Chapter # 10 Paragraph # 6 Study # 1
November 14, 2023
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Mark's second focus upon the might of the King includes the shadows of the establishment of the Kingdom, beginning with Jericho.
Introduction: In our last study we considered the inevitability of conflict between the members of The Twelve because self-exaltation always generates such conflict in direct contradiction to the essence of the Kingdom of Love and Truth.
Tonight we are going to look into the movement of Jesus into and away from Jericho.
- I. The Chiastic Parallel To 9:14-29.
- A. The original paragraph in Mark's chiasm (9:14-29) recorded the exorcism of the "difficult" demon as a demonstration of His "power".
- 1. This paragraph followed the initial thesis of the chiasm: Jesus is the King of the Kingdom.
- 2. This paragraph contains a focus upon the failure of The Nine to remain under the umbrella of Jesus' "delegated authority" to cast out demons.
- 3. The contents of the first half of the chiastic structure have a heavy emphasis upon the nature of the Kingdom in the light of the disciples' almost complete lack of awareness of it.
- B. This current paragraph (10:46-52) follows Mark's pattern of switching back and forth from the twin proofs of the "might" of the Mightier One (1:7): spiritual authority over unclean spirits (1:21-27) and physical authority over material creation realities (1:29-31) with the initial blending of both of these theses in 1:32-34 ("...and He healed many...and cast out many...").
- 1. This paragraph precedes the final paragraph in Mark's chiastic material where Jesus is again presented as the King of the Kingdom.
- 2. This paragraph has its focus upon a blind man who is loudly persistent in the face of the attempt by those around him to "shush" him: it has nothing of "discipleship failure" in it.
- 3. There is this likeness in the two halves of the chiasm: the disciples are not accepting the true nature of the Kingdom as they continue to compete with one another over "greatness" in the Kingdom.
- C. In the first half of Mark's record, the focus was upon the "might" of Jesus as established by exorcisms and healings; in the second half, there are two issues: the Kingdom's requirement of heirs who operate by the superior power of the Spirit by whom they have been baptized; and the actual effectiveness of the "might" of Jesus in the face of the most fundamental problems inherent in the opposition to the Kingdom that is promised, and will be realized.
- II. At Issue In This Paragraph.
- A. The focus upon Jericho.
- 1. That Mark only refers to Jericho in this one text/context forces us to "import" what we know of "Jericho" from the history of Israel.
- a. In the Old Testament record of God bringing His people into a "kingdom" upon the earth with Himself as the "King", there are the records of how He did that, starting with Jericho.
- b. Jericho is presented as "the city of palm trees" in multiple places in the Old Testament.
- c. Jericho is the city which fell to Israel because God caused the walls to fall down so that the city was overrun by the army of Israel.
- d. Jericho is also the city where the "problem" that would plague Israel for all of its history was first illustrated: the sin of Achan (the "covetousness" which belied the underlying "idolatry" that characterized Israel for all of its history even to the days of Jesus).
- 2. It is the most suitable place from which Jesus progressed to Jerusalem to be identified as "the King of the Kingdom" by the acclamations of the masses, but Who was then subjected to the opposition of Evil so that He could effectively address it for all time.
- 3. There is no indication, of which I am aware, that the next time Jesus comes to be established as the King of the Kingdom that He will come by way of Jericho, but He will come "out of the East" to arrive at the Eastern Gate.
- a. 1 Chronicles 9:18 identifies "the Eastern Gate" as "The King's Gate".
- b. The prophecy of Zechariah 14:4 does indicate that Jesus will come to the Mount of Olives, on the east side of Jerusalem to fight for Jerusalem in the last great battle.
- 4. This focus upon Jericho simply pulls together all of the symbolism of the Old Testament in respect to God's establishment of the nation in the land that He promised to them.
- B. The record is about a "blind man" who receives his sight: this is likely another of the metaphors of Mark upon the blindness of those who have the promises but do not understand their significance.
