Dangerous Succession

Below is a rough translation and some preliminary remarks regarding Mark 1:14-20, the Revised Common Lectionary gospel reading for the third Sunday after Epiphany.

And, just for kicks, since Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day collide this year, I wrote something to mark the occasion. You can find it on my other blog here. 

Once upon a time, I saw this passage as a bit of false advertising, where Jesus came preaching “Good News” and would invite others with “Follow me.” Only later would the “Follow me” include “Take up your cross.” Now, I believe I was rash in seeing it that way, particularly given how the pericope begins in vv.14-15. Nothing gets the exegetical juices flowing more than visiting old foolishness by discovering a text anew.

Per usual, your comments are welcomed.

¹⁴ Μετὰ δὲ τὸ παραδοθῆναι τὸν Ἰωάννην ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν 

κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ 

Yet after the handing John over Jesus came into Galilee preaching the good news of God.

παραδοθῆναι: APInf, παραδίδωμι, 1) to give into the hands (of another)  2) to give over into (one's) power or use

ἦλθεν: AAI 3s, ἔρχομαι, 1) to come 

κηρύσσων: PAPart, nms, κηρύσσω, 1) to be a herald, to officiate as a herald  1a) to proclaim after the manner of a herald 

1. “After the handing John over”: This is an awkward way of translating the infinitive here, so a refined translation would need to be smoothed out. There is no agency to John's handing over in this verse, just the statement of the fact, leading to Jesus' entry. Mark seems to feel safe in assuming that his readers were familiar enough with John's arrest that this is all he needs to say about it. He will pick up the story of John’s arrest and execution in c.6. 

2. Jesus comes preaching. John’s message, in part, is described in v.4 as κηρύσσων βάπτισμα μετανοίας εἰς  ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, “preaching a baptism of repentance to forgiveness of sins,” This is essentially the same response that Jesus will command in v.15. (The other part of John’s message is his pointing to one who will follow after him who is greater than he, in vv. 7-8).

2. To me, that suggests a number of things:

a. The timing is significant in that Jesus is picking up what began in John but only after John’s arrest.

b. Jesus embraces his ministry from the start as a dangerous ministry, since he is repeating the message of one who was just notoriously arrested.

3. The word I have translated as “handing over” (παραδίδωμι) takes on shades of meaning, depending on its use. Mark uses it in 3:19 to describe Judas Iscariot as the one who would “betray” Jesus. It is used in cc.8, 9, and 10, when Jesus discloses that he will be “handed over” and killed. It is used in c.13, the “little apocalypse,” to describe the disciples’ fate of being “handed over” to councils. It is used in c.14 during the last supper when Jesus speaks of being “betrayed” by one of the disciples. And it is used in c.15 when Mark tells of the arrest and crucifixion, as Jesus is “delivered” to Pilate. In our pericope, the “handing over” which would happen to Jesus happened to John first. 

¹⁵ καὶ λέγων ὅτι Πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρὸς καὶ ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ: 

μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ. 

And saying, “The time has been fulfilled and the reign of God has come near. Repent and believe/trust in the good news.”

λέγων: PAPart nms, λέγω, 1) to say, to speak  1a) affirm over, maintain 

Πεπλήρωται: PerfPI 3s, πληρόω, 1) to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full 1a) to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally

ἤγγικεν: PerfAI 3s, ἐγγίζω, 1) to bring near, to join one thing to another  2) to draw or come near to, to approach

μετανοεῖτε: PAImpv 2p, μετανοέω, 1) to change one's mind, i.e. to repent 

πιστεύετε: PAImpv 2p, πιστεύω, 1) to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place  confidence in. 

1. This participle, ‘saying,’ corresponds with ‘preaching’ from v.14 – Jesus came preaching “the good news of God” and saying “The time has been fulfilled ….” It seems like the phrase, “The time is fulfilled and the reign of God is at hand” is what Mark means by “the good news of God” in v.14. Then, “Repent and trust in the good news” seems to be how one responds to “the good news of God.”

2. This good news has both a temporal and a spatial reference: The ‘time’ has been fulfilled; the reign of God has come ‘near.’ Both are in the perfect tense.

3. The words “repent” and “trust” are in the imperative voice, following the proclamation in the indicative voice. Robert Gundy (1993, p.70, per Michael Turton) says the phrase for “believe in” (πιστεύω ἐν) occurs nowhere else in Mark, once in John, and then nowhere else in all of Greek literature or Greek papyri. (Many translations make Mark 9:42 “believe in me” but there is no “in me” in the Greek text.)

See http://www.michaelturton.com/Mark/GMark01.html#1.p.14.20.

¹⁶ Καὶ παράγων παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας εἶδεν Σίμωνα καὶ 

Ἀνδρέαν τὸν ἀδελφὸν Σίμωνος ἀμφιβάλλοντας ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ: ἦσαν γὰρ 

ἁλιεῖς. 

And passing alongside the sea of Galilee he saw Simon and Andrew Simon’s brother netcasting in the sea; for they were fishers.

παράγων: PAPart nms: παράγω, 1) pass by  1a) to lead past, lead by

εἶδεν: AAI 3s, ὁράω, 1) to see with the eyes

ἦσαν: IAI 3pl, εἰμί, 1) to be, to exist, to happen, to be present 

ἀμφιβάλλοντας: PAPart apm, (amphib);cast

1. The participle “walking” (παράγων) is also in the same declension as ‘preaching’ and ‘saying’, making the verb/participial construction, “Jesus came – preaching … saying … and passing along ….” It suggests that passing along the sea to find disciples is one piece with preaching and saying.

¹⁷ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Δεῦτε ὀπίσω μου, καὶ ποιήσω ὑμᾶς γενέσθαι 

ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων. 

And Jesus said to them, “Follow behind me, and I will make you to be fishers of people.” 

εἶπεν: AAI 3s, λέγω, 1) to say, to speak 

ποιήσω: FAI 1s, ποιέω, 1) to make  1a) with the names of things made, to produce, construct,  form, fashion, etc.

γενέσθαι: AMInf, γίνομαι, 1) to become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being

1. I know that the phrase “Follow behind me” sounds like a command, but there is no verb here. There is Δεῦτε (follow/come) which my lexicon identifies as an adverb that takes on the force of an interjection … ὀπίσω (after), an adverb and … μου (me) a pronoun. I'm not sure how much to make of it, except to note that it is not an imperative. (Neither is the “go” in Matthew’s “Great Commission,” but I digress.) 

2. Is one’s call shaped by a current occupation or something akin to where one already has skills? Would a tax collector be called to become a “fisher of people” or a “collector of people”? Would a carpenter be called to “build a house of prayer for all people”? Is calling based on occupations or do occupations simply provide ready and meaningful language for expressing callings? I think I grew up singing, I Will Make You Fishers of Men so often that I tend to see this calling as every disciple’s calling, instead of the calling of these disciples, who are already fishers. But that quick application seems not to honor the story adequately.  

¹⁸ καὶ εὐθὺς ἀφέντες τὰ δίκτυα ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ. 

And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 

ἀφέντες: AAPart npm, ἀφίημι, 1) to send away  1a) to bid going away or depart  1a1) of a husband divorcing his wife 

ἠκολούθησαν: AAI 3p, ἀκολουθέω, 1) to follow one who precedes, join him as his attendant,  accompany him 

1. What is it about this invitation that elicits such an immediate (a frequent word in Mark) and unquestioned response? As I mentioned last week, Robert Scharlemann’s book, The Reason of Following (admittedly a difficult but rewarding read) argues that ‘following’ (he calls it acolouthetic reason, based on the Greek word ἀκολουθέω) is a different kind of reason – different from knowing or doing or feeling, the three traditional philosophical categories of reason. It is related most closely to feeling, but is different, eliciting an immediate response to a call. (I have a slightly fuller explanation of what I recall from the book in last week’s comments.)

2. Scharlemann or no Scharlemann, this is a profound statement in its abruptness. “Immediately … they followed.” Why, we may ask? Mark does not say. And, significantly, the disciples do not ask “Why?” They follow. They immediately follow one who has taken up the same message that the recently arrested John had proclaimed. However reflective, this is a bold response, I think. 

¹⁹  Καὶ προβὰς ὀλίγον εἶδεν Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν 

ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα, 

And having gone forward, he saw James the [son] of Zebedee and John his brother, and they [were] in the boat mending the nets. 

προβὰς: AAPart nsm, προβαίνω, 1) to go forwards, go on 

εἶδεν: AAI 3s, ὁράω, 1) to see with the eyes

καταρτίζοντας:  PAPart apm, καταρτίζω, 1) to render, i.e. to fit, sound, complete  1a) to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair

1. Some translations supply the word “son” because it seems implied. Likewise, some translations supply the verb “were” (“they were in the boat”) because it seems implied. I am supplying them in brackets to show that they are supplied. I think I like this verse better without them, but it flows more easily with them. 

2. I wish Jesus had added, “I will make you menders of people.”

²⁰ καὶ εὐθὺς ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς. καὶ ἀφέντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν Ζεβεδαῖον ἐν 

τῷ πλοίῳ μετὰ τῶν μισθωτῶν ἀπῆλθον ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ.

And immediately he called them.  And having left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired hands, they went away after him. 

ἐκάλεσεν: AAI 3s, καλέω, 1) to call  1a) to call aloud, utter in a loud voice  1b) to invite

ἀφέντες: AAPart npm, ἀφίημι, 1) to send away  1a) to bid going away or depart  1a1) of a husband divorcing his wife 

ἀπῆλθον: AAI 3p, ἀπέρχομαι, 1) to go away, depart  1a) to go away in order to follow any one, go after him,

1. The verb at the root of the participle “having left” (ἀφίημι) is a very flexible word. It can mean leave, divorce, forgive, send away, dismiss, set free, etc. Context determines the best guess.

2. It is curious that Mark does not use “follow” (ἀκολουθέω) here as he did in v.18, but ἀπέρχομαι, “to go away.” That does remind us that to follow after Jesus also meant to go away from something, like vocation, family, possessions, etc. - at least to some extent. 

3. In Mark 10: 28-31 Peter says to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus assures him, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” 

In the end, this story seems to be Jesus, stepping into the proclamation role that John the Baptizer had filled, taking the risk of being aligned with one who was just handed over and proclaiming the same message. Only now we see that this role involves preaching, saying, and walking along the shore to call disciples. Using the indicative voice, Jesus preaches that “the reign of God is at hand.” Using the imperative voice, Jesus calls to “repent and believe.” Using the descriptive voice, Jesus invites fishers of fish to follow after him and become fishers of people. And they do.

To return to the thought that I raised in my introductory remarks, I think it was foolish of me to read this call story and the latter “take up your cross” call stories as a kind of “bait and switch.” Mark's prefatory remark, that John had been handed over when Jesus took up the same message shows that following Christ was fraught with peril from the beginning. And perhaps that is what makes the disciples immediate response so profound.