On another visit to the Capernaum Synagogue, the leaders had set a trap for Jesus. Having seen Him drive out a demon during a previous meeting, they wondered if He would also heal on the Sabbath. While dispatching a demon was hard to pin down as breaking the Sabbath observance, healing they were sure was wrong. They watched intently for a concrete reason to judge Him sinful by their standards.
Jesus had just declared Himself competent to judge what was appropriate for Sabbath observance. Here was a clear example of the conflict. Rabbinical teaching said refusing to use the power one had to protect the powerless made one a murder. For Jesus to neglect using His power to heal the man in need was the same as crippling the man. These synagogue leaders could no longer grasp their distance from God; their hearts were like stone. They adhered to a petty rule forbidding healing or medicine of any sort on the Sabbath unless the patient was near death. The obvious meanness in this idea was lost to them. Jesus was justly angry with them.
How odd it seems these who had a short time before condemned Him for eating with "traitors" were now conspiring with similar "traitors" -- the Herodians were a political party which collaborated with Rome. Mark shows us these Pharisees were completely without principle in their drive to shut up Jesus and His message. As soon as they left the meeting house, they went to find their erstwhile enemies, to see if this Jesus was enough trouble to justify an alliance against Him.
Unlike the Jews who rejected Him, Jesus was sought hard by the thousands from all over the region, from the Dead Sea to Lebanon, from the southern wilderness to Damascus. The diseases and demons fled His touch, for which cause those afflicted pressed hard upon Him. Indeed, the text describes vividly people throwing themselves at Jesus there on the shore of Galilee. It was necessary to keep a small boat at hand to rescue Him if things got too rowdy.
We see that Jesus was above petty human politics. His Kingdom was of the Spirit; political parties and their agendas had no bearing on things. Thus, His choice of the Twelve ranges from all of life: fishermen and political hucksters, Roman collaborators and rebels against Rome, quiet men and tempestuous men -- it mattered not that these were all least likely to be chosen by the Pharisees for much of anything. God saw their hearts and needed talents men would not recognize. Mark notes in passing the inner circle got nicknames, a rare event in Eastern religious practices to mark notable achievement. In this case, these were obvious jokes. To call Simon "a rock" was the height of sarcasm. The Sons of Zebedee -- whose name meant a gift, rather like a dowry -- became Sons of Tumult. These Twelve were the founding members of His divine royal court.
It seems neither Jesus' enemies nor His friends understood Him. With all the constant hubbub and crowds, Jesus and His disciples hardly had time to grab a bite of food. His relatives came to take Him into custody, fearing He had gone mad. For their part, His enemies were sure He was demonized Himself. Indeed, demonized by the Chief of Demons, since He had so much authority over them. Did not the demons call out in recognition of His authority?
First, Jesus dealt with the more dangerous sin, that of the Pharisees. His point was they were so insensible, they couldn't tell the difference between God and Satan. So determined they were to hang onto their prerogatives, they were willing to twist basic logic and violate theology. Jesus pointed this out: How reasonable was it to expect Satan to destroy his Kingdom of Darkness by rolling back his own conquests? Did they think Satan a complete fool? Rabbis had long taught it was a sin to insult any angelic being, including Satan. Jesus was conducting a conquest and plunder of Satan's realm, as a Lord suppressing a rebel. They never seemed to notice the great mass of good done to so very many souls, souls they often condemned as not worth any trouble. So deep was their error, it showed they were beyond redemption, for they had rejected the love and mercy of God for others.
His relatives simply figured all this attention had gone to His head. When people in the crowd passed the message to Him His family was trying to reach Him, He took the moment to point out the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven. Blood kin meant almost nothing. What mattered was commitment to truth, also called "faith." People determined to obey the Father had qualified themselves to be called and treated as His family.
It required no mystical understanding to realize the Kingdom of Heaven preached by Jesus was about good and right living. Jesus placed ultimate truth well within reach of the most common people. For this, He was rejected by the insiders, the elite rulers of His age. He eschewed tricks and twisted logic, seeking to bring light and redemption to those who most needed and wanted it. This laid a solid foundation for understanding more advanced concepts of the Kingdom.
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By Ed Hurst
23 February 2008
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