ST MATTHEW-IN-THE-CITY
ANGLICAN CHURCH AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND
James Bond and the Gospel of Mark
January 28, 2018
Helen Jacobi
Epiphany 4 Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Psalm 111 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Mark 1:21-28
Video available on YouTube, Facebook
The Gospel of Mark is like a James Bond movie – fast, exciting, not much subtlety, the battle of good and evil; except the women in the gospel are probably dressed more modestly than in a JB movie.
We are reading the gospel of Mark this year and I would recommend sitting down and reading it in one sitting.
Even better read it out loud.
Get a sense of the pace – Mark is no nonsense, quick fire, from one story to another.
In a James Bond there is always an incredibly dramatic start where 007 does some amazing stunts or escapes from somewhere impossible and those first few minutes usually have nothing at all to do with the rest of the film; other than to establish for the viewer that Bond is capable of anything.
Rather than a build up of suspense or tension as happens in the rest of the film, we know from the opening scenes who James Bond is.
Mark is like that.
We are still in chapter one and following the call of the disciples we heard last week Mark gives us high drama.
Jesus and the disciples go to Capernaum, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and it was the Sabbath and so they went to the synagogue and Jesus taught there.
He was a rabbi and so he taught the people.
There is in Capernaum today ruins of a synagogue from the 4th century which may well have been the site of the first century synagogue.
Mark says “Jesus taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (a dig at the clergy there).
His words carried weight, had power, rang true.
What did he say?
Maybe something like we heard last week “the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news” – I wish Mark would unpack that a bit for us.
But he’s not one for stopping to let the viewer catch up.
Last week in our first confirmation group discussion we wondered about what Jesus meant by “the kingdom of God has come near” – was it a promise or expectation of political change just around the corner – and so was something that belonged 2000 years ago; or was it something about a new presence of God’s spirit that could break through any time;
and why is it near and not here?
Well while Jesus’ listeners in the synagogue are pondering the same questions we have our dramatic James Bond moment.
A man we are told is suffering with “an unclean spirit” – now remember in Jesus day if you were sick in any way it was assumed you must be being either punished by God, or that you are possessed in some way by an evil spirit; they did not have the benefit of our medical knowledge;
commentators believe that this man may have been suffering from a mental illness, or something like epilepsy; neither of which were at all understood.
But Mark’s focus is not on the illness per se but what the man says to Jesus: a dramatic declaration of who he is – “the Holy One of God”;
Jesus does not commend the man for what he says – why not if he is telling the truth?
The power to name someone was seen to give you power over them.
Think of God changing people’s names – Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah; Saul to Paul; Jesus changing Simon’s name to Peter.
And the way the writers of the Hebrew Scriptures decline to use the name of God – Yahweh – and instead use Lord.
In our reading today from Deuteronomy Moses reminds the people of what they had said to Moses when he was receiving the ten commandments – we cannot see or hear God and live – so you go talk and come back and tell us (Dt 18:17, quoting Dt 5:24).
Like in Harry Potter where people dare not say the name of the Dark Lord Voldemort – but I am mixing my movie metaphors!
Back with Jesus in the synagogue – this spirit, nor the people will claim power over God. Jesus sees the attempt to name him as an attempt at control. This is a battle befitting a movie opening.
Hiding behind a couple of lines of text is Mark’s drama – good and evil are in battle here. When Mark says Jesus “rebukes” the spirit – it is really stronger than a rebuke – the original might be better translated conquer or make subject. [1] Jesus is banishing the evil kingdom and ushering in the kingdom of God. No wonder the people are astounded and his fame spreads.
David Lose says of this passage that the kingdom of God appears, God shows up, in the places we least expect God – in our times of loss, despair, shame, brokenness, disappointment
“God is still at work casting out the unclean spirits of the world, and God is using us to continue (Jesus’) work. Mark shares this story of confrontation and freedom first, because it’s at the heart of the Gospel story he tells, and at the heart of the Gospel story we are invited to live into and through.” [2]
After the dramatic opening story Jesus goes on to do more dramatic healings; they come quickly one after another.
For us, in our perhaps less dramatic lives, we can nonetheless live into this story.
We all come this morning with our own spirits of depression, or illness, or sorrow, or pain, or shame, or worry.
We’ve all got something going on.
And if we wish we can allow the voice of Jesus to name those spirits, and call them out.
And begin in us a process of healing, maybe not as dramatic as Mark’s gospel; but healing nonetheless; we know that “naming our demons” takes away their power – that is why groups like Alcoholics Anonymous start their meetings by introducing themselves – hullo I am …….. and I am an alcoholic.
Our lives might not be as dramatic as a movie or a gospel story; but Mark still writes for us – the kingdom of God has come near in the life of Jesus; the kingdom of God can come near to us today and bring healing.
Thanks be to God.
[1] Richard Horsley Hearing the Whole Story: The Politics of Plot in Mark’s Gospel p137