It just ain’t happening ... (Part 5 - of 12) ...

It just ain’t happening ... (Part 5 - of 12) ... faithfulness, wisdom, & prayer...when the miracles don’t come. Mark ch9v14-29 (to open in a new window, hold control down as you click the link)

The Plot & Narrative Context:

The more immediate back-story here (Mk 8:27-9:32) seems to involve Jesus trying to break the strong (Imperial) cultural understanding that "Leadership = ruling with power”. Jesus has kept this attack on cherished values & understandings until the appropriate time. It is only after Peter announces that he thinks Jesus is God’s Messiah that Jesus attacks this presupposition & attempts to bring to Peter & the other disciples the idea that God’s ultimate leader (the Messiah) was going to lead the WAY in suffering service of those under his charge. Peter doesn’t listen to Jesus, instead he listens to his cultural mores & presuppositions. Jesus responds strongly to Peter’s unbelieving response, with the effect of “breaking down that strong-hold”, then calls all his disciples together to make sure they understand he is outlining the antithetical paradigm of his kingdom. A very different “rejected, suffering, dying, rising”  - Messianic way. He spells this out as the same WAY for all his disciples, and he goes on to say ... “I tell you, there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power.”^[1]  Then Mark continues, that (within a week) “six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain, where they were alone...” (Mark9:2); & Matthew’s story (Matt 16:13-17:23) says almost the same at this point, word for word^[2]. A number of times it happens that Matthew or Luke, explain a conundrum Mark has maintained in his written rendition of this spoken gospel. In this case Luke’s rendition (Lk 9:18-9:45) has essentially the same words but with one small omission^[3] & one small and for our purposes very interesting variation: instead of saying “where they were alone”, as Mark & Matthew do, Luke says they went up a mountain/hill “to pray”. Then he explains (what is in italics) further that it was “While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white…. ³² Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus' glory and the two men who were standing with him.”

Luke tells us also, that Peter, James & John fell asleep. Sounds familiar? - to an incident that Mark does record later (Mk 14:26,32-42), where Jesus repeatedly prays on, & the same three repeatedly sleep on … There is only so much room in a manuscript (& nowadays Assignment tasks have word-limits, lounge-room meetings don’t have unlimited time)...

Was Mark wanting to entice people to see that if his disciples went up a high mountain alone with Jesus, of course they’d (well, he’d) be praying. Maybe he wanted them to think about, & … (as Peter used to come to Jesus after his stories) come and ask him later, something like: … “What does Jesus think about prayer?”, “When did Jesus pray?” or “How did Jesus pray?”^[4].

As for the two men with him, Moses & Elijah.. remember that it was Moses who went up a mountain/hill next to a battlefield [Exodus 17:8-16] to hold up the rod of God (a gesture that may be seen as indicative to the Jewish mind-set of “prayer”) - with the help of Hur & Aaron, while Joshua was leading the people of God to victory in a fight against the Amalekites. Although prayer is not even mentioned in this story, it is similarly hinted at by the lifting of hands unto God in the heavens. Their “prayer” may seem irrelevant & unrelated, but this OT story is told in such a way that we come to see that somehow it enabled the battle to be won (or not) by the people of God, it was actually the power-house^[5]. And now, here’s Jesus up a mountain along with that same  Moses. We don’t get from Mark’s account that they were praying (unless we follow our curiosity & ask, & recall from the story already, & look ...in Luke, or unless we were to understand that little phrase “to be alone” as a euphemism related to prayer: “alone”, “in private”, or “away from people” (which is consistent with other teaching Jesus gave on prayer [Matt6:5-7] - to go away alone to pray). Elijah^[6], also models both “all alone” prayer, and models a “pray and not give up” kind of prayer in a difficult situation that looks like failure, when things have gone wrong. He was probably followed by his disciple Elisha^[7], & this may have been in the mind of Jesus later in the garden, Peter^[8] in Judea, & the apostle Paul regarding his “thorn in the flesh”^[9]. And it may have been another clue for the disciples (later on) as they considered the way forward through the difficulties involved in a life of following Jesus^[10]. Luke also tells us he was discussing with Moses & Elijah “his exodus”..

Is Mark baiting/ hiding/ covering? I think he is. As one who wraps a present for someone they love, not because they don’t want them to ever see it, or remember it as a present from someone who loved them, but because they want to heighten their enjoyment & make it more memorable. In Jesus’ words (as recorded by Mark): “Whatever is hidden is meant to be revealed, whatever is covered up is meant to be brought out into the open”^[11].

It gets even more interesting when we read Matthew's account of the same pericope. ...[to be continued (t.b.c.)]..


 

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^[1] “with power” - - a power directed not against God’s own children, but against God’s own enemy cf. Paul's admonition which, as I see it, could also well be made in the light of this (and other) pericope: “Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power. Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks. .. Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people.” (Eph6:10-20)

^[2]except that Matthew renders Mark’s words “Kingdom of God come with power” as “Son of Man come as King”, as it appears to me, explaining the more obscure, “salty”, or baiting words of Mark.

^[3]Luke says  “I assure you that there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Kingdom of God.” thus omitting the words “come with power” that Mark uses.

^[4] Once we see this, we see that after this story Mark again raises the issue of prayer throughout his gospel story not just once, but repeatedly: e.g. Mark 11:22-26; 12:38-40; 13:18-20, 28-33, 35-37; 14:26,32-42, and it is often related to faith/ faithfulness. See also Appendix 1.

^[5] Interestingly, this story in Exodus ends with a special comment from God for Moses to pass a reminder of this battle on to Joshua (which was actually Jesus' name), vs. 14, that God will certainly destroy the Amalekites (“Nur Masalha, Elliot Horowitz and Josef Stern suggest that Amalekites have come to represent an "eternally irreconcilable enemy" that wants to destroy [God's people]”.[12])

^[6]1Kings 17:18-23

^[7] 2 Kings 4:28-36

^[8] Acts 9:39-41

^[9] 2 Cor 12:7-9

^[10] Ephesians 6:18-20

^[11] Mark 4:21-25

 

FAITHFUL OR FEARFUL

We used to have a border-collie dog called "Lina" who was at times quite snarly to those she didn't know. We could recognize in her that she was scared of them, and her hackles were the "fight" response that was triggered by her fear. She has helped me learn some important lessons about the times I am less than friendly (even if just in my feelings world) towards my neighbour human beings who place demands on me, simply by living in God's world, where he put them.


My God I'll rest in your good leadership
(but I still stray so quickly from your pack)
I want for all I give, in "life" & "lip",
to work for your good purposes. Your whack

I see, could be the thing we really need;
or else a nip from others in our teams.
My thin-skinned sensitivity would feed
a cowering cur instead of what it seems

that ONE MAN was, who learned obedience
from what he suffered while on this old Earth.
As once my child ran to me for some spanks
I'll run to you, who are my own by birth.







God, please help me to rest in your overall leadership, so I don't feel like I've got to do apart from you, what I can only do with you.

Oh, WITH HIM, nothing shall be impossible!

"In the Name of the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit, Geronimo!"    

It just ain’t happening ... (Part 4 - of 12) ... listening between the lines

It just ain’t happening ... (Part 4 - of 12) ... faithfulness, wisdom, & prayer...when the miracles don’t come. Mark ch9v14-29 (to open in a new window, hold control down as you click the link)

One recent publication that was trying to understand the storytelling nature of the Gospel of Mark, has noted in their latest edition: “Recent New Testament research has recognized that first century Mediterranean societies were predominantly oral/aural cultures in which probably no more than three to five percent of the people were able to read or write. So, for the people of the time, the Gospel of Mark was the oral performance they experienced. ..the stories were told in lively and meaningful ways. Mark was also performed in this way we assume by committed followers of Jesus using all their best story-telling skills to enable others to hear about Jesus, to understand the presence of the rule of God, and to become people who follow Jesus in spite of opposition and risk… As such the written text of the Gospel of Mark functioned as a script for Storytelling, much as a script functions for a play or sheet music for a musical performance.^[1]

I think Mark is here following (Peter, following) Jesus’ example, in whetting our appetite to want to follow Jesus - in his prayer life. Mark has already told us that ..

Jesus has been praying, so far in the story..

Firstly, after large-scale acceptance, casting out demons & healing “the whole town” of Capernaum^[2], Jesus disappeared “before sunrise, off to a lonely place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35-39), and after this we see Jesus having a clear sense of purpose & definite direction, rather than the becoming a slave to fame.

Secondly, Jesus suggests to his worn-out disciples after an intense time of mission – (throwing out demons & healing diseases): “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest a while” and then “they started out in a boat by themselves to a lonely place”. He there extends their commission from a) heralding the news of their emperor's rule (the euangelion), b) throwing out demons, & c) anointing people with oil & healing them, to now also include d) feeding those in need whom God sends to them. They baulk at it, Jesus involves the twelve anyway in feeding the crowd of about 5,000 people, with 5 loaves & 2 fish. Then he says goodbye to the people, sets the disciples rowing home to listen & learn from that episode, & then spends the night “alone” up a hill – praying, until about 3am (Mark 6:30-32; 45-48), when he shows them an even further revelation of God's capacity to enable obedience in pressured situations (by walking on water towards the other side of the lake).

Thirdly, Mark is the only one to tell us a story about another deaf-mute (that may in fact be alluded to in the Epistle to the Romans). When people brought him, as a grown man, to Jesus asking Jesus to do the expected Rabbi thing, to “place his hands on him”, Jesus did something strange… Mark says;  “ So Jesus took him off alone, away from the crowd, put his fingers in the man's ears, spat, and touched the man's tongue. Then Jesus looked up to heaven, gave a deep groan^[3], and said to the man, “Ephphatha”, which means, “Open up!” At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble. Then Jesus ordered the people not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he ordered them not to, the more they told it. And all who heard were completely amazed. “How well he does everything!” they exclaimed. “He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!” (Mark 7:31-37). Another mention of people being amazed, but no mention of a demon here, or even of the word prayer, but Mark opens up the way for us to see in Jesus a deep empathy and the kind of spirit who himself pleads with God for those brought to him, in groans that their own words cannot express^[4]. Then the authoritative command. The crowd’s amazement at the deaf made to hear & the dumb speaking may indicate to us something of their  cultural un-expectation of God doing these things.

And now in the wake of these, this “incidental” reference… to prayer (being the only way this kind can be overcome), after he throws out a tricky^[5] demon, that has been the nemesis of his disciples.

I think that Mark (following Peter, following Jesus) was learning how to use the remez (or hint) as applied to another audience than Galileean Hebrews. He was at least baiting his readers/listeners (like a good ‘fisher for people’), maybe also giving them clues (or, maybe many would have understood at that time & in that culture), especially in the wake of Jesus’ teaching on prayer^[6]. In this way a number of Mark’s descriptions of solitude, small references which may appear to us quite oblique^[7] may function as euphemisms for prayer^[8]. At least this passing comment about prayer (from Jesus at first, then subsequently from the teller/writer/public-reader/orator of “Mark's Gospel”) might have elicited some questions later in the evening (as Mark tells us often happened with Jesus’ storytelling methods [Mark 4:10; 33-34]) and the clues were there in the story, not to “tell”, but to “show”; maybe not even so much  to “show” as to “hint at” the answer.. (which for all I know may even have been that Jesus was praying every time he was alone, or talking with a few good friends, or on a hill, or in a house or…)

If when Jesus went “to a deserted place” he was praying, & when he went up a hill “to be on his own” he was praying, and when he took a man “off alone, away from the crowd”, he then “looked up to heaven, and gave a deep groan^[9]”; then maybe if he were to take his three lead disciples up a mountain “to be alone”, it would be in order to … pray? ^[10]

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^[1] Mark as Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel (Third Edition) by David Rhoads, Joanna Dewey, & Donald Michie. Published by Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2012, p.2.

^[2] Mark 1:21,29,32-34

^[3] cf Ps 123; & Lk 18:13 (it sounds like according to Jesus, in his story on prayer, the tax collector’s shame was all that stopped him doing what he would have otherwise done rightly )

^[4] See Romans 8:26 for the Apostle Paul’s commentary (possibly corollaries from meditating this pericope) on the way the spirit of this Christ works on the behalf of other deaf/dumb members of Gods’ creation.

^[5] Tricksy: Literalistic, confident, “smart-alec”

^[6] e.g.Matt6:1,5-6. Note Mark is NOT compiling Jesus’ teaching (cf. Papias), so much as illustrating it.

^[7] e.g. might it not be possible that Mark is using (either because it would have been natively understood, or because he wanted to initiate his hearers into) various euphemisms for “prayed”: “went to a remote place”, “retired on his own”, “travelled only with his disciples”, “was in a deserted place”; as with Jewish euphemisms for prayer: “I lift my hands up..” (+see paragraph below on Moses & Elijah) See Appendix 1 for some of the evidence for this.

^[8] See Appendix 1 for a list of some cases of this that may back up this case for Mark using a euphemism for prayer.

^[9] cf Ps 123; & Lk 18:13 (it sounds like according to Jesus, in his story on prayer, the tax collector’s shame was all that stopped him doing what he would have otherwise done rightly )

^[10] For a poetic response to such praying as Jesus shows us; appreciated through story: http://the-euangelion.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/look-at-jesus-then-more-respond-to-his.html