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A Chapter Of The Bible
A Chapter In The Gospel Of Mark
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This article is for information and educational purposes only and is not
intended to give medical, legal or professional advice..
The sixth chapter of the Gospel of Mark is one of the most interesting chapters in the book and describes Jesus’ rejection by his townsfolk, the sending of the twelve disciples, the execution of John the Baptist by Herod, his feeding of the five thousand and his walking on the water on the sea of Galillee followed by the stilling of the storm.
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Introduction
In this chapter Mark continues to present accounts of deeds performed by Jesus which support the conclusion that He is the divine Son of God. These signs are presented with the backdrop of the lack of faith presented by those who knew Him before the beginning of His ministry, acquaintances, friends and family from His hometown. This is followed by the sending of His twelve disciples by two’s to preach repentance and to heal the sick. The passage then shifts to Herod’s response to the news of what Jesus and His disciples were doing and uses this occasion to recount the death of John the Baptist some time previously. The exhausted disciples return and go with Jesus to a deserted place where the multitudes follow them. Because they are in a wilderness, there is no food so Jesus finds a little boy’s lunch and transforms it into a meal for over 5000 people. Jesus then sends His disciples into a boat to cross to the other side of the sea and goes alone to pray. A storm arises and Jesus walks out to the boat and stills the waves. This miracle impacts the disciples more than the feeding of the 5000. They then arrive on the other side where Jesus continues His healing ministry.
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The unbelief of Jesus’ Fellow Townsmen
It is surprising that those who knew Jesus as a child and as a youth did not believe on Him. However, it is even more surprising that such a passage would be included in the narrative if it were not true, because it would tend to sow doubt in the mind of the reader. It is likely that the writer included it because he was equally amazed that this group would reject Him. In a way, the inclusion of this passage is a testament to the writer’s own belief.
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However, the true humanity of Jesus is a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith. No one who saw Jesus would find Him to be anything other than a typical human male. It was His actions which set Him apart, particularly, His sinlessness and His miracles. However, living with a flawless person, even a perfectly gracious one can be annoying because it make everyone else look flawed by comparison. We ascribe our lot in life to our condition, but people who have a similar background to ours who accomplish more than we do point out our own responsibility for our failures. We tend to envy such people.
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The unbelief of the townsfolk prevented the performance of hardly any miracles. Faith feeds on itself creating a sort of catch 22. Without a seed of faith, more faith is difficult. Faith is an integral part of the way we plan for the future. However, the more risks we take, which is an exercise of faith, it can create success which reinforces that faith. Sometimes that faith must be borrowed, someone needs to take an interest in another person and infuse faith into his life.
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Sending of the Twelve
Four things are significant about the sending of the twelve disciples. First of all, as stated in the parallel account in Matthew 9:2 “he sent them forth to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.” In the passage here it says they went preaching repentance. These two activities, preaching and healing, formed the core of the Earthly work of Jesus and his disciples. The preaching of repentance was the source of spiritual healing, while the casting out of demons represents mental healing and the healing itself refers to physical healing. Modern missions has often combined evangelistic preaching with the setting up of clinics and hospitals.
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Secondly, he sent them out two by two. The early Christian leadership was a shared affair. Missionaries went out by two’s and the churches were led by groups of eleders (Titus 1:5). The head and shepherd of the church was Jesus Christ, not a single individual. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20)
The presence of the Spirit of Christ is an emergent property which arises in the community of Christians similar to the way the mind arises from the community of neurons in our brain. John says in the book of Revelation that Christ walks in the midst of the flames of the candlesticks which represent the churches.
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Thirdly, Jesus sent them without needing any financial support. Jesus and the disciples worked for free but expected support of the people they ministered to. Both testaments of the Bible promote the idea that people that do a worthy job are worthy of financial support. Later, at the last supper, Jesus referred to this statement and told the disciples to take money, and even defensive weapons after his death (Luke 22:36).
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Finally, Jesus makes it clear that the preaching of the gospel is a blessing to those who accept it, but it creates a greater penalty for those who reject it. In His mercy, God allows those who reject the gospel a way to justify their unbelief. In other passages it says that God has blinded their eyes and dulled their ears.
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Death of John the Baptist
Herod is frightened by the news of the miracles being performed by Jesus and appears to show some guilt over his beheading of John the Baptist, thinking that Jesus is John the Baptist resurrected.
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Herod Antipas
Herod Antipas was the youngest son of Herod the Great, the Herod who reigned at the birth of Christ. His mother was Herod’s fourth wife, a Samaritan woman called Malthace. Herod the Great had ten wives and executed the first two. Herod Antipas, was originally married to Phasaelis, daughter of Aretas the IV king of the Nabateans. He fell in love with his half brother’s, Herod Philip’s, wife, Herodias, while staying with him in Rome. He divorced Phasaelis to marry Herodias and Herodias divorced Herod Phillip. She was niece to both of her husbands. She was the grandaughter of Herod the Great and his wife Miriamne I, whom he executed, while Philip was the son of Herod the Great and Miriamne II, the daughter of the High Priest Simon Boethus. The name of Herodia’s daughter with Philip is Salome, which is also the name of one of her great aunts. Not much later, Aretas, his ex-father in law, attacked and defeated Herod Antipas. This set in motion a series of events which led to Herod’s downfall and exile to Spain with his wife, where he died.
It is evident that the Herodian family were characterized by violent, sex crazed members. It is no wonder that Antipas’ lust after his own step daughter and great-niece would end in the decapitation of one of the holiest men to walk the face of the Earth. It is interesting that Antipas was willing to commit murder in order to avoid breaking an ill-spoken oath. It shows something of the twisted ethics which brings a man to such barbarity.
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Feeding of the Five Thousand
The setting of the feeding of the five thousand is a time of relaxation for the apostles. Rest and relaxation is one of the promises which God makes to His people in the Bible. The weekly Sabbath is taught in the fourth of the ten commandments. Furthermore, in the book of Hebrews, the eternal state is presented as a state of rest (Hebrews 4). Jesus also promises to give his followers rest (Matthew 11:25). However, this need for rest is balanced by the responsiveness and compassion of Jesus to the needs of those who came looking for him. Their main need was spiritual so Jesus spent the day teaching them. However, by the end of the day, physical need for sustenance interposed itself into that teaching. Jesus is conscious of that need and determines to meet it. This acknowledgement of our physical needs is seen in His teaching in the Lord’s prayer where He instructs his disciples to pray for their daily bread.
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It is interesting how Jesus goes about filling that need. He allows other people maximum participation in his work. This exemplifies the way God works in this world. He has a plan, but he accomplishes that plan through people. In this case, first of all, he allows the disciples to be the ones which inform him of the need of the people. Surely Jesus was cognizant of the need for food but chose to wait until the problem was presented by his disciples. Furthermore, he instructs the disciples to find sustenance for the multitudes. They bring him five loaves and two fishes. The Apostle John says in his gospel that the loaves were made of barley. Jesus does not create the food out of thin air, he uses a donation from a young boy. He multiplies the loaves and the fishes, but they are still the same type of loaves and fishes. In the same way, the new birth promised by God in the Bible purifies the person and allows him to come closer to his full potential. However, it does not make him a completely different person. He still has the fundamental positive traits which God gave him.
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Jesus Walks on Water
Immediately after the miracle of the multiplication of the bread and fishes Jesus tests his disciples by allowing them to find themselves in a difficult situation, literally a storm. This event teaches us several things. First of all it is in the storms of life that God reveals to us His supernatural power. When we are comfortable, we do not see the power of God. Second, this event is mentioned by the three gospel writers who were eyewitnesses, Matthew, John, and Peter, through Mark. Luke was not an eyewitness and did not experience this event first hand. This supports the idea that this is an actual miraculous event. Several naturalistic explanations have been put forward, but they contradict parts of the narrative as it appears in the various gospels. Some have speculated that Jesus was waking on a shallow shoal or underwater sand bar. However, the boat was in the midst of the sea. Some have suggested that they saw a reflection or projection of Jesus, but the account says that he climbed into the ship. Furthermore, after he also calmed the winds, the disciples were amazed. This shows that the intention of the author is to support the divinity of Jesus by means of eyewitness evidence. This means they are presenting this event as a real, historical, albeit miraculous, supernatural event. It does not really make sense otherwise.
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In the Old Testament, passing through the water often symbolized the beginning of a new stage in God’s plan. We see this in Noah’s ark, Moses’ parting of the Red sea and Joshua’s parting of the Jordan river. The first and the last involved turbulent water, and in the second, the storm was represented by the approaching Egyptian army. As such, these passages through water look forward to the salvation event symbolized by New Testament baptism. However, Jesus has already been baptized, and here Jesus deals with the storm in a completely new way. He literally overcomes it by walking over it and then dominates and subdues it by making it go away. The church, being on the other side of the event symbolized by baptism, can now access the power of God to miraculously put down those storms which hinder our work in advancing the kingdom of God. The disciples had a hard time grasping this truth and the writer acknowledges that this was due to a lack of faith and hardness of heart, which are the main obstacles keeping us from accessing this divine power for God’s work.
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Keywords
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See Also
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