Chapter # 7 Paragraph # 1 Study # 1
April 5, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Mark's introduction to the extended revelation of the critical problem existing in the Pharisees and some of the scribes is prejudiced -- for our learning -- by the earlier records in Mark's Gospel.
Introduction: In our last study we considered the record of Jesus' extensive, indiscriminate healings brought about by the certain knowledge of the massive crowd that Jesus is The Mighty One, as that identity related to physical ailments. We noted that Jesus' willingness to heal everyone who touched His garments was
gracious and
indiscriminate in that there should not have been all of these diseased people in Gennesaret. We also noted that the level of knowledge that the crowd possessed was significant, but misguided by the values of those who were scurrying around to bring all of the diseased to where Jesus was.
In our study this evening we are going to begin to delve into the next critical issue in Mark's presentation of the "discipleship" section of his Gospel. The first critical issue is identified in 8:15 as "the leaven of Herod", and we have looked in some detail at that section of Mark's effort. This next critical issue is also identified in 8:15 as "the leaven of the Pharisees". Given that Mark committed 39 verses to that first critical issue, it is no surprise that we see that he also provides a lot of detail of this second critical issue (70 verses).
This first study in this new sub-section is all about what we have already been told about the Pharisees and their scribes.
- I. The Gathering Of The Two Parts Of Those Involved In This Second Critical Issue.
- A. The verb involved: sunago.
- 1. Is a composite word consisting of the prefix sun, meaning "together", and the main verb ago, meaning "to bring together".
- a. As a composite, it is an intensified form, signifying the need for a bit more attention than the root verb would typically get from the reader.
- b. Also, as a composite, it is the root verb for the noun sunagoge, which is translated as "synagogue".
- 1) The issues of the "synagogue" are these:
- a) In the first verse of Mark's Gospel beyond his extended introduction (1:1-20), Mark tells us that the first issue of significance (euqus) is that Jesus, on the Sabbath, entered into the synagogue in Capernaum.
- i. The point is this: all Israel was summoned every Sabbath to "gather together" (this was not "optional" for anyone who wished to be viewed as 'faithful to God').
- ii. This reveals that, at the root of the verbal idea, is this element of "compulsion" or "necessity" if one wished to be viewed as 'faithful'.
- b) In this first paragraph of Mark's record beyond the introduction we are told that there are several realities.
- i. It was there that Jesus began to teach and the hearers were stunned by both His message and His authority.
- ii. It was a fact that not everyone (lest we say "not anyone") in the "compelled gathering" was loyal to God because there was a "regular" in attendance who was revealed to be a "demoniac" once Jesus' teaching' began to take hold of the audience's attention.
- 2) The bottom line consists of the synagogue being the place of instruction in doctrine for the nation every week [Note 1:39] and the "compulsion" was a matter of being "viewed as" [Note 12:38-39].
- 2. Is used by Mark in five texts of his record, beginning with 2:2 and ending in the text before us in this study (7:1).
- a. The first use (2:2) focused upon a crowd that was "synagogued" by reason of Jesus' former activities in Capernaum consisting of healings and exorcisms: this gives us a sense of the type of "compulsion" that was evident (the people wanted to be healed and delivered from demons).
- b. The second use (4:1) focused upon a massive crowd that was "synagogued" by reason of Jesus' developing reputation, and that was significantly undisciplined by "Love" so that Jesus had to get into a boat to escape the press of undisciplined selfishness.
- c. The third use (5:21) focused upon a massive crowd that was "synagogued" and the subsequent approach by a "leader of the synagogue" whose "compulsion" involved his daughter's severe illness that led to her death.
- d. The fourth use (6:30) focused upon the apostles being "synagogued" with Jesus to report the outcome of His sending them forth to preach and cast out demons and after the death of John because of "the leaven of Herod".
- e. And the final use (7:1) has to do with the Pharisees and some of the scribes being "synagogued" to Jesus, bringing us to begin to realize that what we are dealing with in this text/context is the nature of the "compulsion" behind this "gathering".
- 3. Is in the present tense, passive voice.
- a. As a present tense, it is another example of Mark's use of "tense" to "intensify" the facts: it is a present tense in historical narrative, which by definition uses some form of past tense.
- b. As a passive voice, it indicates that the Pharisees and some of the scribes were "being gathered", i.e., "compulsion was settling over them" to "force" them to come to Jesus.
- 1) This "compulsion" was rooted in a combination of two things: Jesus was becoming (on the basis of things like massive, indiscriminate healings in Gennesaret) very popular; and they were afraid that His popularity was eroding their ability to be "important" in the synagogues of Judaism.
- 2) There was a better wisdom than they were willing to use (Acts 5:34-40a), so they found themselves "forced" to try to undercut Jesus in some way.
- II. The Identification Of The Two Parts Of Those Involved In This Second Critical Issue.
- A. The Pharisees.
- 1. Mark wrote "And they were synagogued to Him..." after using "kai" (signifying that, in the flow of the stream of Mark's words, this was the expected, not unsettling, next issue.
- 2. These men are referred to in four prior texts and there described as "the nitpickers of religious Israel".
- a. In 2:16 they despise Jesus for hob-nobbing with sinners and tax collectors; i.e., those "viewed" as "unfaithful to God" and not likely to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath.
- b. In 2:18 they despise Jesus for not leading His disciples into "fasting" and use the lack of such behavior as evidence of a lack of personal discipline and self-denial that marks the behavior of the "godly".
- c. In 2:24 they despise Jesus because His disciples are picking heads off of the grain so they could munch on the grain "on the Sabbath".
- d. And in 3:6 they despise Jesus so much that they join with the Herodians to try to destroy Him.
- 3. These are men with a lot to lose if Jesus continues to become more and more popular.
- B. The Scribes.
- 1. Mark's first reference to "scribes" in his opening paragraph of his Gospel beyond the introduction is decidedly negative: they have no "authority" in their teaching (1:22).
- 2. And it is all downhill from there.
- a. In 2:6-7 they are extremely resistant to Jesus' claim to be able to declare a man's sins "forgiven".
- b. in 2:16 they are grouped together with the Pharisees in their criticism of Jesus for eating with the sinners and tax collectors.
- c. In 3:22 they bring the "official position of Jerusalem regarding Jesus to the people who are swarming Him: He is in league with Satan.
- d. And now, in 7:1, they are with those being dragged by their inner compulsions and Jesus' exploding popularity to try to "take Him down".
- e. Additionally, in 8:31, they are among those that Jesus said would kill Him.
- III. In Terms of Mark's Large Thesis, This Murderous Intention Is Driven By The "Leaven" That Has Fully Pervaded Their Being.
