This is the twenty-fifth installment, comprising Act 4.
Scene 4, chapter 9: 30-50, in the online commentary on the Gospel of Mark,
which I am blogging on throughout the liturgical year. Please see the
twenty-fourth installment here. Links to the entire series are available in
one spot at The
Complete Gospel of Mark Online Commentary.
This is my division of the Gospel:
Prologue, 1:1-13;
Act 1, 1:14-3:6;
Act 2, 3:7-6:6;
Act 3, 6:7-8:26;
Act 4, 8:27-10:52;
Act 5, 11:1-13:37;
Act 6, 14:1-16:8(20).
Scene 4
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again." 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. 33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me." 38 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." 39 But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 Whoever is not against us is for us. 41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. 42 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 44 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. , 46 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. 49 "For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." (NRSV)
Act 4, Scene 4 is a long scene, not because of descriptions of travel or
increased activity, but because it is one of the few spots in the Gospel of
Mark in which Jesus spends time substantial time teaching. This is not to say
that Mark is bereft of teaching, for instance, see the parables in chapter 4, but
in comparison with Matthew and Luke, the other Synoptic Gospels, and John for
that matter, Mark drives the action forward with physical travel, events and
change of scene rather than with in-depth teaching. Here, however, we find the
second Passion prediction, followed by Jesus instructing his disciples
privately about the significance of the prediction itself for their life as
disciples and as a community.
Jesus and his disciples moved on through Galilee and Jesus’
desire to keep their travel private has to do in this case with his private
teaching of them. This might be related to the larger theme of secrecy in the Gospel,
for as with the first Passion prediction, the issue is not Jesus’ identity but
his destiny (9:30-31). The initial teaching, so similar to the first passion
prediction is stark and straightforward,
"The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again" (9:31)
Mark presents the response of the disciples in a straightforward
and stark manner as well: “but they did not understand what he was saying and
were afraid to ask him” (9:32).
It is precisely in a scene such as this, that Mark is
drawing us as an audience deeper into Jesus’ mystery. Why are they afraid? Fear is often contrasted with faith in Mark; do they lack faith? What do the disciples not
understand? The words themselves? No, those must be clear enough to them:
betrayed; killed; rise again. It is the necessity
of these words, it is the purpose of
these words that confound them. Why must
Jesus die? Why should Jesus die? We,
too, should be asking these questions: what is the purpose and necessity of
Jesus dying? What does it mean that he will rise again? How does that fit the
messianic prophecies and understandings which the disciples share and which we
as hearers might share? How does suffering Messiah fit with transfigured
Messiah? If they did not understand the first Passion prediction it is not
because the words are so complex, it is because they cannot wrap their heads
around why the Messiah must suffer and die. This is the real Messianic Secret.
That they did not understand Jesus' teaching the first time was made
clear by the fact that Peter rejected Jesus’ revelation to them. That they did
not understand it the second time is made just as clear by their behavior on the way to Capernaum following his second
private revelation to them: “‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they
were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the
greatest” (9:33-34). Mark has structured
Jesus’ Passion predictions brilliantly, for following each one of these
revelations of divine necessity – the Messiah must suffer and die – the disciples
either reject it directly or indirectly by their behavior. What was on their
mind after Jesus told them he must suffer and die? They argued about who was
the greatest disciple. It is a human desire to be great and the way one is
great is manifested through power, wealth, intellect, brilliance, honor, esteem…
Jesus, however, is teaching them, and us, another way. It is
a private teaching – Jesus alone amongst “the twelve” – but Mark invites us to
listen:
"Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me" (9:35-37).
Jesus eschews power, wealth, intellect, brilliance, honor,
esteem, all these things that bring human praise and success, and says that
whoever will be first will “be last of all and servant of all” (9:35). It is a
child who serves as a model for such smallness and for servant hood. This is
not because children were not loved amongst the Jewish people, they certainly
were, but that children were not recipients of honor, praise or worthy of
acclaim; they were incipient adults, who when they reached the age of majority
could take on the responsibilities that would bring acclaim and praise. (See my
book Let the Little Children Come to Me for more on the role and place of children in the ancient Jewish and Greco-Roman
worlds.) The child, however, is not only the model for the disciple, but the
model for whom the disciple must welcome into their midst, into the Church.
To welcome a child is to welcome Jesus himself; to welcome
Jesus is to welcome God in their midst. Again, it is not that children were
unwelcome as such, but for disciples of the Messiah, great men, prestige comes
from welcoming other great men, or besting them in argument, or boasting that
the Messiah had chosen you to be a part of the inner circle. Welcoming a child
offers no prestige, no honor, no wealth, no accolades; all that welcoming a child offers is…well, what does it offer? A
child is vulnerable, weak, naïve, trusting, impressionable, helpless. A child
offers nothing but the knowledge that you have cared for one who is helpless,
that you have offered love to one in need. But, Jesus says, this is the way of
my disciples and in helping the weakest amongst you you are welcoming me and
the one who sent me (9:37).
Do the disciples understand? (Do you understand? Mark is asking.) Apparently not, for the first
question has to do with maintaining the prestige and role of the disciples. John, we must
suspect that this is John who was witness to the Transfiguration, responds to Jesus
in this manner:
“Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”
Their prestige has been damaged in two ways. Whoever was casting
out demons was not a chosen member of Jesus’ disciples, the Twelve, but also
Mark has slyly demonstrated the weakness of Jesus’ own disciples in Act 4,Scene 3, when they were unable to cast out a spirit from a boy. Yet, here,
someone who was not an “official” member of Jesus’ entourage was able to cast
out demons. Jesus tells John not to worry about it, for “whoever is not against
us is for us” (9:40). And as we have just learned: to aid those in need is to
aid Jesus; and to aid Jesus is to reveal his Father. Those who battle evil are
on the side of God. Those who aid the disciples of Jesus - “whoever gives you a cup of water to drink
because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward” (9:41) - are
aiding Jesus’ mission.
This whole interpolation (9:38-41) practically interrupts
the discussion of children, which will be taken up again in 9:42, but in fact shines a light on how little the disciples
truly understand Jesus’ mission. John interrupts Jesus’ teaching not to inquire
of its meaning, but to cement his own prestige and honor. Enough, he seems to
be saying, of this suffer and die, and welcoming children; tell us, who is the
greatest amongst us and could you stop the riff-raff from doing deeds of power
which we have been sent out to perform?
The last of Jesus’ teaching takes us back to the “little
ones,” which I believe refers in the first instance to the children whom Jesus
has mentioned and in the second instance, and by extension, to anyone in need,
anyone who lacks the power, wealth, honor and prestige necessary to care for
themselves. Jesus’ warnings about their mission are blunt. If the leaders of
the Church, the Twelve, skandalizo,
scandalize, “put a stumbling block,
cause to fall away or lose trust,” one of the “little ones” who follow Jesus,
it would be better that they were dead (9:42-48). That simple. Jesus
gives a number of examples of how it is better to lose material well-being, a
part of the human body, even this human life, than to lose one’s eternal
reward. And this reward, especially for the leaders of Jesus’ Church, is seen
in how they treat the smallest and weakest amongst them. The last two verses
suggest that all will go through a trial at the end of time (“salted with fire”:
9:49) and if one remains faithful to Jesus’ mission – in Act 4, Scene 4 this is
outlined as being one of the little ones and aiding those who are the little
ones, including children – there will be a reward. But if if you go astray from
Jesus’ mission – if “salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?”
(9:50) - you might find yourselves
asking over and over again: who is the greatest? Jesus warns them once again, “have
salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” (9:50), which I interpret as “follow me and do not strive for what the world sees as greatness or
success.” Only this will bring peace. Do they all understand? Do we?
John W. Martens
Follow me on Twitter @BibleJunkies
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