“When demons have better theology than you” (St. Luke’s: Friday, Feb. 9th, 2018; 1 Kings 11.29-32; 12.19; Ps. 81; St. Mk. 7.31-37)

Explaining the unexpected.  How do you explain something totally unprecedented and counter-intuitive to someone who “knows” precisely what to expect?  How do you explain to someone watching the sun “come up” one morning that it is actually the Earth that is moving, and not the Sun?  This was the dilemma of the astronomer Galileo, who claimed that his observations of celestial bodies suggested that the Sun, and not the Earth, was the centre of the solar system, and that the Earth orbited the Sun, and not vice-versa.  When Galileo went public with his theory, 17^th-century Europe was completely unprepared for the news.  

Jesus also faced a dilemma during his first-century ministry; his fellow countrymen “knew” what to expect when it came to the Messiah, the Son of God.  Whoever the Messiah would turn out to be, he (it would be a “he”) would destroy the enemies of God’s people and establish the kingdom of Yahweh and rule over Israel and the nations (cf. Pss. 2; 89).  As you read the Gospel according to St. Mark, you see that Jesus, on Mark’s understanding, believes himself to be the Messiah; however, Jesus believes himself to be a type of Messiah that does not square with the expectations of his contemporaries.  How do you explain to people that the Messiah will actually win the long-awaited victory by suffering and dying rather than by defeating and killing Israel’s oppressors?

The Kingdom Code.  Actually, it seems that Jesus didn’t have much hope at all that his contemporaries would understand who he was.  In fact, that’s why Jesus spoke in parables.  It is sometimes said that parables are basically straightforward stories that are pretty easy to understand.  Didn’t Jesus deliberately tell stories about the realities of his listeners’ daily lives – planting seed, tending sheep, finding hidden treasure, and dealing with unpayable debt, etc. – so that they would easily grasp what he was trying to say?  As it turns out, Jesus himself said that he used parables in order that people would NOT understand what he was saying!  After telling the parable of the Sower at the beginning of chapter 4 of St. Mark’s Gospel, Jesus ends the parable by saying, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” (4.9). That’s a clue that there’s more going on in the story than “meets the ear”.  Mark goes on to say:

“When (Jesus) was alone…the (disciples) asked him about the parables.  And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that ‘they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand...’” (4.10-12; cf. Is. 6.9-10).

Who is this?  The disciples had been given “the secret of the kingdom”.  Mark tells us that after Jesus taught the crowds with parables, he would explain everything to the disciples in private (4.33-34).  So, we might assume that if anyone is going to be able to understand just who Jesus is, it will be the inner circle of the 12 disciples, right?  WRONG, says Mark!  Of the four evangelists, St. Mark is the most critical of the disciples, especially regarding their lack of understanding concerning Jesus’ identity.  Mark portrays the disciples as a bunch of bumbling idiots.  Throughout the first half of Mark’s Gospel (chapters 1-8), the question is “Who is Jesus of Nazareth?”  The tension builds as Jesus travels across Galilee, teaching and healing, all the while leading up to the critical conversation in chapter 8, when Jesus asks the 12, “Who do you say that I am?” (8.29). Throughout the first half of Mark’s narrative, only the demons know the answer to the question; only they recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God (cf. 1.24, 34; 3.11; 5.7).  As St. James says: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder” (Letter of St. James 2.19).  The crowds, for their part, are constantly amazed and astounded by Jesus’ words, exorcisms and healings (cf. 1.27; 2.12; 9.15).  The demons, the crowds and now… the disciples.  Hard hearts.  Instead of recognizing Jesus or giving glory to God for what Jesus is doing, the disciples are constantly castigated by Jesus for their lack of faith and their abundance of fear (4.40; cf. 3.5; 6.52; 8.17; 10.5).  After the episode of Jesus walking on the water to join the disciples who were crossing the lake in a boat, Mark tells us that the disciples’ continued failure to perceive Jesus’ identity is due to fact that “their hearts were hardened” (6.52), a perennial biblical turn of phrase that refers to a stubborn refusal to discern what God is doing/to recognize the presence of God.  Even when we get to Jesus’ fateful question in chapter 8, to which Peter responds by saying “You are the Messiah” (8.29) – even then, things go wrong.  After Peter gives the correct answer to the question, Jesus begins to try to explain to the disciples that he must suffer and die; Peter responds by trying to persuade Jesus that this idea is outrageous, that this will never happen to him.  Jesus responds by calling Peter “Satan” and telling him to get behind him (cf. 8.33)!

Be opened!  All of this brings us to today’s Gospel.  Today’s reading comes in the middle of what is called “the bread section” of St. Mark’s Gospel (6.33-8.26).  In this section in which “bread” is the major theme, Jesus twice miraculously feeds a multitude with a few loaves and fish, each time followed by a crossing of the lake, a conflict with Pharisees, a healing, and finally a confession of faith.  It’s as if Jesus had to repeat the sequence for its full significance to dawn on his disciples.  At the middle and end of the section Jesus heals a deaf man and a blind man, respectfully, symbolizing his opening of the spiritually deaf ears and blind eyes of the disciples.  In today’s passage, Jesus heals a deaf man, i.e. a man who lacks the ability to comprehend what Jesus is saying, someone who is unable to “take to heart” what Yahweh is saying to his people through Jesus.  If the disciples’ hearts have been “hardened”, the heart of the deaf man is cut off from contact with the word of God that Jesus speaks.  The healings of Jesus are “signs”, i.e. they point beyond themselves to the truth of who Jesus is and how people are responding to God’s revelation in him.  The healing of the deaf/mute man is a sign to the disciples that they need to “open their ears” (and their hearts) in order to grasp the meaning of what Jesus is saying and of who he is.  By healing the deaf man, it’s as if Jesus is saying to the disciples, “You’re not getting it.  I’ve been trying to explain things to you, but it’s not working.  Let me try showing you instead.  Look, see – listen, hear …and understand”.

Be quiet!  As usual, we see that Jesus is uneasy performing healings because, despite his best efforts to prevent publicity, the more he insists on secrecy, the more people spread the news of Jesus’ power as a healer.  Paradoxically, it is the disciples who have the most “success” keeping the secret of Jesus’ identity – the clues provided by the healings are lost on them – they just don’t get it!

The challenge for us is to examine our own preconceived ideas about Jesus.  Have we domesticated Jesus through long years of familiarity with him?  Are we open to encountering the strange and unpredictable figure who meets us in the pages of the Gospels?  Are we expecting the unexpected?  Only as our ears and eyes are opened to the reality of who Jesus really is will we be empowered to live as true disciples.  Amen.