{"id":5143,"date":"2017-04-02T10:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-04-02T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=5143"},"modified":"2017-03-27T14:45:23","modified_gmt":"2017-03-27T18:45:23","slug":"gaining-a-deeper-understanding-of-the-new-testament-20170402","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=5143","title":{"rendered":"Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the New Testament — 20170402"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In the last issue of this article, I shared that Mark, in the 15th chapter of his gospel, says that Jesus released his last breath, thus implying that in dying Jesus himself is set free.<\/p>\n

The various forms of rise up or be raised are significant because together they form a running refrain that points to Jesus\u2019 resurrection. Mark uses the phrase raised up repeatedly. In chapter 6, for example, when Herod is speculating on the identity of Jesus, he says, \u201cIt is John Whom I beheaded. He has been raised up\u201d. By using the word here, Mark hints at the future \u201craising up\u201d of Jesus. In chapter 14, Mark notes that Jesus says to His disciples, \u201cAfter I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee\u201d At the end of his Gospel, Mark indicates that an angel repeats these words to the women who came to the tomb; \u201cHe has been raised; he is not here\u201d. In other places, Mark consistently uses some form of the same verb to denote the effect of Jesus\u2019 healing miracles. Unfortunately, English translations often blur this meaningful refrain by using synonyms.<\/p>\n

When Jesus heals Simon\u2019s mother-in-law, for example, Mark notes that Jesus said, \u201cRise up\u201d. Jesus uses the exact same words to the man with the withered hand and to Jairus\u2019 daughter, the little girl whom everyone had given up for dead. By using this word again and again, Mark suggests that Jesus\u2019 healing miracles are related to the great miracle of his resurrection.<\/p>\n

Another word that is important to Mark is \u201cstraightway.\u201d The word sounds odd to modern ears, and most English translations, including the New American Bible, either translate it as \u201cimmediately\u201d or \u201cat once\u201d or omit it entirely. But it truly echoes the message of the prophetic voice in chapter 1 that cries out in the desert, telling the people to prepare for God\u2019s coming by making \u201cstraight\u201d his \u201cways\u201d. Mark was so intrigued by this pun (which works in both Greek and English) that he uses it forty-three times in his Gospel.<\/p>\n

In the first part of his Gospel, Mark uses the word to signal an act of moral urgency. In the first chapter alone, Mark uses this word eleven times. Mark says that Jesus ascended from the baptismal waters \u201cstraightway\u201d. The Spirit drives Jesus into the desert \u201cstraightway\u201d. When Jesus calls Andrew and Simon, they leave their nets \u201cstraightway\u201d and Jesus calls to James and John \u201cstraightway.\u201d It is not just be chance that Mark uses this word so many times throughout his Gospel. More to follow!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the last issue of this article, I shared that Mark, in the 15th chapter of his gospel, says that Jesus released his last breath, thus implying that in dying Jesus himself is set free. The various forms of rise … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-look-at-the-new-testament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5143"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5144,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5143\/revisions\/5144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}