Mark Pt II

5:1 They certainly do spend a lot of time around the sea in this account. I wonder if the other gospels treat his path similarly. If not, that bespeaks something.

5:9 So, he has this conversation after he removes the unclean spirit? In what milieu does it take place? On the astral plane? Or does the spirit manifest itself somehow?

5:13 Why allow this? The spirit's begging must have had some effect, but why? Is it related to the something that the spirits seem to know about Jesus that he does not want revealed?

5:19 A change of tack for Jesus here. This is the first time an object of his miracles has been encouraged to talk about it.

5:21 "and he was by the sea". Even more pointed here, drawing attention to the sea in a seemingly unnecessary addendum.

5:30 this is possibly the most fascinating verse so far. Here, Mark goes beyond narrative and actually touches on metaphysics for the first time. Now that I think of it, I don't recall the how of Jesus' miracles being discussed anywhere else in the gospels. So, what does it mean? Often, I think of so-called holy men as channeling power, rather than being the source of it, but Jesus felt power "go out of him", indicating that he was the source, rather than the conduit. Few others claim such a thing, and certainly no reputable ones. Is this an invention of Mark, or something resembling what Jesus actually said? If the latter, it has profound implications.

5:39 Is this a diagnosis or a metaphor?

5:43 And back to the adjuration not to speak of it. This makes five times? Surely he knew that it was pointless, or is it only certain types of miracle that are unmentionable? It could mean that Jesus is verrrry cleverly playing on the fact that people love to do what you tell them not to. It could also have some theological implication. Wouldn't it be interesting if this sort of thing was going on today, only people didn't talk about it?

6:3 Jealousy, or resentment? For some reason, this offense seems a perfectly natural reaction.

6:17 This is out of order in the narrative. Why is it here?

6:26 I remember having a very strong reaction to this verse as a 6-year old. My parents were explaining that Herod had a dilemma because he felt he had to save face in front of all of these people. He couldn't simply go back on his promise to Salome. "Yes he could," I said. "He could just explain that the head of a righteous man was worth more than half of his kingdom." i seem to remember them being at a loss for a way to explain. I thought myself terribly clever.

6:29 or part of it :)

6:36 Who do the disciples think they're fooling? They just needed an excuse to get away from the annoying hoi polloi.

6:48 How does Mark make claims such as this one about Jesus' intentions, motives, inner thoughts? This is almost as interesting as the fact that, until he was spotted, he was going to water-walk right on past them.

7:2-3 If all the Jews were in the habit of washing their hands, what sort of Jews were these disciples such that they did not? Probably the equivalent of modern trailer trash. At least it was only "some of his disciples".

7:6-7 Taken one way, this is another irritating example of retroactive prophesy. I can see it another way: that Jesus is saying, "Wow. Those words in Isaiah, when he was talking about our ancestors? He wight as well have been talking about you. Jerks."

7:14 This is only true in the strictest of Buddhist senses. Of course things you take in can corrupt you. Lies, gossip, drugs, terrible and shallow associates, all can darken your soul. Of course, one could say that, "you can't be corrupted without your permission," But Jesus seems to be saying something more along the lines of "nothing is necessarily good or bad, except for your intention regarding it."

7:21 This is a pretty pessimistic view of humanity. I'm not sure I believe it. Surely we are all born pure and innocent, and it is through this terrible, corrosive society that we become corrupt.

7:25 For example, is this unclean spirit of the girl's own making? Or is it something from outside that has corrupted her? Surely Jesus was oversimplifying earlier,much in the same way that the Buddha did.

7:27 This matches up with what he said in Ch. 5 about power going out of him. Metaphysically speaking, his abilities were not infinite.

7:29 Some literalists see this as a test of the woman, rather than as a moment of real humanity. I prefer the latter.

7:30 Here the word demon is used instead of unclean spirit.

7:34 Words are magic.

7:36 It is three out of four types of miracles that have received this admonition now, and only inconsistently.

8:5-9 I'm not sure how to feel about this account. How could it be other than a mistaken repetition of whatever happened in chapter 6? And yet, the writer of Mark is so judicious, even parsimonious with his words that one can't believe he would insert this without a very good reason. I can't see any reason to include this, either way.

8:12 And yet, haven't many amazing signs been given? Aren't there even more to come in the second act? By this generation, could he possibly mean just the Pharisees?

8:18-20 Ahh, here may be the reason for the repetition: the introduction or development of a theme.

8:23 As with the deaf man, he takes him away from the crowd. The witnesses stretch this into an example of Jesus foresighted mercy, but I wonder if it wasn't for some other reason.

8:26 If not for some other reason, then why adjure him not to go back in the village? Are we still trying to be incognito?

8:27-30 Here is what may be the crux of the book: conveniently placed in the middle of it, as I am just noticing. Who is this Jesus? Is he the son of God, as some have said? The Son of Man, as he refers to himself? John? Elijah? Anne Murray? And here we find the question seemingly answered with another of the recurrent and inexplicable themes: Shh! don't tell. Here is the secret that the demons held, here is what Jesus was afraid would get out: that he was the Messiah, a greater secret than all of these other things. So why was this a secret?

8:32 not in parables?

8:33 I never noticed the language here before. Peter rebuked him. I had always taken it to mean, possibly supported by the other gospels, that Peter was encouraging him to take it easy. If nothing else, Peter's balls are admirable here.

8:37 And yet, here he is preparing to sacrifice that same life.

8:38 This is the first mention here of an afterdeath. Is this tied to "the secret"? Is this the difference between a son of God and a Messiah?