MARK 6:45-52

[R E LANGFORD JR]

Lenten Greetings!

Here is yet another edited segment \ cameo of the good
news according to Mark.
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1revd:	*MSG* Joegabe1 would you lead us in prayer?
joegabe1:	*MSG* Dear Lord
joegabe1:	*MSG* Bless this study and inspire our teacher
joegabe1:	*MSG* we need to learn your word lord and try to our utmost
joegabe1:	*MSG* to follow your great teachings
joegabe1:	*MSG* also we would like you to bless pk luna and zeke who are still in the hospital
joegabe1:	*MSG* and pks dad who is still in recovery
joegabe1:	*MSG* we ask this in jesus holy name
joegabe1:	*MSG* amen
1revd:	*MSG* Amen.
1revd:	*MSG* MARK 6:45-53 = Bible Study on 20 MAY 2011 in Christian Friendship chatroom @ TalkCity for joegabe1
1revd:	*MSG* Would you post the bible study verses, please?
joegabe1:	*MSG* Jesus Walks on the Water
joegabe1:	*MSG* 45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
joegabe1:	*MSG* 47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.
joegabe1:	*MSG* Immediately he spoke to them and said, ???Take courage! It is I. Don???t be afraid.??? 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
joegabe1:	*MSG* 53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.
1revd:	*MSG* On 20 MAY last year, I wrote: MARK 6:45 Immediately he [Jesus] made his disciples get into the boat, and to go ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he himself sent the multitude away. |The Bible| At this, heavn entered the room, and there were multiple greetings, which ended when joegabe1 wrote that a bible study was in progress now.
1revd:	*MSG* This "cameo" happens immediately after Jesus has fed the 5000 men. Other later gospel writers flesh out or expand the tale Mark tells us in this cameo. Let's recall that we are striving to hear it the way it might have sounded to Mark's first audience. This tale of Mark shows clear signs that it was an oral story long before it was written down just before 70 A.D.
1revd:	*MSG* Immediately after Jesus feeds the 5000 males, and the disciples gather up 12 baskets full of fragments, Jesus insists they get back in the boat. The Twelve are to go on ahead of him over to Bethsaida, while he "dismissed" the crowd. In fact, Mark tells us Jesus simply slips away from the crowd, and goes off into the hillsides to pray by himself, apart.
1revd:	*MSG* Thus Mark is going to tell us which events follow such a miraculous feeding.
1revd:	*MSG* Remember this is a huge multitude of people. If it was 5000 males - not counting any family groups, women and children. Capernaum and Bethsaida would each have had a total population of maybe 2000 or 3000 each. Jesus simply disappears away from the crowded area near the seashore.
1revd:	*MSG* "slips away" simply means no one was keeping track of the Lord. It does not suggest a furtive or fugitive action by someone with something to hide.
1revd:	*MSG* Any questions?
joegabe1:	*MSG* no
1revd:	*MSG* good
1revd:	*MSG* MARK 6:46 After he had taken leave of them, he went up the mountain to pray. |The Bible| IMO, this is a polite way to say Jesus escaped from the crowd. They had totally misunderstood his feeding them on the 5 pita breads and 2 sardines. This fact will be reflected later on in MARK.
1revd:	*MSG* MARK 6:47 When evening had come, [dusk], the boat was in the midst of the sea, and he was alone on the land. |The Bible| How come? Joegabe1 responded, "I really don't know." I wrote, "Mark tells us!" Always, and this is the sign of a good story-teller, Mark tells us what we really need to know, all the rest is empty speculation.
1revd:	*MSG* MARK 6:48 Seeing them distressed in rowing, for the wind was contrary to them, about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea, {see Job 9:8} and he would have passed by them. |The Bible| So, almost at dawn, Jesus sees the disciples in the boat, out in the middle of the lake, still rowing like crazy. Cookieart then left the room. Mark tells us the wind is against them, from the start of their trip.
1revd:	*MSG* Then, later on, about 3 AM to 6 AM (the 4th watch of the night), Jesus is done praying, and walks out toward the disciples. AND PEOPLE WILL TELL YOU GOD HAS NO SENSE OF HUMOR! Heavn, myself, joegabe1 and even the "praise bot" indicated, "Chuckles."
1revd:	*MSG* I am still amused by Mark's story-telling abilities!
1revd:	*MSG* IMO, this sentence (as I hinted much earlier) shows two things: #1 The gospel tale of MARK indicates the work of a masterful story-teller, Mark knows how to keep his audience with him! At this, fireOntheMnt entered the room. #2 The LORD Messiah Jesus our savior is proven to be truly human by his sense of humor!
1revd:	*MSG* I write it again:: Jesus walks out, on the lake, toward the disciples and is about to pass them by. AND PEOPLE WILL TELL YOU GOD HAS NO SENSE OF HUMOR!
1revd:	*MSG* MARK 6:49 But they, [the disciples] when they saw him [Jesus] walking on the sea, supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; |The Bible| "A ghost" we might write or say, "a spook," or perhaps a "disembodied spirit." This also shows us a part of Jesus' sense of humor, IMO. At that time, there is written evidence that popular Jewish superstition held that appearance of spirits or spooks during the night time hours brought >>>DISASTER<<<. Heavn wrote, "uh oh."
1revd:	*MSG* The disciples in the boat are truly people of their time, their circumstances, their place in history. Jesus is obviously a man of his times!
1revd:	*MSG* This is a part of what Christians mean when they say of Jesus that he is the Word of God incarnate. Jesus is no anachronistic fluke or mistake.
1revd:	*MSG* Maybe the disciples thought Jesus was a spook of someone who had drowned in the sea of Galilee? Who knows? Mark again tells us! MARK 6:50 for they all saw him, and were troubled. But he immediately spoke with them, and said to them, "Cheer up! It is I! {or, "I AM!"} Don't be afraid." |The Bible| At this fireONtheMnt left the room. Was this a "water sprite," or spook, or ghost of a drowned fisherman? No mass hallucination! They all saw Jesus, not just a few.
1revd:	*MSG* Any questions?
joegabe1:	*MSG* no
1revd:	*MSG* good
1revd:	*MSG* But, Jesus immediately spoke "with them." He did not speak "at them," or "to them," but rather engaged them with a conversational tone, speaking "with them." Jesus says, "Take courage! I AM! Don't be afraid!" Maybe you notice that English has no ready way to convey the Greek "Ego eimi" = It is I, or I AM, the name of the Most High. And with this, Serene_Essene entered the room.
1revd:	*MSG* The second option happens to be the Greek transliteration of the name of the Holy One given to Moses, I AM that I AM. I happen to prefer that translation. Then comes, IMO, more humor.
1revd:	*MSG* MARK 6:51 He got into the boat with them; and the wind ceased, and they were very amazed among themselves, and marveled; |The Bible| Remember! Not too long since, they had awakened a sleeping Master from dozing on a cushion at the rear of the fishing boat, and he had calmed a fierce gale and riotous waves.
1revd:	*MSG* Jesus climbs into the boat with them. The water doesn't give way as he pushes his weight up off the surface and clambers over the gunwale. AND THE WIND DIES DOWN! Hahaha. The disciples row all night and get no place. Jesus arrives, and gets into the boat with them, suddenly the wind against which they were striving mightily ceases, stops, dies. Hahaha. At this point, Serene_Essene left the room.
1revd:	*MSG* I then asked, "Anybody remember what's another word for "wind?" No? Joegabe asked, "Is it gale or gust?" "Sure," I responded, "but also? What?" Then I answered my own inquiry, "Spirit," or "Breath of God." GENESIS 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. |The Bible| Other translations will say a "wind" was blowing over the deep.
1revd:	*MSG* Moving right along, MARK 6:52 for they hadn't understood about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. |The Bible| Rapturous_ROOster entered the room. So our story-teller Mark notes that the disciples are in the same circumstance as the crowd of men that had not understood about the feeding with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Of the disciples, Mark tells us, "their hearts were hardened!" They were behaving and thinking in the same way as Jesus' opponents, that is, they also exhibited hardness of heart. At that, heavn left the chatroom.
1revd:	*MSG* Furthermore, notice that Mark doesn't tell us that the disciples consciously "hardened their own hearts." They were passive! Their hearts were hardened :: just like God's enemies during the Exodus tale.
1revd:	*MSG* Think back! MARK 3:5 When he [Jesus] had looked around at them [those in the synagogue] with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other. |The Bible| IMO, Mark has masterfully reminded his audience, both his first hearers and me and you, that hardness of heart can characterize not just the enemies of God, but specifically chosen and otherwise faithful disciples of Jesus. Judas_kiss then entered the room, was greeted, and, without writing a line, left the room.
1revd:	*MSG* Consider also EXODUS 4:21 Yahweh said to Moses, "When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. |The Bible| Here the Torah's text clearly says that God hardens Pharaoh's heart. In MARK, it is an oblique reference in the passive, the hearts of the disciples "are hardened," because they do not understand what happened in the feeding of the 5000 males.
1revd:	*MSG* [ASIDE] I suggest, the disciples cannot become alert to the meaning of the wondrous works Jesus does until after his resurrection. So to speak, the Holy Spirit has not yet been sent into the hearts and minds of those who would believe. This is a historical comment of my own. [ASIDE ENDS]
1revd:	*MSG* Any questions?
joegabe1:	*MSG* no
1revd:	*MSG* good
1revd:	*MSG* At this spot some may wish to enter into a learned and very rational discussion of "free" will. Erasmus of Rotterdam entered into such a discussion with Martin Luther, and Luther summarized the conversation in a little book "Bondage of the Will."
1revd:	*MSG* The great scholar and humanist Erasmus promoted that humans have "free" will, and Dr. Luther showed from scripture that we do not. Our hearts and wills and minds are either captive to the Lord, or they are in bondage to sin (a shorthand churchy word for all that is set against God). For a good, simple (some may think "simplistic") recitation of this, think of the Sunday School song, "Trust and Obey."
1revd:	*MSG* For my part, I tend to think that in all those matters which are "above" us -- salvation, justification, redemption, resurrection, doing the will of the Father in heaven, etc. -- we have no freedom whatsoever. This is antithetical to the RC version of the faith, recently amended by their adoption of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (1997).
1revd:	*MSG* The RCC version used to require that humans, at the very least, do not put an obstacle in the way of the Holy Spirit who strives to save and justify us. Whether they have modified this stance as yet I do not know. I put it to you that it is wrong to confuse our "free" will to decide what color to paint the walls in the men's room at church, something clearly "below" us and within our competency, with any matter that is "above" us. Such as the great matters outlined in this Gospel tale of Saint Mark. My suspicion is that Dr. Luther would not even allow such a minor "wiggle room," for fear that the simple-minded, like I often am, might not understand.
1revd:	*MSG* I put it to you, THAT's why they are amazed that Jesus walks on the lake! This same amazement,
1revd:	*MSG* this same hardness of heart, will appear again in Mark's tale (MK 8:17-21), but that is to get ahead of our story. We are striving to go pearl by pearl, cameo by cameo, scene by scene.
1revd:	*MSG* Perhaps the thing I ought press forward is a question?
joegabe1:	*MSG* no
1revd:	*MSG* Since it is Lent, as you
1revd:	*MSG* no?
joegabe1:	*MSG* no questions
1revd:	*MSG* Oh, OK
1revd:	*MSG* That, then, is the end of this look at MARK 6:45-53.
1revd:	*MSG* Joegabe1 will you lead us in prayer?
1revd:	*MSG* Please?
joegabe1:	*MSG* ok
joegabe1:	*MSG* dear lord
joegabe1:	*MSG* we have concluded another bible study
joegabe1:	*MSG* and we await the week until we meet for another study
joegabe1:	*MSG* we wish that everyoe
joegabe1:	*MSG* has a very good and sucessful week
joegabe1:	*MSG* and full of health and prosperity
joegabe1:	*MSG* we ask this in jesus holy name
joegabe1:	*MSG* amn
1revd:	*MSG* Amen.

 

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The Rev'd R E LANGFORD JR, FAPC, ELCA pastor  ! retired !
       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>