A Sandwich with Money in the Gospel of Mark

A Sandwich with Money in the Gospel of Mark

by | Sep 30, 2018 | Bible Study, The Life of Jesus

If you have read the Gospel of Mark, you may well have noticed examples of what scholars call “interpolations” or, more playfully, Markan “sandwiches.” These are sections of the narrative where a story is broken into two parts and a second, seemingly unrelated story is inserted in the middle – thus resembling two literary slices of bread with the sandwich filling in the middle.
  
Mark uses this technique frequently. For example, in the story of Jesus cursing a fig tree (Mark 11:12-14) he splits the story and inserts his account of the cleansing of the temple directly into the middle of the narrative (vs. 15-19). When we compare the parallel story in Matthew 21:18-22, where the same story of the cursed fig tree occurs, we find that it is not split in two as Mark does in his account.
 
We may be aware that Mark is making these narrative “sandwiches,” but we may not always realize what his point is in doing this.  There is, however, a clear pattern in what the Evangelist was doing. Time and again we see that Mark inserts material that may seem different, but which compares or contrasts with the outer story and in this way teaches additional lessons we might not have thought about otherwise. Take, for example, the story of Jesus being anointed at Bethany which is inserted into the middle of the story of Judas’ betrayal, as we see in the following three paragraphs from Mark 14:

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.” 

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly … .

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over (Mark 14:1-11).

We may not immediately see the direct connection between these two stories – or any reason to insert the one inside the other – until we notice the common denominator, which is money.  In both stories Mark shows individuals going to extraordinary lengths either to get or to give money (or that which was of a great value specified in a monetary amount).  Mark’s juxtaposition of the two stories makes it impossible to miss the difference between the attitudes of get and give exhibited by Judas and the unnamed woman, along with other details. 

Even the small fact that the woman’s generosity was met with self-righteous scorn compared to Judas’ greed which was met with approval (Mark tells us the priests were “delighted” to hear his offer) adds another layer to the story.  We see the depths of Judas’ hateful attitude and grasping actions precisely because they are shown in contrast with the loving attitude and generous actions of the woman who anointed Christ.

The contrasting details are easy to see in this example, but each Markan sandwich has its own reasons for the insertion of one story into another. It is our job as readers of the Word to read carefully in order to see what the lessons are that Mark is showing us in each case. 

Who Is My Friend?

Who Is My Friend?

by | Sep 23, 2018 | Forgiveness

We all remember the story of the teacher of the law who asked Jesus, “Who is my Neighbor?”  This was the question that prompted Jesus to reply with the Parable of the Good Samaritan – showing that even our enemies are neighbors when it comes to the law of God.

But what if the teacher had asked the question in a slightly different way, saying, “Who is my Friend?”  Could the answer to that question also impact our understanding of the Way of Christianity?  We don’t have any indication in the New Testament of that question being asked of Jesus, but we do have Jesus’ answer to it, nevertheless.

In his Gospel, Matthew tells the story of Jesus’ betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas Iscariot, the disciple turned traitor, had led a group of soldiers and other armed men to where he knew Christ would be in order to betray him for a cash reward.  As Judas approached Jesus in the dark of night and greeted him with a kiss in order to identify him to those who were to arrest him, Matthew records Jesus’ surprising  words:  “ ‘Do what you came for, friend.’ Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him” (Matthew 26:50).

Think about this. Jesus was not one to soften the truth. He was the one who called the Pharisees “whitened sepulchers” and a “brood of vipers” – to their faces.  But at the very moment of his betrayal , Jesus did not call Judas all the things we probably would have done. He did not call Judas “Traitor!” “Enemy!” “Back-Stabber!” – he did not even call him “False Friend!”  Amazingly, he just called him “friend.”

Now if we want to get technical, the word the Bible uses to record what Jesus called Judas was not philos, the Greek word usually translated “friend” and meaning “dear” in the sense of a close friend.  It uses the word hetairos meaning “friend” in the sense of a comrade, one who is a friend without necessarily having any affectionate relationship.  But he did call Judas by a word that means “friend” in the general sense (Matthew also uses the word in this sense in Matthew 20:13 and Matthew 22:12).

How do we apply his example?   The Old Testament gives us some clues.  Hebrew has a word, merea, which is very similar in meaning to the Greek hetairos – it also means friend in the sense of companion or comrade and it is found in Job’s words: “He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty” (Job 6:14). It is the same word that is used to tell us that after Job prayed for his “friends” (the individuals who had been haranguing him), God forgave them (Job 42:10).  

So if righteous Job prayed for the “friends” who mistreated him, and Christ could even call Judas “friend” as he betrayed him, can we learn a lesson from this? When we pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44), do we pray grudgingly, with reservations, or do we pray for them as we would for a friend?  ​

Striving Together

Striving Together

by | Sep 16, 2018 | Fellowship

By John Teichert

​“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ:  that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.”  Philippians 1:27.

In July of 1932, 20,000 World War I veterans gathered in Washington DC to demand the immediate payment of delayed bonuses from their service during the Great War.  These veterans set up a community of tents and huts in two locations in our nation’s capital, the first in a location on Pennsylvania Avenue to the east of the Capitol, and the second in an open space on the southeast side of the river at a place called Anacostia Flats.

On July 28th, 1932, General Douglas MacArthur accompanied by Major Dwight D. Eisenhower and Major George C. Patton assembled military forces to move against these veterans who were not much different than themselves in order to remove them from our nation’s capital.  They did so with great violence and strife.  Soldiers on horseback and armed with sabers stabbed those in their way.  Infantry forces armed with tear gas and torches dispersed the crowd and burned their lodgings to the ground.  Tanks rolled against these unarmed veterans, crushing their remaining huts and shacks.  It was a military rout, with current military members dismantling and destroying those heroes who had fought so valiantly only a generation before.  It was a dark day for America when there were plenty of real enemies that should have been the focus of our forces.

Far too often, Christians move against other Christians who aren’t much different than themselves, sometimes with great violence and strife.  We metaphorically stab those in our way.  We disperse the crowds and burn their lodgings to the ground.  Our tanks roll against our unarmed veterans, crushing them.  Each time this happens, it is a dark day for the cause of Christ when there are plenty of real enemies that should be the focus of our forces.

PLEASE PRAY FOR UNITY AMONG BIBLE-BELIEVING CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA IN ORDER TO PROPERLY OPPOSE OUR REAL ADVERSARY.  We must strive together for the faith of the gospel!
​

*Republished, with the author’s permission, from the PLUS website.

Did God Create Borders?

Did God Create Borders?

by | Sep 9, 2018 | The Church & the World

By Philip W. Shields
 
Any of you who have travelled abroad realize you have to go through Customs, have a passport, in some cases show your visa as well, declare your purpose for coming into their country, answer a few questions – and then you can proceed. But we can’t just step into any other country without the proper paperwork and acknowledgement that we are entering as a foreigner into someone else’s country.

I start with this because, for some reason, some in this country want us to act as if we have no border. Even the former president of Mexico recently made the statement “God did not create borders”.  But Scripture is clear:  God did create borders.  Let me show you. 

What’s the first “border” you can think of that is clearly mentioned in scripture –  a border that God himself imposed?  The Garden of Eden. When our ancient parents transgressed the Almighty’s command they were ejected from the Garden.  But then what?  God placed a flaming sword at the one entrance to the garden, keeping out anyone unauthorized to enter.  This is something God did.  So our God clearly intended to enforce his borders. Let’s read it: “So He (God) drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24, emphases added here and in the scriptures below).

A case can be made there was a prior illegal border crossing. Jude 6 gives us a hint that the first unauthorized border crossing was when Heylel (improperly called Lucifer) and his rebellious angels left their proper domain and attempted the first coup d’état against God himself.

Scripture mentions “border” or “borders” close to 200 times. For example:  “And the ​border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza…” (Genesis 10:19).

Did God create boundaries and borders?  How about these examples:

Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations.  Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you:  When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 32:7-8).

God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings… (Acts 17:24-26).

Next let’s look at Numbers 34, where indeed the Almighty Himself specifies the borders and boundaries for each of the tribes of Israel:
 
Then God spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance — the land of Canaan to its boundaries. Your southern border …  As for the western border …  And this shall be your northern border … You shall mark out your eastern border … This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries‘” (Numbers 34:1-12).
   
That was God himself speaking!  So did God create borders?  Pretty clear, isn’t it.  He updates Israel’s borders for a future time in Ezekiel 47 and 48. Check it out. 

In Psalm 74:17 Asaph wrote the following:  “You have set all the borders of the earth …”

So you see, the former president of Mexico was wrong when he said “God did not create borders.” 

Now, having borders does not mean we should not allow visitors, immigrants and new citizens.  But borders are of God. They should be respected.  And foreigners are to be loved and respected  – but they must abide by the same laws that existing citizens have to obey.

 
*Adapted from the author’s blog at LightontheRock.org. Scripture quotations taken from the New King James Version.

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Need Some Free Encouragement?  Get the New Edition of One of Our Most Popular Books!

by | Sep 2, 2018 | Encouragement, Updates

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