You Don’t Find God. He Finds You.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus enters Capernaum, a place whose name means “village of grace.” Scripturally, Jesus is bringing the news of the gospel to the people in that city as a gift. He goes into the synagogue, the place where the Jews of the diaspora gather to be taught, on the Sabbath, the day for that purpose. It is there that Jesus cleanses a man with an unclean spirit with a word of command. When it says he “entered” the synagogue, the stress is on the fact that grace is coming to them from outside. The gospel does not come from them, but it is unto them. This parallels the movement in Exodus where the children of Israel receive the Torah as a gift and are commanded to follow the voice of the Lord by keeping his statutes, in the wilderness. In Scripture, we don’t find God in a temple; rather, he leaves his abode in the heavens and comes to us through the word he puts into the mouth of his prophet.

Join me as we continue our reading through the Gospel of Mark.

Notes:
John 16:27, 28, 30
εἰσέρχομαι eiserchomai - to come into, to enter in, or go through
ἐξέρχομαι exerchomai - to go out of
יצא yatsa’ - to go out of
εὐθὺς evthys - immediately
ἐξουσίαν exousian - authority
ὑπακούω hupakouó - to obey
ὁρίζω horizó - to declare

Photo by hanabi dae.
“Hallucination Rain” and “The Exodus Has Begun” courtesy of NPG Vandals.

The Seed Of Instruction.

In this episode we look at passages about the Apostle Phillip the Deacon from Acts chapter 8. The Apostle with a Greek name (same as the father of Alexander of Macedon) preaches to and baptizes Samaritans; and he takes the Gospel to the farthest regions where there was little or no chance for life. The Biblical emphasis is on progeny through instruction, which it presents as parallel with biological reproduction - see the Parable of the Sower from Mark 4, Luke 8, and Matthew 13. This emphasis is underscored in the passage of Phillip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch. He is someone with no chance for progeny, and he happens to be reading Isaiah 53, a text in which the servant of the Lord is said to offer up himself and in doing so “see his seed,” and “prolong his days.”

See my companion article on Substack.
Hear the related sermon on Luke’s Parable of the Sower on YouTube.

Notes
Isaiah 53:10
Luke 8:5-15
Acts 6:1-6; 17

Original music composed and performed by Raphael Shaheen.
Photo by MART PRODUCTION: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photograph-of-a-man-reading-a-bible-7218329/

In this passage we hear about Jesus passing by the Sea of Galilee and calling two sets of brothers. First, we encounter “Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon.” It is said that they were “casting a net” for they were fishermen. Mark’s use of the verb ἀμφιβάλλοντας is important to note here. Ballo by itself means to throw; the prefix amphi adds the sense of “around” or “on both sides.” Although there is no direct object, English translators supply “their nets” since that’s the implication. But hearing it in Greek, it sounds like they were “casting” or “throwing back and forth,” as in “vacillating,” “tergiversating.” Join me in a discussion of Mark 1:16-20.

Notes:
βάλλω ballo - to throw, cast, put, place
Joshua 7:1
Mark 8:33; 14:29
John 10:12-13
Galatians 2:9; 11; 12-13; 4:26

Photo by Erik Mclean: https://www.pexels.com/photo/out-of-use-information-on-petrol-dispenser-11058870/
“Thirteen and 1/4” and “Ten and 1/2” performed by Madhouse.

Bonus Episode - A Test Case.

The value of the story in the gospel of John about Thomas’ doubt is that it’s an opportunity for teaching. The gospel proclamation comes to us in a word. We know that Jesus has been raised from the dead because it has been preached to us by the apostle. When we accept it, we do so based solely on the word of preaching. It is our sole reference. The gospel comes to us through this particular venue, which is according to Scripture, and when we submit to it we get the package deal. We accept not only it, but also the way it is communicated to us. We can’t say we accept the preaching and then look for other venues to support what we heard.
In this episode, we look at the story of Thomas’ disbelief in John Chapter 20 as a testing ground for Jesus’ teaching in John Chapter 5.

“Run Amok” and “A Couple of Miles” performed by The Flesh.

In Mark 1:14, John the Baptist is dismissed from the narrative with a reference to his being arrested. Mark mentions the arrest to close the preaching of John; he wants to move on to his real topic of interest: Jesus and the heralding of the gospel. When he introduced John in verse 4, he omitted the term “gospel,” suggesting that he is reserving it exclusively for the one who is coming after John, that is, Jesus.
Mark will come back to John and tell us the circumstances surrounding his arrest and eventual death, but even then it’s not for the purpose of advancing the narrative. John is only functional in the gospel in how he relates to Jesus, who is the content of the gospel. John is the forerunner. What he says may be the same as what Jesus says - and, later, Matthew will underscore this by making the words of Jesus correspond to the words of John verbatim - but in the gospel of Mark, the sole reference is Jesus, the Christ. For him, Jesus is the gospel.

Notes:
Jeremiah 40:12; 44:28
Mark 6:30
Galatians 1:11-12
Ephesians 4:20
κηρύσσων (kérussó) - to herald, proclaim
λέγων (legò) - to say, to speak
καιρὸς (kairos) - time
χρόνος (chronos) - time
μετανοέω (metanoeó) - to repent, to change one’s mind
שׁוּב - to return
πιστεύω (pisteuó) - to believe, to trust
Tarazi, Paul Nadim: New Testament An Introduction vol. 4 - Matthew and the Canon (SVS Press, 2009)

“Sing A New Song Unto Me” performed by Raphael Shaheen.
“Funky” performed by Miles Davis and Prince.
Photo: Religion Picket On Street.

In this episode we continue our reading of the Gospel of Mark, covering Chapter 1:9-14. Although Mark had introduced his work as the Gospel of Jesus, calling him “the Christ” and “the Son of God” he qualifies both of these titles, which are parallel, by the phrase, as it is written in the prophets. Mark is telling his hearers that they cannot understand Jesus as Christ/Son of God, in just any old way, but exclusively according to Scripture, and specifically its second part, the prophets. And Mark uses both Isaiah and Ezekiel as his touchstones. Mark’s expression that Jesus “comes from Nazareth of Galilee,” as well as his mention of Jordan as the location of Jesus’ baptism connects Jesus, via Isaiah, to the mission to the Gentiles. In Mark, Jesus as a teacher, the use of parables to teach, and the title Son of Man are all connected in that they have their source in Ezekiel.

Notes:
Isaiah 1:9
ἐλάλει αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον - he was speaking to them the word
Mark 3:7
Ezekiel 1:1
Mark 4:33-34
ἐγένετο - it came to pass, it happened
ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις - in those days
Mark 13:24-27
ἀγαπητός - beloved
εὐθὺς - straightway, immediately
εὐθείας - straight
רוּחַ - spirit
Ezekiel 1:7, 12

“Sing A New Song Unto Me” performed by Raphael Shaheen.
“Voodoo Who” performed by The Flesh.
Photo by Ron Lach : https://www.pexels.com/photo/orthodox-icon-of-jesus-christ-baptism-scene-10619928/

In Matthew 17, a boy’s father brings him to Jesus’ disciples to be healed but they cannot do it. Since the man is “from the multitude”, that is a Gentile, his son may be said to represent the second generation of the ekklesia, the Church, the primary addresses of Matthew’s Gospel. This story depicts the Gentiles in need of healing (the gospel), but prevented from hearing it because of the disciples’ “little faith.” Matthew is intentional in his word choice, changing Mark’s “having a mute spirit” to “an epileptic,” which in Greek means literally “under the influence of the moon,” or “moonstruck.” In Scripture the first reference to the moon in the creation narrative says it is “for a sign.” Thus, as a sign, it is merely a pointer to something, and not itself the reference. Matthew’s use of “epileptic” suggests that, as a Gentile, the boy was under the control of the sign, but kept from accessing the thing he really needed, which the sign merely points to: the preaching unto repentance.
Join me in a discussion of Matthew 17:14-23.
*Note that the next episode will continue our reading through the Gospel of Mark. Stay tuned!

Notes:
Genesis 1:14
Galatians 1:11-12
Matthew 12:38-39; 16:1, 4; 28:18-20

κατ’ἰδίαν (kat’idian) - apart, by themselves, privately
κατεγνωσμένος (kategnosmenos) - fully condemned
σεληνιάζεται (selēniazetai) - epileptic, literally under the influence of the moon; moonstruck
אוֹת (ōth) - sign, miracle; Greek σημεῖον (sēmeion)

προσευχῇ (proseuchē) - praying, prayer, place of prayer

Photo by Joonas kääriäinen: https://www.pexels.com/photo/clouds-under-full-moon-239107/
“Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book” performed by Dead Can Dance.

In Scripture, God’s people don’t come to him, but he comes to them via the word that he puts into the mouth of his prophets. In Mark, John the Baptist follows this Scriptural pattern by beginning his ministry outside of Judea and Jerusalem. In other words, God appears in the wilderness and his people meet him there by hearing and accepting his words via what is preached by the one he sent, who is John. Mark also tells us they “were baptized by him in the River Jordan confessing their sins” (1:5). In Scripture the Jordan represents the line of demarcation between on the one hand, the wilderness and on the other, Canaan, the land of milk and honey. After being delivered from Egypt, the sons of Israel crossed the Red Sea; before entering Canaan, they passed through the Jordan. Thus, in the gospels, baptism is associated with the Jordan, since after entering Cannan, the Israelites sinned and were cast out again into the wilderness of Babylon. This “second” crossing, as it were, of the Jordan via baptism is like acknowledgment of that sin; and their being washed via the prophetic word of John leads them not into Canaan, but into the Kingdom of God, the Jerusalem above (see Galatians 4:26). But why is John’s food said to be locusts and (wild) honey? Mark’s reference is Scriptural, specifically to the prophets Joel (1:4) and Ezekiel (3:1-3).

Join me as we continue working our way through the Gospel of Mark, 1:4-8.

“Brand New Orleans” performed by Prince.