December 30th, 2023

The name for this Sunday is the First Sunday after Christmas, and the Gospel text is again from the Gospel according to Luke [2:22-40]. One could say that there was a big watershed between this Sunday and the last one, and that watershed is called Christmas Day.

One could also say that there is a bit of a watershed within the text from the Gospel according to Mark from last week’s writing and this one. We are making our way through the Gospel according to Mark at our own pace in these writings. And things are becoming noticeably different.

The first chapter of this gospel account is forty-five verses, and within the first half of the account, there were only two historical presents (where the verb is expected to be in the past tense, but it appears in the present tense). Jesus is being ‘thrown out’ into the wilderness, and the second one was attributed to the group of Jesus and his disciples after he calls them to follow him, and as a group, together they ‘enter’ into the synagogue of the disciples, and Jesus starts to teach there.

There were only two historical presents within the first half of the first chapter, but now the historical presents are starting to come much more frequently. There are six of them in the rest of that same chapter, the text we are looking at this time.

In the previous writings of this website, the word ‘to throw out’ was connected to that of a seed, and a seed grows after it is thrown out onto the ground. And there is definitely some growth to be seen in the following verses. It is not just Jesus doing things in the past, and it is also not just Jesus doing things in the present. Others are doing things in the present as well.

What follows is my attempt at a somewhat-literal translation of where we left off with last week’s writing—except that the last verse of the text is also given here as the first verse, to help provide some context (and the historical presents are in bold print; Mark 1:29-45):

And straightway out of the synagogue, having come out, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with Jacob and John.

Now the mother-in-law of Simon was lying down, having a fever, and straightway they say to him about her. And approaching, he raised her, holding the hand, and it left her, the fever, and she was serving them.

Now evening happening, when it set, the sun, they were bringing toward him all the ones, bad having, and the ones being demon possessed. And it was, whole, the city, having been gathered up, toward the door. And he healed many, bad having, with various diseases, and demons, many, he threw out, and not he was allowing to speak, the demons, because they knew him.

And early in the night, very, having risen up, he came out, and he went away into a wilderness place, and there he was praying.

And they hunted down him, Simon and the ones with him, and they found him, and they say to him, “All are seeking you.”

And he says to them, “Let us go elsewhere into the nearby towns, that also there I may proclaim; for into this, I came out.” And he came, proclaiming into the synagogues of them, into whole, the Galilee, and the demons throwing out.

And he comes toward him, a leper, exhorting him and falling on his knees, and saying to him, “If you are willing, you are able, me, to cleanse.”

And moved with compassion, having stretched out the hand of him, he touched, and he says to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And straightway it went away from him, the leprosy, and he was cleansed.

And having scolded him, straightway, he threw him out, and he says to him, “See, no one no thing you tell, but on the contrary, go, yourself, show to the priest, and offer concerning the cleansing of you, which he commanded, Moses, into a testimony to them.” Now he, having come out, he began to proclaim much and to spread about the word, so that no longer, he, to be able, openly, into a town to come into, but on the contrary, outside, on wilderness places he was, and they were coming toward him from everywhere.

One thing you may not have noticed is that the name of Jesus does not appear at all within this section. It is certainly in some manuscripts and translations. But it is not in the most reliable texts. And you could say that, in a way, the focus is not simply on Jesus. It is much the same thing that Jesus does not do all the historical presents. And even when someone today follows Christ, it is about something much bigger.

There is definitely a growth that is happening here. Jesus was thrown out earlier. The demons were more than once described as being thrown out; that should not be surprising. But did you notice that the leper was also thrown out? There is some growth that is happening, and it does not always happen in the way that is expected.

The great popularity of Jesus is understandable, and it is also understandable that the writer explains that Jesus stays in the wilderness places. It is interesting that he was being ‘hunted down’. The compound word is made of the two words ‘search’ and ‘down’. Its use may make one think of a lion. Yes, there is some significant growth going on.

The word translated ‘straightway’ is frequent within this entire gospel account, and that is not surprising, especially when one’s thoughts are about a lion. It is also interesting that the word ‘straightway’ does not appear when describing the speed of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (although it appears in some manuscripts, and it is also in the Gospel according to Luke when he writes of this event; see Luke 4:39). Did you notice that it does show up when the speed of telling Jesus about her is described? And when that word finally appears in that someone is ‘straightway’ healed (as in the case of the leper), Jesus also ‘straightway’ tells him not to tell anyone.

A lot of things are happening quickly, but they are not always those things that are expected. And that certainly continues today. There is One who is in control of literally everything, but He certainly does not make that obvious. And He certainly does not always do what is expected.

Jesus on the cross as the sacrifice for all sin is a great example of that. Who would have thought of God on a cross? There are historical presents in the text above that are connected not only to Jesus as he heads toward that cross, but there is some attention given to the others who are around him. They will have to deal with the cross as well. And since most of the historical presents have to do with talking, it is important to talk about that cross, as well as the cross that others have to bear.
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God’s power is not always obvious when it comes to Jesus. The talking of Jesus and his followers continue. Jesus continues to say some important things. And the special words he gave continue to be used. And his people continue to grow.