Mark, as usual, does not go into great detail so one must pay attention to get the big picture. Jesus has his few disciples prepare a boat for his escape from the crowd. This sounds like a man who understands mob scenes. Jesus understands desperate people. The people who gather around Jesus do not want autographs. They long for something more personal. They desire healing.
At other times the crowd is interested in what Jesus is saying; today’s mob is hungry for Jesus’ touch. Word is out that he has “the power.” At a time when there are no hospitals and few means of healing there is no way to imagine what these people must be feeling. There are many rumors about itinerant healers at that time, but this healer is for real.
Despite the fact that the crowd is eagerly pressing in, Jesus still has some work left to do and he does not want to be trampled to death by the crowd. He takes advantage of the boat that the disciples have prepared to give himself some space. Unlike some ideas that people have of Jesus, he does not and will not “leap tall buildings with a single bound.” That is another character and not a real one.
Jesus is a very real person who is very special but not an unreal character. The prior sentence may sound like a bad translation of some original Greek, but what I mean is that he is divine but within human perimeters. Jesus is not some Superhero. He is a unique blend of human and divine. There are limits, and Mark’s Gospel, being the one that was written closest to the time of Jesus, reveals some of those limits. Jesus needs some protection from the crowds.
It is obvious from the text that Mark believes in “unclean spirits” or demons. At that time in history, it was thought that demons caused mental illness but today we would not want to equate mental illness with demon possession. It can be very destructive and alienating to those who suffer from mental illness to be told that they are in some way demon-possessed. Nowadays we understand that mental illnesses have biological and social bases, rather than spiritual ones.
Much speculation has been brought forth as to whether Jesus believes in demons. Would not the divine Son of God know better than to participate in the mentality of his time? We can see that he uses language that indicates his belief in demons. God allows Jesus to be a child of his time. Whatever the case, the important thing is that Jesus is healing people in body, mind and spirit.
Mark of course would not know to think in these terms. For Mark the demons simply represent the powers that Jesus has come to defeat. Those who know Star Wars imagery can easily acknowledge and recognize “the power of the dark side of the Force.” Jesus knows that there exists “a dark side” and he is well aware of the powers that bind, oppress, and exclude people. Today, demons may be thought of not as beings, but as anything which pushes against the healing, wholeness, justice, and love that God desires for individuals and for society as a whole.
In Mark’s dealing with demons, the demons are the ones who first recognize who Jesus is. Jesus tells them, in this case, not to “come out” but to “be quiet.” The demons are the strange light from the dark side which illuminates the outline of Jesus’ messiahship. The demons are the foil against which Jesus is first seen.
It almost seems that Jesus wants the demons to be silent so that they won’t spoil the surprise coming later. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ suffering and servant leadership are primary, not his miracle-workings or his titles. The fact that the crowds are following Jesus because of his actions demonstrates what kind of Messiah the people are looking for. They are attracted by his “magic wand.” The demons, by calling out that Jesus is the “Son of God,” are more in tune with what Jesus is really about.
I preached a sermon one time at a small, rural church I was serving. The congregation consisted for the most part of farming people with minimal formal education who had gone to textile mills to make a living when farming no longer provided an adequate way of life. My own education was, in part, a hindrance to my efforts to communicate with them. One Sunday I decided to preach about “demons.” I tried my best to show that today we need to understand the symbolic and metaphorical quality of demons in our own lives. To “name our demons” was the first step in allowing God to help us deal with them.
I spoke of greed, selfishness, pride, and obsessive individuality as some examples of “demons.” The people seemed to really respond to the sermon. That was not always the case. Most of the people kept telling me that I was not preaching “hard enough.” One big, strapping man had told me that “We don’t need a preacher to remind us of how good we are. We need a preacher to tell us how bad we are.”
In any case, this particular Sunday I seemed to have struck a receptive chord. I was feeling good until one enthusiastic man came out, shook my hand and said, “I’m glad you finally preached about them demons, preacher. I’ve got two of them in my closet.” Some demythologizing is a waste of time. Jesus probably knew that before I did.
The crowd in these verses is clamoring around Jesus because he can manhandle the demons; the ones in their bodies and the ones in their closets. The crowd may be there for the wrong reasons (they aren’t yet able to glimpse the larger picture), but they are there and in great numbers. Despite the fact that they are working for the dark side, the demons are the ones who are able to recognize Jesus’ significance. In Mark’s Gospel it seems that everybody is having a hard time understanding what Jesus is really about, including the disciples he is getting ready to choose.
Mark 3:13–19a Choosing the Twelve
Jesus selects and then commissions. He does it in these verses and he does it today. The selection does not make those who have been appointed special, but it does make them needed. In Mark these twelve named disciples are not prominent characters. They are simply the ones chosen for the specific tasks of healing and proclaiming. Jesus needs help. It was and is that simple.
Those who are still waiting for Jesus to operate in a manner that is different from this are going to be left waiting. People have been waiting ever since he spoke the words of calling that we now have before us in these verses. Jesus makes it clear in these verses that he expects those whom he calls to do some definite things in his name. He will not do it all. He calls others to carry on his work.
It is interesting that the names of the twelve differ in different Gospels. What makes them special is not their names or their individuality, but their willingness to follow Jesus and do what he commands. Amazing things can happen when ordinary people respond to the call of Jesus.
The text implies that a few of the twelve were distinguished by nicknames. These few have a reputation in the early church. Peter becomes “the rock,” James and John are “the sons of thunder,” the rowdy bunch, and Judas is “the betrayer,” which is about as bad a nickname as you can get.
In Mark’s Gospel, the disciples are, for the most part, background figures who help the story move along. Jesus is primary. In a day where individuality has become primary we need to again hear Mark’s version of the story. There is a bigger plan. Jesus is primary. The community of believers is next. And coming in last is the individual. It seems that often in the modern-day church the order is reversed. Could it be that is part of our problem?
Mark 3:19b–27 Jesus and Beelzebul: The Devil Made Him Do It
Now we reach an interesting few verses. Jesus returns “home.” A crowd again gathers around him, but this time his family becomes concerned both for and about Jesus. Mark cuts to the chase and says that his family thinks he is mad. This time we are not talking about anger, we are talking about crazy.
Already we understand that Mark is presenting a Jesus who is not understood by the crowds. We have a Jesus who has set up Messianic expectations but who is going to present a far different picture than the one the Jewish people want. Now we have Jesus’ own family thinking he
