February 5, 2014: Mark Chapter 10

The Gospel According to Mark Chapter 10

Originally posted Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Mark Chapter 10:1-12 Teaching About Divorce  [MT 5:32; 19:1-12]

There are several aspects of this passage that help us understand Mark's perspective. The focal point is the debate over the legality of divorce under Jewish Law. However, the question posed by the Pharisees and the location of this scene are important to the meaning. The Pharisees know the Law. They are well acquainted with Deut. 24:1-2 which allows a man to divorce his wife for essentially any reason - finding something objectionable about her, with no definition of what objectionable means. Because they know the answer to their own question we know this is a test. But what is the point of this test? Consider where they are. Jesus has traveled south from Capernaum to Judea and then across the Jordan River. He is in Perea and crowds have gathered around him. Perea happens to be the province governed by Herod Antipas who had recently executed John the Baptist because of, according to Mark, John's continuous and vocal condemnation of Herod's marriage to Herodias, whom he had convinced to divorce her husband in order to marry him. Divorce was acceptable in Hellenistic and Roman based cultures (including within the royal families of Israel)  even to the point that a father could require a daughter to divorce and "marry up" the social ladder.

Jesus' view of the Law and its application fits well with what we have read regarding Jesus' insistence that one's righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees. In other words, it is possible that the Law is not the last word. Perhaps there is a need to exceed the Law and consider intent, thoughts and yes, God's will. The latter is the case made in Jesus' response to the Pharisees. Moses may have allowed divorce but it was only because of the hardness of the human heart, not because God willed it so. Quite to the contrary Jesus says. God's will regarding marriage is rooted in creation itself, in the parable of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where one becomes two, and marriage rejoins the two to become one. For Jesus, marriage is God's gift, as sacred and holy as the Sabbath. Here Jesus has gone beyond the Law into the mind of God.

In Jesus' discussions with the disciples who ask for clarification, he adds the difficult ramification, that divorce and remarriage results in adultery, whether it is a man or a woman who seeks the divorce. Note that Matthew whose community has a significant Jewish Christian component, has not used Mark's reference to a woman seeking a divorce. Also Matthew has provided a concession in allowing divorce on the grounds of unchastity. For Matthew, Jesus teaching on divorce becomes an ideal, not a new Law.

Mark Chapter 10:13-16 Jesus and the Children  [MT 19:13-15]

Mark has held up the example of a little child in his response to the disciples discussion of who was the greatest among them, equating the welcoming of such a child to welcoming him and therefore God. Here the focus is on entering the Kingdom of God. We have commented on the place of children in the first century social structure and what it means to become as a child. In this passage the disciples seem to have forgotten Jesus' teaching and try to apply the social mores of the time. Jesus is indignant. Children are welcome in God's Reign, as are all who are powerless and without social standing, for whatever reason. They are God's standards, not the disciples or anyone else's.

There is one more part of Mark's passage that cannot be overlooked, although it frequently is in Bible commentaries. vs. 16 is more than a sentimental addendum. Jesus places his hands on the children, one at a time, and blesses them. We see in this act the image of the Patriarchs of old, placing their hands on their sons, passing on their heritage and the  blessing that God first gave to Abraham. This is a profound moment, reenacted every time a child is brought for baptism. It is a word from God in the context of the laying on of hands and the pronouncement of the blessing. You too are a child of God. You too have received the heritage as of old and a blessing for the new life that lies ahead of you.

Mark Chapter 10:17-31 The Rich Man  [see comments on MT 19:16-30]

Mark and Matthew are almost identical in all substantive parts of this passage. It is interesting that Mark, invs. 24 refers to the disciples as children. Following on vss. 13-16 above, perhaps Mark is indicating that the disciples' level of understanding has matured, an important step given that they are soon to enter Jerusalem where all the understanding they can muster will be needed.

We have commented on Jesus' sadness in his observation of how difficult it is for the wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God. His invitation to the rich man to sell all he has and give the proceeds to the poor and to follow him reflects Jesus' understanding that whatever would bar a person from entering the Kingdom of God should be put aside as an impediment. It does not mean that wealth is bad or that wealthy people are bad or that one's wealth must be sold in order to be part of God's Reign. Wealth and  effective discipleship are not mutually exclusive. Wealth can be a curse that buries a person in a life centered on accumulation and anxious grasping or it can be an opportunity to "lay one's hands" on the world and share the blessing.

Jesus uses a word not seen all that often in the Gospels: "Saved." The word carries all sorts of baggage and a host of definitions. I recall the catch phrase of the late 1960s book, Evangelism Explosion. "If you were to die tonight where would you wake up in the morning." As one astute Minister observed, "Where will I be if I don't die tonight?" Being saved seems to be confused with Jesus' real intent in his invitation to the Reign of God, and that is to be restored to wholeness, to live a life which is both bodily and spiritually whole. The idea of being saved requires understanding from what and to what is one is being saved. Unfortunately the language seems to permit only images of Hell and Heaven as if they are the only alternatives. What we need more than destinations is a challenge to live the life we have now and to do so in keeping with the direction we can derive from studying and understanding the God revealed in Jesus. Whatever salvation, being saved, means to us, to keep it from the level of a vacuous platitude it must be lived-in, in this world, now. It is, after all, a blessing from God, and blessings are nothing unless they are passed on to others.

Mark Chapter 10:32-34 The Third Prediction: Death and Resurrection  [MT 20:17]

In Mark's version Jesus and his disciples are on the road to Jerusalem for Passover. As if anxious to be on time for an appointment he walks ahead of the disciples and the crowd of pilgrims from Perea who are following him. Jesus is distracted by the destination and not conscious of those lagging behind. To say that Jesus knew precisely what was ahead is beyond our reach. We have read the next-to-the-last chapter and he is not yet there. However, Jesus knows what happens to those who challenge entrenched, institutional structures. John the Baptist did; the Prophets of old did.

Jesus must have understood the risk he was taking in the emotionally charged environment of Passover, when Judaism was feeling the heat of expectant Messianism. The High Priest, the Sadducees and the Elders surely knew he was coming. After all, he was an observant Jew and all able bodied Jews in Palestine were required to be in attendance for Passover. There was another player in this drama: Pontius Pilate. He would have been in Jerusalem earlier in the week, setting up his residence in the Praetorium, distributing the 600-man Cohort from Caesarea Maritima, the military capital of Judea, to keep order. He would have already called Caiaphas to his residence in Herod's palace to be sure the Jewish religious and civic leaders were being appropriately watchful for any possible troublemakers. It was toward this cauldron that Jesus walked, his pace quickening with each passing day. He had an appointment and he did not want to be late.

Mark Chapter 10:35-45 Jockeying for Position [see additional comments at MT 20:20-28]

There is one interesting difference between Mark and Matthew in this passage. In Mark the disciples James and John ask Jesus to grant them the chief seats of honor at Jesus' left and right when Jesus "enters his glory." They have not yet understood that such an exaltation comes only through suffering. In Matthew it is not the disciples who ask for this high honor, but their mother. This is Matthew's way of protecting the image of these men who will soon become Apostles. The misunderstanding of the suffering that would be involved in her request is now placed upon the mother.

Mark Chapter 10:46-52 The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus  [MT 20:29-34]

This passage is the same in both Gospels except that in Matthew there are two blind men and Jesus goes to them and touches their eyes as part of the healing. In Mark we learn the man's name and his eyes are healed by his faith, demonstrated by his jumping up, throwing off his cloak and going to Jesus. In both, the blind men call out to Jesus as Son of David, a Messianic title and after being healed (they now "see") they follow Jesus.

This is the last healing for both Gospels. It seems fitting and perhaps prophetic that the ones healed were blind and now they see and recognize Jesus as the Messiah, becoming his followers. There will be no more journeys and no more healings. There will be time for teaching and a major discourse on the coming of the New Age. We know what is ahead but we will need to make this journey and consider what it takes to be a follower of this one who is walking ahead of us as if marking the path and setting the pace.