"Jesus already gave them the authority to cast out demons. In light of this, the disciples waking up Jesus in the storm becomes less of an act of "trusting in him" and more of an act of cowardice. Perhaps the appropriately bold response to the situation showing that they believed and trusted in Jesus would be to act like they didn't think he was lying when he told them they could cast out demons. And do it."
Ghana: The Parable.
Starting at orientation as a team we acknowledged we thought God wanted to teach us something about being and forming a sense of "genuine community". We also acknowledged we didn't really know what it would look like for us to do that and be that for each other. We often prayed that God would motivate us and push us and stir up initiative towards each other. And for the first 4.5 weeks or so, (to overgeneralize a bit) that's all we did. We seemed to be missing a sense that if God was calling us into a deeper experience of community, that that would require some sort of action on our part in how we relate to each other, and that he would provide for the things he called us to. He told us to be community. We prayed for him to do his part in that. We didn't act like we thought he'd do his part. The last week and a half we started to get the picture and take more steps to grow together. The amount of change we saw from that short period was kinda ridiculous.
"You of little faith. I told you you could cast out demons. Instead of casting out demons, you ran to me to save you."
"You of little faith. I told you to be community. Instead of being community, you kept asking me to hand you a community."
Leader's Retreat: Acts 1 is ridiculous.
"Jesus when are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel? When do we benefit from what you do?"
"It's not going to be me, and it's not going to be Israel. It's going to be you and you're going to restore the world. You're going to do it by being my witnesses. You will serve the familiar, the enemies, and the unknown. You will do it inclusively and indiscriminately."
Similar theme. They expect Jesus to do it. Jesus tells them that him doing it means THEM DOING IT, in his name. What's crazier here though is that they actually do it. This is a ridiculous call for a handful of guys. But this time, they do it. And here we are today. This is ridiculous. Absolutely nuts.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Crazy.
Jesus Calms the Storm(Mark 4). A theory.
The Summary:
Jesus preaches to folks. It's getting dark. Jesus wants to go to the Gentile region. He falls asleep. A crazy storm kicks up on the way. The disciples get worried. They wake up Jesus. He calms the storm. He points out their fear and questions their faith. They're filled with awe.
The Question:
What about the disciples response to the situation suggested a lack of faith?
How could they have responded differently to be found faithful?
The Theory:
They should have calmed the storm themselves.
The three legs of the theory:
1)The storm was demonic in nature.
2)The Disciples would have known this.
3)Faith is associated with action, rooted in belief in Jesus.
The Elaboration:
1)The most striking picture we see of Jesus interacting with demons is in Mark 1:21-28. It plays out like this:
Jesus was teaching.
A demon possessed person comes and makes a commotion.
Jesus rebukes the demon.
The people were amazed at his authority.
Mark 3:11-12 also add that when demons saw him
They cried out and fell down before him.
He charged them to be quiet.
These two passages bear a striking resemblance to the sequence of events seen at the calming of the storm in Mark 4.
Jesus was teaching. He leaves.
The storm comes and goes crazy.
Jesus rebukes the storm
Same Greek word (to muzzle) as in Mark 2: rebuking the demon.
The waves of the storm fall down and are quieted.
The people are amazed at his authority.
Could the parallel structure Mark uses in describing the casting of a demon and the calming of the storm suggest demonic origins for the storm?
Other misc. subtleties that might point this direction:
The disciples are fishermen, they know the sea. They aren't going to
sail into a storm at night in a fisher's boat. They know better.
There are other boats with them when they leave. A whole group of
boats aren't going to sail into a storm at night.
The sea isn't THAT big. They probably wouldn't have been on the
water all that long.
This suggests that the storm wasn't there when they started, and
became very violent, very quickly.
It's interesting that there's no more mention of the other boats.
This suggests that they turned back, got rocked, the storm was
too big to have any concept of them, some other misc. option.
They we're headed to preach in the gentile region for the first time.
Seems like an appropriate time for some opposition.
A quick glance through the rest of the gospels shows that whenever
Jesus life is put in danger, Satan usually has a hand in it.
(In the wilderness, Judas, in the Garden, etc.)
The main parable before this (soils) deals significantly with Satan
stealing the word from people, and from faith being choked by
trials and tribulations.
2)I read somewhere (it'd probably be helpful to find out where but whatever that the culture of the time of this event viewed night storms as oppressive spiritual activity. This being a cultural thing, combined with the above noted situational components, I submit that perhaps in the midst of the chaos, the disciples would have understood the situation through this lens; that is, they would have understood they were caught in the middle of a demonic attack.
3)This comes from the first time we see "faith" used in Mark, when Jesus heals the paralytic man based on seeing the faith of his friends. Faith was something he could see. Their actions were persistent, vigilant, and bold as they made a hole in someone's roof to get to Jesus because they were sure of his ability to heal their friend.
Tying It Together:
So assuming that the storm was demonic, and assuming the disciples knew this, what did they do? They asked Jesus to take care of it. But we see that in in the face of this response, Jesus points out that they have little faith. And so the original question arises. What could they have done differently that would have been characterized by persistence, vigilance, boldness, all rooted in belief in Jesus? REWIND. From Mark 4, to Mark 3:
vs. 13 "And he went up into the hills, and called to him those whom
he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons..." (RSV)
Jesus already gave them the authority to cast out demons. In light of this, the disciples waking up Jesus in the storm becomes less of an act of "trusting in him" and more of an act of cowardice. Perhaps the appropriately bold response to the situation showing that they believed and trusted in Jesus would be to trust him that they could do what he had already told them they could do. And do it.
Coming Soon:
How this relates to
Ghana: The Parable.
Leaders Retreat: Acts 1 is ridiculous.
Matthew 14: Walking on Water.
The Summary:
Jesus preaches to folks. It's getting dark. Jesus wants to go to the Gentile region. He falls asleep. A crazy storm kicks up on the way. The disciples get worried. They wake up Jesus. He calms the storm. He points out their fear and questions their faith. They're filled with awe.
The Question:
What about the disciples response to the situation suggested a lack of faith?
How could they have responded differently to be found faithful?
The Theory:
They should have calmed the storm themselves.
The three legs of the theory:
1)The storm was demonic in nature.
2)The Disciples would have known this.
3)Faith is associated with action, rooted in belief in Jesus.
The Elaboration:
1)The most striking picture we see of Jesus interacting with demons is in Mark 1:21-28. It plays out like this:
Jesus was teaching.
A demon possessed person comes and makes a commotion.
Jesus rebukes the demon.
The people were amazed at his authority.
Mark 3:11-12 also add that when demons saw him
They cried out and fell down before him.
He charged them to be quiet.
These two passages bear a striking resemblance to the sequence of events seen at the calming of the storm in Mark 4.
Jesus was teaching. He leaves.
The storm comes and goes crazy.
Jesus rebukes the storm
Same Greek word (to muzzle) as in Mark 2: rebuking the demon.
The waves of the storm fall down and are quieted.
The people are amazed at his authority.
Could the parallel structure Mark uses in describing the casting of a demon and the calming of the storm suggest demonic origins for the storm?
Other misc. subtleties that might point this direction:
The disciples are fishermen, they know the sea. They aren't going to
sail into a storm at night in a fisher's boat. They know better.
There are other boats with them when they leave. A whole group of
boats aren't going to sail into a storm at night.
The sea isn't THAT big. They probably wouldn't have been on the
water all that long.
This suggests that the storm wasn't there when they started, and
became very violent, very quickly.
It's interesting that there's no more mention of the other boats.
This suggests that they turned back, got rocked, the storm was
too big to have any concept of them, some other misc. option.
They we're headed to preach in the gentile region for the first time.
Seems like an appropriate time for some opposition.
A quick glance through the rest of the gospels shows that whenever
Jesus life is put in danger, Satan usually has a hand in it.
(In the wilderness, Judas, in the Garden, etc.)
The main parable before this (soils) deals significantly with Satan
stealing the word from people, and from faith being choked by
trials and tribulations.
2)I read somewhere (it'd probably be helpful to find out where but whatever that the culture of the time of this event viewed night storms as oppressive spiritual activity. This being a cultural thing, combined with the above noted situational components, I submit that perhaps in the midst of the chaos, the disciples would have understood the situation through this lens; that is, they would have understood they were caught in the middle of a demonic attack.
3)This comes from the first time we see "faith" used in Mark, when Jesus heals the paralytic man based on seeing the faith of his friends. Faith was something he could see. Their actions were persistent, vigilant, and bold as they made a hole in someone's roof to get to Jesus because they were sure of his ability to heal their friend.
Tying It Together:
So assuming that the storm was demonic, and assuming the disciples knew this, what did they do? They asked Jesus to take care of it. But we see that in in the face of this response, Jesus points out that they have little faith. And so the original question arises. What could they have done differently that would have been characterized by persistence, vigilance, boldness, all rooted in belief in Jesus? REWIND. From Mark 4, to Mark 3:
vs. 13 "And he went up into the hills, and called to him those whom
he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons..." (RSV)
Jesus already gave them the authority to cast out demons. In light of this, the disciples waking up Jesus in the storm becomes less of an act of "trusting in him" and more of an act of cowardice. Perhaps the appropriately bold response to the situation showing that they believed and trusted in Jesus would be to trust him that they could do what he had already told them they could do. And do it.
Coming Soon:
How this relates to
Ghana: The Parable.
Leaders Retreat: Acts 1 is ridiculous.
Matthew 14: Walking on Water.
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