Proper 8 | Ordinary Time 13, Cycle B
Mark 5:21-43
The introductory note in Mark 5:21 regarding Jesus crossing again in the boat to the other side of the lake should alert us to the interest in and the importance of “theological geography” in this section of the Gospel According to Mark. In Mark 5:20 Jesus was on the “Gentile” side of the Sea of Galilee. He was with the Gerasenes. He cast out the unclean spirit whose name was “Legion,” and he permitted the thousands of demons to enter into the herd of swine, which then rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they were all drowned. What possible purposes could this rather bizarre miracle story have served for the Markan community?
If this constructive/destructive miracle story was put into written form during the war in Galilee and Judea between the Jewish patriots and the Roman legions during the years 66-72 C.E., could the Markan writer and community by any chance have balanced the somewhat subtle polemic in the Mark 5:21-43 text we will be using next Sunday with the even more subtle polemic against the Romans in Mark 5:1-20? We know that direct, open polemic against the Roman oppressors within lands occupied by the Roman military was much too risky for the early followers of Jesus throughout the period in which the documents that would eventually become the New Testament were being formulated. But perhaps Mark 5:1-20 is, among other things, a subtle anti-Roman cryptogram, a communication in the coded language of a strange constructive/destructive miracle of Jesus story that the members of the Markan community could use, particularly in this story within the ministry of Jesus “gospel” form, without the Roman oppressors suspecting anything, even if they would seize and read a copy of the Markan Gospel.
Why was the name of the unclean spirit said to have been “Legion”? A legion was the name used for a major unit of troops in the Roman army, a unit of several thousands of armed men who would sweep through an area. Could the approximately two thousand swine in this story have been a cryptic representation of the hated Roman military presence in Galilee and Judea during the period when Jesus was a significant Jewish religious and political figure? Could the members of the Markan community have desired to depict several thousands of Roman military forces as rushing demonically within swine bodies down a cliff to be drowned in the sea, depicting them doing this in a way that the members of the Markan community would understand, but which the Roman military leaders would suspect nothing? Even if Romans or the few of Jesus’ fellow Jews who cooperated fully with the Romans might accuse the leaders of the Markan community of directing this story against them, the Markan followers of Jesus could say that they were not talking and writing about the Romans; they were writing about pigs! There were, after all, herds of swine in the area mentioned in this text, swine grubbing in the soil, growing to the size at which they could be herded into Roman ships and sent to Roman markets. Although the interpretation and explanation of Mark 5:1-20 in the Church over the centuries has been that this text describes something that Jesus actually did and that it was a demonstration that the life of one man is far more valuable than is the commercial worth of two thousand hogs, possibly the original purpose of the Mark 5:1-20 account when it was developed was somewhat along the lines described above.
As we turn from the possibly very subtle anti-Roman polemic in Mark 5:1-20 to what may have been somewhat subtle anti-Jewish polemic in the Mark 5:21-43 text appointed for us for next Sunday, we see that, among other purposes, this account was clearly demonstrating the superiority of the wonder-working Jesus the Risen Christ, the Lord of the Markan community, over the Jewish religious leadership of that time. According to this miracle story, the “daughter” of one of the “rulers of the synagogue” was at the point of death. This miracle story indicates that a ruler of a synagogue who is wise will come to Jesus with such a critical problem as the mortal illness of his daughter, a problem that presumably could not be handled by the religious leaders within the Jewish synagogue. The inserted account of the woman who had the uncontrollable flow of blood to form a typical Markan “sandwich” account (Mark 5:21-24a / 24b-34 / 35-43) is an additional indication of the great healing potency ascribed to the Lord Jesus by his followers. It may also have been originally an indication of the way in which the members of the Markan community believed that there would continue to be a hemorrhaging of Jewish blood until each Jewish person would turn to Jesus the Risen Christ and touch his garment. We note the possible symbolism in the flow of the woman’s blood for twelve years — a Jewish number symbol. In Mark 5:36 the ruler of the synagogue was told not to continue to be afraid, but to believe constantly. The message intended is that if the elders of the synagogue would only be wise enough to do as this ruler of the synagogue had done, if only they would accept the superiority of Jesus the Risen Christ and come to him for help, setting aside their fears and believing in him, their “daughter,” their offspring, would live again and be fed.
When we turn from this to our use of these texts within our life situation, we see that our proclamation should be that God, whom we believe raised Jesus from the dead, works through Jesus the Risen Christ to restore life and to provide salvation also to us and to all who believe in Jesus our Lord, who restores to life Jairus’ daughter in Mark, Matthew, and Luke, the widow’s son at Nain in Luke, and Lazarus in John. We note the progression to greater miracles of restoration to life in the later Gospels Luke and John, for in them the man had been dead for a day at Nain and for several days at Bethany. We have been called to study the Scriptures within their life situation contexts and then to proclaim them and their messages from God in our life situation contexts. Let us do this boldly!
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
It would be much more effective to read with the other texts appointed for next Sunday a different text from Paul rather than this one about the gathering of the offerings in Corinth to be taken to the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem. A much better choice for next Sunday would be 2 Corinthians 6:1b-2, a portion of our reading from the previous Sunday, in which Paul wrote, “We urge you not to receive this grace of God in vain. For it says (in Isaiah 49:8), ‘At a favorable time I have heard your call and on the day of salvation I have come to rescue you.’ ” This choice would provide a text from Paul that is much more in accord with the theme of the other texts chosen for next Sunday.
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
We have here a high quality elegy expressing grief by David over the death of Saul, and especially of Jonathan, in battle against the Philistines. In it, David is said to have experienced love from Jonathan that was wondrous, greater than the love that David had received from women!
Psalm 130
This psalm can be considered here to be an expression of grief over the death of loved ones, such as the grief expressed by David in his elegy over Saul and of Jonathan in the 2 Samuel text with which it is intended to be read in our lectionary. It is also a cry for help from God, for redemption for the individual, as well as for the nation, in situations of great distress.
Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15; 2:23-24
It is interesting to note that, in the opinion of the writer of the Wisdom of Solomon document, God had created all things to be immortal. It was ungodly men who had invited death and the devil as friends, to relieve them of their agony. This provides for us another perspective of sin and death, the general topics for consideration next Sunday.
Lamentations 3:22-33
In dire distress the writer proclaims the steadfast love that the Lord God has for the person who is in need and waits for God to come, for God’s mercies, God’s faithfulness that will never end, and God’s loving compassion. Certainly this is always appropriate for us to hear and to embrace.
Psalm 30
The faith in God expressed in this psalm is similar to what we read in Lamentations 3:22-33. It is a comfort to us at all times. It is good that his Psalm was selected for use four times within our three-year cycle of texts in The Revised Common Lectionary.
