Notes on Mark: Running to Jesus

I couldn't find good images of people running to Jesus, but this captures the mood.

MARK 6:53-56
I never noticed this before and certainly never thought about it ... but who would not run to see Jesus if he showed up nearby?

Have you noticed how in Mark's Gospel, when people heard that Jesus had arrived in a certain place, they ran to him. They did not walk to see Jesus, they ran to see him. They ran to the other side of the lake to listen to him (Mark 6:33), and when he returned, they ran to bring the sick to him (6:55). When he returned from the mountain where he was transfigured, the people ran to him again(9:15), and later, the rich young man ran up to him (10:17).

The people ran because they were powerfully drawn to Jesus. They saw that he was able to heal and to teach them, and it attracted them. They earnestly longed for what he offered: Words of hope and comfort, revelation about the love of the Father, and the power of a humble, surrendered life. They ran just to see him heal the sick. There was an urgency: We must go to Jesus now!

Mark: A Devotional Commentary
(The Word Among Us)

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Sources and Notes Index     

Notes on Mark: Rowing Against the Wind

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt

MARK 6:45-52
In all the times I have read this segment with Jesus walking on the water through the storm to the disciples, never have I given much thought to the fact that the disciples are wearing themselves out rowing against the wind. If I did it was only to apply it to my own struggles. However St. Bede also saw a larger message in it that makes a lot of sense to me, especially when considering how often the Church Fathers saw things like Noah's Ark symbolizing the Church.

St. Bede the Venerable comments on this whole episode in this way: "In a mystical sense, the disciples' efforts to row against the wind point to the efforts the Holy Church must make against the waves of the enemy world and the outpourings of evil spirits in order to reach the haven of its heavenly home. It is rightly said that the boat was out on the sea and He alone on the land, because the Church has never been so intensely persecuted by the Gentiles that it seemed as if the Redeemer had abandoned it completely. But the Lord sees his disciples struggling, and to sustain them he looks at them compassionately and sometimes frees them from peril by clearly coming to their rescue.

Navarre Bible: St. Mark

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Sources and Notes Index     

 

Notes on Mark: Feeding the Five Thousand

Mosaic of bread and fish in the
Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha, Israel

MARK 6:35-44
Just really thinking about Jesus feeding the five thousand is mind blowing. For one thing only the men would have been counted. So when including the women and children there may have been actually ten thousand or more people there. Barclay tells us that each loaf was not what we would think of as a loaf of bread but more like a small roll. Not that it really matters but it just signifies God's abundance even more. I also liked this commentary about how the miracle of the loaves connects with the Last Supper.

The miracle of the loaves looks both to the past and the future.

(1) It recalls miraculous feedings from the OT, like the heavenly manna God provided for Israel in the wilderness (Ex 16) and the multiplied loaves and leftover baskets provided by Elisha (2 Kings 4:42-44).

(2) It also anticipates the later institution of the Eucharist, where the same string of verbs (taking ... blessed ... broke ... gave) is found together, something that only occurs here and at the Last Supper (14:22; CCC 1335).

The Gospel of Mark(The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible)

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Sources and Notes Index     

Notes on Mark - An Evil Woman's Revenge

Dance of the Seven Veils, Armand Point

MARK 6: 16-29
In the famous scene where Salome requests the head of John the Baptist as a reward for her dance, there is a lot revealed about Herodias merely in the fact that Salome dances at all. I always thought of her as an innocent pawn but Barclay makes it clear that in some ways she must not have been at all innocent.

In spite of John's rebuke Herod still feared and respected him, for John was so obviously a man of sincerity and of goodness; but with Herodias it was different. She was implacably hostile to John and determined to eliminate him. She got her chance at Herod's birthday feast which he was celebrating with his courtiers and his captains. Into that feast her daughter Salome came to dance. Solo dances in those days in such society were disgusting and licentious pantomimes. That a princess of the royal blood should so expose and demean herself is beyond belief because such dances were the art of professional prostitutes. The very fact that she did this is a grim commentary on the character of Salome, and of the mother who allowed and encouraged her to do so.

The Gospel of Mark
(The Daily Bible Series, rev. ed.)

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Sources and Notes Index     

Psalm 48 — The Beauty of Zion

If [you wish to give thanks] on the second day of the week, then [you have] Psalm 48.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

I was fascinated once I realized that this psalm is in praise of a place — Mount Zion — the hill on whic Jerusalem and the temple stood. Underlying all of this is the fact that praising the "city of God" is actually praising because this is where God is found. In a sense, this is the opposite of the story of the Tower of Babel because the people are not praising their own accomplishments, but the God who made it possible and his loving care.

Zion (1903), Ephraim Moses Lilien

What does this offer for a Christian who is not oriented toward God in the way that the psalmist was? The Church Fathers look at the city as a way of life and at the temple as a symbol of Christ.  

48:1 Great is the Lord

In Our Lives. Theodoret of Cyr: Often the divine Scripture gives the name "city" not to the building but to the way of life. Accordingly, here too he says the Lord of all was shown to be great through the things done by him in connection with his city, which the elevation of its teaching rendered illustrious as though located on a lofty and mighty hill.

Commentary on the Psalms

48:9 The Temple of God

Christ, the Temple. Ambrose: God's true temple is the body of Christ, and in that body lies the purificatoin of all our sins. Truly, that flesh is God's temple, and in it there is no contagion of sin. On the contrary, it was itself the sacrifice that takes away the sin of all the world. That flesh is indeed God's temple, and in it shone God's image. In it there dwelled the fullness of divinity in a bodily manner, for Christ is himself that fullness. ... In that temple, the psalmist tells us, "we have received your mercy." Just as Christ is redemption, so too he is mercy. No greater mercy can there be than that he should offer himself as a victim for our crimes. He sacrificed himself to wash the world clean in his blood, for in no other way could our sin be abolished.

Commentary on Twelve Psalms
Both quotes from Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

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An index of psalm posts is here.

Notes on Mark: John the Baptist's Self-Offering

Herodias with the Head of St. John the Baptist, Paul Delaroche

MARK 6: 14-16

One of the things I love about this commentary is how it shows context in the parallels that Mark draws for us. Granted, those are parallels I'd never notice unless they were pointed out. I guess that just goes to show that I'm not a very observant reader. However, this particular parallel and the point made about John the Baptist's self-offering is one that resonates with my Catholic soul in considering the times I unite my suffering with Christ on his Cross. 

Between the accounts of the apostles setting out on their mission and returning from it, Mark inserts an interlude: the sordid story of Herod's banquet and his execution of John the Baptist. The placement of this episode is by no means accidental. As Mark already hinted in 1:14, John's life is in a mysterious way patterned on that of Christ; his death foreshadows Jesus' death. The passion of John recounted here coincides with the first mission of the apostles, as the passion of Jesus will give birth to the Church's mission in which the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world. With this parallel Mark suggests that John's self-offering shares, in a hidden way, in the spiritual fruitfulness of the sacrifice of Christ.

Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: Gospel of Mark

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Sources and Notes Index    

Psalm 47 — God is Exalted

Psalm 47 announces the Savior's ascension in to heaven ... and the calling of the gentiles.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

This is a happy one unlike a lot of the others we have read so far. It is a hymn of victory where the Church Fathers see Christ welcomed by the nations with a joyful reception.  There is shouting and clapping, singing and celebration.

Wikipedia tells us that "In Christian scholarship, Psalm 47 is one of seven 'enthronement psalms' which refer to the crowning of God as king at a festive occasion.' It has also been suggested that the theme of Psalm 47 is 'universal rejoicing for God's universal reign'."

From the Utrecht Psalter, singing praises to God with lyres or citharas.

I especially like what Caesarius of Arles says, about how to apply praise of God in our own lives to keep the devil away. It's not a bad reminder that, as Peter tells us "Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour."

47:7 The Fairest of Humankind

Sing to Frustrate Satan. Caesarius of Arles: Let us, too, lift up our voices by singing or praying in church, so that our adversary, the devil may depart in confusion at the holy sound. If notin deed, then surely in thought or word the devil usually creeps up to those who are silent or speak of idle, useless matters. When they are singing or praying he can in no way take advantage by his cunning of those whom he sees engaged mentally or vocally in God's praises.

Sermon 80.2 

Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

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An index of psalm posts is here.

Notes on Mark: Degrees of Relationship

Nazareth as depicted on a Byzantine mosaic

MARK 6:1-3
Here is one of the things that separates the Protestants from the Catholics. "Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judah and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?"

This commentary explains the reason Catholics read this passage and still say that Mary was always a virgin. I am not putting this commentary up to start any arguing as I think it highly unlikely that anything I write will change someone's mind on this subject. It is just an FYI sort of thing for anyone who is curious as I was about how they described it.

St. Mark mentions by name a number of brothers of Jesus, and refers in general to his sisters. But the word "brother" does not necessarily mean son of the same parents. It can also indicate other degrees of relationship -- cousins, nephews, etc. Thus in Genesis 13:8 and 14:14 and 16 Lot is called the brother of Abraham (translated as "kinsman" in RSV), whereas we know that he was Abraham's nephew, the son of Abraham's brother, Haran. The same is true of Laban, who is called the brother of Jacob (Genesis 29:15) although he was his mother's brother (Gen 29:15); there are other instances: cf. 1 Chronicles 23:21-22, etc. This confusion is due to the poverty of Hebrew and Aramaic language: in the absence of distinct terms, the same word, brother, is used to designate different degrees of relationship.

From other Gospel passages we know that James and Joses, who are mentioned here, were sons of Mary of Clophas (Jn 19:25). We know less about Judas and Simon: it seems that they are the apostles Simon the Cananaean (Mt 10:4) and Judas the son of James (Lk 6:16), the author of the Catholic Epistle, in which he describes himself as "brother" of James. In any event, it is nowhere said they were "sons of Mary" -- which would have been the natural thing if they had been our Lord's brothers in the strict sense. Jesus always appears as an only son: to the people of Nazareth, he is "the son of Mary" (Mt 13:55). When he was dying Jesus entrusted his mother to St. John (cf. Jn 19:26-27), which shows that Mary had no other children.

The Navarre Bible: St. Mark

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Sources and Notes Index    

Notes on Mark: Unbelief and Power

The Brow of the Hill near Nazareth - James Tissot
This is where the people threatened to throw Jesus to his death in Nazareth

MARK Chapter 6

In the last chapter, Jesus has been changing people's lives and hearts as he healed, exorcised, and did other miracles. This chapter, Mary Healy tells us, sees that come to a grinding halt. 

The mighty works that hostile opponents, demons, diseases, and even death could not stop, are blocked--temporarily--by a greater obstacle: unbelief. It is not that Jesus' power is limited, but people are hindered from experiencing his power by their refusal to believe in him.

Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: The Gospel of Mark by Mary Healy

This, for me, is huge. All the power in the universe can be unleashed on these peoples' behalf and they refuse to let themselves experience it because they will not believe. Is this the reason that we don't see more miracles in our own age?

What about my life? Am I willing to believe, to stay open, to eagerly anticipate and ask for God's power on my behalf?

Sobering questions as chapter 6 looms ahead.

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Sources and Notes Index   

Notes on Mark: Hearing Jesus' Voice

Raising of Jairus' Daughter by Paolo Veronese, 1546

MARK 5:40-43
I love the point that Barclay makes here, derived from the actual language used in the gospel. It makes an already amazing scene turn into a touching scene of love that Peter has kept alive in memory.

There is a very lovely thing here. In the gospel itself, "Maid! Arise" is "Talitha Cumi," which is Aramaic. How did this little bit of Aramaic get itself embedded in the Greek of the gospels? There can be only one reason. Mark got his information from Peter. For the most part, outside of Palestine at least, Peter, too, would have to speak in Greek. But Peter had been there; he was one of the chosen three, the inner circle, who had seen this happen. And he could never forget Jesus' voice. In his mind and memory he could hear that "Talitha Cumi" all his life. The love, the gentleness, the caress of it lingered with him forever, so much so that he was unable to think of it in Greek at all, because his memory could hear it only in the voice of Jesus and in the very words that Jesus spoke.

The Gospel of Mark
(The Daily Bible Series, rev. ed.)

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Sources and Notes Index   

Notes on Mark: Witnesses and Death Customs

Resurrection of Jairus's daughter.
Etching by E.F. Mohn after G.C. von Max.

MARK 5:35-39
The number of witnesses that Jewish law considered to be necessary for legal purposes was three. Jesus always used Peter, James and John ... those closest to him.

Jesus did not want more than these three Apostles to be present: three was the number of witnesses laid down by the Law (Deut 19:15). "For Jesus, being humble, never acted in an ostentatious way" (Theophilactus, Enarratio in Evangelium Marci, in loc.). Besides these were the three disciples closest to Jesus: later, only they will be with him at the Transfiguration (cf. 9:2) and at his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (cf. 14:33).

The Navarre Bible: St. Mark

The scene of unrestrained grief that would have greeted Jesus and his disciples as they entered really would have been an uproar. Here are a few of the details about mourning customs at the time.

Jewish mourning customs were vivid and detailed, and practically all of them were designed to stress the desolation and the final separation of death. The triumphant victorious hope of the Christian faith was totally absent.

Immediately death had taken place a loud wailing was set up so that all might know death had struck. The wailing was repeated at the grave side. The mourners hung over the dead body, begging for a response from the silent lips. They beat their breasts; they tore their hair; and they rent their garments...

Flute players were essential. Throughout most of the ancient world, in Rome, in Greece, in Phoenicia, in Assyria and in Palestine, the wailing of the flute was inseparably connected with death and tragedy....

When death came, a mourner was forbidden to work, to annoint himself or to wear shoes. Even the poorest man must cease from work for three days. He must not travel with goods; and the prohibition of work extended even to his servants ... It was the custom not to eat at a table, but to eat sitting on the floor, using a chair as a table. It was the custom, which still survives, to eat eggs dipped in ashes and salt.

There was one curious custom. All water from the house, and from the three houses on each side, was emptied out, because it was said that the Angel of Death procured death with a sword dipped in water taken from close at hand. There was one peculiarly pathetic custom. In the case of a young life cut off too soon, if the young person had never been married, a form of marriage service was part of the burial rites. For the time of mourning the mourner was exempt from the keeping of the law, because he was supposed to be beside himself, mad with grief.

The Gospel of Mark(The Daily Bible Series, rev. ed.)

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Sources and Notes Index   

Psalm 46 — God is Our Refuge

When you have fled to God for refuge and are delivered from the afflictins round about you, if you wish to give thanks to God and to recount his kindness toward you, you have Psalm 46.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

I especially like the first stanza which lays out a list of uncontrollable events which we can't control.

God is for us a refuge and strength,
a helper close at hand, in times of distress,
so we shall not fear though the earth should rock,
though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea,
even though its waters rage and foam,
even though the mountains be shaken by its waves.

Right now we might feel that shaken by the works of men also — politics, the economy, and more. But these pale in comparison to the events the psalmist describes.

But the second part of the psalm outlines a world transfigured by God. The Lord hs brought peace and an end to war. This is indeed a joyful and hopeful song to the Lord.

Illustration of verse 9 from the Stuttgart Psalter

Saint John Paul II's discusion of this psalm in his Liturgy of the Hour series points out that Christian tradition sees in the "help" offered to the city of God a prophetic allusion to the Resurrection. Here's the relevant portion but do follow the link to read the whole thing.

5. With this Psalm, Christian tradition has sung the praise of Christ "our peace" (cf. Eph 2: 14) and, through his death and Resurrection, our deliverer from evil. The Christological commentary that St Ambrose wrote on v. 6 of Psalm 46[45] that describes the "help" offered to the city of God, "right early" before daybreak, is evocative. The famous Father of the Church sees in it a prophetic allusion to the Resurrection.

In fact, he explains: "The Resurrection at break of day procures the support of heavenly help for us, the Resurrection that put an end to night has brought us day; as Scripture says: "Awakened and arisen and raised from the dead! And the light of Christ will shine for you'.

Note the mystical significance! At nightfall Christ's passion occurred... at dawn, the Resurrection.... In the evening of the world he is killed, while the light is dying, for this world was shrouded in total darkness and would have been plunged into the horrors of even grimmer shadows had Christ, the light of eternity, not come down from heaven for us to bring the age of innocence back to the human race. The Lord Jesus, therefore, suffered and with his blood he redeemed our sins, the light of a clearer knowledge was radiant, and the day shone with spiritual grace" (cf. Commento a Dodici Salmi: SAEMO, VIII, Milan-Rome, 1980, p. 213).

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An index of psalm posts is here.

Notes on Mark: Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac

6th century AD Mosaic of the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac
from the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna

MARK 5:1-20
This is the familiar story of Jesus sending the demon from the possessed man into the swine, which then rush over the cliff. I knew that the presence of pigs would signify a Gentile population but never fully realized all the elements in this scene that speak to Jesus saving Gentile nations. And I've gotta say that the symbolism connected with the sea is fabulous. I certainly never heard that in any homily!

Gerasenes: Gerasa is one of the cities of the "Decapolis" (5:20), a confederation of ten cities in NT Palestine. They were predominantly Gentile in population, and most of them were located east of the Jordan River. The presence of "swine" in 5:11 reinforces this Gentile context, since the Jews would never herd animals that God declared unclean (Lev 11:7-8).

Legion: The term for an armed regiment of nearly 6,000 Roman soldiers. It points to the overwhelming presence of demons in the man and accentuates the intensity of spiritual combat between Jesus and the forces of evil...

Allegorically (St. Bede, In Marcum), the demoniac represents the Gentile nations saved by Christ. As pagans, they once lived apart from God amid the tombs of dead works, while their sins were performed in service to demons. Through Christ, the pagans are at last cleansed and freed from Satan's domination.

Into the sea: Biblical symbolism associated with the sea is diverse and flexible. According to one tradition, God's enemies arise from the sea in the form of beasts that oppress God's people (Dan 7:1-3; Rev 13:1). Here Jesus reverses the direction of evil by sending the demon-possessed swine back into the sea. Like Pharaoh's army in the OT, God's adversaries are drowned in the waters (Ex 14:26-28; 15:1).

The Gospel of Mark(The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible)

Looking Forward: here is a parallel connection,a foreshadowing, that never occurred to me (yes, there's a lot of that going around).

The principles "sitting" and "clothed" reappear in Mark 16:5, again in the setting of a tomb, where it describes the young man who announces Jesus' resurrection. With these verbal parallels Mark hints that the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac, like all Jesus' miracles in the Gospel, is an anticipation of the power of his resurrection, already at work in the lives of human beings.

Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: The Gospel of Mark by Mary Healy

And we see that power at work in the life of the demoniac when Jesus tells him to proclaim what has been done for him. Yet another leap forward from the present text that I hadn't made, but one that works powerfully in my imagination in looking at my own life.

The seemingly inauspicious missionary, a former demoniac, faithfully carries out Jesus' command by broadcasting throughout the entire region his story of deliverance--the kind of proclamation that is impossible to refute. Indeed the success of his efforts appears later from the very different reception Jesus meets on his second visit to the area.

Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: The Gospel of Mark by Mary Healy

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Sources and Notes Index   

Psalm 45 — A Wedding Hymn

Well aware that the Word is the Son of God, the psalmist sings in 45 in the voice of the Father, "My heart has uttered a good Word."

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

This psalm is unique in that it is a royal wedding song. The first part addresses, the bridegroom who is also the king. The second part addresses the bride, of course the queen. Jewish tradition read the paslm as a prophecy of the Messiah. The Church took up that thinking and applied it to Jesus, the Messiah, with the Church being his bride.

David Foresees the Mystic Marriage of Christ and the Church

There is so much excellent commentary from the Church Fathers on this psalm that it is difficult to know what to share here. I have picked one that mostly talks about how this psalm calls Jesus fairest of humankind while Isaiah (53:2-3) talking about the Suffering Servant (also understood to be about Christ the Messiah) says that he had no beauty of majesty. It reconciles the two passages by looking to the inner meaning. I found it really interesting. 

45:2 The Fairest of Humankind

His Form. Chrysostom: How, then, does another inspired author say, "We saw him: he had no form or beauty; instead, his form was dishonorable, of no importance beside human beings. He is not speaking about deformity—God forbid—but about an object of scorn. You see, once having deigned to become human, he went through every demeaning experience, not choosing a queen for his mother, not placed in a bed of gold at the time of swaddling clothers but in a manger, not reared in an affluent home but in an artisan's humble dwelling. Again, when he picked disciples, he did not pick orators and philosophers and kings but fishermen and tax collectors. He shared this simple life, not owning a house or clad in rich clothing or enjoying similar a similar fate, but nourished at others' expense, insulted, scorned, driven out, pursued. Now he did this to trample underfoot human conceit in fine style. So, since he did not fit himself out in any pomp or circumstance or attach to himself hangers on or bodyguards, but went about at times alone, like any ordinary person, thus that suthor said, "We saw him, and he had no form or beauty," whereas the psalmist sayd, "Comely to behold beyond all human beings," suggesting grace, wisdom, teaching, miracles. Then to underline the comeliness he says, "Grace streamed out on your lips."

Chrysostom's Commentary on the Psalms 45
Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

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An index of psalm posts is here.

Notes on Mark: The Storm

Calming the Storm, Rembrandt
Look for Rembrandt in the picture. He's holding his hat and looking out at us.

MARK 4:35-41
A few basics to put us in the scene. I like the detail of Jesus being asleep upon a pillow. It definitely is eye witness information when it is at that level.

The Lake of Galilee was notorious for its storms. They came literally out of the blue with shattering and terrifying suddenness. A writer describes them like this: " It is not unusual to see terrible squalls hurl themselves, even when the sky is perfectly clear, upon these waters which are ordinarily so calm. The numerous ravines which to the north-east and east debauch upon the upper part of the lake operate as to many dangerous defiles in which the winds from the heights of Hauran, the plateaus of Trachonitis, and the summit of Mount Hermon are caught and compressed in such a way than, rushing with tremendous force through a narrow space and then being suddenly released, they agitate the little Lake of Gennesaret in the most frightful fashion." The voyager across the lake was always liable to encounter just such sudden storms as this.

Jesus was in the boat in the position in which any distinguished guest would be conveyed. We are told that, "In these boats ... the place for any distinguished stranger is on the little seat placed at the stern, where a carpet and cushion are arranged. The helmsman stands a little farther forward on the deck, though near the stern, in order to have a better look-out ahead."

It is interesting to note that the words Jesus addressed to the wind and the waves are exactly the same as he addressed to the demon-possessed man in Mark 1:25. Just as an evil demon possessed that man, so the destructive power of the storm was, so people in Palestine believed in those days, the evil power of the demons at work in the realm of nature.

The Gospel of Mark (The Daily Bible Series, rev. ed.)

In the Catholic Church, this gospel story is read during Year B, the 12 Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is carefully matched with a reading from Job, 2 Corinthians, and Psalm 107. I love the way that the psalm makes us feel what the disciples were experiencing, with the boat mounting to heaven and sinking to the depths.

They who sailed the sea in ships,
trading on the deep waters,
These saw the works of the LORD
and his wonders in the abyss.

His command raised up a storm wind
which tossed its waves on high.
They mounted up to heaven; they sank to the depths;
their hearts melted away in their plight.

They cried to the LORD in their distress;
from their straits he rescued them,
He hushed the storm to a gentle breeze,
and the billows of the sea were stilled.

They rejoiced that they were calmed,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his kindness
and his wondrous deeds to the children of men.

Psalm 107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31

An interesting point of how this Scripture speaks to the Church.

From ancient times, this Gospel has been understood also as a parable of the Church, for good reason. Peter's fishing boat often quite literally held the entire Church at this stage in its development: Jesus and his disciples. 

John Bergsma, The Word of the Lord, Year B

And a further reflection to remind us that Scripture speaks to you and me today in the Church.

Mark narrates this story not only to recount the memorable event of the storm, but also to reflect the experience of the early Christians. ... How often have [Jesus'] disciples through the ages felt that way in the midst of "storms" of persecution, natural disasters, or personal troubles? But Jesus' authority is without limit and though he allows trials in the end nothing can truly harm those who trust in him. His reproach in verse 40 is an invitation for all Christians to awaken their faith in his presence and in his absolute authority over the cosmos.... Indeed, the most repeated command in Scripture is "Do not fear!" Why? Because to refuse to give in to fear disables the enemy's strategy, which is to dissuade Jesus' followers from their mission. When we have no fear, the enemy trembles in fear.

The Gospel of Mark: Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture

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Sources and Notes Index  

Notes on Mark: The Mustard Seed

Mustard in Bangladesh

MARK 4:30-32
We are all familiar with this because we have heard so many comments on its meaning for us today. But how about what the Jews of Jesus' time would have thought when they heard it? Barclay elucidates.

There are in this parable two pictures which every Jew would readily recognize.

First, in Palestine a grain of mustard seed stood proverbially for the smallest thing possible. For instance, "faith as a grain of mustard seed," means "the smallest conceivable amount of faith." This mustard seed did in fact grow into something very like a tree. A traveler in Palestine speaks of seeing a mustard plant, which, in its height, overtopped a horse and its rider. The birds were very fond of the little black seeds of the tree and a cloud of birds over a mustard plant was a common sight.

Second, in the Old Testament one of the commonest ways to describe a great empire was to describe it as a tree, and the tributary nations within it were said to be like birds finding shelter within the shadow of its branches (Ezekiel 17:22ff; 31:1ff; Daniel 4:10, 21). The figure of a tree with birds in the branches therefore stands for a great empire and the nations who form part of it.

The Gospel of Mark
(The Daily Bible Series, rev. ed.)

The photo above is of a mustard field in Bangladesh which is what I'm used to seeing in Indian movies. It is one of the ultimate romantic places for couples to run toward each other in the movies. It isn't a tree but I love seeing the bright flowers.

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Sources and Notes Index   

Notes on Mark: A Parable About Seeds

Jesus scattering seeds of faith, Peter Pöppelmann
Dresden-Strehlen, Christ Church

MARK 4:26-29
This parable about the seeds is so familiar that I never realized it is only found in Mark. Of course we have all heard interpretations of the many meanings within it but I haven't ever heard this one by St. Gregory the Great.

An agricultural parable found only in Mark. Jesus compares the mystery of natural, organic growth to the expansion of the kingdom of God. The kingdom will visibly mature like grain, but the spiritual forces behind it will remain invisible. The parable of the Leaven in MT 13:33 elucidates the same mystery.

Morally (St. Gregory the Great, Hom. in Ezek 2, 3), the maturing grain signifies our increase in virtue. First, the seeds of good intentions are sown; these gradually bring forth the blade of repentance and ultimately the mature ear of charitable works. When established in virtue, we are made ripe for God's harvest.

The Gospel of Mark
(The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible)

A note for reflection adds what we already know about this parable's larger meaning, but what is good for me to remember.

Despite the many seeds apparently sown in vain, God is at work to produce what will finally be revealed as a stupendous harvest. The parable illustrates the "mystery of the kingdom" that Jesus mentioned in 4:11. The reign of God will not come about through unmitigated success and uninterrupted growth. An unexpected but necessary part of the plan is the setbacks and failures that give Jesus' disciples a share in the mystery of his own suffering.

The Gospel of Mark: Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture

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Sources and Notes Index  

Notes on Mark: Plowing the Soil

Tomb wall painting in Thebes of plowing the land

MARK 4:1-20
I have always heard this talked about as if the type of soil cannot be changed. However, this commentary gave me much food for thought just by looking at Palestinian farming customs.

In first-century Palestine, it was common for farmers to sow their seed first, and then go back and plow the soil. In this way, the seed could be mixed in with different types of soil, and some hard or rocky patches of soil could be broken up and softened, helping the seed to bear greater fruit. While some of the soil may not be the most fertile at the beginning of the process, by the end, it has a far greater chance of supporting the life and fruitfulness of the seed it has received.

In a similar way, none of us should think that because we see hardness or difficulties in our lives now, that we are beyond hope of change, or that it's too late for us. God can "plow" us up at any time, making us more receptive to the work he has sown in us and more able to bear the abundant fruit that his seed is capable of producing. We should always keep our eyes and ears open, looking for ways that God may be trying to work a greater softening in our hearts, a greater receptivity to his word.

Mark: A Devotional Commentary (The Word Among Us)

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Sources and Notes Index 

Psalm 44 — Prayer for Victory

If you wish to call to mind constantly the benefits of God to the patriarchs, the exodus out of Egypt, the passage through the desert, and how, while God is so good, human beings are ungrateful, you have Paslm 44.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

We've seen a lot of lamentations in the psalms but what strikes me about this one is that it begins with thinking over the past and realizing the God's people didn't succeed by their merits but by God's grace, given in utter kindness. 

It's a truth that I would do well to reflect upon more often because it's definitely true in my own life.

Vassily Maximov, Grandmother's Tales

Family stories are how we first learn who we are, what the world is like, how to live, and what our culture is. Each civilization has those stories too. It is how we know who we are in a larger way. St. John Chrysostom has two wonderful reflections on this psalm that touch on that point.

I also love the question he asks in the second quote we read here — which triumps is the psalmist recalling? I thought of exodus, but Chrysostom gives us an example which happened later in history. Through imaginative reflection, the retelling puts us in the story becomes truly inspirational.

44:1 We Have Heard

Divine Stories. Chrysostom: Listen to this, all you who are heedless of your children, who ignore their singing diabolical songs, while you pay no attention to the divine stories. Those people were not like that; on the contrary, they passed their life without interruption in stories of God's great deeds and achieved a double advantage. On the one hand, it was a good experience for them to keep in mind the divine favors, and they were the better for it; on the other, their offspring gained no little grounding in the knowledge of God from these stories, and were moved to imitation of virtue. For them, you see, books were the mouths of their forebears, and these stories were a feature of every study and every employment, nothing being more agreeable or more profitable. 

44:2 With God's Own Hand

A Marvelous and Extraordinary Sight. Chrysostom: So which triumps is he recalling? Which successes? Some in Egypt, some in the desert, some in the land of promise, but especially those in the promised land. ... They had no need of weapons; instead, they captured citires by a mere shout, and crossing the Jordan they overran the first city that stood in their way, Jericho, as though by dancing ratner than fighting. I mean, they went out fitted with weapons not as if for battles but for a festival and dance, bearing arms for appearance's sake rather than security; wearing sacred robes and having the Levites preceding the army, they encircled the wall. It was a marvelous and extraordinary sight to see, so many thousands of soldiers marching in step and order, in silence and utter regularity, as though no one was about, with tht daunting harmony of trumpets keeping everything in time.

Both quotes from Chrysostom's Commentary on the Psalms 44
Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

An index of psalm posts is here.

Notes on Mark: They See But Do Not Perceive

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Parable of the Sower, 1557
That's the one that made the disciples ask what the heck the story meant.

MARK 4:10-12
I like what Wikipedia tells us about a parable:

The word parable comes from the Greek παραβολή (parabolē), literally "throwing" (bolē) "alongside" (para-), by extension meaning "comparison, illustration, analogy." It was the name given by Greek rhetoricians to an illustration in the form of a brief fictional narrative.

Jesus' parables often are illustrations that need extra explanation!

I always thought it was unfair the way that Jesus would explain the parables to the disciples and then say, "But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that 'they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.'" 

The comment below puts the proper spin on that passage by explaining the context of Jesus' quotation, which surely faithful Jews would have understood.

But what about those outside? Jesus describes their predicament with a quotation from Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10). In the context of the passage, God forewarns Isaiah that he would be called to preach judgment ot Israel at a time when the people were mired in sin and injustice, and so his message would meet with stubborn resistance. The forceful language does not mean that God himself will block the people's eyes and ears. Rather, the prophet's message will cause the people to blind and deafen themselves to avoid hearing it, in order to persist in their rebellion. Jesus, likewise, is addressing a wayward generation, many of whom will harden themselves to avoid grasping the implications of his words. His parables, by their hidden depths veiled in simplicity, will cause a separation by the response they evoke in listeners hearts. For those who ponder the parables with sincere openness, the mystery of the kingdom will be gradually unveiled. But for those who prefer to resist in their own rebellious ways, the parables will remain opaque ...

The Gospel of Mark: Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture

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Sources and Notes Index