Chapter # 9 Paragraph # 1 Study # 5
January 10, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Jesus' choice of "days" is indicative of "Kingdom Plans".
Introduction: In our study last week, I focused upon the dominant thesis of the Old Testament picture of Messiah as the triumphant King as the one which was almost totally dominant in the first century, and some of the reasons for a strong belief in an earthly reign by such a Messiah.
In our study this evening, I have chosen to focus upon the "timing phrase" in 9:2 that Jesus raised by the choice He made to fulfill the declaration of 9:1 -- that "some" of His disciples would "see" the "Kingdom of God come with power" before they died. This is the first of several choices He made: to wait until six days had passed before He fulfilled His "prophecy".
- I. The Reference To "After Six Days".
- A. There are no "obvious" indicators that "six" days is significant; Mark only referred to "six" in this one place.
- B. However...
- 1. Genesis 2:2 tells us that God "rested" on the seventh day, after six days of creation labors.
- a. This record is at the roots of all of biblical revelation.
- b. That does not automatically mean that Mark expected his readers to "snap to that record", but it is the first time that "six" has significance in biblical revelation.
- 2. Since Mark does not give us "obvious" reasons for Jesus' decision to wait "six", or "just six", days, we are left to seek the significance on a "less obvious" foundation.
- a. A major indicator of the "less than obvious" is the chiastic structure of Mark's record.
- 1) The vast majority of those who read Mark's record, or even give time to study it, will not see his "literary design".
- 2) Even among those who do discern that "design" most, if not all, will not "see" a "significance" to Jesus' decision to wait "six" days.
- b. At the end of the chiasm there is a record of Jesus being hailed as the Davidic King.
- 1) This occurred on a day after they had "come nigh to Jerusalem ... at the mount of Olives" (11:1).
- 2) According to 11:12, the record continues with events "on the morrow".
- 3) Then, according to 11:19-20, they left the city that evening and returned "in the morning".
- 4) In 13:1 He left the temple ... and in 13:3 we find Him sitting upon the Mount of Olives and teaching the disciples about the future (including the "abomination of desolation": 13:14). This does not mention the passing of another day, but Mark's lengthy record of the content of Jesus' teaching between 11:20 and 13:3 at least suggests that the "Olivet Discourse" was on another day.
- 5) 14:1 contains the phrase "After two days was the Passover".
- 6) 14:12 refers to "the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover...". This is followed by the record of Jesus observing the Passover with the disciples that evening and then going to the Mount of Olives in 14:26 where Jesus was betrayed "this night" (14:30).
- 7) 15:1 says "in the morning" and records Jesus' crucifixion, and 15:42 says it was "the day before the Sabbath" when Joseph of Arimathaea buried Jesus in his own tomb.
- c. The record of the "days" includes the events of "six" days from the acclamation of the Davidic Messiah to the crucifixion and burial of Christ on the day before the Sabbath.
- 1) It may be a coincidence that Jesus was "transfigured" on the day "after six days", but it is at least possible that Jesus was transfigured on the "sixth" day and rested the rest of the day (because it was a sabbath???) so that on the next day they descended from the high mountain (note Luke 9:37 where the timing of the exorcism after the transfiguration is said to be "on the next day"; i.e., the day after the transfiguration) as a kind of parallelism between the transfiguration and His crucifixion.
- 2) If it is not a coincidence, it cements the Messianic identifications into "one" identity with "two" comings.
- 3. There is a long-held "supposition" in some quarters that the "seventh" millennium of human history will be the "millennium of Messianic rule" with "peace" as a major characteristic of that time (according to Isaiah 9:7 the "Prince of Peace" will rule so that, "...of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom..."). If "peace" is equal to the notion of "rest", the Kingdom will be "Sabbatical" in nature. This possibility gives greater significance to the historical fact that when the nation ignored the required "sabbatical years" for 490 years, God removed them from their "kingdom" for the 70 years that they "owed" to the land for its "rest".
- 4. There was a reason (even if we cannot figure out what it was) for Jesus taking this action "after six days", with the "action" declared to be a visible demonstration of His Messianic identity within the declared context of a "coming of the Kingdom with power" (with Peter using those very words in his reference to this event (2 Peter 1:16)).
- 1. Mark, clearly, desired to "fix" Jesus' identity as "The Christ" in the minds of at least Peter, James, and John because the "contradictory treatment of Him" in the coming days would seriously undercut that identity as was demonstrated by the disciples who were departing for Emmaus in Luke 24:19-26. This issue is the beginning and end of Mark's chiastic presentation of "kingdom" issues in 9:1-11:11.
- 2. The delay of "six days" would easily fit a number of these biblical themes. Our "problem" is the question of which, if any, Jesus/Mark had in mind.
- C. Mark's focus is upon "the coming of The Son Of The Man" and the identity of Jesus as that Man.
- 1. It seems clear to me that the stumbling block to that thesis was to be The Cross.
- 2. Since, then, The Cross is looming on the horizon (8:29-32), fortifying the souls of the disciples is becoming seriously important.
