The reflection below on Mark 16:15-20 was offered by
Jonathan Gradess a few weeks ago.
A short time ago I was with friends worshipping
on a Sunday morning and we were reading together Mark 16:15-20 which among
other things states:
Then Jesus told them, “Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Good News to all creation.
“The one who believes it and is baptized will be
saved, the one who refuses to believe it will be condemned. Signs such as these
will accompany those who have professed their faith: In my name they will expel
demons, they will speak in new tongues; they will be able to handle poisonous
snakes; if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them, and the sick upon
whom they lay their hands will recover.”
I had struggled with some of the words in the
reading but shared the following thoughts that I had come to in resolving my
concerns.
“In my name they will expel
demons”
We are called as followers of Jesus to be kind
and gentle with those who are troubled. Each of us faces demons whether the
demon be fear, or brokenness, insecurity or drug abuse, selfishness or ego or
whatever else. Our love toward others is the way these “demons” are “expelled”
(removed) every day from those we encounter with love.
“They will speak in new
tongues”
We have learned a new way of being and a new way
to express ourselves. In the language of love we guard against harsh and
unforgiving words. We speak with authority about the law of love and we use
words which comfort and uplift, words which include and tolerate; words which
Jesus would have used with a prostitute, or a Centurion, a tax collector, or,
ultimately, an earthly accuser.
“They will be able to
handle poisonous snakes”
Notwithstanding the Appalachian churches that
take this injunction literally, I rather think we have all learned its meaning
in our lives in a different way. There are public officials and other powerful
people who attack and oppress others, who act as “poisonous snakes,” pouring
forth acrimonious venom in public, and threatening, frightening, and condemning
people. We have learned to confront them in the name of social justice and
peace, to speak truth to their power, to defy and oppose them in ways
consistent with our love for the way of Jesus.
“If they drink anything
deadly, it will not harm them”
We have been taught from our mother’s knee to
not speak words of hate, but rather to swallow them. We have
bitten our tongue rather than send forth animosity into the world. Cruel and
deadly hate-filled words have been swallowed rather than spoken and we have not
been harmed from drinking them. Rather we have been closer to Christ in holding
back what otherwise might have been a hateful expression or tirade.
“The sick upon whom they
lay their hands will recover.”
There is all kind of sickness in the world.
People are heartsick, homesick, lonely, and diseased. Kindness, love,
accompaniment, presence, and compassion are the tools we bring when we “lay our
hands” upon these who are sick. Recovery is not always the same as cure, but
easing pain always aids in recovery.
***
For me it always helps to remember Jesus was
Jewish. In Judaism, biblical text is aided by “midrash” a technique to fill in
the gaps through homily or parable to make a particular text compatible with
its underlying ethical principles and to tease out the latent meaning of words
that might otherwise, given that ethical teaching, leave us unsettled.
Judith Plaskow writes, as if speaking directly
to these verses,
[I]n the realm of Jewish religious expression,
invention is permitted and even encouraged. Midrash is not a violation of
historical canons but an enactment of commitment to the fruitfulness and
relevance of biblical texts. It is partly through midrash that the inscription
or document, potentially integrable into memory but still on the periphery, is
transformed into narrative the religious ear can hear.
Searching for meaning that allows our religious
ears to hear is an important part of our own growth in faith and love.
Jonathan E. Gradess
June 10, 2018
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