Philip Fogarty SJ shows how in Mark’s Gospel the critical and paradoxical nature of Jesus’ message is gradually revealed to the disciples .
Jesus and his disciples are on the move from Galilee to Judea, wending their way towards Jerusalem. As they go, Jesus continues to instruct his disciples and the crowds that follow him (Mk.10:1-52). Some Pharisees approach him and ask, ‘Is it against the law for a man to divorce his wife?’ They were testing him. Jesus answers them, `What did Moses command you?’ `Moses allowed us,’ they say, `to draw up a write of dismissal and so to divorce.’
Scriptural difference
The Pharisees, on the basis of the Book of Deuteronomy (24:1-4), would allow a husband to divorce his wife if ‘she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her’. The rabbis debated whether that
‘something objectionable’ had to be something very serious or could be trivial. But Jesus says to the Pharisees, It was because you were so un-teachable that he wrote this commandment for you’.
Quoting the Book of Genesis he says, ‘From the beginning of creation God made them male and female. This is why a man must leave father and mother, and the two become one body. What God has united, man (the husband) must not divide,’ otherwise he is committing adultery. `if a woman divorces her husband and marries another she is guilty of adultery too.’ This latter statement probably reflects the situation of Gentiles under Roman law where women could initiate divorce proceedings.
The debate about divorce continues today. The issue is whether this is to be considered an enduring demand binding Jesus’ followers (the Roman Catholic position for marriages considered sacramental) or only as an ideal which, for all practical purposes, can be dispensed from either relatively easily (many Protestant Churches) or for a grave, specific reason such as adultery which is the Orthodox position, drawing on Matthew 19:9.
Possessions
As Jesus continues his journey, he talks about riches and their dangers. Mark tells the story of the rich young man who asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life (Mk.10:17-22). Jesus tells him that he must keep the commandments. He replies, `Master, I have kept all these from my earliest days.’ Jesus then lovingly says to him, ‘Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ The young man’s face falls and he goes away sad.
Does Jesus’ invitation apply to all his followers or is it restricted to the young man in Mark’s story? As we can see in the Acts of the Apostles, not all Christians sold their possession but did tend to share what they owned. Whatever the reality, the story enables Jesus to make some serious points about riches (Mk. 10:23-31).
‘How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ The disciples are astonished. ‘In that case,’ they say to one another, ‘who can be saved?’ Jesus answers them, `For men it is impossible, but not for God: because everything is possible for God.’
Reversal of values
Riches were traditionally seen as a sign of God’s favour. Jesus sees things differently: the power of God and reliance on him alone are the only way to win God’s approval. As for those who are rich it will take a miracle to get them into the kingdom of God. The miracle will not consist of getting them in with all their wealth but by getting them to give it up by sharing it with the poor.
Peter takes up what Jesus has said. ‘What about us? We left everything and followed you.’ It is as if he were asking, what’s in it for us? Jesus replies, ‘I tell you solemnly, there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, father, children or land for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not be repaid a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land – but not without persecutions – now in this present time and, in the world to come, eternal life. Many who are first will be last, and the last first.’
In other words, those who make great sacrifices for Jesus will be rewarded both in this life and in the world to come. Unlike the rich young man, Jesus’ disciples will enjoy a great social and religious fellowship in the here-and-now as well as in the age to come. But Jesus (or Mark) strikes a realistic note: all this will involve persecutions – just as it will for Jesus. Jesus is proclaiming a great reversal of the world’s values: the poor, the marginalized, the outcasts will have precedence over the rich in God’s kingdom.
Impending fate
As they proceed on their way up to Jerusalem, Jesus again speaks of his impending fate and spells out the persecutions that he is about to undergo (Mk. 10: 32-34). ‘The Son of Man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the pagans (the Romans), who will mock him and spit at him and scourge him and put him to death; and after three days he will rise again.’
Still the disciples don’t get it. James and John, who form part of an inner circle among the disciples together with Peter, want a favour: to be seated at his right and left hands when Jesus is in his glory, or, in other words, when, as Messianic King, his triumph is assured (10:35-40).
As Jesus notes, they do not know the implications of what they are asking. They still think in terms of Jesus as an earthly Messiah. ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I must be baptized?’ Jesus asks.
The cup and baptism are, symbolically, a challenge to drink the cup of suffering and the baptism of death that Jesus will undergo. But, cocky as ever, the disciples answer, ‘We can’. Their confidence is somewhat optimistic in the light of the cowardice they demonstrate during Jesus’ passion. Nonetheless Jesus assures them, with a nice touch of irony, that they will drink the cup of suffering and even the death of martyrdom.
Places of honour
‘But as for places at my right hand or my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted (by the Father).’ There will be distinguished places at Jesus’ right and left in the kingdom but to whom they will be granted depends on the sort of leadership that the disciples show.
‘You must know,’ Jesus tells the twelve, ‘that among the pagans, their so-called leaders lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No, anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be the slave of all. For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (10:41-45).
This article first appeared in The Messenger (August 2007), a publication of the Irish Jesuits.
