From the Daily Lectionary for Wednesday in the Fourth Week after the Epiphany
Mark 8:11-26
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.
Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.” Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”
A persistent theme in Mark is that Jesus’ teaching and ministry are consistently opposed by the powers that be, that is to say, Roman authorities and the Jewish leadership who are compliant with the Roman occupation. That is true in the other synoptic Gospels as well, but in Mark, even Jesus’ disciples aren’t fully on board. They never quite understand the implications of what Jesus’ calling is all about. As Jesus’ mission gets into full swing, his family as well begin to question his sanity. In the end, Jesus is abandoned by most of his disciples. The last line of Mark’s Gospel is: “They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”
This is the stark context of Mark, that speaking and acting upon the truth come at a profound cost. Truth in our world will be opposed, sometimes violently. But I want to say that such opposition is not a matter of failing to understand; it is a choice. It is human nature to recognize the truth. Most often it is as plain as day; but it is also human nature to reject the truth in deference to our vainglorious self-interest, our fear of change, our illusions of security, envy.
We of course see the rejection of the truth in our own day. And we also see that such a rejection is not a lack of intelligence, or failure to understand, but a willful denial of, quite simply, common sense. Truth is not a matter of opinion, but a recognition of the wisdom engendered in our common life, in our collective experience, in our higher nature. Such recognition requires honesty, humility, commitment, empathy, and most of all, courage. But it is my premise that all people have the capacity for the truth.
Mark’s Gospel is not only an account of Jesus’ life and ministry, but it is also an account of human nature. On the one hand it proclaims the awesome and redeeming power of love, and on the other, the dishonesty by which love is violently opposed. The end of Mark teeters on the brink of tragedy. Things are unresolved. Life is unresolved. There is news of Jesus’ resurrection, but it is only news.
Perhaps Mark is the more honest of the Gospels; truer to the complex ambiguities of life; but throughout the dark narrative love persists undeniably. In our passage today, Jesus upbraids his disciples for their unwillingness to see the truth, and yet healings continue. Jesus is rejected by his hometown people, but the poor and the outcasts still hear of hope and the promise of liberation. No matter the opposition love will endure. That is Mark’s hope and proclamation. We would do well to make them ours.
A Prayer for Guidance (BCP p. 832)
Direct us, O God, in all our doings with your most gracious favor, and further us with your continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may honor your holy Name, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
