October 15th, 2022

During this month of October, we are looking at some of the connections between the four living creatures and the four gospel accounts, so if you have not read the writings of the previous couple of weeks, that may be extremely helpful in seeing some of the momentum that led to this week’s topic. Last week we looked at the connection between the Gospel according to Matthew and the living creature of the man.

MARK AND LION

We do not have too many encounters with lions these days. It is difficult to imagine what it would be like to cross paths with a lion. These unique animals obviously appeared much more frequently in ancient times than today.

And just the fact that there are several words in the Hebrew language for different types of lions, that may show how significant that animal was for that particular region. Perhaps it may be compared to the Eskimos having many words for snow. For the Hebrews, there were different words for a young lion, a lion, and an old lion—that is something you might expect. But then there were also words for a bold lion and a roaring lion. And we must not forget the lioness.

How is the lion described in all the places in scripture? With those different aspects of the lion in mind, the dominant characteristic of a lion is probably power. Both the roar and the boldness fit well with this characteristic. (If you would like to see some bible verses that go with this topic, check out Proverbs 30:30 and Psalm 10:9—or Jeremiah 4:7.)

Last week, when we looked at the historical presents in the Gospel according to Matthew, we looked at the first occurrences of those historical presents, and there seemed to be a pattern with them. There also seems to be a pattern with the historical presents in the Gospel according to Mark, but a much simpler one.

The first historical present is part of the very small section regarding Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. The following is all that is said regarding this event that immediately follows the baptism of Jesus (and this—along with the other translations which follow—is given in a somewhat-literal translation; and the historical present will be in bold):

…and [there was] a voice out of the heavens: You are the son of me, the beloved, in you I was well pleased. And straightway the Spirit throws out him into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by the Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels served him [Mark 1:11-13].

The second historical present is pretty much the opposite action of the first.

And straightway he called them; and leaving the father of them, Zebedee, in the boat, with the hired servants, they went after him. And they enter into Capernaum; and straightway, on the sabbaths, entering into the synagogue, he taught [Mark 1:20-21].

In this gospel account there are not just actions that are in the historical present, but the speaking words are also there. While the vast majority of the verbs in the historical present in the Gospel according to Matthew had to do with speaking, that is not the case in the Gospel according to Mark. The total numbers are somewhat similar for both groups, both speaking and acting.

The next historical present that appears in this gospel account is one that has to do with speaking. In this case, there is more than one person speaking. You may note how there is some power that goes with what they are saying. It gets results.

And straightway out of the synagogue, going out, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. And the mother-in-law of Simon was laid, fever-stricken, and straightway they say to him concerning her. And, approaching, he raised her, holding the hand, and the fever left her, and she served them [Mark 1:29-31].

It is extremely difficult to summarize all the historical presents within this gospel account. But perhaps you would like to continue this on your own. A New American Standard Bible translation will be helpful in pointing out these historical presents with an asterisk.

Jesus continues to have authority, sitting at the right hand of the Father; Jesus continues to have power; but he certainly does not show off. It may be said that, as a lion, he is waiting in ambush of his enemies, and to gather his ‘pride’ together on the Last Day.