Walking on Water: Mark 6:45-56

45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

In this passage there is the same allusion as the previous passage to Jesus being a new Moses.  Just as Moses parted the Red Sea allowing the Israelites to pass and rescuing them from their Egyptian oppressors, Jesus is able to command the waters and rescue the disciples in their boat from the winds.  There is the suggestion that the way of Jesus also rescues the people from oppression and brings order rather than chaos, creation rather than destruction.

Like the story of Jesus calming the storm in the fourth chapter of Mark, Jesus, or his Way, is again shown as bringing order and creation out of chaos, implying the divine nature of his teaching.  Again there is the allusion to the Hebrew creation story that starts with, "the spirit of God...hovering over the waters".  The creation of the world by the Hebrew god in this creation story is an act of order over chaos in deliberate contrast to the Babylonian creation story where creation is achieved through the violent death of the god Tiamat by the storm god Marduk where Tiamat's corpse is used to form heaven and earth.  As such, bodies of water and storms are seen to be the antithesis of the creative power of the Hebrew God, with Jesus ability to master these elements as tying into God's creative power, and alluding to the similar power of his teaching or 'Way'.

There are a couple of differences between this story and the earlier story that speak to Jesus's identity and equate Jesus with being like God.  The earlier story has the disciples ask the question "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?".  This story uses a number of elements to answer that question.  In this story, Jesus goes from calming chaos to having dominion over it in a way only God was known to do.  In the scriptures walking on water is something only God can do.  Job 9:8 states, "He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea".  As well, Psalm 77:19 states, "Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen".

Another suggestion of Jesus's divinity is the reference to the "I AM" language of God in Jewish scripture.  Jesus says, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid" to the disciples.  As well, the story has the odd detail that "he was about to pass them".  This language is suggestive of the story in Exodus 33 and 1 Kings 19 where God "passes by". 

This story also furthers the theme Jesus's works revealing his identity and the disciples failure to understand who he is.  When they first see Jesus on the water, instead of recognizing him, they think he is a ghost.  The Gospel also adds that. "they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened".

Who is the Gospel revealing Jesus to be and how metaphorically did they intend this identity?  This story takes the identify beyond being a new Moses to someone who shares more similarities with God.  Do these references go beyond what was expected to cast Jesus as the Messiah, God's anointed one, someone with authority to speak on his behalf who would usher in God's new age?  Taken that in the first century a Rabbi and their teaching, their 'Way', were synonymous, did the writer and their audience take all these divine or semi-divine allusions as metaphors for Jesus' teaching?  Were they casting Jesus' Way as divine and analogous with God, that which is the epitome of truth and legitimacy?

I could be wrong, but I don't think the purpose of the Gospel was the revelation of Jesus identity as divine through gradual proofs by the telling of his great deeds.  I think that the divinity identity is a literary device to legitimize his Way as shown through his words and actions in the Gospel.  Let's look again at what that Way has been shown to be so far.

As we have observed in our study of the Gospel to this point, Jesus is given as starting his ministry preaching a continuation of the message of John the Baptist, telling the people to "repent", change their thinking and direction in terms of social justice; fairness, sharing with others, and caring for the disadvantaged. As the Gospel progresses the message includes:

• Radical inclusion based on a vision of a primarily loving and compassionate God where all are welcome and equal participants in the people of God and no one is excluded or sanctioned. 
• Social and religious restrictions and purity considerations are cast aside as the leper, the sick, the poor, and the outcast are made whole and welcomed back into full participation in community.   
• Jesus eats with "sinners" lifting their status to be equal his own.  
• Humanity has priority over rules and laws with spirit and love overruling legalism. 
• Through parables Jesus shows the need to turn our cultural assumptions and understandings upside down and see the world from a new perspective.  Jesus gives no rules or practices with his teaching consisting almost entirely on parables, shifting one's perspective and reflection through metaphor.
• The "kingdom of God", the incidence of what is most true and right, increases in the world from small acts like "tiny seeds".

Jesus, a Moses Feeding the People: Mark 6:30-44

 30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages[e]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.  40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 

41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

The parallel between this story and that in Exodus Chapter 16 of Moses and of God's provision of manna and quail to the Israelite community in the wilderness is obvious.  Jesus, his Way, is a new Moses and is shown to have the same endorsement from God making his teachings as legitimate as the law of Moses.  There are also a number of possible metaphorical meanings for which it is difficult to know which the community of Mark intended.  

Jesus's Way:

• "Feeds", brings life and strength, to those who search after it and will "satisfy"
• Is one of generosity and abundance where you end up with more than you started
• Is egalitarian.  It makes all equally part of the community and welcome to be part of the sacred.  None are unworthy or excluded.

The last point comes from the part of the story where Jesus gave thanks, broke the bread and had his disciples distribute it to the people.  It was the custom in first century Jewish homes for the father or host who presided over the meal to dedicate it to God, to make it a spiritual event by offering a blessing on behalf of everyone present and by distributing pieces of bread broken as part of the blessing to those present.   In the first century it would have been a big deal to do this in front of a crowd since "table politics" meant that a person only ate with their social equals.  To eat with someone of lower status was to raise their status to that of your own.  Jesus equalizes and lifts the status of a crowd of five thousand, many of whom would have been considered on the margins, inviting them into his spiritual practice with no requirements or prejudice.

Another part of the story that stands out is how it works to show how "popular" Jesus is.  He has to try to get away to solitary places because there is always a crowd looking for him, and, when he finds what is supposed to be a solitary place, a crowd of five thousand men (how many more women and children?) gather.  Since, unlike John the Baptist, no mention of Jesus shows up in the official historical records of the time, I believe the writer is compensating for how little recognition Jesus actually had wherever the community that wrote this Gospel were situated.

John the Baptist Raised from the Dead Mark 6:14-29

 

14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying,[b] “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”

And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”

16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled[c]; yet he liked to listen to him.

21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of[d] Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

This is somewhat of a non sequitur and self contained little story in the narrative of Jesus' biography.  Why is this important to the Jesus story to the gospel's community, and why place the story at this point?  

At the very beginning of the Gospel, John the Baptist was introduced as a character who endorses and legitimizes the figure of Jesus where the writer has John testify to Jesus' superiority and casts John in the role of messenger or herald.  We looked at how this endorsement suggested that John was a much more well known figure of the times and had a reputation for holiness and as a Prophet.  This is borne out by the fact that only the Gospels and Epistles mention Jesus while there is no trace him in any of the official historical records of the time unlike John the Baptist who is recorded by the Jewish Historian Flavius in this time period.  

This story again works to legitimize Jesus by comparisons with John the Baptist.  The writer has King Herod testify that Jesus must be John the Baptist "raised from the dead".  In fact this section of the story begins with testimonies from "others" about Jesus' standing as a religious figure, that "He is Elijah", and "a prophet".  It is at this point the testimony of Herod is repeated with, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead".  The rest of the section seems to be an explanation about the circumstances of the beheading that Herod references, and as I said almost seems to be an aside and divergence from the main story.

However, rather than strictly an aside, I believe this story had a purpose in its inclusion. It think this story meant to foreshadow and legitimize the later story of Jesus' conflict with the authorities and cast it as being indicative of a prophet.  The references to Jesus being Elijah could serve the same purpose as this prophet was also known for his conflict with authority.

Another piece of foreshadowing and statement on Jesus' exceptional nature is the part of the story about Jesus being mistaken for John the Baptist, "raised from the dead".  It serves to underline that John, although recognized by the people as a prophet, was never raised from the dead, alluding to Jesus superiority as a spiritual figure through his resurrection.

Sending out the Twelve Mark 6:7-13

 

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

What I find significant in this passage is that it shows that the community of Mark did not see Jesus' way as exclusive to him, but something that those who followed him could perform with the same authority and results.  This reminds me of the Gospel of Thomas, the twin, with the theme that we can become a twin of Jesus and partake in his enlightenment.

I also notice that this passage contains a distillation of Jesus 'Way', his teaching and 'way of seeing the world' which he commissions others to spread.  I would list this summary of Jesus Way as follows:

• Authority over impure spirts
• Jesus' Way primary involves the authority to welcome/facilitate those who are marginalized, considered "impure" or "unclean", into community, removing the barriers and performance factors the culture requires.  To drive out "impure spirits" is to remove conditions that keeps people from fellowship with God and community.  
• Healing the sick
• The Way of Jesus brings people into wholeness.  Metaphorically Jesus teaching is  seen dualistically as health rather than sickness.  Again this is an example of enabling everyone to be part of the community since the sick were also marginalized and excluded from Temple worship.
• Lack of concern of material needs
• Anti materialism is central to Jesus' teaching.  The world view of Jesus is one of abundance where needs will be provided and the Universe is profoundly generous. One needs not dwell on one's survival or fear scarcity, but can focus on what is more important.
• The inherent generosity of humanity
• Along with seeing the universe as generous and carrying, Jesus sees much of humanity as in the same light.  He has no fear that the twelve will find those who will welcome them, take them in, and supply for all their needs.  
• Those who are not welcoming and generous to the disciples are seen as who are truly "impure".  The disciples are told to "shake the dust off" their feet, a practice by Pious 1st-century Jews traveling home from Gentile lands.  They would shake off the dust of those foreign nations to avoid bringing foreign, "unclean" dirt into the holy land.  
• A message of repentance as a return to the social contract as given by the Prophets.
• Jesus in the last passage identifies himself as a Prophet and the Prophet's were spokespeople for God telling the people to return, not to worship, not to greater adherence to purity laws and rituals, but to social justice in terms of caring for each other, providing for the poor and widowed, justice, mercy, and humility. 
• Repentance is defined by John the Baptist in the third chapter of Luke as fulfilling social justice, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”