Reading Backwards through Mark
Zen Lessons 2025 4 26: Mark 3 & 4
We are coming to the end, or rather, the beginning. In Mark 3 & 4 we see the sharp start to his ministry: a lecture, a miracle, the beginning of the conspiracy against him, some parables, the rejection of his family, the gathering of his 12 messengers, and their thick-headedness.
All the themes of Mark are rolled out here, in amazing conciseness. One of the things that I sense to be true is that Jesus, a Jew, an acolyte of John the Baptist, and a radical teacher, would not recognize himself in the very Greek depictions of him. It is as if later writers reached back and snatched him out of Palestine and planted in him in Alexandra, a place where humans become gods, gods are killed and brought back to life, and animal sacrifices replenish the individual spirit.
And what of this little sea of Galilee, that Jesus so often retreats into so he might escape the crowds and his critics?
Six Poems from Mark 3 & 4 1. Jesus entered the synagogue and saw a man there with a shriveled hand. Come here, stand here, he said to the man. He asked the scholars & the priests: Is it correct on the Sabbath to do right or wrong, to heal or destroy? He healed the man. Immediately the scholars and priests began to conspire. 2. From all around the sick and anguished thronged to Jesus to be healed. He and his followers retreated onto a boat and out upon the lake. Unclean spirits threw themselves down and shouted: "You are the son of God!" and Jesus warned them sternly to stay quiet. Of his followers 12 he called his messengers and renamed them all. Even the betrayer. 3. Jesus came into his house but the thronging crowds prevented the family from eating. They tried to stop him, they thought he had lost his mind. "Only the king of demons can expel demons..." Can Satan expel Satan? Can a divided house stand? Satan against himself will not stand but will fall. If you wish to plunder a rich man's house, you must tie him up first. I tell you... Everyone will be forgiven for all their sins and blasphemies. Except those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, they will be unforgiven everlastingly, those who said "He has an unclean spirit." 4. His family came out. The crowd said, "Here is your mothers and brothers..." Jesus spoke. Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? And looking at those seated around him in a circle he said: Whoever does the will of God, they are my brother and sister and mother. 5. Jesus spoke: The sower went to sow and sowed some seeds. Some fell on the road and the birds ate them. Some on stony soil where they grew fast in the dewy morning and were shriveled and dead by noon. Some fell among the thorns who choked them. They bore no fruit there. Some, though, fell upon good soil and bore 360 and 1 hundredfold. For those who have ears to hear, hear! For those on the outside, everything comes in parables. You have been given the mystery of the kingdom of God. And he explained again the parable of the sower. Satan takes the word like the birds do, those who hear but have no roots die in the noontime sun the moment trouble comes. To be sown in the realm of fame and wealth, is to be choked by thorns. Need I say more? Is a lamp brought inside to be hidden beneath a couch or a wicker basket? Nothing is secret, all will be exposed. If you have ears to hear, hear! The measure by which you measure will measure you. The kingdom of God is like a man's throwing of a seed unto the ground. First a blade, then a stalk, then the ear, and then the full grain in the ear. And when it is ripe, the man takes out his sickle. Such is the kingdom of God. Notice the mustard seed. The smallest of all creates the most, so much so that it covers the ground with shade and the birds nest within its branches. 6. As dusk came at the end of this long day Jesus said: Let us cross over this sea to the other side. As he slept soundly at the back of the boat a storm came, the apostles woke him, shouting "Do you not care that we will perish?" Silence! Be still! And the storm died off. He turned on them. Are you cowards? Do you not have faith? And they were silent, thinking, "Who is this, that even the waves obey?"