The people of God have experienced millennia of the gap, waiting and longing for restoration, so naturally they are astonished when they get a glimpse of the Kingdom.
Comedian Pete Holmes released his debut album, Impregnated with Wonder, in 2011. One track, titled “Google and Not Knowing,” explores the downside of having nearly infinite information and apparent connectedness available to us in our smartphones. (As a side note, this track I have linked is clean, but much of Holmes’ material has explicit and inappropriate content, so be aware.)
In this bit, he makes the point that as a result of Google and our smartphones, “The time between not knowing and knowing is so brief, that knowing now feels exactly like not knowing. So, life is meaningless.” It is a bold and outlandish statement Holmes effectively uses as his setup.
He gives an example: “There was a time that if you didn’t know where Tom Petty was from... you just didn’t know! And you felt that yearning and that deficit in your being.” The gap between not knowing and knowing can give space for feeling, for wonder, for astonishment, for life.
Our Gospel text today is full of gaps. Now, not every gap is good. The gap between God’s holy will and life as we experience it today is the result of sin; such brokenness is not good. The gap between life as we experience it today in a fallen world and what God has promised for the Last Day is felt in our longing and our lamenting. And while lament can be a holy expression of faith in the waiting, the sin and evil we lament is still sinful and evil (even as God can work through such things to draw us to Himself).
So, again, not every gap is good, but God can work good even in the gaps. Mark 7 introduces us to a deaf man with a speech impediment. This man is not experiencing the fullness of what God intended when He first created man. There is a gap between how his senses and body work and God’s ultimate plan for his life.
I wonder how much his experience of that gap made a difference once Jesus did His thing. Jesus touched, spat, and spoke. Then it happened! “His ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.” (Mark 7:35) That man would experience God’s gifts of hearing and speech with wonder and amazement far beyond the typical understanding of those who have always had the full use of their faculties.
Mark 7 also presents a gap between not knowing and knowing. We will see this gap illustrated in Mark 8:22-26 and even the rest of Mark’s Gospel in very direct ways. In today’s text, Jesus wants to extend the gap between not knowing and knowing. Jesus charges “them” (presumably the same “they” who begged Jesus to heal the man) to tell no one about the healing. He did not want people to know, at least not yet, and certainly not the limited account such hearers would likely receive.
But “they” were too astonished and could not keep this knowing to themselves. They could not stand the idea of others not knowing, since they themselves received so much life in their knowing.
He did not want people to know, at least not yet, and certainly not the limited account such hearers would likely receive.
Mark 8:22-26 is not in the lectionary (at least not the one my church uses). At this point in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has been demonstrating what the Kingdom of God looks like on earth. Readers have been seeing the answer to the question, “What is the Kingdom?” Then, after Mark 8:22-26, we start to see the answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?” And in the transition between these two sections, we see a blind man receive his sight. It is a partial healing at first. He sees, but not all that clearly. Then, after the further work of Jesus, the blind man does see clearly.
This is where we are in the Gospel of Mark. We see Jesus, the man from Nazareth, doing amazing things like opening the ears of the deaf. It is incredible! It is absolutely astonishing! The gap between God’s plan for creation and life as it is currently experienced is being closed. The people of God have experienced millennia of the gap, waiting and longing for restoration, so naturally they are astonished when they get a glimpse of the Kingdom.
But as amazing as such healings are (and they are amazing, by the way, though it is often the case that those of us who have read these texts countless times begin to become so familiar with the works of Jesus that we forget the legitimate astonishment they call for), God is doing something even more.
This is why Jesus wants to extend the gap between not knowing and knowing for the people in the region of the Decapolis. He is not trying to keep people in the dark. Rather, He wants them to see the fulness of the light! The good news is not just that Jesus gave hearing to a deaf man, as amazing as that is. If that is all the Jesus someone gets, they are missing out. Do not race too quickly to knowing if all you will know of Jesus is that He is a miracle worker.
If you cannot know a bit longer, it will be worth the wait, guaranteed. Like the blind man in Mark 8:24, this formerly deaf man and his friends only see in part. The greater amazement will come from the greater work of God. Three times in Mark 8:22-10:52, Jesus will point towards His Passion. Then, Mark will spend a solid five plus chapters detailing the events of Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem. Finally, in Mark 15:39, we will hear the Centurion’s revelation: “Truly this man was the Son of God” (which is even greater than discovering Tom Petty is from Florida!).
There, on the cross, as a lifeless body, we finally see the Life of the World. This is Jesus, who is not just a traveling healer or teacher, but a dying Savior. As a result, this allows us to experience Mark 16:8 in all of its beautiful force. There, the women are astonished. There, they are told to tell.
Throughout the Gospel of Mark, Jesus kept on saying, “Not yet. Not yet. Do not share what happened here. If you do, they might miss what will happen next.” But throughout the Gospel of Mark, they were too astonished to keep it to themselves. Then we come to Mark 16:8, and they are told to tell, but they are so astonished that, “They said nothing to anyone.”
It cannot end there. It cannot end like that. It is time to tell. The time is now fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: Jesus has been crucified and is risen. The gap between God and man has been breached. Wonder of wonders and amazement of amazement, Christ is risen!
The time of not knowing has gone on long enough. Again, it is time to tell. It is time for people to hear and believe. Life is not meaningless. Let the hearing and the knowing bring the life-giving astonishment God intends, because in such faith we have life.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Mark 7:(24-30) 31-37.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Mark 7:(24-30) 31-37.
Text Week-A treasury of resources from various traditions to help you preach Mark 7:(24-30) 31-37.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
Lectionary Podcast-Dr. David Scaer of Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN walks us through Mark 7:(24-30) 31-37.
