Evil Spirits

As we read Mark, we find that Jesus does quite a few exorcisms. As you read through the commentary, you come to learn that demons are trying to gain control over the situation by stating Jesus’ name. Nevertheless, Jesus shows his power by shutting up the demons. According to Garland, Jesus used the verb “epitimao”, which is frequently translated “rebuke.” Therefore, Jesus is not telling the spirits to be quite so that people will not know whom he is, but rebuking them and showing his power over the demons. During the lecture the other day, we found that the Jews believed that each demon had an angel that had power over that demon. Jesus, in rebuking the demons shows that he is more powerful than all the angels. In addition, I though it was pretty cool that when Jesus sent out his disciples, he gave them power over the evil spirits. So, does this mean that the since Jesus gave them power over demons, that they are more powerful now than angels who each have power over only a certain demon? Well, there is that one boy they have trouble with after the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain. Also, today we don’t really see many demons possessions. Is it because we do not recognize it as such or what? Well, I have heard that there are more possessions seen in places where people have never even heard the name of Jesus. So maybe they are too scared to come anywhere near people who have Christ living in them.

The Cosmic Cowboy Rides Again!

Jesus the Demon Challenger

I thought it interesting in how Twelftree discussed the subject of demon possession and exorcism in his article in the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, which Dr. Foster also went over in class Monday. One part that interested me was the part about the techniques of casting out demons that were commonly used at the time, and comparing Jesus' style with these techniques. For instance the idea of binding a demon. I had always been under the impression that Jesus just simply casts out the demons, and then the focus turns toward the former demoniac, and that was basically the format in the text. I had never thought much about the interaction between Jesus and the demon, other than that they knew each other and one of them was obviously in control. But as Twelftree notes, that by saying "be quiet" it is believed that one is "muzzling" or a form of binding the demon, and thus giving the person "control" over the demon (of course we know that only God has true control of the demons). Once a demon tried to bind Jesus first by declaring who Jesus was, but it had no effect on him. Also the idea of transferring a demon to another object (like pigs in Mk 5:11-13) so that the demon may drown by placing the object in water intrigued me. Then we look at what sets Jesus apart from other exorcists at the time, for one he is God and the Messiah, but other than that he does not use any "devices" or "props". Also he does not pray or use a lot of commands common with casting out demons of exorcists of his day, but instead uses his own authority. Successful exorcism made anyone popular back then (sometimes even the appearance of success), which was not Jesus' goal but rather to help someone in need, but of course word spread anyway and many wanted to see this "Miracle Worker" from Galilee (some also wanted him to leave Mk 5:17). I guess they were drawn to him in part because here was someone who obviously had control over the unexplainable, and people even today do not like not being in control of their lives and are scared of the unknown.

Radical Jesus

I am continually amazed how radical Jesus was. As I study all the reading material, I see that Jesus cut across every grain. He broke the Sabbath. He had complete disreguard for the ritual laws. He claimed to be God, a sure no no in a Jewish society. Little wonder remains whay the religious leaders did not like or accept him. I wonder what Christ would have to say to in our completely carefree society. Would He be unmoved by the lack of concern for God and His commands, or would that be the society He was striving to achieve? I know He was not attempting to destroy the law, but why so radically different?

Insert Interesting Title Here

Temptation is generally something that every person faces on a regular basis. Many of us college students know that temptation creeps up at 8:55 a.m and you have slept longer than your alarm intended for you to sleep and you catch yourself asking the question, "Should I stay or should I go now?" (cheesy music lines are fun). But in all seriousness, that is a question of temptation. I choose the one more appealing to me and that would be sleep, and so I give into my temptation to skip class and continue into my blissful slumber of dreams.

This type of temptation seems real petty compared to what we see Jesus went through in Mark 1:12-13. Jesus faced a much greater temptation. As I continually read these two verses I began to realize the harshness of His temptation. Forty Days!!!! Forty stinkin days!!!!! I fail after 30 seconds or less with some stuff. But again, the severity of Jesus' temptation is much greater than my bed time. Garland states that Mark mention this temptation as one major clash and not a series of temptations like in Luke or Matthew. And I think that better shows the pressure Jesus went through. You can just imagine that Satan tried everythign in his power to get Jesus to sin, yet Satan was unable to prevail. That shows Jesus as human and as authoritative. I think that is an example that we should follow. In just a simple version of allowing ourselves to tell Satan NO.....LEAVE ME ALONE YOU DEVIL YOU!!!!! Jesus truly made a great statement through action. Maybe we should have confidence in ourselves and do the same.

Temptation

When Dr. Foster stated that Jesus understands temptation better than we do because we have never said No to it….I felt a little bit of a slap in the face. Mainly because of all the times I prayed to God moaning and groaning about everything I was being put through, sometimes in order to gain some kind of sympathy. Now, through thinking about it, I see how much of an idiot I can actually be. I talked to God as if he knew nothing about anything I was going through, when in fact, it was totally the opposite. He knows everything I have ever felt, because He, himself, has felt the same way. The difference is…..Jesus didn’t give in; I can really learn a lot from Him!

Mark has a Plot

I had never thought of the book of Mark as a peice of litature. When Professor Foster started talking about plots and settings, it all of a sudden dawned on me that this book and the others in the Bible were all great works of litature. The Cyclical Outline of Mark is a tool like those I had used before in developing children's litature. From looking at this prespective I gained a new knowledge and appreciation for the book of Mark.

To Fast or Not to Fast

Garland’s comments on Jesus’ response to his opponents about the question of why His disciples do not fast intrigued me. The bridegroom was certainly with His disciples so there was no need for them to fast. Jesus does point to a time that He will not be with His disciples. Garland, I believe rightfully, explains that this time points to Christ’s death. The question I pose is since Christ was resurrected to new life and after His resurrection assured His disciples that He would be with them always, what would be the reason for His disciples to fast now? Surely Christ lives in each believer through the person of His Spirit. To fast or not to fast, this is my question.

Jairus and the Woman

I have read this story many times. And every time I think how awesome Jesus is that he has the power to heal and perform great miracles, and I wonder how people could not believe in him after these sort of things...blah, blah, blah. I always thought the usual stuff that comes with being in Sunday School for so many years where just shouting "Jesus" seems to always be the right anwer. But as I read through Garland's commentary on Jairus and the woman God began to reveal many things to me about my own life. I found myself sitting alone, in a dark room, tears falling down my face. Last semester was my most difficult semester since I have been here at Williams...this is to be expected right. After all, I am a senior. But beyond school, life circumstances affected my grades. But more than that...they affected my sleep, my spiritual life, my emotional and mental well-being. And all of these things I could manage to keep hidden within my heart...a part from a few exceptions. As I finished reading I could not help but spend time with God. I realize that ideally we would want to be Jairus. He was a respectable man. Why would Jesus not want to help him...why would Jesus not want to help us if we are like Jairus? But we all have the potential to be the woman. No one wants to be her. She was an outcast. She lived on the fringes of society. But we all have that potential. But the good news is this...Jesus does not care. Jairus...the woman...they were one in the same. They both had needs. Jesus met both their needs....irregardless of who they were and where they had been in life. God's forgiveness knows no bounds....how awesome for those of us who feel we have fallen to far away to be forgiven.

The Moral of the Story

I enjoy reading Jesus' parables in Mark. It's kinda like He understands that if He didn't put the message "in other words" He might not make His message as clear as if He had just said it "outright". The parables take the reader away from the actual life of Christ for a moment to accept the message that He is trying to deliver. I can imagine setting around a blazing campfire like little kids and listening to Jesus tell "the moral of the story" tales. I realize that I am over-simplifying this, but telling a story with another story I was always told was a southern thing, but Jesus did it long before southern traditions were born.

Demon Seed Correlation

I caught an interesting parallel in the parable of the sower (MK 4:1-9) and the story of the demon possessed man (MK 5:1-20). In the parable of the sower Jesus talks about the farmer sowing with reckless abandon seemingly not caring about where to best put his seed. We all know that usually in this parable we are taught that only some people will react correctly to the gospel message (good) and some will not(bad). But notice what takes place in the demoniac story. Jesus healed a man physically and spiritually, right? Was he looking to be saved from his sins? Was he searching the torah looking for the answers of life? NO! Jesus was spreading the gospel (seed) much like the sower had been doing in the parable a few chapters before. I think He was showing us how to put the parable into action. We should be spreading the gospel to people regardless of whether they seem "ready/fertile" or not. I have never heard a comparison between these two stories and I thought I might try to show how I see their relationship. I want to see some comments to see if maybe I am wrong or misguided,
thanx.

Where have all the demons gone?

I have pondered this idea for a while now and it is interesting that we are seeing it as we work our way through Mark. In Ch. 5, we see Jesus, the exorcist, bring supposedly a Legion of demons out of a man and then the man returned to normal. Were demons just around during the biblical times and do we simply blow off the idea of actual demon-possessed people today? I have heard firsthand accounts of demon possessions in other countries, but it seems to be something that we do not acknowledge here. Not that this is the case, but is it possible that we have cleaned up the idea of demon possession and now refer to it as "mentally incompetent" or "mentally handicapped" or "insanity"? Could some of the people on death row who have committed horrendous crimes actually be demon-possessed? Just a thought.

Humanity of Christ

Dr. Foster talked about the temptation that Christ went through, and how it made him understand temptation more than us, and also how Christ is more human than we are. These thoughts just sort of set off thoughts of Christ's humanity, and reflection on how Christ relied on the Father. How he needed the basic things such as food and sleep, and felt fear and pain, and sometimes he needed to pray to the Father for guidance. I guess really it's just made me specifically think about how important the Father's guidance is, considering the fact that Christ needed it also. And though this is a very simple concept and thought, it's something that needs to be reflected on sometimes.

These thoughts of Christ's humanity also led to the thoughts of my lack of understanding of the trinity. That tension that was there when Christ was 100 percent God and 100 percent man at the same time. His inability to know all things, such as the date of his second coming, even while he was God. That separation of the Father and Son, while still being the same. I'm continually confused, and am forced to recognize that these answers will not be found on this earth.

Pigeonholing the Lost: My Life as a Pharisee

Trying to sleep when God is speaking to you is like trying to wrestle a bloody steak from a starving dog. God reminded me of this last week after reading a section of the NIV Application Comm. I had just finished reading about chapter 2 and 3 of Mark, where Jesus was confronted with the rising conflict of the Pharisees and their unending questions. When reading this section, two words jumped off the page and into my mind that would keep me awake for the rest of the night. These words were “pigeonholing others” (pg.113). Before reading this section I held disdain toward the Pharisees, thinking that they had to be the most self-righteous, pompous jerks in the Bible. However, after reading the author’s explanation of how they had constructed oral laws to protect their culture and faith, I began to sympathize. In fact, I identified with them exactly. I began to think back to all the times that I had formed guards around my heart that restrained me from witnessing to others. I began to think of all the mindless clones of myself that I had tried to construct in the name of our Lord. Pigeonholing the Lost in so easy and I believe that we do it so often. I know I do. I cringe at hearing the words of Jesus to the Pharisees, for I know that in the brood of vipers I have slithered. Therefore, before we cast the first stone in the Pharisees’ direction, may we first consider our own practices in order to see if we are also guilty of the same “good intentions.”

More about Jesus in his home town

When I was reading the Garland book something caught my eye that I've never thought of before. I have read and heard the story of Jesus going to his home town and them not being very accepting of Him. As many times as that's been I thought I pretty much knew about all I could about this passage, but as I read Garland I found new things that I've never thought about before. The first thing that I've never really thought about before was how big Jesus was. The Bible says he was a carpenter. Think of the work a carpenter does. A tekton is traditionally translated carpenter this is someone who works with wood, metal, or stone. If Jesus worked with the things all the time he would have been a good size fellow. In movies and pictures he's always this little dude. Sitting and thinking about that changes the way I imagine Jesus might have looked. Another thing I learned was that when the people were talking about him they said isn't this the son of Mary. I never thought about the fact that Mary's name was mentioned not Joseph. Garland gives some reasons why this is the one that he says is most likely is that by this time Joseph was dead. The thing that stuck out most and I guess has always bothered me was the fact that no one in his hometown believed. I'm sure they knew Jesus very well they had probly seen him do miracles before but yet they couldn't get past Jesus outward appearance and see Him as the son of God. Before I get to down on the people in the story. Let's fast forward to our time would we accept Jesus as God's son if he was just a plain old carpenter in our town? Would we be able to get past the outward appearance and look see him as the savior or would we just blow him off as nothing special and miss the chance of fellowshiping with God because we couldn't get past the outward appearance

Miracles and Miracle Stories

My favorite part of the reading material consisted of the miracles. Especially where it stated that a miracle denoted a supernatural event that was the result of supernatural power. It also stated that supernatural events in the Gospels were due to the exercise of God's power.
As stated in the DJG, Jesus was not only a miracle worker, but also the object of miracles. (the virginal conception, baptism, Transfiguration, resurrection, and the ascention. Luke stated the virgin birth (Luke 1), Simeon stated at Jesus' circumcision that Simeon would not die till he had seen the Lord's Christ (Luke 2:36), Anna, the prophetsess praised God about Jesus to those around her (Luke 2), John the Baptist stated that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and Nathanael called Jesus the Son of God, The King of Israel (John 1:49).
Jesus said "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me" (John 7:16) and often refered to God and scripture.
Even the demons recognized Jesus as "The Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24:25), "You are the Son of God." (Mark 3: 11), and "What have you to do with me, Jesus Son of the Most High God?", (Mark 5:7)
Also, the DJG showed that Jesus was an exorcist because of the Holy Spirit; in other words, that God was with him and the exorcism was the Work of God.

A speaker with Authority

There are so many times growing up that we all want to be some one of authority and to become some one who has power. Whether it be in a job or even just have the ability to be told that you are a speaker with authority. In the mark passage where Jesus drives out the demons there is a huge focus on that he is a speaker of authority. I feel that sometimes we also forget that even though he is not here in a physical stand point he lives in side all of us. I am not here saying that we have the same power as God, because we don't he does give us the power and strength to do what ever he has planned for us. And then we can be a speaker of authority if just step out in faith and believe that God can use a common man like us. I firmly believe that God wanted us to understand that side of him because of how he created the earth. What did he do? He spoke everything into existence just as he spoke the evil spirit out of the man.

God Will Provide The Lamb.

Yesterday, I was thinking about what Dr. Foster said in class about how too often we look toward the prophets in the Old Testament to give us answers about Jesus and avoid the Pentateuch. This made me question some things and see if some of the events in the Pentateuch were used as symbolism of the coming Messiah. After thinking of this, one story in particular stuck in my head. This was the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 where God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him. In my opinion, this story parallels Christ's death in a few ways.

For one, Abraham places the wood on Isaac to carry to the place of the sacrifice, just as Jesus did on the way to be crucified in Jerusalem. Also, God told Abraham to kill his ONLY son. Abraham didn't have many children like other men at the time. In fact, the Bible says that Abraham was around one hundred years old when Isaac was first born. John 3:16 says God loved the world so much that he gave his ONLY son. The thing that most stuck out to me was how Abraham says that God will provide the lamb. I know that Abraham probably was not referring to Jesus being the lamb of God because the title comes from John the Baptist in John where John says "Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world" and not in Genesis 22 but I still think it is a fairly interesting comparison.

faith and waiting

While reading in Garland I was very interested in the part where he talks about the passage where Jesus heals both the woman that wouldn't stop bleeding and the dead child. Two parts of what he talked about really got to me. 1) The man that came to Jesus first had to wait for Jesus to come heal his daughter because a woman that couldn't stop bleeding came up behind him and touched his clothes. Now I don't know about everyone else but I tended to get a little ticked off sometimes when I see that other people are getting what appears to be what they want from God while I have to wait in the background for something that I want. The fact is this man could have easily blown his top when Jesus stalled in order to recognize this woman. How many times do we Get impatient with God when things don't go our way. 2) The man was shocked by the word of his daughters death, yet Christ told him to have faith. His daughters dead and he has to have faith that she will be alright. Now this man was probably thinking," Okay Jesus you have done some pretty amazing stuff but this is death only God can stop death." But where a man sees defeat God sees and opportunity. The mans view were changed drastically that day when he witnessed his dead daughter rise. What kind of faith do we have? Is it strong enough to face even the most difficult problem?

Another possible explanation of Baptism in the NT

After class on Monday I posed the question to Dr. Foster as to if there was historical precedence for religious or philosophical leaders to immerse their new converts. Dr. Foster explained that before John many leaders did in fact baptize their followers. Even prostylytes to the Jewish faith were commonly baptized as an announcement of their acceptance into the Jewish faith. So maybe baptism is very simple in its New Testament meaning. It is simply the public acknowledgement of someone's intent to follow or be a disciple of a particular sect. The Christians probably just adopted a common practice already instituted in the surrounding cultures (Greek and Jewish). In this respect, baptism becomes more of a ceremony rather than something with deep spiritual significance (other than what it eventually came to symbolize in the early Christian traditions for the death burial and resurrection of the new convert "with Jesus").

Everyone invited

Reading through Garlands' commentary on Mark 2:13-3:6, I found a really interesting story. It was about a man who was staying in a motel and on the elevator door was an invitation to a party. The invitation ends up being a hoax. Before finding out that it was a hoax, the man thought in his might what kind of people might show up- tired salemen, bored vacationers, weary travelers. It was said that in their minds the people thought about a party that might be going on in which all were invited to. In which it did not matter who came in, at what time they came in, or what they did. It said that Jesus is willing to through a party like this were anyone is invited and it is not a hoax. It also says that those who belong to his Church should be willing to do the same. It brought out the fact that too often the church is taking down the sign to invite one and all. I agree with these statements we need to be willing to tell all and invite all to be apart of the fellowship of Christ. If we do not invite all then there must be something wrong with our churches.

Who has more faith?

For years in the church of today we discuss how stupid the people who saw Jesus and the miracles he performed were for not believing in him, specifically his own people. But after reading more about the culture of the Jews and what there understanding of a so called "messiah" was to be, I have really had to ask myself if I would have believed Jesus was who he claimed to be back then. In the DJG the term "messiah" apparently took on more meanings than what the word means to us. The Jews were also expecting this conquering figure to come and rescue them from the oppression of their enemies as well as be this great majestic figure who would sit on a throne as a powerful leader. The fact that he was not a powerful figure in terms of wealth and having an army or an empire was one of the first obstacles I would have had to overcome if I would have grown up in their culture.

How could one not believe if they witnessed the miracles that were performed? After listening to the lecture on Demon possesions and exorcisms I can see where those who witnessed him doing these miracles could have easily seen his power as some sort of sorcery. Based on the fact that they believed in demon possession and powers of demons it could have been easy to associate this guy who did not fit the profile of their awaited messiah off as a false profit who used mystical powers to gain a following. There were also many false messiahs or prophets in that day that the bible doesn't mention that the people had probably encountered before Jesus leading to doubts as well.

When one takes a look at the enviroment that the Jewish people were raised in and accustomed to they can see how hard it would have been to believe this man called Jesus. They were blinded by tradition and believes of their time. It is really not that different today if you look at our society and it huge variety of beliefs. Would we believe if a guy came out of nowhere and started performing miracles and claiming to be the son of God today if it did not fit our idea of what Christ return is to be. I'll end by saying this. The advantage we have today is that we are born into a culture that overwhelmingly promotes Jesus Christ as the Son of God and our Saviour which in turn makes it easier to accept an believe in him. We should just be thankful to have had that opportunity and quit being so judging of another culture until we put ourselves into their shoes. Who really had more faith, those who were with Jesus and believed during that culture or us who have not seen but have been taught from a young age to believe?

Follow Me

In Garland and in class, we looked at how Jesus taught as one with authoriy. Garland writes of how sages never called people to follow them, only for people to follow the Torah, which they can learn from them. Jesus taught people to follow him, this was totally different and some could never get over that and today some still can't. Through out history we can see others who have tried to teach using this same style of authority, but they did not have the power they were proclaiming to have and led people in the wrong direction. It is important for all of us to pay close attention to how we teach, making sure that we point others to follow Jesus and the scriptures. Spelling out to others, that they can see how we follow Jesus and do the same, but clearly showing that we too follow Jesus not our own teaching.

:( Comment below by James was recognized as E-mail of the weAk! No Cheerleaders allowed. -02/16/2005

Am I With Him, or am I WITH Him?

Euthus
Throughout the Bible, and especially the Gospels, we are taught that we have complete authority over the enemy. To see Jesus walk up to a man that can break chains, and tell the spirits to come out of him, is enough evidence that we have the victory. Yet, so many times, when things get rough, “we retreat into a shell of comfortable Christianity” (Gar. 143). So one must ask, do we really understand the hope that we have in Jesus.
Also, in Garland’s discussion about the choosing of the twelve, he writes, “the twelve will have to learn that there is a difference between hanging around with Jesus and truly being with him.” (129). He continues by commenting that they must learn to be involved with Jesus, in his sufferings and harassments.
I believe that these two truths that we see here can be put together. I have found that in the midst of trials or harassments from old friends, if I am simply “hanging out” with Jesus I will retreat or even avoid the conflict. When we are hanging out with our “homeboy,” or naming it but not claiming it, we are more apt to sink into the crowd when the going gets tough, but if we are in communion with our Lord and Savior, we will step up to the challenge and stare the devil in the face because we know that our side has already won.

Forgiveness of Sins

In Mark chapter 2 we find the story of Jesus and the paralytic man. As we read into the chapter we see were Jesus tells this man Son, your sins are forgiven. Wow, what a profound statement. I have never really thought about how much of an impact a statement, such as this, would have made in first century Palestine, but you would have been crazy to make such a statement; unless you are God. I believe this is another way Mark is trying to tell us about who Jesus really is. This was not some man who was good at walking around casting out demons or healing people, but this actually was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who could forgive the sins of the world.

Temptation

In class yesterday, Dr. Foster said something to the extent of (sorry if it's not a perfect quote--I think I got the idea of it): Jesus knew the true power of sin because he alone was able to overcome it. As I mulled that idea over, I was amazed and convicted. Jesus was tempted by Satan himself, yet he didn't give in.

Although I believe Satan works in lives today, I don't believe many Christians have personally faced his temptings. We, as modern believers, are so quick to pass the blame for our sin on someone else. The truth is that our selfish desires and motives lead us to sin. My biggest fight isn't against Satan and his demons, though that battle is very real; it's against myself. Knowing that Christ overcame temptations of the flesh as well as the face-to-face confrontation with Satan gives me hope that it is possible for me to win over temptations when I allow Christ's power to work through me.

The Mustard Seed

Garland discusses the fact that the Kingdom of God was not compared to the mustard seed, however what happens to the mustard seed. The comparison is thought provoking. The seed is the smallest of all seeds, it grows to maturity as a six to ten foot bush. It is awesome how God used 12 disciples after the ressurection of christ to begin his work. The kingdom moves to 120 disciples to Peter's first sermon and 3000 are saved. Paul begins churches in the known world, which moves the kingdom beyound the Jewish people. Today we have Christians all over the world. I agree with Garland in his statement " We have not however reached the great tree status yet." I am sure the kingdom has not quit growing.

Brian Nagy

NT Citations of Scripture

On January 31, Dr. Foster spoke of the citation techniques of New Testament writers, and he pointed to the prologue of the gospel of Mark to illustrate his teaching. Many would argue that the correct method of interpretation is to discern the meaning of the text in context. Unfortunately, against this exegetical theory seemingly stands the Biblical text. I find this tension nearly unbearable, for I cannot find a way to eliminate the apparent hypocrisy of believing in "proper" exegesis while believing in the inspiration of "improper" New Testament exegesis of the Old Testament.
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Possible Solutions:
(note: these solutions assume the exegete primarily utilizes the Grammatical-Historical method)

1. One solution might be to reject the inspiration of the New Testament on these matters, but even if the text is not inspired, the answer concerning proper interpretation remains unanswered.

2. Another possible solution is to state that the inspiration of the Holy Spirit granted the writers license to utilize "improper" methodologies in order to express the message of the text, but this solution compounds the problem, leaving the following questions:
A. Why would God use a false (incorrect) method to communicate truth?
B. Why is the method improper for the contemporary Christian if used to express the same divine truth?

3. An alternative, though possibly less palatable, solution is to accept the method of interpretation as valid and potentially useful in the church today. Many, myself included, would find this solution to be incredibly difficult to accept, given the very logical basis of the Grammatical-Historical method of exegesis taught in Biblical Interpretation class.

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Personally, I reject option one because I believe in the inspiration of the text. Option two seems to be thoroughly contradictory, since arguing that the only way to interpret a text correctly is to use the Grammatical-Historical method while believing in the inspired text which does not use this method seems to evade logic. Unfortunately, option three is not attractive.

Option three seems to be eerily similar to reader-response criticism of a text. When evaluated using the Gramm.-hist. method, the meaning of the quoted text in Mark 1 appears to be drastically different from the meaning of the words in their original contexts. Does this mean that Mark subconsciously believed that the text only has meaning through the eyes of the reader? The methodology the evangelist used is, after analysis, quite compatible with such a reader-response interpretation of the Old Testament Scriptures. If this understanding is true, the ramifications are tremendous. If valid, reader-response interpretation geared for the uses of the quoting reader would turn conservative exegesis on its head, for its foundations would not lie in a postmodern, liberal view of scripture but in a first-century, conservative view of scripture. Perhaps there is truly nothing new under the sun.

Catching Fish

I do not fish very often but I have found Garland's discussion on the passage on fishing for people interesting. When we become a Christian something drastic has happened and our life will be totally different in the future just like a caught fish's life is totally changed. I have thought about this and wondered how much my life has changed. I can say that I see a difference from that point of conversion. I also think about when people ask me how to know if someone is really a believer or not. The answer should be clear, if a life changing event has taken place then your life should really change. The proof is in the pudding or actions (same thing right?) .

Miracles in Mark

What were the Miracles of Jesus in Mark? Were they just a way of showing that Christ was the Son of God? Were they a way of discouraging early Christian heretics from believing strictly in miracles as a sign of divinity? Or were they more? The miracles of Jesus in Mark were more. The miracles of Christ were very likely a combination of things in the book. It is clear that at times Christ was showing to the crowds that he was the Son of God through His miracles. Who else could have wielded that kind of power? And yet at the same time was he doing more. As was pointed out in the DJG perhaps Christ was ushering in the Kingdom of God. His miracles were primarily preformed on those who already believed in Him. Perhaps Christ was showing us through the miracles that He will take care of those who have faith in Him. He does not do miracles solely to show Himself as the Christ. In fact He does quite the opposite in refusing to preform signs for the Pharisees. Perhaps this is in a way showing us that His miracles had a bigger picture. Christ was beginning the process of building the Kingdom

Authorship of Mark

Like many, I have read through Mark on a number of occasions before. However, when reading through it this time, I was struck by how "choppy" and disjunctive it truely is. Never before had I noticed how it really appears to be simply a grouping of events being retold in no certain order, as opposed to a flowing, chronological recollection of someone's life. I had read before that it was commonly agreed that the Gospel of Mark was really Peter's thoughts written down by Mark. However when reading through Mark this time, this knowledge, along with the "choppiness" that stood out to me, all began to work together. If indeed, the Gospel of Mark is a collection of Peter's memories, then it would make sense for it to be "event-centered." Each of us remember life by its events. The life in between the events gets lost. While all this was yet brewing around in my head, I went to the NIV Applicaton Commentary on Mark to see what I could find. Page 26 of that commentary quotes Eusebius speaking of Papias, "Mark, having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatever he remembered of the things said and done by the Lord, but not however in order." Also, "... Peter, who adapted his teachings to the needs of his hearers, but not as though he were drawing up a connected account of the Lord's oracles." The next day Dr. Foster spoke of this very quote in class while lecturing on the authorship of Mark. Its nice to stumble upon something on your own, only to have it conferred upon by others. Reading through Mark's Gospel gives me the impression that Mark wrote every story about Jesus that Peter could remember, then attempted to put them in the most basic order; from Jesus' birth to His ascension.