I publish two newsletters: [1]"Berea Page" (15 times a year) which includes a feature article (about 600 words), mainly focused on matters related to why we believe in Jesus, enduring trials and suffering with faith, and the relationship between faith and truth; and sidebar reflection quotations selected from my reading; and "Opening the Scriptures" (22 times a year),1000-1500 word expositions of selection from the biblical text. Both are archived at www.davidanguish.com
Berea Page - Vol. 6, No. 7 - How Dare He!?
How Dare He!?David Anguish An often cited argument by those who reject orthodox claims of Jesus’s deity alleges that they were later attributions derived from John’s “turn[ing] the merely human prophet of the three Synoptics into the figure Christians worship as God incarnate in human life.” But this alleged “contrast is certainly too stark” (Bauckham 2011, 93). To claim it is to “overestimate the exalted picture of Jesus” in John and to “underestimate the portrait of Jesus in the Synoptics” (Blomberg 1995, 38). It is also to overlook that what the gospel writers claim is that Jesus embodied the God of Israel’s intention to visit his people and do certain things (Wright 2012, 84). Mark’s general emphasis and depiction of specific actions and statements by Jesus illustrate both ideas. He says right off that he is presenting “the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1.1 NIV). As he tells the story, he repeatedly shows Jesus as a teacher and doer of deeds who operated with an authority others did not have. The word “authority” (ἐξουσία, exousia) in connection with Jesus appears several times in all the gospels, but when its use is examined with respect to the length of the writings, Mark uses it slightly more often, 10 times in 11,303 Greek words (UBS5 text), .88 uses per 1,000 words. Luke (16x; 19,481; .82 per 1,000) uses it nearly as often; Matthew (10x; 18,346; .55 per 1,000) and John (8x; 15,631; .51 per 1,000) use it slightly less (search results from Accordance Bible software). In chapter 1, Mark refers to Jesus’s authority twice in one episode. People in the Capernaum synagogue “were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law” (1.22 NIV). When he was interrupted by a man with an unclean spirit which he then exorcised, the people “were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him’” (1.27). We read similar statements about his authority to cast out demons (3.15), the authority he granted to the twelve over unclean spirits (6.7), his response to Jewish leaders who questioned his actions (11.28–29, 33), and in his analogy of a man leaving his servants “in charge” (exousia) as he urged his followers to remain awake in preparation for the coming of the Son of Man (13.34; cf. v. 26).{1} But do claims of superior authority equate to professions of deity? Mark 2, where exousia also appears, provides insight into what Mark intends. After a period of time in which Jesus healed, preached, and cast out demons “throughout all Galilee” (1.39), he returns to Capernaum. When news of his return gets out, so many gather at the house “that there was no more room, not even at the door” (2.2). Displaying a faith that Jesus notices (v. 5), four men bring a paralytic to be healed and remove the roof of the house so they can get him close to Jesus. Having read multiple references to healing in Mark 1.23–42, we expect that this will be another occasion where Jesus heals the man. But we are surprised when he tells the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (2.5). His statement becomes the focal point of the passage’s controversy. Onlooking teachers of the law immediately recognize that Jesus has crossed a line. “Why does this man speak like that?” they ask. “He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (2.7). Their reasoning was correct: in the ultimate sense, only God can forgive sins; Jesus, therefore, must be claiming a prerogative no man has the right to assume. Notice that, as the text presents the event, the paralytic was not someone Jesus had ever met. Thus, there is no record that he had ever personally sinned against the man Jesus. For Jesus as merely a man to forgive him would be akin to me forgiving someone for a personal offense against you. Significantly, Jesus did not dispute their conclusion, but he did reject their preconception about him. He was assuming the authority to forgive and his ability to heal the man proved he had that authority.
And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority [exousia] on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home” (2.8–11).
Mark's conclusion to the episode is telling. The paralytic “immediately” (a word Mark notably uses often) picks up his mat and walks out. And “they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!” (v. 12). As Larry Hurtado observes, it is unlikely that the people who made that statement were expressing a “fully intelligent faith.” But it is clear that Mark intended his report of their response “to underline the unprecedented authority shown by Jesus in the healing and in the forgiving of sins, so that the reader is forced to choose between seeing Jesus as simply audacious or as truly acting with divine authority” (Hurtado 1989, 38, 42; emphasis mine). Jesus’s statement in Mark 2.10 is not as direct as his declaration in John 14.9: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” But, within the context of Mark, it just as surely affirms that writer’s conviction that Jesus was God incarnate. Works CitedRichard Bauckham. 2011. Jesus: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. Craig L. Blomberg. 1995. “Where Do We Start Studying Jesus?” Jesus Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus. ed. Michael J. Wilkins & J. P. Moreland. Zondervan Publishing House. Larry W. Hurtado. 1989 (1983). Mark. Understanding the Bible Commentary Series. Baker Books. N. T. Wright. 2012. How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels. HarperOne. Notes
Featured from davidanguish.comFrom the Sermon & Class Notes, Topical page (here),“Learning to See (Like) Jesus (John 9.1–41)” — A class study of Jesus’s healing of a blind man, demonstrating that he was “the light of the world” (9:5) (lesson link here). All Scripture quotations not otherwise designated are from the ESV Italics in biblical quotations are added by the author Permission is granted to reprint original materials with the credit line, “Reprinted from David Anguish, 'The Berea Page,' February 18, 2025 As an AbeBooks affiliate, I earn from qualified purchases generated from the links above. There is no extra cost for you. For other useful resources through AbeBooks, see my Affiliate Links page. Benefiting from this newsletter? Please consider expressing your appreciation by recommending it ao a friend or leaving a donation. To read all archived issues of The Berea Page click here
Blessings to all, David |
Truth Applications: Bible Study Resources
I publish two newsletters: [1]"Berea Page" (15 times a year) which includes a feature article (about 600 words), mainly focused on matters related to why we believe in Jesus, enduring trials and suffering with faith, and the relationship between faith and truth; and sidebar reflection quotations selected from my reading; and "Opening the Scriptures" (22 times a year),1000-1500 word expositions of selection from the biblical text. Both are archived at www.davidanguish.com
A Resurrection-Focused Community David Anguish From the foreground of second century Christian writings, we gain insight into the great importance attached to Jesus’s resurrection in the teaching and life of the church (on the use of foreground in biblical interpretation, see Ferguson 1986, 254–263). They associated Jesus’s resurrection with the original creation (Justin Martyr), and saw it as the basis for their “newness of hope” (Ignatius) and the reason for their communal “celebration” on...
Opening the Scriptures Then their eyes were opened and they recognized [Jesus], and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” ~ Luke 24.31-32 NIV Priorities (James 4) # 4 Life's Ultimate Either-Or David Anguish In the 1830s, Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States to observe the new republic and compare it with the European aristocracies. According to...
Resurrection—Our Reason for Celebration David Anguish According to N. T. Wright in his book, The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is, The question of Jesus’ resurrection lies at the heart of the Christian faith. There is no form of early Christianity known to us—though there are some that have been invented by ingenious scholars—that does not affirm at its heart that after Jesus’ shameful death God raised him to life again. Already by the time of Paul, our earliest written...