Mark on Mark - 16 February 2010 |
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Another flash of inspiration from Mark Horne’s wonderful little commentary on Mark’s Gospel, this time concerning Mark 4:35-5:20. Jesus rescues his disciples from a stormy sea, before driving out “Legion” from a demon-possessed man.
There’s a fairly obvious link between the calming of the storm and Moses leading the Israelites across the Red Sea (4:35-41). But Horne takes it further by highlighting the connection to the next passage. “Legion,” says Horne, is “a military term for a great number of soldiers.”And lots of strange things happen in this (extended) exorcism account. Like the demons (soldiers?) get drowned in the sea.
Ringing any bells yet? Over to Mr Horne again:
Jesus has just brought [His disciples] through the sea by a miracle and now He drives a demonic horde into that same sea to drown them. Like Moses at the Red Sea, the enemy army is destroyed by the very means God uses to transport His people across the water. (pp. 94-95)
I’ll leave you to chew over why Mark bothers to mention that before being liberated the demon-possessed man was always “bruising himself with stones” (5:5). (Genesis 3:15; Judges 5:26; 9:53; etc).
Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Bible, Minister's Blog