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In Lesson #8 Iesus' work |n Ga|||ee has drawn the
auennon of Ierusa|em's re||g|ous |eaders, who trave| to
Ga|||ee to quesnon h|m, ask|ng why he and h|s d|sc|p|es
"eat w|th unwashed hands," referr|ng to the customary
?"@A5/ B5C5D,E0 the ceremon|a| hand wash|ng and prayer
before eanng mea|s. Iuxtaposed to the murder of Iohn
the 8apnst and Iesus' n|ght on the mounta|n, the|r
quesnon |gn|tes a deep rage w|th|n Iesus, and he |ashes
out at them: "We|| d|d Isa|ah prophesy about you
hypocr|tes . . ." (7: 6). When h|s d|sc|p|es quesnon h|m
about the heated encounter, Iesus b|asts them, too: "Are
you ||kew|se w|thout understand|ng" (7: 18)?
W|th that, Iesus |eaves Ga|||ee |n anger and frustranon,
head|ng north toward 1yre, pumng as much d|stance
between h|mse|f and Ga|||ee as poss|b|e. Cnce |n 1yre
(near|y a 100 m||e [ourney) he meets a Syrophoen|c|an
woman whom he deep|y |nsu|ts, ca|||ng her a "dog."
S|gn|hcant|y, the Syrophoen|c|an woman's humb|e and
respecuu| response seems to cut through Iesus' anger
and frustranon, br|ng|ng h|m c|ar|ty and |ns|ght. As Iesus
connnues another 3S m||es north, he apparent|y
recons|ders h|s acnons, for once at S|don he turns back
to Ga|||ee, tak|ng a |ong, c|rcu|tous route through the
eastern Decapo||s, where he reengages the crowds.
Unn| now |n the F$#G"A 5HH$+C,%- /$ I5+J, the b|g quesnon has
been: "Who |s th|s man who can say and do such th|ngs?" As we
enter Lesson #9 Iesus takes h|s d|sc|p|es 30 m||es north to Caesarea
h|||pp|, where he poses th|s very quesnon to h|s d|sc|p|es: KL6$ C$
G"$GA" #5D /65/ M 5EN (8: 27). Aher some d|scuss|on, eter rep||es on
beha|f of the d|sc|p|es: "ou are the Mess|ah" (8: 29). eter's
"confess|on of fa|th" |s then va||dated by God the Iather|n the
presence of two cred|b|e w|tnesses, Moses and L||[ahon the
Mount of 1ranshguranon (9: 2-13). I|na||y, we a||Iesus, Iesus'
d|sc|p|es, and us, Mark's readersfu||y understand who he |s!
Aher eter's response, the second ha|f of the gospe| w||| focus on a
new quesnon: "What are the ,EGA,H5@$%# of Iesus be|ng the
Mess|ah, the Son of God?
If Mark's gospe| |s addressed to Chr|snans |n kome dur|ng the
persecunon under Nero, A.D. 64-68, then th|s |s an urgent quesnon
for h|s |ntended aud|enceand for us.
K?$O P"#*# 5%C 6,#
C,#H,GA"# #"/ $*/ 3$+ /6"
Q,AA5-"# 5+$*%C 25"#5+"5
.6,A,GG,N (8: 27).
Caesarea h|||pp| !
(30 m||es north of Capernaum)
Capernaum !
Caesarea h|||pp|
! 1he pagan Greek c|ty of an|as
dated back to the 2
nd
century 8.C.
! an|as was renovated by nerod
the Great's son h||||p II |n A.D. 14,
and he renamed the c|ty Caesarea
h|||pp| |n honor of Caesar
Augustus.
Caesarea h|||pp|
! In Greek nmes an|as was the center of
worsh|p for the god, an, the god of the
he|ds, groves and wooded g|ens.
Consequent|y, an was assoc|ated w|th
spr|ngnme and fern||ty.
! 1he Lng||sh words "G5%|c" and
"G5%demon|um" der|ve from h|s name.
! W|th the h|ndquarters, |egs and horns of
a goat and the upper body of a man, an
|s famous for h|s sexua| prowess, ohen
appear|ng w|th a 6*-" pha||us.
! an |s the or|g|na| "party an|ma|!"
W||||am 8ouguereau. ?DEG6# 5%C R5/D+ [an] (o|| on canvas), 1873.
C|ark Art Insntute, W||||amstown, Massachuseus.
1ra|| to the cave and the "1emp|e of an" at Caesarea h|||pp|.
.6$/$-+5G6D SD T%5 I5+,5 U5+-5#
Caesarea h|||pp| and the 8an|as k|ver, ow|ng out from beneath the cave.
In Iesus' day |t gushed out of the cave |tse|f.
.6$/$-+5G6D SD T%5 I5+,5 U5+-5#
Archaeo|og|ca| rema|ns of the "1emp|e of an"
.6$/$-+5G6D SD T%5 I5+,5 U5+-5#
More archaeo|og|ca| rema|ns of the "1emp|e of an"
.6$/$-+5G6D SD T%5 I5+,5 U5+-5#
Why wou|d Iesus take
h|s d|sc|p|es to Caesarea
h|||pp|, a center of
pagan worsh|p?
I've wondered
that myse|f.
At Caesarea h|||pp| Iesus
asks h|s d|sc|p|es "Who do
peop|e say that I am?" ,%
C,+"H/ H$%/+5#/ to what they
see before them: the pagan
gods of the Greco-koman
wor|d.
Iesus' d|sc|p|es rep|y, as we have
a|ready read |n 6: 14-1S
! Iohn the 8apnst
! L||[ah
! Cne of the prophets
"8ut who do D$* say that I am?"
(T A,/"+5A /+5%#A5@$% +"5C#9 KV*/ D$*0 O6$ C$ D$* #5D M
5EWN .A5H,%- KD$*N 5/ /6" 6"5C $3 /6" #"%/"%H"0 5%C
/6"% +"G"5@%- ,/0 "EG65#,X"# /6" H$%/+5#/ S"/O""% /6"
KG"$GA"N 5%C KD$*YN KB$*N ,# -+5EE5@H5AAD 5 :
%C

G"+#$% GA*+5A0 S$/6 @E"#Z P"#*# ,# 5CC+"##,%- 6,# -+$*G
$3 C,#H,GA"#Y)
1hen eter responds as spokesman
for the group:
"ou are the Mess|ah."
Cnce Iesus' d|sc|p|es tru|y
recogn|ze who he |s, the
next quesnon becomes:
"What are the ,EGA,H5@$%#
of Iesus be|ng the Mess|ah:
! for h|m,
! for h|s d|sc|p|es, and
! for us, Mark's readers?
Ior Iesus:
! the Son of Man must suer
great|y,
! be re[ected by the e|ders, the
ch|ef pr|ests, and the scr|bes,
! be k|||ed, and
! aher three days r|se.
(8: 31)
Ior h|s C,#H,GA"# and *#:
"Whoever w|shes to come aher
me must"
! deny h|mse|f,
! take up h|s cross,
! fo||ow me.
(8: 31)
Lxcuse me, but what
does Iesus mean that
"some w||| not see death"
unn| they see that the
"k|ngdom of God has
come |n power?
1here are two ||nes of
thought on th|s:
1) Some th|nk that Iesus refers
to the estab||shment of God's
power on earth |n and
through h|s Church,
2) Cthers th|nk that Iesus refers
to h|s |mm|nent return aher
h|s death, bur|a|, resurrecnon
and ascens|on, the
"G5+$*#,5," or "2
nd
com|ng."
KT["+ #,\ C5D# P"#*# /$$J ."/"+0
P5E"#0 5%C P$6% 5%C A"C /6"E *G
5 6,-6 E$*%/5,% 5G5+/ SD
/6"E#"AQ"#Y T%C 6" O5#
/+5%#]-*+"C S"3$+" /6"E Y Y YN
(9: 2)
(30 m||es north of Capernaum)
Mt. nermon !
9,232 h.
Mt. 1abor !
1,880 h.
Capernaum !
Caesarea h|||pp| !
1,1S0 h.
Mt. nermon on the Israe|]Lebanon border, 43 m||es north of the Sea of Ga|||ee.
1he mounta|n range stretches S0 m||es!
.6$/$-+5G6D SD T%5 I5+,5 U5+-5#
Iour ma[or runo streams from Mt. nermon form the upper Iordan k|ver:
W to L, the Ayun, nasban|, Dan and 8an|as k|vers.
1h|s |s the Dan k|ver, w|th cascad|ng rap|ds.
.6$/$-+5G6D SD T%5 I5+,5 U5+-5#
1h|s |s the Upper Iordan k|ver, ow|ng south |nto the Sea of Ga|||ee.
.6$/$-+5G6D SD T%5 I5+,5 U5+-5#
G|ovann| 8e|||n|. )+5%#]-*+5@$% $3 26+,#/ (o|| on wood), 1487-149S.
Museo Naz|ona|e d| Capod|monte, Nap|es.
Y Y Y 6" O5# /+5%#]-*+"C S"3$+"
/6"E Y Y YN (9: 2)
1he Greek word trans|ated "transhgured" |s
metamoryovw ["#$%&"'()&*+'']. "Meta"
means "to change", "morphe" means "form."
Iesus |s H65%-"C ,% 3$+E, as a caterp|||ar |s
changed |nto a buuery.
Up unn| th|s po|nt, Iesus' d|v|ne
nature as the Son of God has been
"ve||ed" by h|s human form
(nebrews 10: 20), the
transhguranon |s a parnng of the
ve||, a g||mpse |nto d|v|ne rea||ty
and Iesus' d|v|ne g|ory.
Moses and L||[ah (represennng the
Law and the rophets) w|tness
God's tesnmony that "th|s |s my
be|oved Son," fu|h|||ng the
requ|rement |n Deuteronomy 19: 1S
of two or three w|tnesses for a va||d
tesnmony.
Iesus' 1ranshguranon draws us |nto the
ph||osoph|ca| propos|non of a "ve||ed
rea||ty," a rea||ty |ndependent of that |n
wh|ch we ||ve.
Cur rea||ty cons|sts of past, present and
future, a rea||ty of measurab|e, sens|b|e
"stu."
8ut beneath our rea||tysuppornng,
enve|op|ng and permeanng |t|s the
ever-present "now" of God, a rea||ty
beyond the reach of our day-to-day ||fe
and of our ||m|ted understand|ng.
Cn|y a paper-th|n ve|| separates the two. At the 1ranshguranon, the ve|| |s
parted.
We have another such "parnng of the ve||" at Dothan |n 2 k|ngs 6: 14-17,
when L||sha prays that God open the eyes of L||sha's servant, and h|s servant
then sees a mounta|ns|de "h||ed w|th hery char|ots and horses around L||sha."
In the transhguranon, God the
Iather Q5A,C5/"# eter's
confess|on of fa|th at Caesarea
h|||pp| |n the presence of two
cred|b|e w|tnesses, Moses and
L||[ah.
If there had been any doubt
rema|n|ng about Iesus' |dennty
as the "Son of God," that doubt |s
dehn|nve|y removed at the
transhguranon.
1he d|sc|p|es ask Iesus,
"Why do the scr|bes say
that L||[ah must come
hrst?" 1hat's a good
quesnon!
Not to me.
And the answer |s easy! Ma|ach|,
the |ast book |n the nebrew
Scr|ptures ends by say|ng:
?$O M 5E #"%C,%- /$ D$* ^A,_56 /6"
G+$G6"/0 S"3$+" /6" C5D $3 /6" !$+C
H$E"#0 /6" -+"5/ 5%C C+"5C3*A C5DZ
6" O,AA /*+% /6" 6"5+/ $3 35/6"+# /$ /6",+
#$%#0 5%C /6" 6"5+/ $3 #$%# /$ /6",+
35/6"+#0 A"#/ M H$E" 5%C #/+,J" /6" A5%C
O,/6 *`"+ C"#$A5@$%Y
(Ma|ach| 3: 23-24)
In the F$#G"A 5HH$+C,%- /$ I5+J
L||[ah comes, |n the person of
Iohn the 8apnst.
When Iesus comes o the
mounta|n w|th h|s |nner-
c|rc|e of eter, Iames and
Iohn, they meet Iesus' other
d|sc|p|es who have been
auempnng unsuccessfu||y to
dr|ve a parncu|ar|y
|ntrans|ent demon out of a
boy.
!"# )+a# b,H6"# c"*+"# C* C*H C" V"++D, Io|. 166r (|||um|nated manuscr|pt), c.
1412-1416 (w|th add|nons, 1440s, 148S-1489). Muse Cond, Chann||y, Irance.
(30 m||es north of Capernaum)
Mt. nermon !
9,232 h.
Caesarea h|||pp| !
1,1S0 h.
Ga|||ee
K)6" R$% $3 I5% ,# /$ S" 65%C"C $Q"+
/$ E"% 5%C /6"D O,AA J,AA 6,E0 5%C /6+""
C5D# 5["+ 6,# C"5/6 6" O,AA +,#"YN
(9: 31)
Aher eter's confess|on of fa|th, the
rema|nder of th|s secnon |s framed by
Iesus focus|ng on the ,EGA,H5@$%# of
h|s |dennty (8: 31-33, 9: 31-32), semng
up the 2
nd
ha|f of Mark's Gospe|.
1. What |s the s|gn|hcance of Iesus tak|ng h|s
d|sc|p|es to Caesarea h|||pp|?
2. In eter's "confess|on of fa|th" scene, why does
Mark om|t the |ength|er secnon that |s |n
Mauhew 16: 17-19, g|v|ng eter the keys to the
k|ngdom and the author|ty to forg|ve s|ns?
3. What |s the pr|mary funcnon of the
1ranshguranon scene, and what does |t revea|
about Iesus?
4. 1he |mp||canons for Iesus be|ng Mess|ah and Son
of God are suer|ng, death and resurrecnon.
What are the |mp||canons for h|s d|sc|p|es?
S. What are the |mp||canons for us?
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