Mark 4
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Markings
John Dominic Crossan, “Parables of Advent,” In Parables, p. 39-44 & 50-52
In Parables
Robert Frost, “Maple,” The Poetry of Robert Frost, p. 180
Gerald Manley Hopkins, “New Readings (I),” The Plough (Spring 1997), p. 35
“New Readings (I)”
Although the letter said
On thistles that men look not grapes to gather,
I read the story rather
How the soldiers platting thorns around Christ’s head
Grapes grew and drops of wine were shed.
Though when the sower sowed,
The wingèd fowls took part, part fell in thorn,
And never turned to corn,
Part found no root upon the flinty road
Christ at all hazards fruit hath shewed.
From wastes of rock He brings
Food for five thousand: on thorns
He shed Grains from His drooping Head;
And would not have that legion of winged things
Bear him to Heaven on easeful wings.
Joachim Jeremias, Rediscovering the Parables, p. 119 f.
Rediscovering the Parables
Stephen Mitchell, “The Parable of the Sower,” Parables and Portraits, p. 59 Kathleen Norris, “The Word Itself: A Love Poem,” Little Girls in Church, p. 46 f.
“The Word Itself: A Love Poem”
Oscar Romero, The Violence of Love, p. 72
John Shea, “The Penny Planter,” The Spirit Master, p. 205
William Stafford, “Whispered into the Ground,” The Way It Is, p. 59
“Whispered into the Ground”
Where the wind ended and we came down
it was all grass. Some of us found
a way to the dirt—easy and rich.
When it rained, we grew, except
those of us caught up in leaves, not touching
earth, which always starts things.
Often we sent off our own
just as we’d done, floating that
wonderful wind that promised new land.
Ivan Steiger, Ivan Steiger Sees the Bible, p. 218
The Gospel of Thomas, in The Other Gospels, edited by Ron Cameron, p. 26
The Other Gospels
Jesus said, “Now a sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed(s) and worms ate them. And others fell on the good soil and produced good fruit: it bore sixth per measure, and a hundred and twenty per measure.”
1-9 Isaiah 55:10-11
1 Luke 5:1-3
3-8 Thomas 9; 1 Clement 24:4-5
5-7 Psalm 129:6-7
7 Matthew 7:16
9 Ezekiel 3:27
9 Geza Vermes, Jesus the Jew, p. 26
1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil; 6 and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
4:1 και παλιν ηρξατο διδασκειν παρα την θαλασσαν και συνηχθη προς αυτον οχλος πολυς ωστε αυτον εμβαντα εις το πλοιον καθησθαι εν τη θαλασση και πας ο οχλος προς την θαλασσαν επι της γης ην 4:2 και εδιδασκεν αυτους εν παραβολαις πολλα και ελεγεν αυτοις εν τη διδαχη αυτου 4:3 ακουετε ιδου εξηλθεν ο σπειρων του σπειραι 4:4 και εγενετο εν τω σπειρειν ο μεν επεσεν παρα την οδον και ηλθεν τα πετεινα και κατεφαγεν αυτο 4:5 αλλο δε επεσεν επι το πετρωδες οπου ουκ ειχεν γην πολλην και ευθεως εξανετειλεν δια το μη εχειν βαθος γης 4:6 ηλιου δε ανατειλαντος εκαυματισθη και δια το μη εχειν ριζαν εξηρανθη 4:7 και αλλο επεσεν εις τας ακανθας και ανεβησαν αι ακανθαι και συνεπνιξαν αυτο και καρπον ουκ εδωκεν 4:8 και αλλο επεσεν εις την γην την καλην και εδιδου καρπον αναβαινοντα και αυξανοντα και εφερεν εν τριακοντα και εν εξηκοντα και εν εκατον 4:9 και ελεγεν ο εχων ωτα ακουειν ακουετω
W. H. Auden, “For the Time Being,” In Parables, p. 53
“For the Time Being,”
Therefore, see without looking, hear without listening, breathe without asking:
The Inevitable is what will seem to happen to you purely by chance;
The Real is what will strike you as really absurd;
Unless you are certain you are dreaming, it is certainly a dream of your own;
Unless you exclaim—”There must be some mistake”—you must be mistaken.
R. H. Blyth, quoting and translating the Zenrinkushu, in Haiku, Vol. 1, p. 30
Søren Kierkegaard, Provocations, p. x f.
11 Mark Hollingsworth
Mark
12 Bruce D. Chilton, A Galilean Rabbi and His Bible, p. 90-98
12 John Donne, Classics of Western Spirituality, p. 235
10 And when he was alone, those who were about him with the twelve asked him concerning the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables; 12 so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven.”
4:10 οτε δε εγενετο καταμονας ηρωτησαν αυτον οι περι αυτον συν τοις δωδεκα την παραβολην 4:11 και ελεγεν αυτοις υμιν δεδοται γνωναι το μυστηριον της βασιλειας του θεου εκεινοις δε τοις εξω εν παραβολαις τα παντα γινεται 4:12 ινα βλεποντες βλεπωσιν και μη ιδωσιν και ακουοντες ακουωσιν και μη συνιωσιν μηποτε επιστρεψωσιν και αφεθη αυτοις τα αμαρτηματα
William C. Martin, The Art of Pastoring, p. 41
The Art of Pastoring
A true pastor hears the Word
and begins to live its truths
for they already existed in her soul.
Another pastor hears the Word
and finds it appealing but impractical
for she has learned differently.
Yet still another pastor hears the Word
and dismisses it entirely as absurd nonsense
for she is deeply lost.
19 Matthew 7:16
19 Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert, p. 33
The Wisdom of the Desert
A certain brother, renouncing the world and giving the things he owned to the poor, kept a few things in his own possession. He came to Abbot Anthony. When the elder heart about all this he said to him: If you want to be a monk go to that village and birds of prey tore at his body. When he returned to the elder, the latter asked if he had done as he was told. The brother showed him his lacerated body. Then Abbot Anthony said: Those who renounce the world and want to retain possession of money are assailed and torn apart by devils just as you are.
13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown; when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which is sown in them. 16 And these in like manner are the ones sown upon rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
4:13 και λεγει αυτοις ουκ οιδατε την παραβολην ταυτην και πως πασας τας παραβολας γνωσεσθε 4:14 ο σπειρων τον λογον σπειρει 4:15 ουτοι δε εισιν οι παρα την οδον οπου σπειρεται ο λογος και οταν ακουσωσιν ευθεως ερχεται ο σατανας και αιρει τον λογον τον εσπαρμενον εν ταις καρδιαις αυτων 4:16 και ουτοι εισιν ομοιως οι επι τα πετρωδη σπειρομενοι οι οταν ακουσωσιν τον λογον ευθεως μετα χαρας λαμβανουσιν αυτον 4:17 και ουκ εχουσιν ριζαν εν εαυτοις αλλα προσκαιροι εισιν ειτα γενομενης θλιψεως η διωγμου δια τον λογον ευθεως σκανδαλιζονται 4:18 και ουτοι εισιν οι εις τας ακανθας σπειρομενοι οι τον λογον ακουοντες 4:19 και αι μεριμναι του αιωνος τουτου και η απατη του πλουτου και αι περι τα λοιπα επιθυμιαι εισπορευομεναι συμπνιγουσιν τον λογον και ακαρπος γινεται 4:20 και ουτοι εισιν οι επι την γην την καλην σπαρεντες οιτινες ακουουσιν τον λογον και παραδεχονται και καρποφορουσιν εν τριακοντα και εν εξηκοντα και εν εκατον
Mary Oliver, “The Moths,” New and Selected Poems, p. 132
“The Moths”
There’s a kind of white moth, I don’t know
what kind, that glimmers
by mid-May
in the forest, just
as the pink moccasin flowers
are rising.
If you notice anything
it leads you to notice
more
and more.
And anyway
I was so full of energy.
I was always running around, looking
at this and that.
If I stopped
the pain
was unbearable.
If I stopped and thought, maybe
the world
can’t be saved,
the pain
was unbearable.
Finally, I had noticed enough.
All around me in the forest
the white moths floated.
How long do they live, fluttering
in and out of the shadows?
You aren’t much, I said
one day to my reflection
in a green pond,
and grinned.
The wings of the moths catch the sunlight
and burn so brightly.
At night, sometimes,
they slip between the pink lobes
of the moccasin flowers and lie there until dawn,
motionless
in those dark halls of honey.
21 Matthew 5:15; Luke 11:33
22-24 Thomas 5
22 Matthew 10:26; Luke 12:2
24-25 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
24 Matthew 7:2; Luke 6:38; Thomas 41
25 Proverbs 10:15; Matthew 13:12, 25:29; Luke 19:26
24-25 Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert, p. 45 f.
The Wisdom of the Desert
24 Bruce D. Chilton, A Galilean Rabbi and His Bible, p. 123-125
A Galilean Rabbi and His Bible
In Matthew, this warning is given point with the parable of the splinter in one’s brother’s eye (vv. 3-5), while in Mark it is part of a series of sayings which calls for the attentive hearing and understanding of parables (vv. 22-25, cf. v. 13). The application of the saying therefore differs according to context, yet in both cases it is used without explanation, as if it would be readily taken in. (p. 123)
At 27:8, the Hebrew text of Isaiah is difficult of interpretation … but the Targum presents quite a free paraphrase at this point in order to convey a clear meaning: “In the measure you were measuring with they will measure you…” … The use of the maxim in the Targum strengthens the case for the argument that it was current in the time and language circle of Jesus … (p. 124)
25 R. H. Blyth, Haiku, Vol. 1, p. 10
Haiku
25 John Dominic Crossan, In Parables, p. 77
In Parables
There is a Zen saying cited by Paul Reps: “Basho said to his disciple: ‘When you have a staff, I will give it to you. If you have no staff, I will take it away from you.’” … There is no attempt here to blur the distinction between Jesus and Zen. But it must be emphasized that Jesus’ use of proverbs and parables is far closer to that of Zen Buddhism than it is to conventional Hebrew wisdom.
25 John Shea, The Spirit Master, p. 107
21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a bushel, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For there is nothing hid, except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23 If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.”
24 And he said to them, “Take heed what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. 25 For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
4:21 και ελεγεν αυτοις μητι ο λυχνος ερχεται ινα υπο τον μοδιον τεθη η υπο την κλινην ουχ ινα επι την λυχνιαν επιτεθη 4:22 ου γαρ εστιν τι κρυπτον ο εαν μη φανερωθη ουδε εγενετο αποκρυφον αλλ ινα εις φανερον ελθη 4:23 ει τις εχει ωτα ακουειν ακουετω 4:24 και ελεγεν αυτοις βλεπετε τι ακουετε εν ω μετρω μετρειτε μετρηθησεται υμιν και προστεθησεται υμιν τοις ακουουσιν 4:25 ος γαρ αν εχη δοθησεται αυτω και ος ουκ εχει και ο εχει αρθησεται απ αυτου
Wendell Berry, “The Necessity of Faith,” Collected Poems, p. 208
“The Necessity of Faith”
True harvests no mere intent may reap.
Finally we must lie down to sleep
And leave the world, all we desire
To darkness, malevolence and fire.
Who wakes and stands his shadow’s mark
Has passed by mercy through the dark.
We save the good, lovely, and bright
By will in part, in part, delight;
But they live through the night by grace
That no intention can efface.
Wendell Berry, “1979, X,” This Day, p. 20 (Click here)
Michel Boutier, Prayers for My Village, p. 24
Prayers for My Village
John Dominic Crossan, The Essential Jesus, p. 71, 156
Joachim Jeremias, Rediscovering the Parables, p. 120 f.
Denise Levertov, “The God of Flowers,” Oblique Prayers, p. 77
“The God of Flowers”
Mouth, horn, cilia, sun
multiform, multitude, galaxy, cosmos:
blossom on blossom, fragrance on fragrance, tint upon tint:
and no disdain, no clash
of opposites …
But the god of flowers
sits not among petals but inside the minuscule
bulb of all bulbs, a Buddha, a hen on her eggs,
furled in the cell among cells that insists on growth,
sifted in soil, in bins, in leathery hands of gardeners,
sits and sits in the mustard seed.
And the unknown God of the gods
watches and smiles.
Kathleen Norris, “In Praise of Darkness,” Little Girls in Church, p. 20 f.
“In Praise of Darkness”
Gary Snyder, No Nature, p. 135, 227
No Nature
Wallace Stevens, “Description Without Place,” The Collected Poems, p. 341
“Description Without Place”
Morris West, “quoting Lazarus,” A View from the Ridge, p. 147 f
“quoting Lazarus”
Understand me, dear brothers, I am not talking miracles or private revelations or mystical experiences. I am talking about metanoia, that change in the self which takes place, not in contradiction to, but precisely because of, its genetic imprint, the graffito of God. … we grow towards an accommodation with the greatest mysteries of our existence. Whatever I am, I know I am not an envelope of flesh with a soul inside it. I am not Pascal’s thinking reed with a ghostly wind whistling through me.
After the change I have described, I was still myself, whole and entire, but a self renewed and changed by irrigation, as a seed is changed into a green plant in the dark earth.
Harry Alfred Wiggett, “Seed Silence,” An African Prayer Book, p. 125
“Seed Silence”
26-29 James 5:7-8
29 Joel 3:13
26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, 27 and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
4:26 και ελεγεν ουτως εστιν η βασιλεια του θεου ως εαν ανθρωπος βαλη τον σπορον επι της γης 4:27 και καθευδη και εγειρηται νυκτα και ημεραν και ο σπορος βλαστανη και μηκυνηται ως ουκ οιδεν αυτος 4:28 αυτοματη γαρ η γη καρποφορει πρωτον χορτον ειτα σταχυν ειτα πληρη σιτον εν τω σταχυι 4:29 οταν δε παραδω ο καρπος ευθεως αποστελλει το δρεπανον οτι παρεστηκεν ο θερισμος
John Dominic Crossan, “The Mustard Seed,” The Historical Jesus, p. 276-279
John Dominic Crossan, “Parables of Advent,” In Parables, p. 45-49
Hildegard of Bingen, “Song to the Virgin,” Divine Inspiration, p. 231
Joachim Jeremias, Rediscovering the Parables, p. 116 ff.
Denise Levertov, “The God of Flowers,” Oblique Prayers, p. 77
Kay Ryan, “Least Action,” The Best of It, p. 252 f.
“Least Action”
Is it vision
or the lack
that brings me
back to the principle
of least action,
by which in one
branch of rabbinical
thought the world
might become the
Kingdom of Peace not
through the tumult
and destruction necessary
for a New Start but
by adjusting little parts
a little bit—turning
a cup a quarter inch
or scooting up a bench.
It imagines an
incremental resurrection,
a radiant body
puzzled out through
tinkering with the fit
of what’s available.
As though what is is
right already but
askew. It is tempting
for any person who would
like to love what she
can do.
Wallace Stevens, “Description Without Place,” The Collected Poems, p. 341
30-32 Psalm 104:12; Ezekiel 31:3-6; Daniel 4:10-12; Thomas 20
32 Psalm 104:16-17
30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
4:30 και ελεγεν τινι ομοιωσωμεν την βασιλειαν του θεου η εν ποια παραβολη παραβαλωμεν αυτην 4:31 ως κοκκον σιναπεως ος οταν σπαρη επι της γης μικροτερος παντων των σπερματων εστιν των επι της γης 4:32 και οταν σπαρη αναβαινει και γινεται παντων των λαχανων μειζων και ποιει κλαδους μεγαλους ωστε δυνασθαι υπο την σκιαν αυτου τα πετεινα του ουρανου κατασκηνουν 4:33 και τοιαυταις παραβολαις πολλαις ελαλει αυτοις τον λογον καθως εδυναντο ακουειν 4:34 χωρις δε παραβολης ουκ ελαλει αυτοις κατ ιδιαν δε τοις μαθηταις αυτου επελυεν παντα
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
4:33 και τοιαυταις παραβολαις πολλαις ελαλει αυτοις τον λογον καθως εδυναντο ακουειν 4:34 χωρις δε παραβολης ουκ ελαλει αυτοις κατ ιδιαν δε τοις μαθηταις αυτου επελυεν παντα
Anatolius, “On Christ Calming the Storm,” Divine Inspiration, p. 129
Dom Helder Camera, Through the Gospel, p. 62-63
Carla De Sola, The Spirit Moves, p. 110
George Herbert, “The Bag,” The Selected Poetry of George Herbert, p. 210
“The Bag”
Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace, p. 274
Amazing Grace
“Why are ye so fearful?” Merely asking myself the question and considering the circumstances under which Jesus asked it of the disciples, and asks it of me in the present, puts a powerful brake on my willingness to get busy in the middle of a storm. Doing, rather than waiting. Talking out every nook and cranny of some dispute, rather than allowing the silence to do its work of healing.
Mary Oliver, “Maybe,” New and Selected Poems, p. 97 f.
“Maybe”
Richard Wilbur, “Superiorities,” New and Collected Poems, p. 370
35-41 Psalm 89:9
37-38 Jonah 1:4-5
39 Psalm 107:29
39 Dan Damon, “Ocean is a Call to Worship,” The Sound of Welcome, p. 12
39 Jaroslav Pelikan, The Illustrated Jesus through the Centuries, p. 238
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” 41 And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”
4:35 και λεγει αυτοις εν εκεινη τη ημερα οψιας γενομενης διελθωμεν εις το περαν 4:36 και αφεντες τον οχλον παραλαμβανουσιν αυτον ως ην εν τω πλοιω και αλλα δε πλοιαρια ην μετ αυτου 4:37 και γινεται λαιλαψ ανεμου μεγαλη τα δε κυματα επεβαλλεν εις το πλοιον ωστε αυτο ηδη γεμιζεσθαι 4:38 και ην αυτος επι τη πρυμνη επι το προσκεφαλαιον καθευδων και διεγειρουσιν αυτον και λεγουσιν αυτω διδασκαλε ου μελει σοι οτι απολλυμεθα 4:39 και διεγερθεις επετιμησεν τω ανεμω και ειπεν τη θαλασση σιωπα πεφιμωσο και εκοπασεν ο ανεμος και εγενετο γαληνη μεγαλη 4:40 και ειπεν αυτοις τι δειλοι εστε ουτως πως ουκ εχετε πιστιν 4:41 και εφοβηθησαν φοβον μεγαν και ελεγον προς αλληλους τις αρα ουτος εστιν οτι και ο ανεμος και η θαλασσα υπακουουσιν αυτω