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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. We are in Mark, chapter 5, 6, 7, and 8. We got four chapters of Mark's gospel to walk through. Like always, I'm gonna give a context clue or a couple. I'm gonna give a nerdy nugget and then I'm gonna end us at a timeless truth. Hey, if you haven't done today's reading, just go ahead, pause, stop, stop watching, stop listening. Go do the day's reading. Mark, chapter five, six, seven, and eight. And. And I'll be right here in 15 minutes when you are done with the reading. I think today's reading is absolutely incredible. So you want to make sure that you do that. Hey, let's dive in. I'm going to give you a context clue, okay? A big context clue, some language that we really need in order to understand what's happening in Mark, chapter 8, 27, 33. We're going to, like, really like, like hone in on those six verses. In order to understand Mark, chapter 8, verse 27 to 33, we're going to need to understand this term called the Messianic secret. It's that anytime somebody kind of knows that Jesus is the Messiah, he tells them to be quiet, don't say anything. They're not permitted to talk about the fact that he's the Messiah. Gonna let you. I'm gonna point you to a couple of passages of scripture where this happens. Mark, chapter one, verse 23 to 27. Specifically verse 25. Be quiet, said Jesus sternly. Okay. Mark, chapter one, verse 34. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. Mark, chapter 1, verse 43 to 44. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning. See that you don't tell this to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifice that Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them. Okay? Would seem like, you know, you're. You're healing people, you're doing all this awesome stuff. Why not let people testify of what you've done? But no, there's this quelling or this silencing on behalf of Jesus where he doesn't want anyone to talk about what he's doing. Mark, chapter 8, verse 30. He strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And then Mark 9:9, as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen. This is after the transfiguration until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves. Questioning what is rising from the dead might mean. So there's a messianic secret. There's this theme of a messianic secret. Doesn't matter who like knows that Jesus is the Messiah. They're not allowed to say anything about it. Which then should make us ask a question. Why does Jesus not want anyone to talk about the fact that he is indeed the Messiah? Well, it's because their definition of Messiah is janky. Their definition of Messiah is incorrect. Their definition. He doesn't want anyone going around saying Jesus is the Messiah because what he means by Messiah and what they mean by Messiah is totally different. Now just in terms of the definition of the word, it simply means anointed one means king of Israel. However, the the people believed that this Messiah would be an Old Testament Messiah. Okay, so like Joshua is a military leader, David is a military leader. Even if you look at the intertestamental period, Judas Maccabeus is a military leader, rises up to defeat Antiochus Epiphanies or Attiochus Epiphanies. The people are believing for a strong military leader to overthrow the Roman powers, okay, to go to war with Rome and win and be successful. And Jesus is just not going to do that. And so he doesn't want people running around Judea and Jerusalem saying that he's the Messiah because that's only going to further confusion. It's only going to further make people believe in an expectation that he is not going to fulfill. So Jesus is going to make people kind of be quiet when they, when they come to a knowledge that he's the Messiah. Because although they have the right word, they don't have the right definition for that word. Okay, this culminates in Mark, chapter 8, verse 27. 27 to 33. And I'm going to pull it up. Jesus and his disciples went on yep. To the villages that surround Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked them, who do people say I am? They replied, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah and still others one of the prophets. And then Jesus gets really specific. He's verse 29. But what about you? He asked, who do you say that I am? And this is going to prove that they have the right word. But they don't mean the same thing that Jesus means. Peter answered, you are the Messiah. Jesus warned them not to tell anyone. Okay? Jesus like, okay, great, awesome. That's the right word. Shh, be quiet. He then, okay. Jesus then begins to teach them that the Son of Man, you see how now Jesus inserts son of man, said, okay, great, let's take away that I am the Messiah, but let's talk about me being the Son of Man. And what is the Son of Man gonna do? He's gonna do what you can't comprehend that the Messiah would do. He must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law. And he must be killed. And after three days, rise again. He spoke plainly about this. This is not a parable. He's talking to them in plain. I was going to say plain English, in plain Aramaic. Okay. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But Jesus turned and looked at his disciples. He rebuked Peter. So this is a rebuking contest. Get behind me, Satan. He said, you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. Now I need you to remember that Peter's telling the story to Mark as a firsthand account. One of the things that I love about Mark's gospel is that there are all these pinnacle heroic moments of Peter's life with Jesus, of Peter's time with Jesus. And, and you would think that they would be in Mark's gospel, but they're not. Peter does not take his chance to talk about the life that he lived and walked with Jesus as an opportunity to talk about his own highlight reels. And so Peter walking on the water that's found in Matthew's gospel and Matthew's Gospel, this story is, paints Peter in a way more positive light. You can actually see Peter's humility shine through the text as you get Mark's account through Peter of what happened between Peter and Jesus. Because in Matthew's Gospel, what does Jesus say? He says, son, and you know, flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you. Peter the my Father in heaven reveal this to you. And on this rock I'll build my church. The gates of hell won't be able to prevail against it. I'm going to give you the keys of the kingdom. Okay. This is a big moment for Peter in Matthew's Gospel. But in Mark's gospel, which is literally given to us by Peter, this is not as big of a deal. The thing that's highlighted is the fact that he gets rebuked. Get behind me, Satan. You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. And so we see here the fact that Peter knows Jesus is the Messiah, but doesn't have a clue what that means and has a culturally, he has the wider culture's definition of Messiah, he has culture's expectations of Messiah, but he does not have God's definition of Messiah. And so therefore the messianic secret continues. Verse 30 of chapter 8. Jesus warned them not to tell anybody about him. What if I told you that what you're learning in this video was just the tip of the iceberg? The Bible department is actually powered by arma. What is arma? I'm so glad you asked. ARMA is an online subscription based platform that we design to help people, everyday people, learn the Bible for themselves. We started ARMA so that anybody, anywhere could have access to trustworthy and entertaining Bible and theology content. In addition to this podcast, we have over 60 courses on individual books of the Bible, on theology topics, and on some hot topics like homosexuality, tithing and women in ministry. But really, ARMA is a community, a community of people that I've gotten to know. A community where thousands of people are currently finding family, asking questions and nerding out on the Bible together. If you want a community to read the Bible with you this year, or if you want to dive into some deeper theological content, or if you want more exclusive access to me and the entire arm of team, how about you go to thebibledepartment.com I'll be sure to post the link in the description of this video. Let's make this your year to become a Bible nerd. Okay, let's get into our nerdy nugget for the day. I want to talk about Markan intercalations. There are five of these total that are in Mark's Gospel. Intercalation is just a fancy word for sandwich. Okay? A mark. And sandwich mark is famous for these things where there's a story on the outside and then a story on the inside. And the stuff that's on the outside is going to reveal the truth of what's on the inside and vice versa. So I'm just going to tell you where they all are. I'm going to tell you all five of them. You can find them on your own and then we'll go through maybe one or two of them together. Here. This is our nerdy nugget for the day. Mark and intercalation number one is Mark, chapter three, verse 20 to 35. If you see Mark, chapter 20 and 21 says Jesus entered the house, and again a crowd gathered so that his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for he said, he is out of his mind. So that beginning part is about Jesus family. If you skip to the end, okay, that's verse 20 and 21. You skip all the way to the end to verse 31 to 35. It says this. Then Jesus mother and brothers arrived standing outside. They sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him. And they told him, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you. Who are my mother and my brother? He asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother. So you see how that we just read the bread, okay, we read verse 20 and 21, and then we read verse 30 to 34. That's the bread. Now here's the meat. Verse 22, all the way to verse 30 is the meat of the sandwich. This is a mark and intercalation. Okay, here's what's in the middle. And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, he is possessed by Beelzebub, by the prince of demons. He is driving out demons. So Jesus called them over to him and begin to speak to them in parables. How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand. His end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man's house. Truly, I tell you, people can be forgiven of their sins and every slander they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. They are guilty of an eternal sin. He said this because they are saying, he has an impure spirit. What is happening? How does the inside interpret the outside and vice versa? Essentially, Mark is writing us to say that in the same way that Jesus redefines family around the unity of his message and his call and his purpose. That is the same way that a house is able to stand, that you don't just have people in your family just because they're related to you by blood, but you have people in your family based on a common mission and a common vision and a united pursuit, a united purpose. So the outside is Talking about family, the inside is talking about division. And so you use the outside to interpret the inside and use the inside to interpret the outside. We'll do one more, and then I'll give you the rest of them, and you can kind of do this on your own. The next one is one of my favorites. Okay, mark chapter 5, verse 21 all the way to verse 24. Jairus, the synagogue leader, comes to Jesus. His daughter is dying. His daughter's 12 years old. She needs to be healed. So Jesus goes with Jairus, okay? On the way, there's a one with the issue of blood. So a large crowd press around him, and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. Okay? So from verse 25 all the way to verse 34, we get the one with the issue of blood. That's our meat. And now we get more bread. Verse 35 all the way to verse 43, we now get back to Jairus, and now his daughter's dead, and Jesus goes to raise the girl from the dead. One of the interesting things about this passage is Jairus is a synagogue leader, which means who would have been responsible for. For casting this woman with the issue of blood out of the synagogue? You guessed it, Jairus. And so Jesus heals the woman with the issue of blood, but then has a conversation with her so that Jairus can listen to the conversation, because really, the context of the conversation are for Jairus just as much as they are for the woman. And what does Jesus call the woman in the conversation? Buzzword Daughter. He calls her daughter because what he's saying to Jairus is, until you learn how to treat my daughter with honor, dignity, respect, and you fight for her healing and wholeness, then we can't go see about your daughter because the same way that you want me to go heal your daughter, this woman is my daughter. And if you're going to be a leader in God's house, if you're going to represent God, then this is a family. This isn't just a religious institution or an organization. It's a family. And, Jairus, you represent me, which means you need to represent the father's love towards this woman. See how the inside interprets the outside, the outside interprets the inside. Here's another 1. Mark, chapter 6, verse 7 to 32 is an entire intercalation, a mark and intercalation, aka a mark and sandwich. I can't go through that whole thing, but it starts at verse 7 of chapter 6 and goes all the way to verse 32 of chapter 6. The next one is Mark 11. It goes from verse 12 all the way to 25. And I think this is the one with the fig tree that gets cursed. So the fig tree becomes the bread and the temple the money changers. And him, Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers in the temple courts becomes the meat. And then we got one last one. Mark, chapter 14, verse one to 11. It's the Passover Festival. Unleavened bread. We're only two days away. And the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly, to kill him. That's how it starts. And then how does it end? Then Judas Iscariot, one of the 12, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. So what's in the middle? While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table at the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar, a very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor. And they rebuked her harshly. Leave her alone, said Jesus. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you. You can help them whenever you want, but you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly, I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her. And so she is now juxtaposed to these leaders who are supposed to be insiders, but are really outsiders. And whereas Simon the leper didn't do anything for Jesus, like didn't wash his feet, didn't do anything like that. The woman has. Which means the people who should never betray Jesus are actually gonna betray Jesus. And the people who should be betraying Jesus would never betray Jesus, which now is juxtaposed to. The chief priest and Judas represent groups that should be on the inside. Inside. But now they're going to end up on the outside and vice versa. So in the very last one is Mark, chapter 14. Oh, maybe there's more than five. Sorry. Mark, chapter 14, verse 53 to 72. I won't get into it. But that's another mark in Intercalation. So that's our nerdy nugget. I mean, we spent a good chunk of time there on those. Like this is. This is characteristic of Mark's Gospel. And it is a literary style that Mark is gonna use a lot, and he's gonna use it to show instead of tell. And let's get to our timeless truth. There's this movement through Mark's gospel where he goes amongst the tombs, heals a demon possessed man, and then immediately after the tombs, he heals a woman with the issue of blood. And then after the one with the issue of blood goes to Jairus's house and is in a home, actually in a room with a girl who's dead. So you got your, first of all, you're in gentile country with pigs and a man who's living amongst the tombs. Then you have a woman on her menstrual cycle who you're letting touch you, and then you got a dead girl who you're in the room with. These are breaking all of Jewish laws around cleanly cleanness and ceremonial cleanness. You can already see Jesus leading the disciples down a path where they're going to have to redefine holiness. So in the Old Testament, holiness was if you're holy, you're set apart, you're clean. If something who is something that is not clean touches you, their uncleanness is stronger than your cleanness. And so you are now no longer holy. So that would mean unholiness is contagious and holiness is fragile in Jesus world. He's holy. Therefore, the man who's living amongst the tombs gets healed, the demons are exorcised, the woman is unholy, she's unclean because of her menstrual cycle. She touches Jesus, and Jesus holiness is stronger than her disease and the disease gets dried up. He goes into the room with the girl, and his holiness is stronger than her death. And so now the New Testament version of holiness is not a fragile holiness where the contamination is contagious and the holiness is weak. But now it's reversed where the holiness is the contagious force. And whether it's a demon or whether it's death or whether it's disease, those forms of uncleanness are the things that are attacked by, by the holiness of Jesus and therefore the holiness of you and I as believers. So our timeless truth for the day is the radical redefinition of holiness when we move from the Old Testament to the New Testament, it's a lasting legacy of the ministry of Jesus. All right, ladies and gentlemen, we've got mark chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12. I can't wait. I'm proud of you. I'll see you right here tomorrow. Love you guys. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebibledepartment. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.gov Come, we'll see you back here tomorrow.