On Line Bible Study - For the week January 19 - 25, 2009.

Lesson 371

Mark 3: 7-10 Jesus went off with his disciples to the sea to get away. But a huge crowd from Galilee trailed after them—also from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, across the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon—swarms of people who had heard the reports and had come to see for themselves. He told his disciples to get a boat ready so he wouldn't be trampled by the crowd. He had healed many people, and now everyone who had something wrong was pushing and shoving to get near and touch him.

11-12 Evil spirits, when they recognized him, fell down and cried out, "You are the Son of God!" But Jesus would have none of it. He shut them up, forbidding them to identify him in public.

(From Eugene Peterson's The Message.)

Jesus needs to "get away". Do you? I am a member of a couple different committees for our Conference (Northeastern New York and all of Vermont) that interviews persons who are at various stages of preparing for being licensed or ordained in the United Methodist Church. One of the topics that constantly emerges is that of 'self-care'. It seems there are many clergy who struggle with depression, alcoholism, poor diets and health habits. All kinds of studies have been done on this. The predominant theories for why so many clergy are in such tough shape are these:

1. Personality Type. The kind of people who become pastors are people who want to help others. This makes it difficult for them to say "No" to people in need.
2. Constant Stress. The job never ends, and one of the centerpieces of the work is a sermon - standing up in front of people and trying to say something significant. Seinfeld did a stand-up comic routine noting people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of death. He quips: "This means, at a funeral, those sitting in the congregation would rather be the dead person than the person giving the eulogy."
   

Did Jesus experience these sorts of stressors? It's hard to imagine that he would need to get away. One of the theological "stressors" has to do with the nature of Jesus - fully human (Jesus), fully God (Son of God).

In their commentary on Mark's Gospel (Sacra Pagina), Donahue and Harrington make special note of the "crowd" - mentioned here in Mark 3:7 and 9. In their translation they use the phrase a large mass [of people]. They note the disdain the elite felt for the uneducated masses. Maybe you are familiar with the Greek phrase: hoi polloi. These are the very people Jesus attracts - they are exhausting ... but they are loved. They are demanding ... but they are God's children. They have so many needs ... and God wants every one of them to be met. In Mark 3:7 and 9, they are not hoi polloi. They are poly plethos. They receive Jesus with great enthusiasm. He touches them with healing. The demons know the truth of what the Gospel will proclaim - that Jesus is the "Son of God" (Mark 1:1, 11), the "Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24), the "Son of Man" (Mark 2:10, 28). While "Son of God" and "Son of Man" are not exactly synonymous, the Messianic implications are clear.

Not yet for the people in the story of the Gospel, but certainly for those reading the Gospel, the "secret" is out. Mark is making the point clear - Jesus is the Son of God.

Did you ever wonder if you were the kind of person Jesus would run toward, or away from?

More on Mark 3 next time.