MARK 9:14-32 first portion

[R E LANGFORD JR]

GREETINGS ALL!

No one came to the chat room @ 1:30 P.M. EDT today. There's not much point to doing an on line bible study if there is no interaction what so ever, yes? Accordingly, here posted is a collection of remarks and reflections -- what I'm able to remember -- about the next portion of the pericope following the Transfiguration tale in MARK.

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Let us pray:::
Direct and control our thoughts, words, and deeds this day, Gracious Savior, that all we suggest or plan or do in the study of your Gospel as we read MARK may edify and strengthen those who may put their trust in you, because we trust you and the good news we learn. We ask it in your name, LORD Messiah Jesus, and for your sake. Amen.

The pericope to study today is MARK 9:14-32, but I will break it at verse 22. MARK 9:14-22 ¹⁴ When Jesus and those who were with him came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them. The teachers of the law were arguing with them. ¹⁵ When all the people saw Jesus, they were filled with wonder. And they ran to greet him. ¹⁶ “What are you arguing with them about?” Jesus asked.

¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered. “Teacher,” he said, “I brought you my son. He is controlled by a spirit. Because of this, my son can’t speak anymore. ¹⁸ When the spirit takes hold of him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth. He grinds his teeth. And his body becomes stiff. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit. But they couldn’t do it.” ¹⁹ “You unbelieving people!” Jesus replied. “How long do I have to stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

²⁰ So they brought him. As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a fit. He fell to the ground. He rolled around and foamed at the mouth. ²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “Since he was a child,” he answered. ²² “The spirit has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us. Please help us.” [NIRV]

MARK 9:14 (13) = [13] And coming to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes disputing with them. [Douay-Rheims] Alternatively, ¹⁴ When Jesus and those who were with him came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them. The teachers of the law were arguing with them. [NIRV] Surely, it does not surprise us that different translations have differing numbering systems for ancient documents that lack punctuation? Coming down the mountain of the Transfiguration with Pete, Jimmy, and Jack he (Jesus) came to his disciples, that is to the other nine disciples of The Twelve. There was a bit of a commotion between the nine and some teachers of the Law of Moses.

MARK 9:15 = ¹⁵ When all the people saw Jesus, they were filled with wonder. And they ran to greet him. [NIRV] Jesus arrives, the people are “filled with wonder,” so the recent translation, while the older version has “were astonished and struck with fear” [Douay-Rheims]. Toss a coin, and take your choice. I put it to you that we have before us a clear example of how the meanings of words changes, drifts, some will say, in so short a time as just a tad over a century. Both agree that the crowd ran to greet Jesus.

MARK 9:16 = ¹⁶ “What are you arguing with them about?” Jesus asked. [NIRV] This inquiry makes it clear that the dispute was more than just a Q & A session, but a real argument. The disciples do not seem to provide a clear response for they make no recorded remarks. Likewise, the Scribes also make no recorded remarks.

We discover that the dispute/questioning is a result of the disciples being unable to heal a spirit-possessed young fellow. The afflicted person’s father speaks up. MARK 9:17 = ¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered. “Teacher,” he said, “I brought you my son. He is controlled by a spirit. Because of this, my son can’t speak anymore. [NIRV] He uses the polite Jewish mark of respect of the day, Teacher = Rabbi. We then learn quite a bit about the dynamics of this spirit-possession. MARK 9:18 = ¹⁸ When the spirit takes hold of him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth. He grinds his teeth. And his body becomes stiff. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit. But they couldn’t do it.” [NIRV]

Quite a bit has been written in a variety of commentaries on this verse. It was popular in the early 1900s to try to find a “non-spiritual” explanation of a neurological sort. Often it was suggested that the ancients were describing a “Grand Mal” epileptic seizure. If we go down that path, I believe we miss the point Mark is striving to make. Our job in bible study is not to decide that we know better than the author of the tale. Instead, our job is to attempt to understand, to grasp and hold the point that Mark seeks to make, what he wants to tell us.

Jesus has not come in this tale to convince us to study medicine or the nervous system, nor has he come to dramatically “heal” or “cure” intractable cases. It is important to remain focused. Jesus has come, says Mark, to show everyone #1 how things will be when God rules in this world as he does in heaven, namely through the Messiah God chooses, and #2, as a corollary, what kind of Messiah that will be, who is also son of God – commonly understood to be a healer of all sorts and conditions of ills besetting humanity. Remember! MARK 1:1 = This is the beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. [NIRV] Mark the evangelist wants to tell us how Jesus is God’s Messiah and also how he is “son of God” – in contradistinction to Caesar – for Jesus comes as a healer.

MARK 9:19 = ¹⁹ “You unbelieving people!” Jesus replied. “How long do I have to stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” [NIRV] Alternatively, the older version puts it in more refined terms, though just as blunt [18] Who answering them, said: O incredulous generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. [Douay-Rheims] What we learn is that this son of a concerned father is still a boy, and not yet of legal age to be considered a man, about 14 or 15 was when that happened in those days.

Jesus seems quite distressed with his disciples. In both translations they are called people who lack faith. Faith in God, faith in their Master, and faith in themselves seems lacking, no differentiation is made. Jesus knows he has not much more time to get his message across to The Twelve.

MARK 9:20 = ²⁰ So they brought him. As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a fit. He fell to the ground. He rolled around and foamed at the mouth. [NIRV] Surely a dramatic dynamic event!

MARK 9:21 = ²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “Since he was a child,” he answered. Jesus has never before raised a question like this. The surprise of seeing the young fellow rolling about and foaming at the mouth seems to have brought wonder and amazement to Jesus. Some have suggested that our modern scientific approach would be to restrain a person gently and give drugs to control a mal function of the brain. Others point to the reaction of our Lord and hint that it is a very, very rare kind of spirit-possession. It would be easy to be led astray down such speculative paths. I suggest that we strive to keep our focus on what Mark, the evangelist, tells us about what he wants us to know about Jesus.

MARK 9:22 = ²² “The spirit has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us. Please help us.” [NIRV] This concludes the segment we study today. The father recounts a “case history” of this demonic possession, and the spirit’s efforts to destroy the life of his son. I put it to you that his remark “if you can do anything,” is a comment based on despair, all other attempts to garner help for his offspring seem to have failed. Then comes a request for “pity” or perhaps we would say “mercy,” or “compassion.” At the end, the father says bluntly, “please help us.” To me this does not suggest a lack of faith or confidence in Jesus, merely extreme fatigue. I may be missing a stronger reading of the dynamics of this event, and we will pick up the study next time at this spot. Yes?

I strongly urge you to reread this chapter in MARK. Remember that this cameo comes about immediately after Jesus elicits from Peter the confession of who The Twelve believe him to be, and immediately after the Transfiguration. This is the first of a new kind of healing, as we will discover in the completed verses of the pericope.

Let us pray:::
Bless us LORD Jesus, and all who read and ponder Mark the evangelist’s tale of the mission and ministry of our Lord. Help us so to grasp and hold the sense of this tale, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that our lives may be changed and we may become your alert, aware, faith-filled disciples. We pray as the Holy Spirit guides us, in your Name and for your sake, O blessed Savior. Amen.

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Best of good wishes for a profitable reading of the evangelist's points! My wife wants me to do some chores for her now that we are home from our trip to Ohio.

The Rev'd. R E LANGFORD, JR, FAPC, ELCA pastor ! retired !
residing in glorious downtown historic Charlestown, MD, @ the confluence of the North East River and the Chesapeake Bay

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Well, there it is!

I hope you can read it!

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.

        

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