Mark 5: faith and heal

A woman sick for 12 years touches Jesus in the middle of a crowd touching him. Jesus noticed that he had delivered power to heal. we read:

(NASB) 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be cured of your disease.”

Jairus received a bad news: her daughter had already died. Jesus said to him:

(NASB) 36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid, only believe.”

Some people read and teach that a miracle is made if you only believe. Although it is false, it is very seductive to believe on some kind of Disney slogan: "believe and your dreams will come true".

Eugene Peterson reread theses verses as:

(MSG) 34 Jesus said to her, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague.”

(MSG) 36 Jesus overheard what they were talking about and said to the leader, “Don’t listen to them; just trust me.”

Faith is very important in Christianity, but what is faith? "Only believe"? Faith is to trust in the Lord. So, in verse 34, the sick woman dared to trust that Jesus could made her whole again, to heal her. Isn't it what we Christians believe? We dare to believe that Jesus can me us whole before our Lord. In verse 36, Jesus calls Jairus to trust on him: he cares about the death of her daughter and he will deal with it.

Mark 4: Inside/outside the God's kingdom.

Jesus saw his disciples as inside the kingdom while others as outside the kingdom.
Jesus talks about the kingdom of God in parables that were interesting stories but with no clear meaning to those outside the kingdom. To the insiders, Jesus explained the parables.

According to NASB:

10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve disciples, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but for those who are outside, everything comes in parables, 12 so that while seeing they may see, and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear, and not understand, otherwise they might return and it would be forgiven them.”

How to enter in the kingdom? What does it mean to belong to the Lord of universe? How to explain that Jesus is more important than mother and father? How to explain to some outside the kingdom that it is worth to suffer for the truth? How to explain that it not silly to forgive our debtors?

It is very difficult to explain what is to belong to Jesus to the outsiders, yet, Jesus found a way to teach to the outsiders.

Mark 3: what kind of God do we preach?

 Matthew 3: hard-nosed religion

We read (MSG):

1-3 Then he went back in the meeting place where he found a man with a crippled hand. The Pharisees had their eyes on Jesus to see if he would heal him, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath violation. He said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand here where we can see you.”

4 Then he spoke to the people: “What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?” No one said a word.

5-6 He looked them in the eye, one after another, angry now, furious at their hard-nosed religion. He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out—it was as good as new! The Pharisees got out as fast as they could, sputtering about how they would join forces with Herod’s followers and ruin him.

Jesus went to the synagogue where there was a crippled man. People knew that Jesus had the power to cure him due to former miracles, but the Pharisees considered that to cure on Sabbath is to violate the rule to keep the Sabbath. Would Jesus refrain to cure him in order to please the Pharisees?
Jesus became furious because they didn't have compassion of the crippled man.
Jesus expected that the people answered his questions saying that it is good to help people even on Sabbath.
I am not so sure that I am much better the Pharisees. I have a lot of excuses to not help anyone, but I think that the worst excuses are religious excuses because they change the character of the Lord. They preach a hard/evil God when in fact he is good.  

Mark 2: can we recognize YHWH in earth?

Some people say that Jesus never saw himself as YHWH. Really?

1-5 After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that he was back home. A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out. He was teaching the Word. They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, “Son, I forgive your sins.”
6-7 Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves, “He can’t talk that way! That’s blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins.”

The religion scholars were right. Only God can forgive the (generic) sins of a person. Jesus made it very clear: He has authority to forgive sins. This is a very strong statement, one that we believe or we reject, there's no middle ground. I believe he has authority to forgive my sins too.

In the same chapter, the disciples of Jesus were accused of breaking the Sabbath. Jesus answered:

27 Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”

Jesus didn't agree that the Pharisees had authority to say what is to break the Sabbath or not. He said that He is the Kurios, the Adonai even of the Sabbath. Jesus has the authority over the Sabbath, over the Jewish tradition of what it means to keep the Sabbath. Isn't it a strong statement? How could a Pharisee agree with Jesus? Wasn't it necessary to believe that YHWH came to earth?

Mark 1: the gospel of Jesus Christ

The gospel, the good news, according to Mark must havecome from what Peter told to Mark.
It is very interesting that this good news is to be listened, and to be believed. The believer is connected to Jesus because he understand that Jesus is his king. The believer belongs to the church: the brothers and sisters of Jesus.
The gospel is related to the Old Testament because it is the fulfillment of many prophecies in Old Testament.

The good news is Jesus. The Lord would come to earth according to Malachi. Mark shows that this prophecy is fulfilled because John prepared to the arrival of Jesus. Here, the Lord (YHWH) is connected to Jesus.

YHWH testifies about Jesus in his baptism:

9-11 At this time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. The moment he came out of the water, he saw the sky split open and God’s Spirit, looking like a dove, come down on him. Along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”

Even the demons recognized Jesus:

23-24 Suddenly, while still in the meeting place, he was interrupted by a man who was deeply disturbed and yelling out, “What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you’re up to! You’re the Holy One of God, and you’ve come to destroy us!”

How would YHWH deal with the mankind, deepened in sin? Would Jesus come close to the sinner? Yes and He came very close to a lepper (sin and lepper is extremely connected in the Old Testament):

40 A leper came to him, begging on his knees, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”
41-45 Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: “Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people.” But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out-of-the-way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over.

Matthew 28: Jesus is risen

Jesus came to win over sin and death.
we read:

1-4 After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move.

We Christians understand that through Jesus, we have power to overcome sin and death. Jesus is our king. We belong to his kingdom. We read:

18-20 Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

The church is the place that baptize people in the name of the Father , Son and Holy Spirit. It is also the place where the we receive the teachings of Jesus and transmit it to others. It should be the place where earth and heaven are together.

Matthew 27: Jesus is crucified as the king of the Jews

Jesus was accused of blasphemy by the high priest, however, this was not a great charge against him in the roman empire.
The Jewish leaders accused him of insubordination to the Roman empire when he was delivered to the governor Pilates.
we read:

11 Jesus was placed before the governor, who questioned him: “Are you the ‘King of the Jews’?”

27-31 The soldiers assigned to the governor took Jesus into the governor’s palace and got the entire brigade together for some fun. They stripped him and dressed him in a red robe. They plaited a crown from branches of a thornbush and set it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand for a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mocking reverence: “Bravo, King of the Jews!” they said. “Bravo!” Then they spit on him and hit him on the head with the stick. When they had had their fun, they took off the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they proceeded out to the crucifixion.

35-40 After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they killed time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”

How could this happen? The Jews were expecting the Messiah for centuries. They were eager to see the Messiah after the exile from Babylon. It is ironic the Messiah came, the crowds saw him as the Messiah, the son of David, but not the Jewish leaders.  They delivered him to the Romans, to be crucified. We Christians understand that the Jews were expecting a Messiah that would set Israel free from his oppressors, while in fact Jesus came to set us free from sin and death. He is the lamb of God that took away our sins.

It is very interesting that the Jews knew that Jesus told he would rise from death after three days, so they asked the Romans to keep Jesus tomb safe from Jesus disciples.