DBG - October 19 - Mark 6-7

In this chapter Christ ministers around Galilee.

vs. 1-6 – This parallels Matthew 13:54-58.  Christ teaches in the Synagogue at this hometown of Nazareth.  The people there reject Him, unwilling to believe that one they knew so well could be the Messiah.  It is not that Christ has disproved that claim in His life there, but that they were too close to see Him for Who He truly was.  We note also the appearance of Christ’s half-brothers.  Joseph and Mary had children together after Christ’s birth.

vs. 6-13 – This parallels Matthew 10:1-42 and Luke 9:1-6.  The Twelve are commissioned to go and preach throughout Galilee.  It is the first taste of the work they will do after the Resurrection. 

vs. 14-29 – This parallels Matthew 14:1-12 and Luke 9:7-9.  Herod Antipas hears tales about Christ and is haunted by his crime of killing John the Baptist.  The story is retold here of how Herodias’s grudge against John led her to plot his death.  Her daughter Salome dances before her stepfather Herod Antipas, who rewards her with a promise to do anything she asks.  She is instructed to ask for John’s head.  Herod has been outplayed by his wife, and the deed is done. 

vs. 30-44 – This parallels Matthew 14:13-21, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-14.  In the confusion and panic that followed John the Baptist’s death, people flock to Christ.  Christ removes Himself to north of the Sea of Galilee, but the multitudes follow Him there.  There is no food for them, and it is despaired that 200 pennies (denarii, about $1,600) could buy enough food.  Christ blesses the five loaves and two fishes that are given to Him, and from these 5,000 men plus their families are fed with 12 baskets full of leftovers.  I believe this to be the high-water mark for Christ’s popularity.  From this point forward, He faces increasing rejection and opposition.

vs. 45-52 – This parallels Matthew 14:22-33.  Christ sends the disciples ahead of Him as He dismisses the crowds.  The language is a little clunky here, but they were to go to Bethsaida and then sail to Capernaum.  A storm blows against the disciples’ ship.  They see Christ walking toward them on the water.  He calls out to them and the weather calms as He enters the boat.  Mark does not record Peter walking on the water.

vs. 53-66 – This parallels Matthew 14:34-36.  Christ returns to Capernaum and the region of Gennesaret (“garden of the prince”).  As word spreads that He is there, many come to Him for healing.

In this chapter Christ ministers outside of Galilee.

vs. 1-23 – This parallels Matthew 15:1-20.  The Pharisees arrive from Jerusalem and attack Christ’s followers for not washing their hands before they ate.  It is not that they did not wash them, but that they did not wash them according to the traditions the Pharisees followed.  Therefore, it is not that Christ and His followers were guilty of breaking the Law, but that the Pharisees were guilty of equating something extrabiblical with the Law.  Christ accuses the Pharisees of fulfilling Isaiah 29:13, in not following God from the heart but acting like they did.  Christ turns the tables on them by accusing them of breaking the Fifth Commandment: “Honour thy father and thy mother.”  The wealthy Jews would declare that their possessions were Corban, that is, devoted to God.  This made it a possession of the Temple though the person still held it.  Doing so was an excuse to not use the resources to care for one’s family by exploiting this technicality.  Christ then warns that we should not worry about defilement from the outside, but from the inside.  Sin comes from a depraved heart, not the dirt on our hands.

vs. 24-30 – This parallels Matthew 15:21-28.  Christ departs further north and west into the border region with ancient Phoenicia.  A Gentile woman comes seeking healing for her daughter.  Christ tests her faith, and by it reveals a testimony of true faith.  He says it was not proper for the children’s food to be given to dogs, which were considered very dirty in this culture.  The idea is that He had come as the Messiah to the Jew first, and the Gentiles should now their place.  The woman humbly responds that she would be happy to receive even crumbs for His goodness. 

vs. 31-37 – Christ now goes to the region of the Decapolis, south and east of the Sea of Galilee.  This region is primarily Gentile.  A deaf man with a speech impediment is brought to Christ for healing.  Instead of doing what they expected, touching his mouth, Christ takes him aside and touches His with his finders, and then touched his tongue with some of His own spittle on His fingers.  The description of his healing in verse 34 makes me think he was tongue-tied. 

God rarely does the same miracle twice.  Even in Christ’s miracles there are rarely two performed the same way.  Sometimes it is a touch, sometimes it is a command, sometimes the person is present, sometimes they are not.  When what may be odd actions taken in a healing, such as with the deaf man in Mark 7, it is not that Christ needed to do something strange to perform the healing.  Such actions are for the onlookers to know the healing took place and that Christ was certainly the one that performed it.  Do not be discouraged when God does not do the same mighty work in your life the same way He has before.  He will change things up so that we are sure to trust in Him and not the actions accompanying the miracle.

Our hymn today is “Thine Arm, O Lord, in Days of Old,” written in 1866 by E.H. Plumptre.  It is a beautiful prayer for the healing of man’s soul and body.

Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old
Was strong to heal and save;
It triumphed o'er disease and death,
O'er darkness and the grave.
To Thee they went, the blind, the deaf,
The palsied, and the lame,
The leper with his tainted life,
The sick with fevered frame.

And lo! Thy touch brought life and health,
Gave speech, and strength, and sight;
And youth renewed and frenzy calmed
Owned Thee, the Lord of light:
And now, O Lord, be near to bless,
Almighty as of yore,
In crowded street, by restless couch,
As by Gennesareth's shore.

Though love and might no longer heal
By touch, or word, or look;
Though they who do Thy work must read
Thy laws in nature's book:
Yet come to heal the sick man's soul
Come, cleanse the leprous taint;
Give joy and peace, where all is strife,
And strength, where all is faint.

Be Thou our great deliverer still,
Thou Lord of life and death,
Restore and quicken, soothe and bless,
With thine almighty breath.
To hands that work and eyes that see,
Give wisdom's heavenly lore,
That whole and sick, and weak and strong,
May praise Thee evermore.