Jesus -- The Healing Revivalist? - Lectionary Reflection for Epiphany 5B (Mark 1:29-39)
Mark 1:29-39 New
Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
32 That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34 And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37 When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38 He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39 And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
***************
I spent
the early part of young adulthood (late high school through college years)
walking in the company of Pentecostals. The denomination that I found myself part of was founded by Aimee Semple McPherson (known by her followers as Sister Aimee). Sister Aimee was a powerful preacher (very
dramatic) and her healing ministry. In
her mind preaching and healing went together. Although most of my fellow
“Foursquare Gospelers” didn’t give much thought to Sister Aimee (my youth
minister told me that she wouldn’t even be allowed in the church of our day), I
became fascinated with her story. Here
was a woman preacher who gained the attention of millions at a time when most
mainline denominations didn’t ordain women. She was adored by the masses and derided by religious leaders on both
the left and the right. She also
garnered the opposition of the political establishment, and not only because of
her famous disappearance. It seems she
had a tendency of stepping on the toes of the powers that be. Does that sound somewhat like Jesus?
Reading
the Gospel lesson for the fifth Sunday of Epiphany triggered thoughts of Sister
Aimee because like Jesus she combined preaching and healing. For both of them, these were two sides of the
one coin. Sister Aimee, like Jesus, was
an eschatological preacher (though the way they constructed their theologies
differed). Like most Pentecostals of her day, she believed that she was living
in the Latter Days. Her message was
fourfold: Proclaiming Jesus to be Savior,
Baptizer (in the Holy Spirit), Healer, and
Soon Coming King.” Although many
Mainline Protestants are uncomfortable with this eschatological emphasis, Jesus
also thought of himself as a preacher of a soon to arrive eschaton.
Perhaps Rudolph Bultmann is correct
when he suggested that Jesus wasn’t preaching a universal ethic, but rather he
offered an interim ethic that called for complete obedience to the will of God
in the face of the in-breaking of the realm of God. Now is the moment of decision [Jesus and the Word, Scribners, pp. 130-131]. Living
as we do two millennia after Jesus began his ministry, we want to see Jesus’
vision as something more rational and universal. Just follow Jesus and life will be wonderful. But that would seem to be far different from
the vision Jesus offers, especially in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus is in a spiritual battle.
Jesus
and his followers left the synagogue in Capernaum, where he had been preaching
with authority. He had tossed out a
demon, who apparently recognized him when everyone else did not. Now, it’s Saturday afternoon. Jesus is tired. He’s ready to have lunch, but when they
arrive at Peter and Andrew’s home, they find that the hostess, Peter’s
mother-in-law, is sick. Did you get that
– Peter had a mother-in-law, which would seem to mean that he also had a wife,
though she’s not mentioned here. In any
case, Jesus heals the mother-in-law, who then gets up and serves the
group. It is often said that Jesus
didn’t use his powers to benefit himself.
After all, he wouldn’t turn stones into bread, but on this occasion that
would appear to be part of the appeal!
She’s healed, he’s fed!
By
evening word gets out. Jesus is at Peter
and Andrew’s house. Let’s bring our sick
to him. In contemporary circles, we talk
about setting boundaries. Days off are
supposed to be inviolable. On Sunday
evening, unless it’s an emergency, let your questions wait till the next day. The pastor needs to rest and regroup. The idea that the pastor is on call 24-7 has
come under critique – at least that’s what pastors have been led to
believe. As for Jesus, no one observed
the boundaries. They come in
droves. In fact, the whole city appeared
at the door. Jesus, being Jesus,
couldn’t help but oblige them. He healed
all who came to him, even casting out demons, though he warned the demons not
to say anything about him. You see,
while the people couldn’t figure out who he was, the demons understood. Why is that?
Ah, the demons see things in spiritual terms, while we look at
externals.
Finally,
after Jesus tended to the sick and broken, he goes to a deserted place to
pray. This is another occasion where we
Jesus going off by himself to regroup. Tending to the sick and the broken can be hard work. He must have been physically and spiritually
exhausted. He has to recharge his
batteries. Again, we who are preachers know
this to be true. As Meg Jenista reminded
us in her sermon at the 2015 Calvin Worship Symposium, we are jars of clay –
and thus ordinary and fragile.
As is
so often true in the ministry of Jesus, his opportunities to get away are few
and far between. It didn’t take long for Simon (Peter) to go looking for him.
After all, the crowd is lining up outside the house once again. They don’t see themselves as prepared to take
on the responsibility of this ministry.
They see themselves as support personnel. Preaching and healing and casting out demons
– that’s Jesus’ job. Or so they think!
Jesus
is not a settled pastor. He’s an
itinerant preacher. While even Aimee
Semple McPherson had a home base (Angelus Temple), Jesus never set up shop in
any particular place. When he felt like he’d taken care of business in one spot
he moved on to the next town. So, with
people lining up to see him, he suggests they move on to new towns. There he would continue the ministry of
healing and preaching – always telling the demons to be quiet. Perhaps he didn’t think demonic testimony was
appropriate or perhaps he just didn’t think the timing was right. After all, even those closest to him (the
disciples) didn’t seem to truly get who he was. They were in as much awe as
anyone in the crowd!
What do
we do with Jesus? John declares him to
be the Word of God. That’s
workable. He seems to be a rabbi (a
teacher). He has prophetic
tendencies. He’s compassionate. But, he can get a bit testy with certain
groups of people – perhaps the people he thinks should know better. Whatever the case, Mark tells us that Jesus
went on a preaching and healing tour of Galilee, spreading the word of God’s
realm. After all, Jesus is an
eschatological preacher. There is no
time for settling in and building an institution. He has to get the word out. The question for us is – do we have a sense
of urgency? Or is there plenty of time
to get things done? After all, Jesus was
taking up this revival circuit two millennia back.
My
youth pastor suggested that perhaps our church couldn’t handle Aimee Semple
McPherson. That may have been true. My sense from listening to latter-day
participants in the church she founded, most don’t understand her genius. Could it be that if Jesus were to walk into
our churches we couldn’t handle his message and ministry either? After all, he had dirty feet!
Comments