Mark 1:29-34
“Notice what you notice.” I wondered to myself before I began reading today’s passage how I could possibly see something new when we were repeating an event from Matthew yesterday and looking at only six verses. But right away on my first read I noticed a number of items. First, Matthew had Jesus simply going into Peter’s house while Mark has Jesus (a) leaving the synagogue and going into (b) Simon and Andrew’s house (c) with James and John. Quite a few differences right there! And after the events of today’s reading, Mark has Jesus rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed (Mark 1:36). That is, Mark is absolutely distinct with Jesus’ movements. Makes me begin to watch Mark’s chronology more than Matthew’s…
A second difference was more explanatory than anything else, and peculiar to my NKJV Chronological Bible. That translation begins Matthew’s second half of today’s story with When evening had come (Matthew 8:16) while Mark’s second half begins with At evening, when the sun had set (v. 32). Yesterday I had easily passed over the word “evening” in Matthew’s writing but clearly noticed “when the sun had set” in Mark’s writing. The point is, it was the Sabbath. Jesus and His disciples had come from the synagogue to Peter’s house and had a meal and only after the sun had set did the townspeople bring the sick and demon-possessed to Jesus. They were following the Jewish Sabbath laws and waiting until after sunset.
That gives us a little picture into the Capernaum culture, that they were following Jewish Sabbath laws from Moses’ time, some 1300-1700 years earlier! Though they were far removed from their spiritual center, the Temple in Jerusalem, they still honored and followed historic teachings. It makes me wonder about the extent of the (Jerusalem) Jewish leaders’ influence over the spiritual life of the Galileans.
Finally, Mark’s verse 33 says, And the whole city was gathered together at the door. So naturally, I wondered how many people would that have been? A Wikipedia site gave a Capernaum population of 1500 in Jesus’ time, one-fourth the size of Wilmore, one-sixth the size of Versailles – still quite a few people! Clearly his fame was growing!
Slava Bohu!!