucifixion; this marks the beginning of a major theme in Mark: conflict between J and religious
- What is sin/s?
- Who are the scribes?
- Why does Jesus (or Mark) choose this moment to claim authority to forgive sins? He must know how the religious leaders will react; for some reason Jesus, or at least Mark in his narrative ordering of the events of Jesus life, chose this time to introduce the conflict that will eventuate in Jesus’ murder.
- Using this text alone, how would Mark define faith?
- Is community based: 5 people; results are public: man walks, God glorified, opposition
- Is Jesus-focused
- Involves physical activity: carried paralytic, removed roof, lowered
- Jesus sees and responds to this type of faith in unanticipated and amazing ways that include personal benefits, proclamation of the kingdom, and resistance
- Does this physical healing authentic Jesus’ claim of authority?
- Why does Mark link paralysis with sin? Can we make a hermeneutical leap here: sin causes emotional/physical paralysis today? In her commentary Morna Hooker describes a case of physical paralysis linked to feelings of extreme guilt; this is not to minimize or explain away Jesus’ power in healing, but does open interesting application opportunities.
- Questioning is not bad in itself: Jesus invites reflection; but rejection of Jesus’ claims about himself has inevitable consequences: cf the religious leaders sincerely focused on purity before a holy God, end up as murder conspirators based on the results of their questioning.
- How are you responding to Jesus’ claim that you are sinful, and he can and will forgive your sins?
- Do you have a paralyzed friend, either physically of spiritually? What extraordinary steps are you willing to take to get your friend in front of Jesus? What other friends can help you?
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