Team 6, Question 2

Posted on by under matthew

Both Matthew 8:1-4 and Mark 1:40-45 present the story of Jesus healing a leper. However, Mark and Matthew describe this event differently: it is obvious that the story in the Gospel of Matthew is much shorter than it is in the Gospel of Mark, therefore, it’s easy to recognize how Matthew’s redaction of the Gospel of Mark shows the tendency of abbreviation. I also discovered that this specific story in Matthew offers an “improved” image of Jesus: notice the verse Mark 1:41: “Moved with pity…” and its footnote “e”: “other ancient authorities read anger” –it is not hard to see that Mark’s description of Jesus’ reaction here might cause unnecessary confusion: why would Jesus feel angry when the leper asks for a healing miracle? On the other hand, Matthew 8:3 simply did not include Jesus’ reaction whatsoever. This is one of many changes in the Gospel of Matthew which provides the readers a transformed characteristic of Jesus. Similarly, the description of Jesus’ calming the storm in both Matthew 8:23-27 and Mark 4:35-41 shows the same tendencies: Matthew’s version of the story is much more concentrated and abbreviated, it also shows an improvement of writing style as well as the transformation of Jesus’ characteristic. For example, in Mark 4:38, the disciples are described to approach Jesus with the question: “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?”(4:38) This attitude is completely transformed in the Gospel of Matthew: “Save, Lord; we are perishing.”(8:25) This is to say that the disciples in the Gospel of Matthew have a clearer understanding of Jesus’ identity than they are described in the Gospel of Mark. This transformation also elevates Jesus’ identity from “teacher” to the “Lord”.

The story of Jairus’ daughter and the woman’s faith presented in Matthew 9:18-26 is also a serious transformation of the story presented in Mark 5:21-43. It is not difficult to see how Mark’s version of the story contains many details and how Matthew’s version of the story is much more abbreviated and less detailed. There are several important concepts that are worth paying attention to: 1) the healing of the woman, 2) the moment Jesus realizes the woman has touched His garment, 3) the moment Jesus faces the woman, 4) the appearance of the person from the ruler’s house. In the Gospel of Mark, the healing of the woman occurs instantly when she touches Jesus’ garment: “And immediately the hemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.”(5:29) Jesus realizes someone has touched His garment by “perceiving in himself that power had gone forth from him,”(5:30) then after Jesus questions about the person who touched His garment, the woman “came in fear and trembling and fell down before him, told him the whole truth.”(5:33)  This scene is completely different in the Gospel of Matthew: after knowing someone has touched His garment, Jesus simply turns and heals the woman by saying “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.”(9:22) Notice that the woman is healed not by touching Jesus’ garment but by Jesus’ words. These changes in the Gospel of Matthew place emphasis on Jesus’ divine healing power in order to provide a new and “improved” image of Jesus as the Son of God.

The appearance of the person from Jairus’ house (Mark 5:35) is not recorded in the Gospel of Matthew–this also shows us how Matthew emphasize people’s faith and their proper understanding of Jesus’ identity.

Even though Jesus performs healing miracles to variety of people, most of the objects of Jesus’ healings are often people of lower social class, presumably the ones that are generally considered “weak”(disabled, women, children, etc.) These miracles mirrors the teachings Jesus delivered in the Sermon of the Mount and also provide concrete examples for understanding the concept of social and metaphysical values which Jesus proclaims in the Sermon of the Mount.

Matthew put emphasis on the resemblance between Jesus and Moses by listing ten miracles in Matthew 8-9 in comparison to the ten miracles Moses performed, which are described in Exodus 5-12. This comparison not only serve the purpose of giving Jesus credibility as well as validating Jesus’ authority, it also serves the purpose of proclaiming the good news of salvation: the ten miracles Moses performed was for the purpose of freeing Israelites from the slavery in Egypt: this is a form of salvation. On the other hand, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ ten miracles imply a much more elevated Salvation: the eternal Salvation. The parallelism being: Moses brought his people out of Egypt and freed Israelites from slavery and Jesus is able to bring salvation to the people and free us from being slaves of sin.

Team 1, Question 1

Posted on by under matthew

This week, we saw Matthew making some decisive shifts from the Gospel of Mark. Where Mark’s core themes were misunderstanding and secrecy, with Jesus’ value being placed almost solely on the crucifixion, Matthew’s gospel focuses on Jesus’ role as a teacher, with, “…themes of following and discipleship…”(White 301) being at the core of his words and deeds. Probably one of the most noticeable examples of this new role is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Towards the beginning of the Sermon, Jesus takes a strong position on the Jewish law, which was based on the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses for Israel. He says that the law is a good thing that He was sent to uphold and fulfill, rather than eradicate (Mt. 5:17-19). In fact, Jesus “extends” the ruling of the law by saying that those who are guilty of anger or insulting someone else is accountable to the law, just as they are for murder, which essentially equates the misdeeds (5:21-26). Putting it simply, instead of saying, “Thou shalt not murder,” like Moses, he is saying, “thou shalt not murder, insult, or anger (because they’re basically the same!).” He treats lust and adultery in the same fashion, again drawing a strict parallel (5:27-30), and saying that divorce causes adultery through the remarriage of spouses (5:31-32). Going further, Jesus speaks out against the social norms of the day, especially with his words against revenge and hatred (5:38-48). With this section, Matthew has Jesus essentially “re-giving” Moses’ Ten Commandments to strengthen the connection between the two that our author first established during the birth narrative (2:1-23) by drawing distinct parallels (especially with the slaughter of the children by King Herod and travel to/from Egypt). Matthew seeks to reframe Jesus as a “new Moses”, set to lead Israel out of their current situation, just as Moses led Israel out of Egypt.

After renovating the Jewish Law, Jesus teaches on the behavior of true disciples/ followers. First, Jesus’ followers should be pious, never seeking attention by being loud or flashy when they are tithing, praying, or fasting (6:2-18). Jesus then teaches that His followers should live in a different way—faithfully. Followers should devote their lives to one master, God, (6:24) not stock up on material wealth (6:19-21), and avoid worrying about even the minute details of life (6:25-34). Jesus is essentially telling his followers to not protect themselves financially, spiritually, etc. in the way that was common even today. Instead, He preaches that those Earthly protections are nothing when compared to faith in God’s generous and providing nature. Jesus asks His follower’s to kick more social norms to the curb when he teaches to not judge (7:1-5), communicate with and ask God for what you want/need to receive instead of going through a priest, as was common in the Jewish faith (7:7-11), and: “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you…” live by the Golden Rule (7:12)!

The blessings section (5:3-12) serves to align Jesus with the side of those who are kicked by society—those who are, “…poor in spirit…those who mourn…meek…hunger and thirst…persecuted…reviled…” For all of these people whom Jesus describes through circumstances of suffering, their reward is high; they will see and receive God and heaven and will be given blessings from God while on Earth. In closing warnings/exhortations, Jesus continues this theme, saying, “…the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction….For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life…” (7:13-14). Jesus is saying here that the wrong gate is easy to pass through. Keep in mind that those He is siding with live REALLY HARD lives; they get life in the end!

This all makes sense when given the information that Matthew wrote his gospel in a time of revolt, when Jews were aligning themselves with the stricter laws that governed the Jewish leaders and, “…the followers of Jesus [were] being marginalized” (White 304). Matthew is basically pleading with the followers of the Jesus movement, saying, “Don’t switch sides! We win in the end!” That would explain why Matthew was so concerned with framing the image of the Jesus follower as one who suffers.

Team 3 Question 1

Posted on by under mark

Traditional Jewish depiction of the messiah were more or less viewed to be a figure of divinity, royalty, a symbol of the Davidic dynasty. Translated as the “anointed one”, usually a king, represented “Gods adopted son” who is signified by an act of anointing to symbolize an outpouring of God’s spirit. First century apocalyptic writings include predictions of the coming messiah as a political deliver who would restore the nation of Israel. Transitioning to the creation of Mark, the gospel opens up with the story of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus which ends with a heavenly voice coming from the heavens proclaiming Jesus is the Son of God. The baptism and descent of the spirit constitute his anointing following the messianic symbolism of the David dynasty. Through the gospel of Mark Jesus is portrayed as a suffering servant that surrounds himself with common folk, women, thieves, children, and the sick performing numerous miracles. Mark 10:45 says “For the Son of Man come not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many”. This version a messiah is unlike the king-like Messiah depicted in the Old Testament and in Jewish tradition.

Going off the repetition of the Jesus message in this section of Mark, it seems as if the people of God, disciples, and others didn’t fully understand what was meant by the coming of a new age and the kingdom of God. Jesus lays down criteria to gain entrance into the kingdom of God and states “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible (Mk 10:27)”. In other words, Jesus is saying that any followers of Christ are welcome into the kingdom of God.

Mark 10:46-52 tells the miracle story of when Jesus immediately healed the blindness of a beggar on the side of the road. The meaning behind this story represents the blindness of the disciples to the good news and arrival of their messiah. Jesus is trying to convey that the kingdom of God is open to anyone who will “get up” and follow him. The disciples continue to not understand who Jesus is as never once refer to him as the “Son of God” one time in Mark. Instead they address him as teacher, as if he is a prophet, or a Son of David.

Team 6 Question 2

Posted on by under mark

Throughout the entire Gospel of Mark, the disciples are shown not understanding the messages that Jesus tells them. In Mark 4:41 the disciples are very shaky with their faith during the storm until Jesus strengthens it to the point of them saying, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” In Mark 6:12-13 it seems that Jesus feels the disciples understand his teachings enough to send them out on a mission to spread the word. This is a big step for the disciples in their journey because in earlier stories they cannot understand the message of Jesus. The disciples take a step back in Mark 6:51-52 when on a boat they think they see a ghost walking on water. The end of verse 52 says that the disciples did not understand the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. In Mark 7:17-18 the disciples are still confused by a parable Jesus told and ask him to explain it once again. This shows that the disciples still cannot completely understand Jesus as this point. All of these stories show that the disciples are making progress in their faith, but they still have to learn a great deal. Jesus understands this and realizes he has to continue to teach them before he leaves them.

The story of the blind man Bartimaeus is very different than all of the other healing stories in the gospel. When Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is coming he cries out with all his might to see him despite protests from other people around him. When Jesus gets over to him, Jesus tells him that his faith has healed him. This is different than the other healings of Jesus because he never stared intently or touched Bartimaeus in any way. The disciples would have been watching this even though they probably would not have understood. The unnamed woman in Mark 14:3-9 pours very expensive ointment over the head of Jesus. Witnesses of this event take protest saying that she should have sold the ointment and given the money to the poor. Jesus says that the poor will always be around but he will not be, and that she was preparing his body for burial. It seems that the woman understands the path that Jesus has to take going forward better than the disciples did, as she was helping to prepare his martyrdom.

The parable of the sower is a parable that explains how different people receive the word of Jesus. I would put the disciples in the category of the ones sown on good soil. Verse 20 says, “And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” I would put them in this category because Jesus planted their faith in him. Even though the disciples struggled to understand the message at first, Jesus was able to give them a good foundation to go spread the word. And after the death of Jesus the disciples spread out to preach to different communities and started the religion. I would also put Bartimaeus and the unnamed woman in this category because they seem to have a fundamental understanding of what Jesus was preaching.

In Mark discipleship seems to mean following and listening to increase your understanding of the teachings. Even though the disciples of Jesus are witnessing him every day, it still took them a long time to fully understand the message. Jesus hand picked these twelve disciples because he knew they would eventually understand the message and go on to spread the good news to all corners of the Earth.

Team 2 Question 1

Posted on by under mark

The gospel writers were biblical scholars, so it is not surprising that the gospels use inclusio or “sandwiching” a key story within a larger parable. Jesus’ miracles in Mark 8:22-26 and 10:46-52 both have meaning and purpose but also function in the larger context. Both of these miracles involve Jesus curing a man of blindness and served to improve the disciples’ understanding of whom Jesus was. The surrounding text also has important meaning though, because this is where peter misunderstands who Jesus is. The healing of the blind man at Bethsadia, came immediately after the boat scene in which Jesus chastises the disciples for lack of understanding. The miracle serves as a set-up for peters dialogue with Jesus. It is clear that peter has some inclination to whom Jesus really is, however his rebuke that Jesus shouldn’t have to die, shows his understanding is incomplete (8:29). It is clarified further in Jesus miracle in 10:46-52, where a blind beggar called him son of David. This is the root of everyone’s misunderstanding, because they see Jesus as a Jewish prophet or messiah, not Son of God or Son of Man. It is presumed that because of the prevalence of past prophets, the people of this time expected him to be similar. the two miracles involving curing blindness, and their position in the text can be taken as symbolism for the disciples, or specifically peters, blindness. Past prophets such as Elijah or David did not show benevolence and divine power towards all.
Jesus’ benevolence is the key shift he’s trying to convey about the people of God and the kingdom. Political Judaism exclusionary foundations and maintained them through rules and rituals. However through these passages (9:33-37; 9:38-41; 9:42-48; 10:13-16; 10:17-31; 10:41-45) Jesus keeps reminding everyone that through belief in him all will be welcomed. But Jesus seems to be hammering this idea in them, because everyone at the time, including his disciples were heard headed. In 10:17-31, a man asked Jesus if he follows all of the commandments his whole life does that make him good? When Jesus obviously responds no one is good except God, he further asks what more he could do. Jesus has to specify to give all his possessions to the poor, and that money is directly in the way of the people entering the kingdom of heaven (10:23). He is so adamant about this because the conevntional norm was wealth acquisition was unequivocally good and had nothing to do with entering the kingdom of heaven because most of their prophets and role models were kings.

Team 3: Question 1

Posted on by under mark

Two miracle stories in Mark act as bookends which work to provide insight into Mark’s view of Jesus. This Jesus is different from the Jesus that was understood by the disciples previously. This starts with Jesus healing a blind man and ends with him healing a different blind man. Mark is giving us an important view into the identity of Jesus. Mark uses this inclusio, and the verses between, as an attempt to reveal who Jesus really is. He is not a just a Messiah, nor just a “Son of Man” or even “Son of God”, but is all of these. Mark’s representation of Jesus’ in chapters 8-10 in which his suffering is made apparent, paints Jesus as the antithesis of the traditional Jewish and Roman view of “Sons of Gods” or “Divine Men”.

The inclusio here is depicting Jesus as different from other divine men. This is done in a number of ways. Mark’s narrative of Jesus in this section records instances of passion predictions and miracles, yet it is written that Jesus wanted the witnesses to keep quiet. Mark’s readers are therefore guided to understand the true identity of Christ as a new age Messiah.

The first miracle of the inclusio is said by some scholars to be a metaphor for the way that disciples and other persons in the Gospel of Mark see Jesus. They partially understand who he is, but not completely. In 8:22, a man is healed (not fully) by Jesus when Jesus spits in his eyes. Then he is fully healed when Jesus covers his eyes a second time. White argues that this is an allegory about how the disciples misunderstand Jesus as Messiah. They can only see parts of Christ, but not him in his entirety.

Mark proceeds to move through several verses in which explain the “true nature” of Jesus as a new messiah. Mark depicts this new messiah as being different from Roman and Jewish tradition. Mark’s Jesus is only fully understood by certain characters in the story — frequently women.  These people are then rewarded by Christ as “models of faith” (White). He delights in the women in the story who show examples of unfaltering service and faith. Jesus defends the woman who washes his feet with oil — then — rebukes his doubting disciples.Whereas those in positions of power seem to only see parts of Jesus’ identity, never truly understanding who he is.

Marks passages ultimately help the reader to see a different picture of Jesus and what he is commanding. In 9:34-37 Jesus challenges the views of servants, and children by saying that the last will become first and that those who welcome children are welcoming God, too. This leads up to the last verse in Mark’s inclusio where another blind man is healed but this time Jesus says ” Go; your faith has made you well.” The Bible states that immediately the man regained his sight and followed him.

Throughout this passage, Jesus continuously rewards the faith of those he heals. Mark is creating a narrative in that not only is there a new Messiah, but the good news that Jesus comes to bring is that faith in him will not go without reward. It is written that Jesus’ rewards are available to the very bottom of society: gentiles, women, and children, homeless, etc. It appears that this may even be the focus and that the low-end of society receives Jesus and what he offers more easily than other members of society. Jesus has come to save the sick, poor, and marginalized as well as teach others to do the same. Ultimately Mark is depicting Jesus as a humble servant rather than a king — as many of the jews may have expected — or an almighty God as the Romans might have expected. Mark therein directs the audience to the conclusion that Jesus was more or less misunderstood.

Team 1: Question 1

Posted on by under mark

           The classic image of the messiah is a wise man who was known and loved by all. He was expected to be and earthly king from the line of David (White 282).  Mark’s story of the messiah challenges this widespread view of the assumed messiah by evaluating Jesus’s other titles: “Son of God” and “Son of Man”.  The first aspect of Jesus that sets him apart from the other messiah’s is the name “Son of Man” which, according to White, is not a messianic title.  In fact, the term “Son of Man” is just another way of referring to a human being (283).  This term was in fact a new term that Jews were not familiar with.  The name “Son of Man” itself brings on the connotations that Jesus would not bring an earthly messianic kingdom (284). The term “Son of God” refers to Jesus’s adoption into heaven as the messiah. 

             The new age seemed to be something that people of the time, especially the disciples, did not understand. The people of the new kingdom are those that you wouldn’t typically expect to be included in the new kingdom.  Jesus even says “whoever is not against us, is for us” (Mark 9:40) which leads the reader to believe that those who aren’t Christ followers are invited to the kingdom of heaven; anyone is welcome.  This idea was very foreign to the disciples as they were brought up with the idea that the criteria of being a God fearing person was that they should have an exceptional faith, devote his/her life to God, and even experience persecution and death. 

           The story of the blind man at Bethsaida, at face value, appears that Jesus was unable to successfully perform the miracle the first time. However, this account is actually an allegory of how the disciples did not truly understand Jesus as the suffering savior.  This story is in parallel with how Peter’s understanding of Jesus was “blurry” and only partial, much like the blind mans sight on Jesus “first attempt” to heal him (White 278). 

Team 6, Question 2, 5/12

Posted on by under mark

Looking from the scope of Mark noting that Jesus gave his disciples special instructions not available to outsiders and the struggle to comprehend Jesus’ instructions, Mark 4:41 shows the disciples lack of faith in times of adversity (in this case it was the windstorm and uncontrollable waves) but also how they strengthened their faith in Jesus’ because of his amazing ability to control the sea, which was a divine characteristic (cf. Psalm 89:25). As for Mark 6:12-13, it seems that the disciples finally understood Jesus’ message of emphasizing repentance and being born again. Jesus commands his disciples to take a staff and wear sandals.  This may imply the length of their journey. Dependence on hosts would be important in each Gospel strategy, and in the Markan missionary plan the disciples were prepared. The disciples were to continue the Jesus movement in households.  This was not unanticipated, in light of Jesus’ own successful activity in the homes surrounding Galilee. The disciples, clueless in several earlier stories, apparently understood enough to carry out this mission effectively. However, once again in Mark 6:51-52, the disciples appear to lack faith in Jesus. They did not understand how Jesus fed 5000 people with simply five loaves of bread, meaning they did not understand who Jesus was and his miracle. Jesus also gets onto a boat in verse 51 following the feeding of the 5000; the wind stops, and once again (as seen in earlier passages in Mark), the disciples are amazed, showing a lack of faith. But on top of that, the disciples hearts are hardened, which is something that is done to enemies in the Old Testament (Ex. 7:3, Deut. 2:30, Josh 11:20, 1 Sam 6:6). And Mark 7:17-18, the disciples ask Jesus because they are unable to comprehend his parable in the previous verses. Jesus explains the parable in similar terms, showing that the disciples initially did not understand Jesus’ message through the parable.

In Mark 8:14-21, the disciples worry about only having one loaf of bread, even after seeing the 5000 being fed with five loaves of bread and the 4000 with seven loaves of bread. The disciples misunderstand Jesus’ message of having divine attributes and lack faith despite being in middle of many miracles done through Jesus. Now in Mark 8:33, we see that Peter rebukes Jesus about having to be killed, and in turn Jesus rebukes Peter for his misunderstanding and not seeing God’s purpose for human beings as opposed to human beings purpose for themselves. Jesus’ message is to show that he will be a martyr-messiah and Peter fails to see this, showing no understanding of Jesus’ message. Mark 9:32 shows that the misunderstanding Peter had in 8:33, is still a misunderstanding that is present in all the disciples. Jesus teaches (once again) that the Son of Man will be killed and rise again, yet the disciples still do not understand that Jesus is the greatest man and will be a martyr-messiah. In Mark 10:35-40, James and John request privileged places of high authority in seats at Jesus’ right and left. By doing this, they have shown that they missed everything Jesus has said and done because they are conspiring to capitalize on Jesus’ royalty and glory. The disciples do not see that Jesus’ message and movement is the exact opposite of seeking out position and power. Jesus’ message and movement is about leaders taking on the role of servants in the same way that Jesus’s martyrdom will be a ransom of many. Mark 14:50 shows explicitly that the disciples had little faith in Jesus (following his arrest) in times of adversity and conflict, showing that they had no understanding of Jesus’ teachings and purpose to be a martyr-messiah. Finally, Mark 14:66-72 is probably the greatest example of Peter (representing the disciples as a whole) lacking faith and understanding about who Jesus really is. Three times, not twice, not once, but three times Peter denied knowing Jesus to the point where he cursed and swore an oath. Despite seeing Jesus perform miracles and hearing his teachings, the disciples still did not have an idea of who Jesus really was and his messages for them.

Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus), a blind man, hears that Jesus is coming by and cries out to Jesus with persistence despite many telling him to stay quiet. Jesus calls the blind man to come to him and then asks what the blind man needs. The blind responds “My teacher, let me see again” (NRSV Mark 10:51). Jesus responds to him and says that his faith has made him well, and immediately the blind man is healed and follows Jesus. This story of Bartimaeus is completely different from stories with Jesus’ disciples because Bartimaeus believes the power and authority that Jesus has, and he fully understands that Jesus is the Son of God. The disciples were side by side with Jesus, hearing all of his teachings, yet could still not understand that Jesus was the Son of God. The disciples also had seen Jesus perform many miracles, yet even after seeing the miraculous deeds they did not have faith in Jesus and did not understand his power. The blind man did not need sight to see who Jesus really. The unnamed woman in Mark 14:3-9 pours a costly ointment on Jesus’ head. Anointing Jesus’ head with oil showed that the woman not only had faith in Jesus, but that she knew he was the messiah. She also appears to be doing this (verse 8) for preparing Jesus for his burial. The woman understood that Jesus was a martyr-messiah, something not even the disciples understood. The disciples were ignorant to this fact to the point where they got angry at the woman for pouring such expensive ointment on Jesus. But even when the disciples troubled, the woman showed persistence and persevered through faith. This woman is completely different from the disciples because the disciples would lose their faith in the time of hardship and persecution.

In the parable of the sower (4:4:3-9, 13-20), Jesus creates a parable that shows the process and results of spreading the Word to the masses. Jesus says that the seed sown is the Word of God. I would put the disciples in the category of those people who land on the rocky soil. The description of those who land on rocky grounds seen in verse 16-17, says that “the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away” (NRSV Mark 4:16-17). This description is fitting for the disciples. They admire and receive Jesus’ teachings with joy and follow him but only when everything is going well and their safety is in check. But when it comes to strong faith and fighting through persecution and hardship, the disciples fall away from Jesus, like when the disciples flee at Jesus’ arrest or when Peter denies Christ three times. The disciples endure only until their faith is tested. And much different from the 12 disciples, Bartimaeus and the unnamed woman would probably be put in the category of being sown on good soil because they “hear the word and accept it and bear fruit” (Mark 4:20 NRSV). Bartimaeus and the unnamed woman both realized that Jesus is the Son of God, a martyr-messiah, and believed in his ability and power to perform miraculous deeds. And even though their faith is tested through difficulties (such as blindness) and persecution (being verbally abused by Jesus’ disciples), they stay strong with their foundation and maintain their full faith in Jesus.

Discipleship for Mark seems to entail a combination of understanding who Jesus really is, giving up their life for Jesus, seeking to hear and understand Jesus’ teachings, and living out his teachings in spite of persecution and hardship. But none of this meant that a disciple of Jesus had to copy and live out Jesus’ teachings and actions perfectly. But the disciples all lacked faith in times of persecution and conflict. To Mark, Bartimaeus and the unnamed woman seem to be great examples of what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus. They showed understanding of who Jesus was and his teachings, as well as preserving through their faith being tested. Jesus’ 12 disciples were too caught up in the traditional laws from Judaism society and the Judaic idea of what it meant to be messiah. The Judaic law and messiah was different then Jesus and his teachings because Jesus called all kinds of people to follow him, whether that was broken, sick or poor people, no restrictions. But the clear thing was that Jesus said “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34 NRSV). The NIV translation uses the word “disciple” instead of “followers.” So anyone who wanted to be a true disciple of Jesus had to rebuke themselves, turn from their selfish ways and then follow Jesus to understand more about him and learn from his teachings.

Team 2, question 1ac (Sexton)

Posted on by under mark

Mark’s depiction of Jesus the messiah have many differences compared to the traditional Jewish perspective. In the Markean verses 8:27-33, 9:2-13; 9:31; 10:33; 10:35-45, the messiah is said to have had to suffer greatly, die, and rise again. Jesus proclaims many times that the “Son of Man” must be betrayed, rejected, arrested, killed, and ultimately rise again. Jesus’ claims largely fall on deaf ears as his disciples do not understand what he means when he says he will rise from the dead. They rarely question Jesus or his words but are silently curious as to what they may mean.

This new depiction of the messiah has some stark differences with the Jewish understanding of him. First, the traditional Jewish thought of the messiah was that he would be a king that would save the Jewish people. He was prophesied to lead the Jewish people to peace and save them from the unrelenting tyranny and oppression they faced. This view of the messiah can be seen when James and John request to sit in places of honor next to Jesus when he is on his thrown. It seems that even the disciples have a misunderstanding of who Jesus is and what he is trying to accomplish. James and John’s request emphasize their understanding of Jesus as the prophesied Jewish messiah. They still believe he will lead a revolution, leading the Jews to salvation. Jesus, however, planned on saving his disciples and his followers but not in the physical sense. It his hard for his followers to truly understand but Jesus does not plan to be anointed king and save the Jews from oppression but rather to save their spirit. Jesus wishes for people to have faith in him so that they may truly be in God’s kingdom. In order to achieve that, they must not seek glory and power but serve others.

Second, the traditional Jewish messiah does not rise from the dead. This was an innovation in the Christian tradition and explains why his disciples were so confused at Jesus’ resurrection statements. Their misunderstanding of Jesus as a savior bringing a new Jewish kingdom caused a deeper misunderstanding of Jesus’ mission.

 

The story of Bartimaeus is an important story regarding discipleship and faith in Jesus. This story teaches that faith in Jesus can cure the blind. In this story, Bartimaeus wholeheartedly believes in Jesus as the messiah and asks for his help with his blindness. Jesus immediately gives the man sight. He says “Go, for your faith has healed you”. This story demonstrates how faith in Jesus can save you but you must believe in Jesus as the son of God first. You cannot be wishing for things to happen to you but you have to have faith in him and he will save you. This can be applicable on a more spiritual level as well. For those who are spiritually blind must have faith in Jesus and he will save them. Bartimaeus, although he was physically blind, he was not spiritually blind like Jesus’s disciples and he had complete faith in Jesus. This story teaches that no matter your condition physically or spiritually, faith in Jesus will set you free.

Attributes of true disciples in Mark

Posted on by under mark

Drew Williams

5/12/2016

REL 317

Throughout the gospel of Mark, the disciples are depicted time and time again not understanding Jesus’ message. The story continually relates the ignorance of his disciples about the true ideas surrounding the teachings of Jesus. In multiple parts of the Gospel, the disciples are told by Jesus that there are receiving special knowledge from Jesus about the Kingdom of Heaven. Even though they were receiving what Jesus called “secret” knowledge in the gospel, they still are depicted as not understanding. This lack of understanding seems ultimately contrary to how an author would want to portray the disciples. Compared to the other gospels, one can argue that the depiction of the disciples is significantly lower in the fact that they are shown as almost incompetent at times. The Gospel writer of Mark must have wanted to depict the disciples as unworthy in some ways of the message that Jesus was providing to them. However, another idea for this depiction of the disciples in Mark that is put forward by White on page 279 is that Mark wished to criticize the Jewish beliefs about what the messiah is. White suggests that the author of Mark uses the disciples as the embodiment of Jewish thought at the time about the Messiah to have Jesus criticize as not understanding the true nature of the messiah’s attributes. White states this when he writes, “The simple answer is that, because he believed Jesus to be the Messiah, Peter did not understand that Jesus must die.” (White 278). He states the point again when he writes, “It means that Peter, like Judas and most other characters in the story, assumes that the Messiah is a primarily Davidic royal figure who will bring about a new kingdom.” (White 278). Here White states that in Mark that the disciples are wrong for holding the mainstream Jewish belief about the Messiah and that the true nature of the Messiah is unalike what they previously thought.

 

The stories of Bartimaeus and the unnamed woman relate to mark’s depiction of Jesus by showing the attributes of true disciples and how the should act and believe. The Blind man Bartimaeus is used as an example of one of the attributes of a disciple because he had fervent faith in the Messiah-ship of Jesus and did not need any logical justification for his belief. He truly believed in Jesus’s identity and through this he was healed. Likewise the unnamed woman started to prepare Jesus for his burial by anointing him with oil. She was scolded by the other disciples but they were told that she has true faith because she already believes in the death and resurrection of Jesus, something the other disciples do not fully understand and accept. These two individuals can be seen as models for the attributes of true disciples. They embody the  thoughts and actions of what mark’s Jesus would refer to as true disciples. The Parable of the sower is important in understanding of where mark’s Jesus sees his disciples. After analyzing the early stories of the disciples and what mark’s Jesus sees as the attributes of true disciples, it would seem that the disciples of Jesus were analogous to the second placement of the seeds. The second placement of the seeds is on the rocky soil where the seeds are denied good soil and cannot take root and because of this grow, wither and blow away. The reason I see the disciples as analogous to these seeds is the fact that they are shown as having a shallow understanding of the messiah and do not have solid “Roots” in Jesus’ teachings. However, Bartimaeus and the unnamed woman are the seeds that fall on good soil and have strong roots in the understanding of the attributes of the Messiah and the teachings of Jesus altogether.
I would say that a true disciple to Mark is someone who like Bartimaeus and the unnamed woman have faith without need of justification or logical  reasoning. However, they have have a solid understanding  of the teachings of Jesus and the true attributes of the Messiah and his mission altogether. The twelve disciples may be analogous to the contemporary audience of Mark’s community who may have lacked faith and true understanding of Jesus’ message. They could have been still too entrenched in  the mainstream Jewish idea of the messiah and needed convincing and logical explanation of Jesus’ message and the Messiah in order to truly have faith, something Mark would seemingly condemn altogether.

[embeddoc url=”https://blogs.uoregon.edu/rel317s16drreis/files/2016/05/Post-2-29bf12x.docx” download=”all” viewer=”microsoft”]

Skip to toolbar