Mark Chapter 9.  The mountain top experience where Peter, James, and John were with Jesus and saw Elias (Elijah and Moses speaking to Jesus.  It is to be remarked that both Elijah and Moses ascended and did not see death.  The Elijah story is well known from the account in II Kings, but the fact of Moses’ ascension is somewhat obscure in the telling in Deuteronomy (34:5, 6).

Around here in the Mark narrative, we are shown how Jesus was proving his Sonship with God and warning about what was to happen to him – his betrayal, trial, condemnation, suffering on the cross, crucifixion, and finally ascension.  How difficult it must have been for the disciples to comprehend all this.

Meanwhile the disciples were being tested on their healing ability.  They were not able to heal the epileptic boy.  The people seem to have been in a frenzy about the boy’s evidently alarming condition, so Jesus charged the deaf and dumb spirit to come out of him.  Once again Jesus took the patient by the hand and lifted him up after he had apparently died.  How thrilling that phrase is – “took him by the hand and lifted him up”!  The disciples were told that this was indeed a difficult case. “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting,” he told them.

                                                So far in Mark: 12 recorded healings plus all those others

There is always movement, walking from place to place. (I wonder: did Jesus’ sandals wear out, or did they not “wax old” upon his feet like the Children of Israel experienced in their forty years of travel.  See Deut. 29:5.)  I would like to see a map with Jesus’ travel marked.  The area is small.  Palestine was about the size of Wales, 145 x 40 miles not including, I understand, Phoenicia’s Tyre and Sidon to the north.

I finally found an excellent map but cannot copy it.  It can be found when looking for Sidon. Heading: “Cities of Ancient Israel.”  (It may be noted that with this Book Club reading I find I don’t straightforwardly read the text, I just must go off and look up associated stuff as I read.  It took me about half an hour to find the info about the shoes wearing out – I love it.)

Where did Jesus go in his ministry of teaching and healing?

1. Bethleham – birth              
2. Jerusalem – Mary’s purification after the birth                  
3. Egypt – taken here for safety from Herod                    
4. Nazareth – home with Mary & Joseph
5. River Jordan – baptised by John the Baptist   
6. The Wilderness – temptation/triumph  
7. Galilee – preaching, enrolling disciples      
8. Cana of Galilee – turning water into wine
9. Judea – questioning about baptism            
10. Samaria – talking with woman of Samaria
11. Nain, a village in Galilee – widow’s dead son revived   
12. Capernaum – see Galilee
13. Sea of Galilee – much activity, much “crossing to the other side”
14. Country of the Gaderenes – healing the demented man
15. Gennesaret – the diseased brought from round about to the healed
16. Tyre & Sidon – woman of Canaan’s daughter healed
17. Bethany – raising of Lazarus      
18. Jericho – blind Bartimaeus healed
19. Magdala – probably the place Mary Magdalene came from
20. Caesarea Philippi – where Peter declared Jesus was the Christ
21. Region of Judea beyond the Jordan – multitudes following him were healed
22. Bethany – Mary anointed Jesus feet        
23. Mount of Olives – Jesus agony before arrest
24. Golgotha – similar to Mount of Olives    
25. Bethsaida – Talked privately with disciples after they had returned from their mission
26. Emmaus – walked with some of disciples after resurrection
 
Aha! Just read in this week’s Christian Science Bible Lesson-Sermon (Acts 6:7) that in the early days of the church when numbers were increasing, “A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”  Good on them!  (A question from a previous blog now has a further answer.)  Oops!  Now I have to check if the Pharisees were priests, and my Bible Dictionary (Peloubet) has about three columns on the topic “priest”.  I will digress… No. No mention of Pharisees being priests.

This is somewhat of a ‘stream of consciousness’ thing, isn’t it?

Joyce Voysey