120923 Walk with Me: Is Christ Compelling?

First: May you have a rich, deep, reflective, renewing, atoning, God-filled Yom Kippur today!

This past Sunday we took a look at how Jesus spent a particular Sabbath day. Remember that the author of Mark, like the other Gospel writers, wrote with intent – he is wanting to give us a snapshot of Jesus on this one day that alludes to much of what we will see in the chapters to come. Take a moment, then, and read Mark 1:21-46.

Before reading the text we know that Jesus had an incredible, life-changing experience of the presence of God at his baptism. The composite picture we have of God’s Spirit and words anointing him get us ready for some powerful stuff to come. When he calls his first disciples, he does so in the fashion of Elijah – one of Judaism’s most powerful and revered prophets. In the first 20 verses of Mark, we know we are seeing a Jewish mystic who is dialed into the presence of God within and around him, and we see that he is not just going to sit on it – he is starting to gather followers – he is initiating a movement. Fasten your seatbelts.

On one particular Sabbath, Jesus is invited to teach at the synagogue in Capernaum. To receive such an invite from the local rabbi tells us that Jesus is not only welcome, but he has gained enough renown to be given the microphone for a worship service. We pastor-types don’t give away our pulpit easily, you know. So, we can assume that he has some wisdom to convey. We can imagine that he may have said some of the things we’ll see him say later in other settings – what he said got people’s attention. He was speaking, apparently, with great passion and clarity – people hadn’t heard this kind of teaching before. New insights. New energy. Real. Like he was getting this stuff right from the heart and mind of God. Jesus was a wisdom teacher.

But right in the middle of his talk – probably telling a story about a date he and his wife too (wink) – a very disturbed person starts in on him. His behavior is so odd that Mark says he has an unclean spirit, often translated as an evil spirit. Mark is giving us a first glimpse of what Jesus would become quite known for – exorcism. He tells the man to shut up, and commands the evil spirit to leave him. It does, the guy passes out, and people’s impression of Jesus went to a new level. There were scammers in the ancient world as there are today. People who claimed they could exorcize demons charged some serious coin with no guarantees and then couldn’t deliver. Jesus delivered. For free. Jesus was an exorcist.

After “church”, Jesus and his crew went to Peter’s house to hang out and have lunch. As soon as they arrived, they discovered that Peter’s mom-in-law had a high fever – a potentially life-threatening condition in primitive environments. Jesus was informed, and he went to her. He touched her. She was healed. Appreciate this. Jesus got up close and personal with the person in need – he didn’t pray at a distance. God’s Spirit flowed right through him, took away the fever, and restored her energy. What did she do? She made lunch, which is what she probably wanted to do all along for her guests. Side note: this was still during the Sabbath day, which meant Jesus just violated the Law. Some things were more important. Some greater things trump lesser things. Jesus was a healer.

The next day Jesus went out to pray alone – recharge his batteries and reconnect with God. He informed the crew that they were going on a road trip – the Good News he brought wasn’t just for Capernaum. Jesus was a movement initiator, after all.

As they traveled, a leper came up to Jesus and begged to be healed. This was entirely inappropriate. Lepers were quarantined for social health reasons. For this guy to come so close was in strict violation of Jewish Law. Jesus was moved with compassion, however. He touched him and healed him. This was more than a healing, however. This communicated something about Jesus’ position toward society. Sure, he cared about the guy and wanted to heal him. But he was extremely frustrated by how inhumanely people with such skin conditions were treated, as well as the extremely poor, and the extremely broken. When Jesus did this, he made a statement against the social norms. Jesus was a social prophet.

So, Mark gives us his thumbnail. Jesus, a Jewish mystic who experienced God within him and outside him, was many things. He was a wisdom teacher. He was a movement initiator. He was an exorcist and healer. He was a social prophet.

Many of us who began following Jesus some time ago did so for a variety of reasons. For many, saying yes to Jesus was the surest way to avoid hell upon death, so we said it. Why did you begin following Jesus in the first place?

As an adult, why do you follow Jesus now? If you were an eyewitness to Jesus in the first century, what would cause you to want to know more? What would capture your attention the most? How has your following of Jesus changed since your first decision? In light of what Mark is trying to communicate, how does your understanding of Jesus need to expand?

Note: I appreciate Marcus Borg's work who helped me see the above mentioned aspects of Jesus' ministry. Read a great book: The Meaning of Jesus, by Borg and Wright.