Timothy & Countering The Culture (part 2)

In the fifth chapter of Mark, Jesus heals a demoniac by casting a “Legion” of demons out of him and into a herd of pigs.  At the conclusion of this story, it is reported that “As He was getting into the boat the man who had been demon-possessed asked if he could go with Him.  But Jesus did not permit him to do so.  Instead, He said to him, ‘Go to your home and to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, that He had mercy on you.’” (Mark 5:18-19) 

At first glance, it appears that Jesus is in fact telling this man to engage in activity that would be standard for a client, that of telling others about the benefaction of a patron.  However, on second glance, Jesus, as was customary, is pointing away from Himself and to the Creator God of Israel as the source of healing.  At the same time, the Gospel author wants the reader to see the way in which Jesus act of mercy is received against the known background of the patron-client dynamic, as he goes on to write “So he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed” (5:20).  This would have been standard practice for a client.  Though it has not been requested nor demanded of him, he has made Jesus his patron.  Though the earthly Jesus clearly did not desire this, especially when considering His constant insistence on keeping His activities or identity secret, in a cosmic sense this is entirely appropriate.

The story of “Blind Bartimaeus,” as recorded in the tenth chapter of Mark, also fits well into the patron-client dynamic.  Commencing with verse forty-six: “They came to Jericho.  As Jesus and His disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road.  When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to shout, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (10:46-47)  By this, Bartimaeus is attempting to gain Jesus’ attention and ultimately His patronage, offering Jesus praise, requesting mercy, and so attempting to take the position of client. 

Reading further then, it is said that “Many scolded him to get him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’  Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’  So they called the blind man and said to him, ‘Have courage!  Get up!  He is calling you.’  He threw off his cloak, jumped up, and came to Jesus.  Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’  The blind man replied, “Rabbi, let me see again.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Go, your faith has healed you.’  Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the road” (10:48-52). 

In this story, Bartimaeus is undeterred by the scolding.  He desires Jesus’ patronage.  He is willing to become Jesus’ client.  He throws off his cloak (likely his only cloak), thus signifying a complete reliance on this patron (further debasing himself as a nod to the honor of the potential patron).  He also uses the honorific title of “Rabbi.”  Jesus’ response is not what one would expect from a patron, in that He does not take credit for the healing, but rather, Jesus tells the man that he has been healed by his own faith (fides, pistis - loyalty).  The now healed man, desirous of showing forth his loyalty and of having a role in increasing Jesus’ public honor, takes up the position of a client, by following Jesus on the road. 

Triumph Of Jesus (part 7)

The procession had wound through the city.  The crowds had cheered the triumphator and his army, while mocking the defeated foes.  Finally they reached Capitoline hill.  It is here that the exalted general and his armies would pay homage to the one from whom they received the power to conquer, and where those conquered would face the image of mighty Jupiter, realizing that the great god of Rome had overcome their pithy deities. 

The defeated army was forced to part, to give way to their king and to his bedraggled generals.  They were marched through the midst of their men, bound in heavy chains.  Then they were forced to trudge through the midst of the army that had broken the spirits of their fighting men and hastened their demise.  Finally, they were presented to the triumphator, who dragged them, by their chains, up the steps of Jupiter’s temple, where he would force them to participate in a sacrifice in honor of Rome’s supreme deity before employing them as gruesome examples of the eternal might of Rome. 

It was reported, quite comically I might add, that the king had attempted to infiltrate the ranks of Rome’s army, promising some of Rome’s soldiers all of the splendor and treasures that his kingdom had to offer, if only they would turn their backs on Rome, leave their posts, fight for him, and encourage others to do the same.  Comical, for what king could offer something that glorious Rome could not provide?  Surprisingly and tragically, some had been won over to his side.  Traitors!  They too had been identified and captured.  Infamy would come upon them and their fates would not be dissimilar to the one that wooed them.  I’m sure they wished that they had not joined his side. 

They had renounced the marks that had been placed on their bodies, identifying them as members of the Roman legion.  As part of their disavowal of Rome, they had scraped those various marks from off of their skin.  This new mark, they were told, the one that showed that they had left the side of Rome, would cause them to be honored by their new people and their gods.  They had genuflected before gods that were doomed to fall.  They had even consented to worshiping that king as if he was a god in the mold of blessed Caesar.  How absurd.  Now, that same mark, an anti-mark really, was one of ignominy.  It branded them as traitorous rebels.  Many have attempted to mount campaigns of propaganda against Rome, against its emperor, and against its gods.  All had failed.  All will fail!  Futility indeed. 

The white bulls were offered in sacrifice.  Then, the king and his generals were brought forward, with the generals forced to take a knee.  The very dagger that had been used to slit the throats of the sacrificial bulls was placed in the hands of the triumphator.  With one swift motion, each of the generals, in turn, was dispatched from this mortal existence---their immortal souls sent to wander the underworlds in punishment for their crimes against the empire of the son of god.  Then the king himself, who had attempted to stand against the power of almighty Caesar, was forced to kneel before the altar of Jupiter.  He was forced to bend his knees, acknowledging the being who is supreme over all.  Having done this, the triumphator, having had one of the fasces placed in his hand, drew back, swung the axe, and decapitated the now permanently fallen king. 

Immediately (part 2 of 4)

As we move to the second chapter, Jesus addresses a paralyzed man, and declares to him that his sins are forgiven.  Some scribes, upon hearing that, thought to themselves, “He is blaspheming!” (2:7b)  The author informs us that Jesus perceived what was being thought about Him, “And immediately…said to them, ‘Why do you question these things in your hearts?’” (2:8)  Having said that to the doubters, Jesus turned to the already forgiven man and said, “rise, pick up your bed, and go home” (2:11b).  What was the response?  “And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out” (2:12a).  It seems that the one to be called “Lord” had instilled in him a sense of urgency as well. 

As we continue to trek through Mark, we find Jesus healing a man, in the synagogue, on the Sabbath.  With Jesus having done this, “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against Him, how to destroy Him” (3:6).  As was already said, the forces that were arraying themselves against Jesus had a clear sense of urgency as well.  Jesus would go on to deliver the parable of the sower, speaking about the seed that would be scattered as the “sower went out to sow” (4:3).  Some of that seed, Jesus said, “fell on rocky ground, and immediately it sprang up” (4:5), but because “it had no root, it withered away” (4:6b).  That is an immediacy to be avoided, which we find out as Jesus explains the parable to His disciples. 

In the explanation, Jesus likens the seed to the preaching of the word of the Gospel.  When some hear the word, “Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them” (4:15).  For others, “they immediately receive it with joy” (4:16b), but because the word has no substance, because it is shallow, ambiguous, vague, filled with platitudes, lacking in a variety of necessary contexts, or offered with no sense of narrative flow so that it has no roots to penetrate deep, “immediately they fall away” (4:17) when persecution and trials arise.  The immediateness of the message of the Gospel cuts both ways.  However, when that seed takes root, it “sprouts and grows” (4:27).  This seed produces the fruit that Jesus desires, which first and foremost is the preaching of Him as Lord and its correspondent bent of action towards the establishment of God’s kingdom along the lines preferred by the Jesus of the Gospels, and “at once He puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come” (4:29b).  The proclamation in word and deed of the unadorned Gospel message is what brings forth a harvest.     

Then we find Jesus arriving in the country of the Gerasenes.  “Immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit” (5:2b).  This unclean spirit called himself “Legion” (5:9), indicating that it was a large number.  Jesus responded by casting the “legion” of demons into a herd of pigs, which subsequently ran into the sea and were drowned.  This is full of a great deal of imagery, as the symbol of the Roman legion that was responsible for that territory was the pig.  Having been freed from his captivity, the man begged Jesus to let him become one of His followers.  Jesus said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you” (5:19b).  The man responded by preaching the Gospel, essentially proclaiming Jesus as Lord (in contradistinction to the Roman legionnaires that represented Caesar who was at that time recognized and hailed as the lord of all), as “he began to proclaim…how much Jesus had done for him” (5:20b).  A harvest was reaped, as “everyone marveled” (5:20b).   

We then come upon the familiar story of the woman with the issue of blood.  We find that as she touched Jesus garments, “immediately the flow of blood dried up” (5:29a), as she was healed of her disease.  Having felt a surge of His healing power, Jesus “immediately turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched My garments?’” (5:30b)  This had occurred while Jesus was on his way to the house of a man named Jairus, whose daughter was “at the point of death” (5:23b).  When He finally reached the young girl, Jesus touched her and spoke to her, “And immediately the girl got up and began walking” (5:42a).  All who witnessed this “were immediately overcome with amazement” (5:42b). 

In the twenty-fifth verse of chapter six, Herodias’ daughter, having pleased King Herod with a dance, “came in immediately with haste to the king” and asked to be given the head of John the Baptist.  Though the king was vexed by this request, “immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head” (6:27a).  With this, it seems possible that Mark points us to the fact that the immediate nature of Satan’s kingdom of darkness stands in stark contrast to the kingdom of our God.  That which we are charged to do and to preach is a serious charge because it is serious business.  The Gospel must be preached, quickly and boldly, because lives are always and immediately at stake.