The way of imagination

  “…when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out;   for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,   for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.” (Mark 6.49-52)      The 12 apostles are now put through a series of tests.   When Jesus chose them from among his numerous disciples/followers, it was in order to delegate his authority to them, an authority that was expressed primarily by proclaiming the kingdom of God and casting out demons (cf. 3.13-15; 6.7, 12-13).   We have already seen how the apostles struggle with the temptation to act out of fear rather than out of faith in the power that Jesus has entrusted to them.   After Jesus had calmed the storm on the Sea, he asked them: “Why are you afrai...

“Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep.  You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them.    So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd ; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals.    My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.” (Ezekiel 34.2-6)      We now have another series of events around the Sea of Galilee.   The Twelve return from their mission and excitedly begin to relate their experiences to Jes...

  “King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.”    But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”    But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” (Mk. 6.14-16)      After a string of victories for Jesus on either side of the Sea of Galilee following the scandalous “Beelzebul incident” (cf. 3.20-30), the tone of Mark’s narrative once again becomes ominous as we are reminded of the fate that is reserved for prophets (cf. 12.1-12).   Following the raising of Jairus’ daughter, Jesus and his disciples leave Capernaum and head southwest to Nazareth, where Jesus had grown up.   As per his custom, Jesus goes into the synagogue on the sabbath and begins to teach (6.2).   Jesus’ reputation has reached the ...

  “Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet   and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” (Mk. 5.22-23)      After his brief visit to the country of the Gerasenes, Jesus returns westward across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, which presumably, is much “cleaner” than the pig-infested graveyard of Gadara.   However, as we shall soon see, there is plenty of uncleanness in Capernaum as well.   Immediately upon his arrival, the crowd reconvenes and detains Jesus on the beach (5.21).   One of the leaders of the synagogue, Jairus by name, comes and falls at Jesus’ feet and begs him to come and “save” his daughter (i.e. make her well; Gr sozo ), who is at the point of death (5.22-23).   The familiar pattern of kneeling/begging plays out once again (cf. 1.40; 5.6, 10).   ...

  “…a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.    Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.    She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”   Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.”  (Mk. 5.24-29)      After his brief visit to the country of the Gerasenes, Jesus returns westward across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, which presumably, is much “cleaner” than the pig-infested graveyard of Gadara.   However, as we shall soon see, there is plenty of uncleanness in Capernaum as well.   Immediately upon his arrival, the crowd reconvenes and detains Jesus on the beach (5.21).   One of th...

  “They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.   And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain…   Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones.   When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him;   and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” (Mk. 5.1-3, 5-7)      Jesus now prepares to enter the second chaotic situation.   Jesus has tamed the wind/the waves and now reaches the eastern shore of the sea.   The world itself was in a state of watery chaos before God “spoke” and established an ordered cosmos where there had previously only been “a formless void” (cf. Gn. 1.1-3). ...

  “A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mk. 4.37-41)      Jesus now prepares to enter the first of two chaotic situations.   The world itself was in a state of watery chaos before God “spoke” and established an ordered cosmos where there had previously only been “a formless void” (cf. Gn. 1.1-3).   Once God began to speak, the chaos and disorder obeyed his commands to “fall into place”, to harmonize and take shape.  ...