In place of a sermon, we engaged in a bible-study of our Gospel text Mark 1:14 not from the perspective of The Church, but from the perspectives of history and justice. I’m indebted to the work of Ched Myers whose book – “Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus, provides a perspective that turned my own understanding of this text upside-down! We are all indebted to the excellent teaching of New Testament scholar John Dominic Crossan, whose visits to Holy Cross have empowered us to be more fervent followers of the Way! Below you will find my notes for the bible-study.

You can listen to the audio version of the study here

• New windows – New perspectives
• Very familiar Gospel text
• My first memory of this text – “fishers of men” listening to a children’s choir
• Solicit memories of the text – interpretations
• What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?
• From the perspective of the church
• For years we have been looking at this morning’s gospel reading from the perspective of the church
• “I will make you fishers of men.”
• Go out there and teach people about Jesus ð convert people and grow the church
• We have seen the call to follow Jesus as call to become fishers of “men” the church has sent us out to spread the word and to call others into the church
• Photographs of Cherilyn – on the Sea of Galilee
• Reminding me of all that we learned from John Dominic Crossan about the Sea of Galilee
• Fishing industry – first century Galilee
• Pax Romana – Roman Empire
• Fishing leases sold by the Empire through tax collectors
• First century fishers were disenfranchised workers
• What is the Anonymous Gospel Storyteller that we call Mark trying to tell us?
• Follow me and I will make you fishers of humankind.”
• This is one place where I happen to believe that it is a mistake to use inclusive language.
• I have learned that Jesus used this language for a reason and I believe that in this instance Jesus is targeting “men”
• “I will make you fishers of men.”
• In order to understand this passage we must change our perspective
• We need to look through new windows
• Peering through the windows of history
• What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?
• When we look at this text from the lenses provided by the church, we interpret this Gospel as an instruction to go out and catch the church some fish
• But looking back through the lenses of history we see a different story
• Jesus never meant to create a church
• Gift from Pastor Jon Fogleman: Ched Myers – “Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus”
• Gospel of Mark written after 70 – the Empire has destroyed the Temple – the disenfranchised are suffering at the hands of the Empire
• How are the persecuted to respond
• According to the Gospel – Jesus invites them to become “fishers of men.”
• If this means what we have learned from the perspective of the church, we are supposed to covert people – to grow the church
• But what if it means something else?
• What if fishing for men means more than we know?
• Ched Myers suggests that we look back into the Hebrew Scriptures and look at how this phrase has been used by the Jewish prophets
• When we peer through the lenses of history we discover that key to unlocking the revolutionary code of the Gospel account
• The prophets Jeremiah (16:6), Amos (4:2) and Ezekiel (29:4) used the metaphor of “hooking a fish” as a euphemism for judgement upon the rich
• Jesus is inviting the disenfranchised fishers to follow him to learn how to “hook fish “ and as good, observant, Jews, these fishers as well as those early hearers of this story would have understood the phrase to mean:
• As Ched Myers puts it:“Jesus is inviting common folk to join him in his struggle to overturn the existing order of power and privilege.”
• Looking through this new window on the text how might we hear this text today in our context?
• “Jesus appeared in Galilee proclaiming the Good News of God:  “This is the time of fulfillment.  The reign of God is at hand! Change your hearts and minds, and believe this Good News!”
• “the reign of God is at hand.”
• The basilea of God ð the “kingdom” the “empire” or as our modern translation puts it “the realm of God”
• What might this “realm of God” look like?
• Who are we in this metaphor? – the fishers or the rich?
• What does the realm of God look like to us?
• “basilea theou”  Basilea – the Greek feminine noun for “sovereignty” traditionally translated as “kingdom” – dominion, empire
• “basilea ouranou” – ouranos means sky or heaven but it is also the name of the father god of the Greeks – in Latin Uranus – “Ouranos was one of the primary realities, who, with his wife, Gaia, or Earth, brought forth all creatures. The creative father spirit imagined to exist in the fine ether of the sky, somewhat remote from earthly life yet very much involved in it. The cosmos began with these two realities, earth and sky, mother and father to all beings.” (Moore – Walking on Sand)
• Realm of God – is at hand – the Empire of Rome cannot stand.
• Peering through the windows of history we can see: Jesus is about to lead a movement that seeks justice for the disenfranchised.
• “Follow me to usher in the Realm of God”
• “follow me to seek justice for the oppressed, the disenfranchised, the persecuted, the poor; follow me and turn the world upside down.”
• To follow Jesus is to join a revolutionary movement to turn the existing structures upside down.
• What fishes need to be hooked today?
• Are we prepared to hook a fish or two? Are we prepared to be hooked?
• The invitation to follow Jesus is an invitation to be part of a radical quest for justice.
• Are we prepared to usher in God’s realm of justice and peace.