(Gospel of Mark 1:29 - 2:12)
When Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to the house of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law lay sick in bed with a fever. Jesus, who was immediately told of this, came to her, held her hand, and helped her up. The fever at once departed, and she was able to wait upon her guests.
That evening after sundown many who were ill or possessed by demons were brought to see Jesus. The whole town gathered outside the door of the house to watch. Jesus cured many people with a variety of ailments. He also exorcised many demons, but he forbad them speak for they were aware of who he was.
Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus went out to find a secluded place where he could pray. Later, Simon and the others looked for him, and when they found him, they told Jesus, "Hey, everybody's looking for you!" But Jesus replied, "We need to go to other towns and preach there as well, for that is why I have come." And so he traveled around Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.
A man suffering from a serious skin disease came to him, kneeling before him and begging, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."
Jesus, feeling pity for the man, reached out his hand and touched him. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" At once the disease left him and his skin was cleansed. Jesus quickly sent him on his way with a stern warning, "Now don't tell anyone about this, but go to a priest and let him examine you. Offer the sacrifices required by Moses; let that be the public acknowledgment of your cleansing."
But the man instead went out and talked freely about what had happened, spreading the news abroad, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town; he stayed out of doors in lonely hideaways. Even then people from far and wide flocked to see him.
A few days later when Jesus returned to Capernaum, the people heard that he was staying in a certain house. The crowds that congregated there were so great that there was no room for them, even outside. Nevertheless, he preached his message to them.
A group arrived, bringing to him a paralytic, who was carried by four men. They couldn't get near Jesus because of the press of people, so they laid bare the roof above where Jesus was standing and broke open a hole through which they lowered the man and the mat on which he was lying. Jesus, so impressed by their faith in him, said to the paralyzed man, "My son, your sins are forgiven."
Some of the scribes who were there began thinking to themselves, "Why does this man talk like this? It's blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins."
Jesus immediately sensed what they were thinking. He asked them, "Why do you harbor these thoughts in your mind? Which is easier, telling a paralyzed man, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or ‘Rise, pick up your mat, and walk'? I will show you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins." He turned to the paralytic and bade him, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home!” The man leapt to his feet, collected his mat, and strode out in full view of the company. Everyone was astounded and praised God. "We've never seen the like of this!' they declared.
Notes
1. Little is revealed of the apostles' private lives, but here we are told that Simon Peter has a mother-in-law. One assumes that he also has a wife, perhaps children as well -- that he will more or less desert to travel around with Jesus. (The question of how the apostles who had families managed to support them is not an issue addressed in the gospels.)
2. Jesus is in so much demand as a healer that he is mobbed wherever he goes and does his best to evade the crowds that demand his services. Jesus is moved to help the man with the skin disease and the paralyzed man, but his compassion, like that of most people, is more or less limited to those he has immediate contact with. Jesus does not think in terms of how many of the ill and infirm he can help, but rather how he avoid their entreaties and escape being bothered by them. One can understand his reaction, the compassion fatigue; it is normal. But considering he is supposed to be the Son of God, one expects something more than "normal." In fact, the purpose of Jesus' healing seems less humanitarian than a means to further his own end, the conversion and indoctrination of the people to his belief system.
3. Jesus forbids the demons he exorcises to speak because they know who he is. Does Jesus want to keep it a secret that he is the Son of God? Is this revelation premature? Yet Jesus pretty much says so when he justifies his authority to forgive sins. One might wish to silence the demons for other reasons, but why prevent them from making a true statement? And wouldn't the demons' testimony to his divinity strengthen Jesus' case that he is the Son of God? "Look, it's not just me who says I'm the Son of God, even these demons say so." Perhaps Jesus may have concluded that confirmation from demons would instead suggest that he was in cahoots with them, that he was an emissary not from God, but from the Devil. Experience from those who may have had truck with such demons recommends avoiding discourse with them.
4. Most translations refer to those suffering from skin diseases (tzaraath in Hebrew -- the subject is treated exhaustively in Leviticus) as being lepers. This is not necessarily the case, nor is it at all certain that ancient leprosy is the same disease as modern leprosy (Hansen's disease). Identification of ancient diseases is always problematic even when symptoms are accurately described, and conflation of different afflictions is common, e.g., no distinction was made by the ancients between leprosy, which may have been what this individual had, and vitiligo (abnormal whitening of the skin), which may account for most of Old Testament tzaraath.
5. The man cured of his skin disease does not follow Jesus' explicit instructions, that is, to keep it dark about how he was cured. Instead he blabs about it all over town. One would think the man would have enough gratitude to obey the man who cured him, if not fear of crossing a man with such power.
6. It is well established that Jesus is from Nazareth and when he preaches at the synagogue in Capernaum, one gets the impression he is a stranger in town. Many translations suggest that he has come home to Capernaum, when all that is meant is that he had come to a house in Capernaum. He was probably staying, as he often would, with a friend and/or follower. It is a dwelling large enough to accommodate a large number of people, but not the masses that turn out. The roof would have been flat and tiled most likely. By removing the tiles, a hole and access to the interior would have been created. The paralytic could have lowered on his mat with the four men handling ropes attached to each corner of the mat (bed, pallet, litter, couch, cot, stretcher?). Other explanations are possible, depending upon the design of the house, which we don’t know.
7. In the text the scribes thinking to themselves, literally think in their “hearts.” The ancients had the notion that thoughts originated not in the brain, but in the heart, just as we fancifully regard the heart as the origin of emotions.
8. Already Jesus is running afoul of members of the religious establishment who question his authority to forgive sins, the prerogative of God. Jesus, who can read minds, chides them and says he does indeed have that authority, for he is the Son of God. To demonstrate it, he heals the paralytic so that he can walk and make a dramatic ambulatory exit from the gathering. This will not be the last time that Jesus uses showmanship rather than argumentation to prove a point.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Jesus Exorcises an Unholy Spirit
(Gospel of Mark 1:21 - 1:28)
Jesus and his disciples journeyed to Capernaum, and as soon as the Sabbath came, Jesus entered the synagogue and began teaching there. The congregation was astonished by his teaching, for he spoke to them with real authority, not like one of the scribes.
Suddenly a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an unholy spirit accosted him, "What business do you have with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are -- you're the Holy One of God!"
Jesus commanded the spirit, "Quiet! Be gone from this body!" The man went into convulsions and uttered a shriek as the unholy spirit departed from him. The people there were amazed and speculated among themselves, "What sort of new teaching is this? One with authority, to be sure! He commands the unholy spirits, and even they obey him." And so his fame spread quickly throughout Galilee and the surrounding region.
Notes
1. After his baptism and temptation in the desert, Jesus selects 4 disciples, Simon (who will be called Peter), Andrew, James and John, and then, without any period of study or mentoring, he begins to teach in the synagogue at Capernaum, probably the nearest large town. Apparently no credentials were necessary to teach at the synagogue. Did he even seek permission from the religious authorities?
2. Scribes, though originally those who merely copied manuscripts, had, by Jesus’ time, become an honored class of theologians who interpreted and taught religious law. They had become more important to Judaism than the priests or rabbis, but were notorious for their doctrinaire dogmatism.
3. In Mark the initial public appearance of Jesus as an evangelist is at the synagogue in Capernaum, and his first miraculous act is an exorcism, casting out a spirit from a possessed man. Jesus impresses the congregation with his authoritative teaching, but he creates an unforgettable sensation with the on-the-spot exorcism. This is the pattern of all religion. Teaching is insufficient in itself; it must be accompanied by miracles that credit the teaching as divinely inspired. Without miracles, a new religion can only be accepted as a philosophy.
4. Until recent times, mental illness, even emotional disturbance, was commonly attributed to possession by evil spirits. Cures would be worked by casting out the spirits. While mental illness is now recognized as having organic or psychological causes, there is a strong body of evidence that suggests this is not always so, that there may be spirit entities capable of taking possession of the mind and controlling the will of a living human. Whether they will exit the body they have possessed upon command or in response to some ritual is a moot question. But, it is not at all beyond the realm of possibility that the incident of exorcism recorded here is factually true -- and that its explanation requires no recourse to divine intervention.
5. The spirit possessing the man in the synagogue is not described as "evil" per se, only impure, unclean, meaning, one presumes, that it is both alien to the man and not of divine origin or sanction. The spirit recognizes Jesus, suggesting it possesses preternatural knowledge, and, by its words, presents itself as inimical to him: therefore, it can be assumed to be "evil."
Jesus and his disciples journeyed to Capernaum, and as soon as the Sabbath came, Jesus entered the synagogue and began teaching there. The congregation was astonished by his teaching, for he spoke to them with real authority, not like one of the scribes.
Suddenly a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an unholy spirit accosted him, "What business do you have with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are -- you're the Holy One of God!"
Jesus commanded the spirit, "Quiet! Be gone from this body!" The man went into convulsions and uttered a shriek as the unholy spirit departed from him. The people there were amazed and speculated among themselves, "What sort of new teaching is this? One with authority, to be sure! He commands the unholy spirits, and even they obey him." And so his fame spread quickly throughout Galilee and the surrounding region.
Notes
1. After his baptism and temptation in the desert, Jesus selects 4 disciples, Simon (who will be called Peter), Andrew, James and John, and then, without any period of study or mentoring, he begins to teach in the synagogue at Capernaum, probably the nearest large town. Apparently no credentials were necessary to teach at the synagogue. Did he even seek permission from the religious authorities?
2. Scribes, though originally those who merely copied manuscripts, had, by Jesus’ time, become an honored class of theologians who interpreted and taught religious law. They had become more important to Judaism than the priests or rabbis, but were notorious for their doctrinaire dogmatism.
3. In Mark the initial public appearance of Jesus as an evangelist is at the synagogue in Capernaum, and his first miraculous act is an exorcism, casting out a spirit from a possessed man. Jesus impresses the congregation with his authoritative teaching, but he creates an unforgettable sensation with the on-the-spot exorcism. This is the pattern of all religion. Teaching is insufficient in itself; it must be accompanied by miracles that credit the teaching as divinely inspired. Without miracles, a new religion can only be accepted as a philosophy.
4. Until recent times, mental illness, even emotional disturbance, was commonly attributed to possession by evil spirits. Cures would be worked by casting out the spirits. While mental illness is now recognized as having organic or psychological causes, there is a strong body of evidence that suggests this is not always so, that there may be spirit entities capable of taking possession of the mind and controlling the will of a living human. Whether they will exit the body they have possessed upon command or in response to some ritual is a moot question. But, it is not at all beyond the realm of possibility that the incident of exorcism recorded here is factually true -- and that its explanation requires no recourse to divine intervention.
5. The spirit possessing the man in the synagogue is not described as "evil" per se, only impure, unclean, meaning, one presumes, that it is both alien to the man and not of divine origin or sanction. The spirit recognizes Jesus, suggesting it possesses preternatural knowledge, and, by its words, presents itself as inimical to him: therefore, it can be assumed to be "evil."
Monday, August 3, 2015
Beginning of Jesus' Ministry
(Gospel of Mark 1:14 - 1:20)
After John was imprisoned, Jesus traveled through Galilee preaching the gospel of God. "The time is come," he declared, "when the reign of God on earth is imminent. Repent of your sins and receive the gospel!"
Walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus caught sight of Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea -- for they were fishermen. Jesus exhorted them, "Come along with me. I will have you fish for people." Immediately they put down their nets and followed him.
A little farther up the shore, Jesus saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in a boat mending their nets. At once he called to them. Leaving their father Zebedee and the hired men in the boat, they, too, came along with Jesus.
Notes
1. Most translations refer to Jesus proclaiming the "kingdom of God." This means little. God is not a hereditary monarch. What it does mean is that he will reign and rule. Obviously, he already reigns in Heaven, so what Jesus is proclaiming is that God will soon reign on earth. Therefore, it is in the best interests of men to repent of their sins and get in his good graces before it happens.
2. Jesus selects his disciples in what would seem an impulsive manner, no job interviews, examination of resumes, background checks, nothing. The impression given is that he has some preternatural knowledge of the men he chooses and knows what he doing when he selects as his disciples simple fishermen with no religious training or experience in evangelizing. The disciples do not hesitate, ask no questions. They are apparently not given any choice in the matter: they are called and must go with Jesus. Does Jesus compel them with some hypnotic power? Why doesn't he give his disciples a chance to follow him freely, of their own volition, at least give them some time to think about what they are getting into? (It makes a better story this way!) So far the disciples seem a great deal like brainwashed cultists or zombies who wander off, leaving their jobs, to follow some stranger who merely calls to them.
3. So far Jesus has acquired 4 disciples, all Galilean fishermen, Simon (who would later be called Peter) and Andrew, brothers, and James and John, another pair of brothers, sons of Zebedee. There is no indication he knew them in the past or that he had any personal connection with them. A back story is totally absent.
4. There is no indication of the passage of time between the baptism of Jesus and the selection of his disciples, only what time necessary for John to get himself arrested and thrown into jail.
After John was imprisoned, Jesus traveled through Galilee preaching the gospel of God. "The time is come," he declared, "when the reign of God on earth is imminent. Repent of your sins and receive the gospel!"
Walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus caught sight of Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea -- for they were fishermen. Jesus exhorted them, "Come along with me. I will have you fish for people." Immediately they put down their nets and followed him.
A little farther up the shore, Jesus saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in a boat mending their nets. At once he called to them. Leaving their father Zebedee and the hired men in the boat, they, too, came along with Jesus.
Notes
1. Most translations refer to Jesus proclaiming the "kingdom of God." This means little. God is not a hereditary monarch. What it does mean is that he will reign and rule. Obviously, he already reigns in Heaven, so what Jesus is proclaiming is that God will soon reign on earth. Therefore, it is in the best interests of men to repent of their sins and get in his good graces before it happens.
2. Jesus selects his disciples in what would seem an impulsive manner, no job interviews, examination of resumes, background checks, nothing. The impression given is that he has some preternatural knowledge of the men he chooses and knows what he doing when he selects as his disciples simple fishermen with no religious training or experience in evangelizing. The disciples do not hesitate, ask no questions. They are apparently not given any choice in the matter: they are called and must go with Jesus. Does Jesus compel them with some hypnotic power? Why doesn't he give his disciples a chance to follow him freely, of their own volition, at least give them some time to think about what they are getting into? (It makes a better story this way!) So far the disciples seem a great deal like brainwashed cultists or zombies who wander off, leaving their jobs, to follow some stranger who merely calls to them.
3. So far Jesus has acquired 4 disciples, all Galilean fishermen, Simon (who would later be called Peter) and Andrew, brothers, and James and John, another pair of brothers, sons of Zebedee. There is no indication he knew them in the past or that he had any personal connection with them. A back story is totally absent.
4. There is no indication of the passage of time between the baptism of Jesus and the selection of his disciples, only what time necessary for John to get himself arrested and thrown into jail.
Baptism and Temptation of Jesus
(Gospel of Mark 1:9 - 1:13)
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the River Jordan. When Jesus emerged from the water, he saw the sky open up and the Divine Spirit fly down to him like a dove. A voice from the heavens spoke to him. "You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."
The Divine Spirit at once impelled Jesus to go out into the desert, where he would remain for 40 days. There he was tested by Satan and exposed to wild animals -- but extraterrestrial guardians attended him.
Notes
1. Jesus is from Nazareth, now a large city in northern Israel and regarded as the Arab capital of the country. In the 1st Century AD, though, it was only a small, unimportant town of a few hundred people. It was located in central Galilee, a separate country well to the north Judea, where most of John's converts were coming from. At that time Galilee, technically a part of the Roman province of Iudea, was semi-autonomous and was ruled by a son of Herod the Great, Herod Antipas. Mark makes no further comment upon Jesus' origin. That it was the first gospel to be written leads one to suspect that the Nativity stories recounted in Matthew and Luke (which are irreconcilably contradictory) are later embellishments and probably mythical.
2. After his baptism, Jesus looks up to the sky and sees the Divine Spirit fly down to him and then speak to him. The voice is that of God the Father expressing his approval of his son. It is unclear what he actually saw. Did he see with his eyes or was it in his mind? Was there a physical manifestation of some sort? If so, was it seen by John the Baptist, too? The Divine Spirit flies down to him like a dove, that is, like a bird; the text does not say that it took the physical form of a dove. Was this spirit a disembodied form of God, or some separate entity. The former seems most likely since the words spoken are from the Father. It should be mentioned that the opening up or splitting of the sky is perhaps not meant metaphorically. The authors of the Old Testament believed that a dome, the firmament, covered a flat earth and that above this dome was an ocean and, beyond that, Heaven, where Jehovah or Elohim lived. The dome, the sky, would thus have to open in order for it to rain, or for someone or something to come down from Heaven. The authors of the New Testament, probably not privy to the newfangled Greek notions of a spherical world, would have conceived of things similarly.
3. Some have believed that the descent of the dove-like spirit to Jesus after his baptism constituted possession by that divine spirit. Before that time he was an ordinary man and only subsequently was his body inhabited by the Son of God. This interesting and reasonably plausible theory is one of many suggested by early Christians and rejected by orthodoxy. The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist is one of the few events generally conceded to be almost certainly factual by those who credit an historical Jesus. There is no agreement, though, as to where exactly the event might have taken place.
4. Jesus is sent out into the desert for 40 days, the 40 days being analogous to the supposed 40 years the Israelites spent in the desert. Most text refer to "wilderness," but the contemporary impression of wilderness is boundless tracts of forests and perhaps mountains and streams. What is referred to here are the desert wastelands removed from human settlement. The apparent purpose of this desert exile is so that Jesus can be tested. There is the implication that one cannot be good unless one is tempted by evil and is successful in resisting that temptation. But if he is the Son of God, why should this be at all necessary? The Satan, literally "Opposer" or "Adversary" is not a figure of evil bent upon tempting Jesus away from goodness and subverting his mission. He is merely charged with testing Jesus, rather like a stern schoolmaster or drill instructor. Even if Satan tempts Jesus to evil, there is no implication, here, at least, that Satan himself is evil or that he is doing anything contrary to the will of God the Father. And it is not clear that Satan is even a specific individual or being. This follows a traditional Hebraic view of "Satan," who is mentioned only a few times in the Old Testament and always in this context. In the later Gospel of Matthew Satan is portrayed more familiarly, and as Christianity would develop, Satan would become an important figure, the author of evil, the tempter of mankind who would oppose Jesus Christ. All good stories, even religious narratives, need an antagonist as well as a protagonist. Jehovah and the Israelites had plenty of adversaries in the physical world, the Egyptians, the Canaanites, the Amalekites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the who's who of the ancient Middle East. Until Christendom was established as a temporal power and could wage its campaigns of conversion against nonbelievers, it had to be content with an otherworldly adversary, Satan, or the Devil, who quickly evolved into a comic-book arch villain.
5. Jesus was among the wild animals of the desert. One wonders what animals would have posed a threat to him -- gray wolves, hyenas, Arabian leopards, maybe? Were there still lions in the Palestinian deserts? It seems rather wimpy that Jesus couldn't defend himself against them, whatever they might have been. Wasn't the Son of God man enough to hold his own against the animal kingdom. Wasn't he clever enough to fashion himself a weapon or two, a club, a staff, a spear to defend himself? But cheating on the test like a rich man's son, Jesus was being protected by guardians sent by his father. These guardians were presumably sent to ward off the wild animals. (If they were to protect him from the Satan, that would have defeated the whole purpose of Jesus' trial.) Unfortunately, nothing further is said of them. Were they spirit beings? Did they manifest a physical form? ("Angels" is the usual translation, but I have avoided the use of that highly ambiguous and misleading term.)
6. Jesus' time in the desert is similar to the periods of testing, fasting and deprivation that most prophets and shamans and inspirational leaders undergo or are expected to undergo. (It is almost a hazing rite.) Something special is supposed to occur during the experience; there may be communion with higher beings, the endowment of spiritual insights or cosmic awareness, or the conference of psychic powers. The nature of Jesus' experience is undocumented.
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the River Jordan. When Jesus emerged from the water, he saw the sky open up and the Divine Spirit fly down to him like a dove. A voice from the heavens spoke to him. "You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."
The Divine Spirit at once impelled Jesus to go out into the desert, where he would remain for 40 days. There he was tested by Satan and exposed to wild animals -- but extraterrestrial guardians attended him.
Notes
1. Jesus is from Nazareth, now a large city in northern Israel and regarded as the Arab capital of the country. In the 1st Century AD, though, it was only a small, unimportant town of a few hundred people. It was located in central Galilee, a separate country well to the north Judea, where most of John's converts were coming from. At that time Galilee, technically a part of the Roman province of Iudea, was semi-autonomous and was ruled by a son of Herod the Great, Herod Antipas. Mark makes no further comment upon Jesus' origin. That it was the first gospel to be written leads one to suspect that the Nativity stories recounted in Matthew and Luke (which are irreconcilably contradictory) are later embellishments and probably mythical.
2. After his baptism, Jesus looks up to the sky and sees the Divine Spirit fly down to him and then speak to him. The voice is that of God the Father expressing his approval of his son. It is unclear what he actually saw. Did he see with his eyes or was it in his mind? Was there a physical manifestation of some sort? If so, was it seen by John the Baptist, too? The Divine Spirit flies down to him like a dove, that is, like a bird; the text does not say that it took the physical form of a dove. Was this spirit a disembodied form of God, or some separate entity. The former seems most likely since the words spoken are from the Father. It should be mentioned that the opening up or splitting of the sky is perhaps not meant metaphorically. The authors of the Old Testament believed that a dome, the firmament, covered a flat earth and that above this dome was an ocean and, beyond that, Heaven, where Jehovah or Elohim lived. The dome, the sky, would thus have to open in order for it to rain, or for someone or something to come down from Heaven. The authors of the New Testament, probably not privy to the newfangled Greek notions of a spherical world, would have conceived of things similarly.
3. Some have believed that the descent of the dove-like spirit to Jesus after his baptism constituted possession by that divine spirit. Before that time he was an ordinary man and only subsequently was his body inhabited by the Son of God. This interesting and reasonably plausible theory is one of many suggested by early Christians and rejected by orthodoxy. The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist is one of the few events generally conceded to be almost certainly factual by those who credit an historical Jesus. There is no agreement, though, as to where exactly the event might have taken place.
4. Jesus is sent out into the desert for 40 days, the 40 days being analogous to the supposed 40 years the Israelites spent in the desert. Most text refer to "wilderness," but the contemporary impression of wilderness is boundless tracts of forests and perhaps mountains and streams. What is referred to here are the desert wastelands removed from human settlement. The apparent purpose of this desert exile is so that Jesus can be tested. There is the implication that one cannot be good unless one is tempted by evil and is successful in resisting that temptation. But if he is the Son of God, why should this be at all necessary? The Satan, literally "Opposer" or "Adversary" is not a figure of evil bent upon tempting Jesus away from goodness and subverting his mission. He is merely charged with testing Jesus, rather like a stern schoolmaster or drill instructor. Even if Satan tempts Jesus to evil, there is no implication, here, at least, that Satan himself is evil or that he is doing anything contrary to the will of God the Father. And it is not clear that Satan is even a specific individual or being. This follows a traditional Hebraic view of "Satan," who is mentioned only a few times in the Old Testament and always in this context. In the later Gospel of Matthew Satan is portrayed more familiarly, and as Christianity would develop, Satan would become an important figure, the author of evil, the tempter of mankind who would oppose Jesus Christ. All good stories, even religious narratives, need an antagonist as well as a protagonist. Jehovah and the Israelites had plenty of adversaries in the physical world, the Egyptians, the Canaanites, the Amalekites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the who's who of the ancient Middle East. Until Christendom was established as a temporal power and could wage its campaigns of conversion against nonbelievers, it had to be content with an otherworldly adversary, Satan, or the Devil, who quickly evolved into a comic-book arch villain.
5. Jesus was among the wild animals of the desert. One wonders what animals would have posed a threat to him -- gray wolves, hyenas, Arabian leopards, maybe? Were there still lions in the Palestinian deserts? It seems rather wimpy that Jesus couldn't defend himself against them, whatever they might have been. Wasn't the Son of God man enough to hold his own against the animal kingdom. Wasn't he clever enough to fashion himself a weapon or two, a club, a staff, a spear to defend himself? But cheating on the test like a rich man's son, Jesus was being protected by guardians sent by his father. These guardians were presumably sent to ward off the wild animals. (If they were to protect him from the Satan, that would have defeated the whole purpose of Jesus' trial.) Unfortunately, nothing further is said of them. Were they spirit beings? Did they manifest a physical form? ("Angels" is the usual translation, but I have avoided the use of that highly ambiguous and misleading term.)
6. Jesus' time in the desert is similar to the periods of testing, fasting and deprivation that most prophets and shamans and inspirational leaders undergo or are expected to undergo. (It is almost a hazing rite.) Something special is supposed to occur during the experience; there may be communion with higher beings, the endowment of spiritual insights or cosmic awareness, or the conference of psychic powers. The nature of Jesus' experience is undocumented.
John the Baptist
(Gospel of Mark 1:1 - 1:8)
The Gospel of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, began just as it was written down by the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, ahead of your arrival I will be dispatching a messenger to herald your coming. He will be as a voice proclaiming from out of the desert, 'Prepare the way for the coming of the Master; clear a path for him!'"
And so appeared John, who performed baptisms in the desert and preached baptism and repentance as a means of achieving remission of sins. All those in Judea, even in Jerusalem went out to him to confess their sins and be baptized in the waters of the River Jordan. This John the Baptist wore garments of camel's hair and girded them round his waist with a leather belt. His diet consisted of grasshoppers and the honey of wild bees.
He announced, "After me will come someone far greater than I, the straps of whose sandals I am unworthy to stoop down and undo. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Divine Spirit."
Notes
1. A gospel, literally "Good News," can be either a narrative of Jesus' life, an account of his acts and miracles, or a summary of his teachings and utterances. Mark, like Matthew and Luke, is considered a synoptic gospel, that is, it provides a biographical synopsis. Mark, written in Greek, probably for a Christian Gentile audience, is believed to have been composed before any of other four canonical gospels, perhaps about 70 AD. There is no evidence that Mark was authored by the disciple Mark, but is generally believed to be the work of an unknown writer that drew from various sources. (The gospel can also refer to the message preached by Jesus.)
2. The first prophetic quote is actually Malachi 3:1, the second, though, is from Isaiah 40:3. (It is disturbing that one cannot get past the second sentence without an inaccuracy being found.) Needless to say, these prophecies, like all the Old Testament statements supposedly alluding to Jesus as the Messiah, are ambiguous and vague; there is nothing here that points specifically to John and Jesus.
3. While most of the basic elements of Christianity were developed after Jesus (by others), we see here Christian practices and beliefs appearing before Jesus. John the Baptist, a pre-Jesus Christian, advocates confession and repentance as a means of receiving forgiveness for one's sins. This and the practice of baptism are basic tenets of Christian belief and distinct from Judaic practice. In the Old Testament Jehovah rarely demanded confession or repentance, only that the proper animal sacrifices be made to him and tribute paid to his priests.
4. John the Baptist is portrayed as an ascetic: he lives simply and austerely and aloof from society, save for those who come to him to be baptized. His camel hair clothes would have been rough and uncomfortable. Grasshoppers (or locusts), unappetizing surely, were sometimes consumed by the poor and were kosher, that is, acceptable to the dietary restrictions set down in Leviticus. Honey from wild bees is far less tasty than that from domesticated bees. No religious reason is given for his lifestyle, nor are any moral judgments offered about it. Perhaps the information is furnished merely as testimony to his character, letting us know what kind of guy he was.
5. Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew Messiah, the "Anointed One." I am using the Hebrew word in favor of the Greek, for Christ has lost its meaning and is regarded by most people as merely Jesus' last name, when it is not uttered as a swear word. (He should be referred to as Jesus the Christ.)
The Gospel of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, began just as it was written down by the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, ahead of your arrival I will be dispatching a messenger to herald your coming. He will be as a voice proclaiming from out of the desert, 'Prepare the way for the coming of the Master; clear a path for him!'"
And so appeared John, who performed baptisms in the desert and preached baptism and repentance as a means of achieving remission of sins. All those in Judea, even in Jerusalem went out to him to confess their sins and be baptized in the waters of the River Jordan. This John the Baptist wore garments of camel's hair and girded them round his waist with a leather belt. His diet consisted of grasshoppers and the honey of wild bees.
He announced, "After me will come someone far greater than I, the straps of whose sandals I am unworthy to stoop down and undo. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Divine Spirit."
Notes
1. A gospel, literally "Good News," can be either a narrative of Jesus' life, an account of his acts and miracles, or a summary of his teachings and utterances. Mark, like Matthew and Luke, is considered a synoptic gospel, that is, it provides a biographical synopsis. Mark, written in Greek, probably for a Christian Gentile audience, is believed to have been composed before any of other four canonical gospels, perhaps about 70 AD. There is no evidence that Mark was authored by the disciple Mark, but is generally believed to be the work of an unknown writer that drew from various sources. (The gospel can also refer to the message preached by Jesus.)
2. The first prophetic quote is actually Malachi 3:1, the second, though, is from Isaiah 40:3. (It is disturbing that one cannot get past the second sentence without an inaccuracy being found.) Needless to say, these prophecies, like all the Old Testament statements supposedly alluding to Jesus as the Messiah, are ambiguous and vague; there is nothing here that points specifically to John and Jesus.
3. While most of the basic elements of Christianity were developed after Jesus (by others), we see here Christian practices and beliefs appearing before Jesus. John the Baptist, a pre-Jesus Christian, advocates confession and repentance as a means of receiving forgiveness for one's sins. This and the practice of baptism are basic tenets of Christian belief and distinct from Judaic practice. In the Old Testament Jehovah rarely demanded confession or repentance, only that the proper animal sacrifices be made to him and tribute paid to his priests.
4. John the Baptist is portrayed as an ascetic: he lives simply and austerely and aloof from society, save for those who come to him to be baptized. His camel hair clothes would have been rough and uncomfortable. Grasshoppers (or locusts), unappetizing surely, were sometimes consumed by the poor and were kosher, that is, acceptable to the dietary restrictions set down in Leviticus. Honey from wild bees is far less tasty than that from domesticated bees. No religious reason is given for his lifestyle, nor are any moral judgments offered about it. Perhaps the information is furnished merely as testimony to his character, letting us know what kind of guy he was.
5. Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew Messiah, the "Anointed One." I am using the Hebrew word in favor of the Greek, for Christ has lost its meaning and is regarded by most people as merely Jesus' last name, when it is not uttered as a swear word. (He should be referred to as Jesus the Christ.)
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