Recap

So far in Mark we've read the prologue, Jesus' early ministry in Galilee, and started the section on the calling and training of the disciples. Mark's gospel open with the assertion that Jesus is the son of God and king that the Old Testament had been looking forward to. We read as John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus just as the messenger and prophet prepared the way for God in Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3.

Jesus declared the start of his new reign by fighting spiritual warfare in the desert, just as many kings would fight battles to assert their reign. Then Jesus went out and began preaching that the kingdom of God is near, and we started to get examples of what that meant. The kingdom of God has authority and power over the forces of darkness, and over sicknesses and disease. It makes unclean things clean as Jesus reached out and touched a leper. It doesn't control people leaving them free to follow or reject Jesus. The kingdom of God doesn't work like the people expected it to. It is a kingdom focused on those in need and cares more about people than laws. 

Then the book moved into the calling and training of the disciples. The kingdom of God is a mystery. It is intentionally hidden so that people will have to work to find it. This is why Jesus spoke in parables that make no sense at first but make more sense the more you dwell on them. We read how the kingdom of God has authority over the natural forces like storms. It expands to include Gentile, non-Jewish, lands. It includes men and women, young and old.

Yet despite these miracles, there are still plenty who don't understand Jesus and what he is doing. Jesus is rejected by his hometown. King Herod thinks he is John the Baptist, back from the dead. His own disciples think he's a ghost when he walks on his water. It's only the Gentiles, those that should be far from God, who seem to grasp who he is.

Mark 7-8

The Pharisees come to Jesus and accuse him that his disciples are not following their traditions, namely washing their hands before eating. Jesus then challenges the Pharisees right back, pointing out how they care so much more about their tradition than they do about the word of God.

They use their traditions to create all sorts of loopholes so people don't have to follow God's law. Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13, saying how the Pharisees are all talk when it comes to God's commandments. He is linking them to their ancestors, who rejected all that the prophets had said. The Pharisees prided themselves that they are better than their ancestors were, but Jesus is showing them they're no different.

Jesus then turns to the crowds and begins teaching on this idea of making yourself unclean. This belief that eating in a certain way or eating certain animals will make you unclean is flawed. The important thing isn't what someone puts into their mouth and eats, but it is what comes out of a person's mouth that is important. What comes out of a person's mouth is evidence of what is in their heart, and so people should be more focused on addressing that than anything else.

Jesus leaves Israel and goes to the land of Tyre and Sidon, another Gentile land. There he meets a woman whose daughter is possessed by a demon. She begs Jesus to heal her daughter, and at first he tries to dissuade her, saying that he has only come to help Jews.

At first, this seems harsh, but when we think about it, we quickly realise this isn't true. We've seen Jesus help non-Jews all the time. Instead, Jesus is doing the same thing he is doing with parables. He is intentionally making it harder for her to see if she has the faith to chase after him, even when it is difficult.

He seemingly insults her by saying it wouldn't be good to give the children's bread, Jesus' ministry to the Jews, to dogs. It's hard to tell in the English, but he's actually being more playful than insulting here. This Gentile woman perseveres and insists that even if she could just have a crumb of his ministry, that would be enough. Jesus is astounded at her faith, and her daughter is healed instantly.

Tyre and Sidon are on the norther coast of the Sea of Galilee, and so still in Gentile land, Jesus continues to heal many. As the crowd grows, Jesus soon has compassion on them and performs another miracle by feeding 4,000 with just seven loaves of bread. In Mark 6 Jesus fed a multitude of Jews, now he is feeding a multitude of Gentiles. This miracle almost comes tongue in cheek after Jesus had said to the Gentile woman that it would be wrong to give bread for the children (the Jews) to others (Gentiles).

Returning to Israel, Jesus is again stopped by the religious leaders who demand he show them a sign to prove all that he is saying. All the miracles that Jesus has performed and somehow the Pharisees still haven't seen enough to understand. Jesus warns them that they will see no sign and gets into a boat with his disciples.

He warns his disciples about the 'leaven of the Pharisees'. Leaven is a type of yeast. But the disciples don't understand Jesus either. They assume he's talking about the fact they've forgotten to bring any bread with them. Jesus is incredulous. His own disciples have watched him feed 5,000 and 4,000 with just a few loaves. And now they think he's bothered that they've not brought enough bread with them.

Even those closest to Jesus still don't fully understand. What Jesus was warning them about was the Pharisees' teaching. Just like a little yeast can make a batch of dough rise, a little of the Pharisees' teaching can ruin a person.

Landing in Bethsaida, a blind man is brought to Jesus. Jesus spits in his eyes and asks him what he sees. The man is partially healed. He can now see, but everything is blurry. So Jesus lays hands on him again and fully restores his sight. This is the only time in Mark that we see a partial healing. People try to draw all sorts of theology around healing from this passage, but they miss the fact that this miracle sets up the next part of the story.

Going off with his disciples, Jesus asks them who people say he is. The disciples give various answers, and so Jesus asks them who they think he is. Peter responds 'the Christ', the future king they've been waiting for. Finally, Peter at least can see Jesus clearly.

Jesus then teaches his disciples that his role as king isn't to be the conqueror of the Roman empire that everyone is hoping. Instead, he has come to suffer and die to save the people of their sins. At this, Peter rebukes Jesus. Ah, maybe Peter doesn't see clearly.

Like the blind man, Pete's eyes have been opened partially. He can see that Jesus is the future king. What he can't see is that this future king came to serve and die, not destroy and conquer. At least, not in the way Peter is thinking. It’s from this point in the book that we start the journey to Jerusalem and to the cross, where Jesus will die.

Psalm 82

This psalm is attributed to Asaph and is another psalm to fall into its own category. The psalm gives up a sneak peek at God holding court with his spiritual being, also known as the divine council.

This particular council seems to be made up of the spiritual beings he gave the different nations over to in Genesis 11. They were meant to lead these nations on God’s behalf, but were wicked instead. God is now bringing judgement on them.

Psalm 82:1 - God takes his place in the divine council

Psalm 82:2 - God questions the divine council

Psalm 82:3-4 - God reminds them of his command

Psalm 82:5 - The state of the earth, or the divine council

Psalm 82:6-7 - God pronounces judgement on the divine council

Psalm 82:8 - The psalmist asks God to take authority over the earth

The psalmist open with God taking his place amongst the ‘gods’. The Hebrew word is ‘elohim’ and is maybe better translated here as spiritual beings.

God asks this group of spiritual beings how long they will continue to lead unjustly? The word judge is used to describe what we would call leading. Much like how the judges of Israel were their leaders. These spiritual beings are allowing wickedness in the lands that they lead.

God then reminds these spiritual beings of the command he had given them. They are to give justice to those who need it. Maintain the rights of those who cannot defend themselves. Rescue those are who cannot rescue themselves.

Then Psalm 82:5 is a little unclear. There are two main interpretations. One is the God is describing the humans underneath these unjust spiritual beings. The humans are wandering around in darkness, not understanding rightly because they were not led rightly by their spiritual guardians.

The other interpretation is that this is God describing the spiritual beings. They have chosen their own path rather than God’s path. They’ve not understood what they were called to and now they walk about in darkness and have fractured creation in their acts. Either way, it’s not great for the earth or these spiritual beings.

So God pronounces judgement on them. Though they were once important beings in his council, given the title of ‘sons of the Most high’, God will strike them down and kill them like they are mortal humans. They will be no different from the wicked human kings who lead their people poorly and then die and are forgotten.

The psalmist then steps back in and calls for God to once again lead the earth himself. May God reinherit all nations so that all nations are under him.

It’s worth mentioning here that some try to argue that this is a human council and God is judging leaders within Israel. The language doesn’t really support this view, and the judgement that they will die like men makes no sense if they are just men.

We’ve talked before about how God disinherited the nations, putting them under the responsibility of spiritual beings while focusing just on Israel himself. The psalm gives us a glimpse behind the curtain of what went wrong, but also casts the vision of a time when all the earth will once again be led directly by God. Not just Israel.