Sequence of Isaiahs New Exodus in Isaiah - Thesis Proposal Example

Mark 2:1-12

1When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.

2So many gathered around that there was longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them.

3Then some people came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them.

4And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay.

5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, you sins are forgiven.’

6Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts.

7‘Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?

8At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts?

9Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”?

10But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ – he said to the paralytic –

11‘I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’

12And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’

Introduction

When the apostles proclaimed Jesus message to the world, they used the spoken word, proclaiming what they had seen and witnessed of Jesus. None of them even thought of writing a “Life of Jesus.” Perhaps some of them did not even know how to write. Yet, in various places, there appeared written discourses, parables and acts of Jesus. Mark, who was with Peter and Paul in Rome, put together his Gospel from these accounts, adding many details about Jesus he had received from Peter.

The Gospel of Mark shows us Jesus who acts. It does not speak of Jesus’ birth or his life in Nazareth; neither does it contain his long discourses, but he tries to show us Jesus in all his expression. With the miracle on the paralytic cured and forgiven, Jesus gives three answers at the same time: to the sick man, to his friends and to the Pharisees.

Jesus noticed the faith of these people: these are the friends of the paralytic who had convinced their companion to go to Jesus, and Jesus rewards their faith.

Apparently, the paralytic did nothing more than consent to their advice. At once, Jesus tells him – your sins are forgiven. What a strange thing to say! How can Jesus forgive sins if the man is not conscious of any fault and, at the same time repentant and awaiting forgiveness? Certainly during his long infirmity, the man had asked himself why God was punishing him (the people of his time believed sickness was a punishment from God). Probably he was also aware of some sin that frightened him and while his friends prodded him to seek a cure, he probably doubted that for him there would be a miracle. But he is no sooner in the presence of Jesus than Jesus looks at him and assures him that he is forgiven, which is of more concern to him that he is forgiven, which is of more concern to him that his physical being.

Exegesis

• Literary questions

Mark 2:1-12 is a concentric structure, and it is introduced with a narrative introduction. The effort of the four men in bringing the paralytic to Jesus is a display of the men’s strong faith in Jesus, who then responded by forgiving the sins of the paralytic and healing him. But it also led to the accusation by the scribe that Jesus was blasphemous and that he obeyed the law of the Sabbath.

When the Pharisees heard Jesus forgive sins of the paralytic, they were alarmed – they regarded that act as scandalous and blasphemous. The simple people did not realize how scandalous his words were, but the Pharisees accused him of blasphemy. The simple folks did not have enough religious formation to realize immediately that only God could forgive sins. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were scandalized of this. Their indignation is justified because neither they, nor the others, nor the disciples yet understand that Jesus is the true Son of God. Jesus silences them: ‘If I restore health in the same way God does, why would I not forgive also in the way God does?’ This passage has a literary meaning – forgiving one’s sin is an act of God and although the disciples and the people did not understand Jesus, he was still doing an act of God.

Nevertheless, this act of Jesus is the beginning of his downfall. We can connect this to his passion and death, simply because the Pharisees started to plan his downfall. The teachers of the law, the scribes, the Pharisees were jealous of Jesus. This man could forgive sins? He is just the son of the carpenter. Now they plan to let a scheme – let the Romans kill this man Jesus.

Of course, Jesus knew what they were thinking – he is a man acting like God. But he still did it because it was part of his mission to forgive sins and to let the people know that the Son of Man can forgive sins. The tone of voice is that Jesus is commanding – for the paralytic’s sin to be forgiven – but the act of forgiveness is ‘embracing’ the sinner back to the God’s fold. After forgives, healing is attained.

• Historical accounts

Jesus is the Son of God. This is confirmed in the first line of the Gospel, and the Roman official who watched Jesus die declares it again in the last page of the Gospel. But what does this mean Son of God? The entire Gospel of Mark tries to deal with this question answering it with a narration of Jesus’ actions.

Mark’s relationship to the Old Testament has generated a lively discussion with various schema proposed to explain his content and structure. Sundberg (cited in Johnston 2008) stated that ‘Daniel is the most important book to Mark’ (p. 48). Isaiah is the only prophet Mark mentions by name (1:1; 7:6) and is the OT source Mark directly quotes most often, eight times in all. Mark did not use the OT in a prophecy-fulfilment manner, as Matthew and Luke did later after it became apparent that Jesus would not immediately return. Rather, Mark reported the saving act of God using the colors of the OT; the events are presented in OT terms. In this way, Mark’s Gospel accords with Scripture in the same way that Paul’s kerygma is according to Scripture (I Cor 15:3-4). Focusing on the explicit OT citations in Mark’s passion account, Jesus’ teaching ministry in Mark, and in redactional portions of the Gospel, Suhl (cited in Johnston 2008) argues that Mark does not have a salvation-historical perspective but anticipates tha parousia to come within two or three years.

• Theological questions

Some authors see Isaiah’s New Exodus as the main theme which provides the concept for understanding Mark’s Gospel. Johnston (2008) argues that Mark’s introductory prologue is programmatic for the whole work and introduces the book’s interpretative theme.

The gospel of Jesus Christ as Mark presents it is therefore ‘the Gospel according to Isaiah’ (Johnston 2008, p. 52). Based on the indication in the prologue, Marcus (cited in Johnston 2008) argues that Mark expects his readers to be “aware of other themes associated with 40:3 in the larger Isaian context … and understand [them] in their Isaian context when they come to prominence later in Mark’s gospel” (Johnston 2008, p.52).

There is also a Matthean parallel (Mt 9:1-8), in which Matthew connects the healing of the paralytic with the two preceding miracles. This healing and forgiveness of the paralytic happened in Capernaum. But Mark begins with the setting in Capernaum where Jesus is first accepted and appreciated by the public, but also opposed by the Jewish leaders.

Christ is God himself because he can forgive sins. The paralytic should be happy because he was assured of his pardon through the glance and the words of Jesus. God is he who lives and loves and we need to meet him so that forgiveness can be true – his eyes meeting our eyes. Because of this God had to make himself man.

This is part of the plan of redemption since the beginning of time – that God would send his Son to bring all closer to Him. Jesus was conceived of the Virgin, to be in the world and to suffer. But the divine purpose is to save mankind from eternal damnation and to express God’s love for all.

• Communication questions

What struck me in Mark’s text is the strong faith of the four people who carried the paralytic to bring him to Jesus. The effort that they had to take was enough for Jesus to admire, sympathize and give in to their pleading that the paralytic be healed of his sickness. And not only was he healed, but his sins were also forgiven.

We might still see people of extra faith in our time of too much materialism but we have to admit that it is hard to have such faith nowadays. Faith needs prayer in order to be strong. Faith needs action to become effective. And I hold my bias for this kind of faith. It’s really difficult to have this faith in this time of extreme materialism; yet we have to admit this is what the world needs right now – faith. Faith will save us from destruction; faith will lead us to God. While faith makes us return to God, it will also transform the world. We will be a united people under one God.

• What questions from my situation do I want to bring to the text?

Church people say that miracles happen every day but we fail to recognize the miracles of God. But I have doubts about these miracles. Do they come from God? Are the miracles God’s way of saying that he is still with us? That God is alive and that we haven’t killed God?

We need miracles – I believe that. We need them to make our faith alive. But I would like to believe that they come from God. With the collective sin of a ‘faithless’ generation, miracles may not anymore work. How can we bring back that more-than-two-thousand-year-old faith that motivated Jesus to say ‘Your sins are forgiven’ and ‘pick up that mat, rise up and walk’? Can we see that faith again?

But we may be able to see it as some of world leaders and many of world citizens would like to help refugees fleeing from the ravages of war and conflict, from the fangs of terrorism and world neglect, and even from natural catastrophes that are outcomes of climate change and global warming.

There are still responsible people, people who may not have known Jesus personally but are able to practice faith with actions as what the Bible and the church teach us to do. There are many out there who do not want to be seen by us but God knows who they are and what they are doing. Let us all pray that the faith of the four people who carried the paralytic from the roof down to where Jesus was teaching – for Jesus to heal and to say that his sin was forgiven.

It may be difficult to see this kind of people, but we can always start from here – from our hearts. A simple act of kindness may reflect that gesture of the four Christians who carried the paralytic.

Reference

Johnston, J 2008, Mark 2:1-3:6 and the sequence of Isaiah’s new exodus in Isaiah 57:14-58:14,PhD Thesis, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, viewed 20 May 2016.