MARK 8:22-26
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R E LANGFORD JR
May 21, 2012, 4:14:41 PM5/21/12
to MARK, Bible Study, Joe Gaudet
Greetings to All as we rush toward the Festival Day of Pentecost!
This is the antepenultimate pericope in the first portion of MARK. More on
that at the end of this posted session. After the next two chatroom sessions,
it is my plan to 'wind up' this effort for a time and take a break in order to do
things on weekends with my wife and our grandkiddies. Perhaps when the
dog days arrive, perhaps . . . I'll be glad to stay indoors in the shade and write
where it is cooler . . . unless someone wants to go boating or fishing on The
Chesapeake Bay?
--
| 1revd: | *MSG* Would you lead us in a prayer? |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* Dear Lord |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* Hear our prayer as we pray for the suffering people and all the people who need your assistance |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* Pk for her ailments and pks father for his health and well being |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* holly to retain her weight gain |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* and pk that she suceeds on her endevour to lose weight |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* also pray that god gives 1revd the wisdon and charm that he needs to go on with the study |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* we ask this in jesus holy name |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* amen |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Amen. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* MARK 8:22-26 is the pericope today, joegabe |
| 1revd: | *MSG* will you post it? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* please? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* ? |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* 21 He said to them, ???Do you still not understand???? |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* 22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man???s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, ???Do you see anything???? |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* 24 He looked up and said, ???I see people; they look like trees walking around.??? |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* 25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man???s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, ???Don???t even go into[a] the village.??? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* We remember that "???" stands for a quotation mark, or also an apostrophe, yes? |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* yes |
| 1revd: | *MSG* grand |
| 1revd: | *MSG* To jump right in to the study::: This cameo seems to be 'peculiar' or 'unique' to Mark. Neither of the other synoptic gospels seems to know what to make of this healing, even though it mimics the recently heard story of the healing of the deaf and mute man using spittle, a sigh, and a command with a touch. John includes no such healing as this cameo in Mark. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* This passage occurs only in MARK. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Jesus is back in familiar territory: 22 Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man. They begged Jesus to touch him. This "begged him to touch" may reflect a quasi-magical perception of Jesus' signs and healings. Bethsaida is a tiny seaside town on the northeasterly shore of the sea of Galilee. The Tetrarch Philip [one of the sons of Herod the Great] renovated the town, and renamed it "Julias" in honor of Julia, daughter to Caesar Augustus. An interesting note is that Jesus is never mentioned by name in the Greek in this passage. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* 23 He took the blind man by the hand. Then he led him outside the village. Jesus knows the temperament of the people here. He has been confronted by the questioning Pharisees before. In no other tale does the Lord take a person by the hand to lead a needy person anywhere. In this cameo verse Jesus touches the blind man, takes hold of him, and leads him outside the village. That is to say, away from antagonistic observation! |
| 1revd: | *MSG* (23 continued) He spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him. This seems to be Jesus' standard method of healing, his modus operandi for doing the job. Spit and touch! Not the same as modern medical methods, but it seems to work for the Messiah of God. So far, nothing 'peculiar,' nothing 'unique,' nothing strange; yes? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* I mean nothing "unthinkable" or "out of character." OK? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Questions? |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* k |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* no |
| 1revd: | *MSG* grand |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Now comes the amazing part of Mark's tale. I put it to you: this is the first time Jesus inquires about the success or failure of his treatment. (23 continued) "Do you see anything?" Jesus asked. The Messiah of God, the Anointed One, the Savior has to ask his patient? What's going on here? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Let me try to respond, based on my own perceptions and reflections on what I learned. |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* k |
| 1revd: | *MSG* ty |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Does this imply that heretofore in all the 'healings' Jesus was dealing with clean VS unclean issues, or with control of the dark or demonic forces set against the will of the Father in heaven? In those cases he already knew the outcome; he had confidence in his method? But now, is he trying something new? Does Jesus seek confirmation that he's on the right path; his method works? Is this what's going on? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* The blind man responds, not with leaps of joy that he can see even a glimmer, but empirically, to the prompting of his physician: 24 The man looked up. He said, "I see people. They look like trees walking around." Just as Jesus has never before scoped out the effectiveness of his treatments, so also no other person healed had been asked to report on whether or not the treatment 'took.' Something truly new and strange is happening, provided we hear this tale as Mark seeks to tell it! |
| 1revd: | *MSG* That the healing indeed 'took' in part, or was only a little successful, cannot be doubted. Why? Quite simply, the man recognizes "people" as something "walking around." His mind perceives these "people" as the "trees" with which he is probably familiar from bumping into the same. He now sees, but perhaps out of focus, a defect of a mind unused to vision? Or perhaps, does he see dimly, as in some shadowed sense? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Remember that a blind person was kept away from the temple, was unwelcome in the synagogue, was a nuisance to family and neighbors alike. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* So again, Jesus has at it. 25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Ah, ha! We learn that the first time around Jesus didn't simply put his hands on the man's head or shoulders or take him by both hands. Jesus had put his hands on the man's eyes the first time! Is this spit and double-tap? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* (25 continued) Then his eyes were opened so that he could see again. He saw everything clearly. All the commentaries seem to agree that this second laying-on-of-hands is unheard of in Jesus' ministry. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Yet, this time Jesus puts his hands on this man's eyes a second time. Remember! We do not know if he is Jewish or a Gentile. We do not know his name, we know only that he comes before Jesus as a blind person. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* It is good to remember that even IF Jesus is trying out a variety of methods for healing, clearly Jesus is nevertheless doing exactly what God had promised to do when he came in person to bring salvation. We noted this previously: "Then the eyes of those who are blind will be opened. The ears of those who can't hear will be unplugged." [ISAIAH 35:5 noted in association with MARK 7:35, the healing of the deaf mute.] Notice that Isaiah does not say that when God arrives to put things aright only those with faith will be "cured." |
| 1revd: | *MSG* IMO this is again evidence that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Messiah of God, as Mark told us in the very first verse of his gospel tale. It corroborates Jesus' own proclamation that the kingdom of God here on earth (as it is in heaven) is being inaugurated in and through his words and deeds. God is indeed at work in the midst of his chosen people. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Problems? Questions? Doubts? |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* no |
| 1revd: | *MSG* grand |
| 1revd: | *MSG* How are we to understand this healing that seems inept? Did Jesus have a headache that day? Was the man's blindness 'real' as opposed to psychosomatic? Ought we ask modern questions of a tale intended for the era of it's own telling, and eventual documentation? Is this a case of scribal error in transcription, perhaps a word or even a phrase is missing from the very best manuscripts? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Some apologists argue that such a gradual restoration of physical sight represents the idea that people only gradually acquire the spiritual "sight" to truly understand Jesus and Christianity. At first, he sees in a way that is similar to how the apostles and others saw Jesus: dimly and distorted, not comprehending his true nature. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* After more grace from God works on him, however, full sight is achieved ? just as grace from God can bring about full spiritual "sight" if we allow it. I do not buy it. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Why do I not buy this "spiritualizing?" Remember that we are hearing, or striving to hear Mark tell his tale as Mark is eager to have us hear it. It is no spiritual allegory about how we receive "sight" or "insight" into who Jesus is. Mark is telling us plainly; he is not writing for philosophers or psychologists or people who delve into matters of the spirit of man. He's putting down his tale as he has told it to mixed groups of people who can barely read and write. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Notice that Mark does not in fact state that the blind man was blind from birth. Some point out that the fact that he could tell the difference between humans and trees indicates that he was not. So? Do we conclude anything other than that the man knew the difference between "tree trunk like objects" that do not walk around, and "people" who do? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* The ancients could heal certain types of blindness, and treat glaucomas by surgery, and were familiar with the idea of recovered sight. The presence of this detail may be a signal that, contrary to the thinking of many, a high level of detail does not indicate historicity. It does, however, indicate that the man knew the difference between "tree trunk like objects" that do not walk around, and "people" who do. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* sorry |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* thats ok |
| 1revd: | *MSG* ty |
| 1revd: | *MSG* somehow i doubled up on my "conclusion" |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* lol |
| 1revd: | *MSG* The story has been redacted according to M. Turton, and may even be, according to him, an addition to the gospel text. There is a high concentration of unique vocabulary in the central three verses (Meier, p741-2). Taylor (1996, p368-9) and Beavis (1989, p123) are among those who have argued that this is a doublet of the earlier healing of the deaf-mute in 7:31-37. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Not only is the Greek of the two stories similar, but both stories take place in privacy, spittle is used, hands are laid on, the cure takes place in stages, and the healed person is told to keep it a secret. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* It is an intriguing problem for those interested in the historicity of the Mark's tale. Already I have hinted at my own opinion. For me, the issue, the hidden issue if you will, is "Why do Matthew and Luke, scarcely a generation latter, write gospel tales that do not include this instance?" Dare I tell you that from my POV the fact that they 'drop the ball' on this pericope is not simply evidence that they know not what to make of it, but is totally understandable? |
| 1revd: | *MSG* historicity of Mark's tale. ^^^ |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Remember that at that time and in that arena there was no concept of an empirical scientific approach to medicine, nor any other matter in human ken. Test and verify, double check and test again. Behaving empirically or "scientifically" was not the established way to think! |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Jesus deals with this man, strictly on the basis that he was, as we're inclined to say, 'vision impaired.' Jesus makes no remark about, no comment whatsoever on his faith or trust, and no comment express or implied about the faith or trust of the people who brought the blind man. This latter fact is presumed by a number of commentators, all the way back to Jerome. But NOTICE::: Mark does not say one word about the "faith" or the "trust" of the man, or his friends or neighbors. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* To me, this fact speaks volumes. I happen to be convinced that God chooses to hide himself, and to work in and through Jesus, the Messiah, just as he had planned from the beginning to work in and through Adam -- who botched it up with a lack of trust. Here, I believe we moderns can see Jesus making a 'first stab' at the problem of defects and corruption of our human bodies, a treatment disassociated from 'religious chat' about faith and trust. No wonder that Matthew and Luke do not know what to make of the cameo! |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Mind you! I am not claiming the man himself, or his friends or neighbors, had faith or trust or lacked faith or trust. I am claiming something about Jesus' own faith in his Father in heaven. Some may want to claim that, as Albert Schweitzer demonstrated so long ago, |
| 1revd: | *MSG* I am doing nothing more significant than to read into the gospel tale's picture of Jesus a modern's empirical interest in checking out various diagnoses and treatment options. In essence, imposing 21st century insights on a 1st century tale, something I've tried to avoid most vigorously. Ha! |
| 1revd: | *MSG* I have to wonder if such a "critique" would be fair, and then again if it is true. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* This is where someone older, wiser, and sharper than I will have to make a judgment. Does what seem to be an empirical approach to healing in fact stand? Betcha that it does, and the silence of other canonical gospel writers hints I might be correct. It's unwise, of course, for me to make or base my point on silence. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Comments? Doubts? Options? Questions? |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* no |
| 1revd: | *MSG* ty |
| 1revd: | *MSG* grand |
| 1revd: | *MSG* 26 Jesus sent him home. He told him, "Don't go into the village." [NIRV] This is the fairly standard approach Jesus takes toward headings. So as not to stir up a hornet's nest of antagonism or, as one commentary suggests, "precipitate a crisis" before the ministry of Jesus reaches its climax on the cross, Jesus in essence urges silence about the healing. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Some commentators make much of this urging toward silence. A few hint it is "reverse psychology." They conclude that Jesus urges silence in order to have a healed person broadcast praise of God and Jesus' own ministry. That seems to me to see Jesus as rather manipulative and self-serving. Others see it as a part of the generalized "Messianic secret." I belong to this [latter] group, or tend toward this opinion. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Note that three pericopes of strange and outrageous sort are united here at the fulcrum point of Mark's tale. First comes this, as I term it, "empirical" healing. Next Friday comes the cameo in which Peter both confesses who Jesus is, and in the next breath shows himself to be in league with (Jesus says he is identified with) The Adversary, the satan. Then, immediately comes the Transfiguration in Mark's tale, some say a transposed Resurrection appearance. From this sequence on, Mark's tale rushes to the Crucifixion and Resurrection. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* That lays out, ahead of time, my plan for the next two pericopes, and the next two weeks. It is my hope to write an excursus on healings Jesus does of persons Mark does not identify as having faith or trust. That will be a long "aside" at some later point. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* This concludes my reflections for today, joegabe. |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Will you lead us in prayer? |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* yes |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* Dear father |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* Let us give thanks for |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* the study |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* that was just presented by rev |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* and we ask you thAt you be watcching over |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* pk ajnd her father |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* we Ask this in jesus name |
| joegabe1: | *MSG* amen |
| 1revd: | *MSG* Amen. |
--
It's always important to remember to hear things, as best we are able, the way Mark tells
them to us. Some will claim that this is impossible, inasmuch as we have only the written
record of the tale. This seems to me to be a rather foreshortened perspective if we take in
to account the reality of the Holy Spirit. Surely it was the Divine Breath that provoked or
inspired the persons who heard Mark's tale the first time to urge him to write it down? Do
we wish to claim that in telling his tale on parchment, with ink, that somehow the powerful
inspiration that accompanied Mark's spoken was lost? What of the viva voce of the gospel?
Who would dare to claim that the Holy Spirit is so weak as to no longer be able to create
faith or trust when or where It pleases, in whomever It chooses, by that same working by which the corpse of Jesus was awakened to leave the sealed tomb?
them to us. Some will claim that this is impossible, inasmuch as we have only the written
record of the tale. This seems to me to be a rather foreshortened perspective if we take in
to account the reality of the Holy Spirit. Surely it was the Divine Breath that provoked or
inspired the persons who heard Mark's tale the first time to urge him to write it down? Do
we wish to claim that in telling his tale on parchment, with ink, that somehow the powerful
inspiration that accompanied Mark's spoken was lost? What of the viva voce of the gospel?
Who would dare to claim that the Holy Spirit is so weak as to no longer be able to create
faith or trust when or where It pleases, in whomever It chooses, by that same working by which the corpse of Jesus was awakened to leave the sealed tomb?
All this is written because I urge you to read aloud to yourself, or have some friend or family
member join you in reading aloud the gospel tale of Mark. It's a short story! It will scarcely
take you two hours +/- to proclaim the whole. Remember what Saint Paul claims: faith
(trust/ belief) comes through hearing.
member join you in reading aloud the gospel tale of Mark. It's a short story! It will scarcely
take you two hours +/- to proclaim the whole. Remember what Saint Paul claims: faith
(trust/ belief) comes through hearing.
--
The Rev'd R E LANGFORD JR, FAPC, ELCA pastor ! retired !
39.58°N by 75.98°W
39.58°N by 75.98°W
My clarity of conscience and my purity of heart are undisputed
evidence that my memory is failing me. `·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸..·´¯`·...¸ ><(((((º> `·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸><((º> `·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.· ><((º>
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