October 26th, 2024

This Sunday is a very special Sunday for many Lutheran congregations. The title of this Sunday is Reformation Sunday, and it comes on the anniversary of the posting of the ninety-five theses by Dr. Martin Luther in 1517. There were a lot of ramifications of that one document, and such a thing is typical of the ‘modern’ era. The recent invention of the printing press made a big difference at that time.

Dr. Luther posted this one document on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany (on the day before many people would enter the church because of ‘All Saints Day’—more on that next week). To summarize, with this document Luther made an attempt to avoid in church an emphasis on what we do, and he thought it much more important to focus on what the Lord has done, and also what that gracious Lord continues to do. Such an emphasis continues on, five hundred and seven years later. The Gospel Reading which, understandably enough, focuses on a freedom which the Lord gives, comes from John 8:31-36, and it is the same reading for all three years of the three-year series.

This church year we have been going through the Gospel according to Mark, and that has also been the focus of these website writings. We recently went through that entire account, a section at a time, as it was laid out by the writer, in a somewhat-literal translation.

Since we still have a few weeks before we take up the Gospel according to Luke, we have been going back to the Gospel according to Mark, pointing out some of the unique things to that account. The emphasis so far has been on the historical presents within this account. (For those who are unfamiliar with the term, historical presents are when a past-tense verb should be expected, but a present-tense verb appears in the text.)

Some have seen a very tenuous connection between the historical presents within this gospel account and the living creature of the lion that is part of the Lord’s throne, the symbol of the Lord’s authority and glory. Last week’s writing of this website tried to connect the text of Jesus being hunted down by others as a part of the connection to that lion.

Where else could such a connection be? Those connections may be difficult for many people to see, especially since there is not too great of a knowledge regarding the characteristics of a lion that is in the wild. Perhaps someone has seen a lion in a zoo, but that is a very different environment.

Lions in the wild need food. They cannot rely on a zookeeper to feed them. Part of this task relies on communication amongst themselves. And so a lion that is out in the wild is both active and speaking. This matches the historical presents of the Gospel according to Mark in that there are speaking verbs, and there are action verbs as well.
One way to see this is to compare an event in the Gospel according to Mark with its counterparts in the closely related accounts of the Gospel according to Matthew and the Gospel according to Luke. The invention of the codex—a fancy name for a book—made it possible for similar events to be compared quite easily. Just imagine the difficulty if all the accounts were on scrolls!

Below is the account of the healing of the man with a withered hand. The translation, as is typical with these writings, could be called ‘somewhat-literal’. You may wish to look at other translations for a better understanding. An attempt has been made to compare the three accounts more easily by splitting up the text into several parts.

Please note how serious the fighting aspect of this event is and how extremely early it appears in the Gospel according to Mark (chapter three), especially when compared to the Gospel according to Matthew (chapter twelve) and the Gospel according to Luke (chapter six). It should also be noted that the historical presents are in capital letters this time. And the text in the Gospel according to Mark has three of them. Jesus does a good job roaring.

Here is the Healing of the Withered Hand on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11):

The Gospel according to Matthew:

And having gone on from there, he came into the synagogue of them. And look, a man, hand having withered; and they questioned him saying, “If it is permitted on the Sabbaths to heal?” In order that they might accuse him.

Now the one said to them, “Who will be of you, a man who will have a sheep, one, and if it falls in, this one, on the Sabbaths, into a pit, he will, will he not, grab it and raise? Therefore, how much it surpasses, a man, of a sheep. So it is permitted on the Sabbaths, well to do.”

Then HE SAYS to the man, “Stretch out, of you, the hand.” And he stretched out, and it was restored, healthy, as the other.

Now having come out, the Pharisees, counsel, they were taking against him, how him, they might destroy.

The Gospel according to Mark:

And he came into, again, into the synagogue, and he was there, a man, having withered, having the hand; and they were watching carefully him, if on the Sabbaths he will heal him, in order that they might accuse him.

And HE SAYS to the man, to the withered hand, having, “Rise, into the middle.” And HE SAYS to them, “Permitted on the Sabbaths, good to do or to do evil, life to save or to kill?” Now the ones were being silent.

And having looked around at them with anger, being greatly grieved upon the hardness of the heart of them, HE SAYS to the man, “Stretch out the hand.” And he stretched out, and it was restored, the hand of him.

And having come out, the Pharisees immediately, with the Herodians, counsel they were giving against him, how him, they might destroy.

The Gospel according to Luke:

Now it happened in another Sabbath, to come into, him, into the synagogue, and to teach; and he was, a man, there, and the hand of him, the right, it was withered.

Now they were carefully watching him, the Writers and the Pharisees, if in the Sabbath, he heals, in order that they might find to accuse him.

Now he himself knew the reasonings of them. Now he said to the man, to the withered, having the hand, “Rise and stand into the midst.” And having risen up, he stood.

Now he said, the Jesus, toward them, “I ask you, if it is permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, life to save or to destroy?”

And having looked around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch out the hand of you.” Now the one did, and it was restored, the hand of him.​

Now they, themselves, were filled with fury, and they were discussing toward one another what they might do to the Jesus.