I'm just gonna cut to the chase tonight. Big birthday party tomorrow.
Mark 4
This whole chapter is filled with parables. One of the reasons Jesus gives refers back to Isaiah, where it says that everything is said in parables so that the people will hear and see but not understand, that they might turn and be forgiven. But isn't that what Jesus was all about? In the previous chapters, forgiveness is being freely dished out, but now it's being kept a secret? Why? Also, the fact the Jesus speaks in parables makes total sense, given the way that God communicates in the Old Testament. It's all full of parables. Jesus's use of parables actually helps the Old Testament make better sense to me. There's a consistency between the way God speaks throughout the Bible that helps bring continuity. OK, gotta get to bed.
2 comments:
Hi Doug - I just started reading Mark myself, and thought it would be neat to see what you have to say about your readings. I'm only at chapter 4 so far, hence the comment on an old post. I've been reading it in the Message, and I'm finding a lot of things are jumping out at me because it's a different translation. Two things seem to be translated with a very different meaning between the Message and the NIV - the reason Jesus speaks in parables from Mark 4 and also blaspheming the Holy Spirit from Mark 3. Check it out: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=48&chapter=3&version=65
I've had questions about both of these things before as well (as translated in the NIV), so now I'm really wondering - is the Message more accurate, and if not, how do I deal with these things that don't make sense to me?
Well, I would never say that the Message is more accurate. Not that the NIV should be the definitive word on all things, but the way they were translated gives the NIV the edge. The Message was translated by one guy, Eugene Petersen, and you can detect a lot of his personality and specific theology in his translation. It's coloured a lot by his interpretation of the text and the theology behind that interpretation. I don't think that's bad, but seeing as the NIV was a committee translation, it's less susceptible to this, and hopefully truer to the original.
On your second point, about things not making sense, I'm not sure things always have to make sense. I always get the feeling that God has been rather purposefully vague in the bible. For what reason, I'm not entirely sure, but it does serve to engage us. The best communication doesn't give us the answers, it causes us to think and interact.
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