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Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Share Information. Specialty Products. Catalogs, Flyers and Price Lists. Open Access. Open Access for Authors. Open Access and Research Funding. Open Access for Librarians. Taking in consideration this line of thought, it is needed to point out that the author of Mark's Gospel did not have in mind the notion of the five spiritual senses as it was developed by Origen and the tradition after him, but the texts taken in consideration show that the author knew a distinction between the physical and spiritual seeing, which makes possible to affirm that the intuition of the perception of two realities, the physical and supernatural, subsists interconnected in Mark's narrative, not expressed on the words of a systematic theological treatise but according to the language proper of a kerygmatic genre of the Gospel which narrates the deed and teachings of Christ.
Hence, applying the notion of the spiritual senses that helps the reader to discover different levels of meaning in the Scripture, it is possible to observe that the portraits of seeing in Jesus and the Demons induce the reader to conclude that their way of perceiving the realities or events in the narrative does not stop in the physical phenomenon, but it catches the divine immersed and hidden in the circumstantiality.
So the manner in which Jesus sees is according to the physical and spiritual eyes concurrently. The sensory organ subsists in complete harmony with the divine nature of his soul allowing him to perceive every physical reality at a spiritual level simultaneously, making him capable to comprehend and scrutinize the total dimension of a person.
Therefore, the markan portrayal of Jesus corresponds to the seeing of God: total, penetrating, personal, and effective. The demons, on the other hand being supernatural entities, are capable to perceive the realities appertaining to their realm, but in the moment that they possess a person, the demoniac's sensory organ of sight synchronizes with the analogous spiritual sense to identify and recognize instantly the supernatural identity of Christ. The methodology applied to the texts is the synchronic approach of the narrative and semantic analysis.
These methodological approaches possess as a hermeneutical ground the notions of the spiritual senses, especially the spiritual seeing. Taking in consideration fundamentally the Greek canonical text in its final form, the reader can examine it, using the linguistic criteria, the semantic level of the verbs of visual perception in accordance with the context, subjects characters and objects of perception, emphasizing the common semantic level that is intended by the author in line with the internal evidence of Mark's narrative.
For this purpose it is indispensable to start with determining the basic or standard definitions connoted in the terminology used by the author, to pass then to two specific portraits of seeing that show an unambiguous metaphysical notion of seeing, as it is in the case of Jesus and the demons. In English the most common verb for visual perception is to see, but it is not the only one. There is a spectrum of terms employed to express different nuances and levels of seeing according to specific circumstances that normally are in use in a daily colloquial communication, like to observe, to watch, to look at, to examine, to catch sight of something, to set eyes on somebody, etc.
It is the basic action of seeing with the physical eyes but in addition entails the act of seeing with the mind, to perceive, and to know As an intransitive verb, it has the nuance of looking at someone John , but predominantly one could apply it in warnings and instructions like «look out for, watch out, be on guard against», e. Matt ; ; Mark uses eiden five times and exclusively to describe Jesus' action of seeing.
At this point His seeing cannot indicate a mere physical observation. It appears a total of times in the Gospels, Acts and Revelations. It denotes the sense of being able to see as distinct from blindness Matt ; ; Mark ; Luke It is also implied in the verb the meaning of comprehension and intellectual perception of ethical behavior Metaphorically, the verb signifies to see with the mind's eye, to have the power of understanding, to discern mentally, to observe, to perceive and to discover until the point that can imply a feeling, to turn the thoughts or direct the mind to a thing, to consider, to look at, to weigh carefully, to examine, to look deeply into, to see through, and to become aware of the essence In relation to the mental functions, the verb implies directing one's attention to take notice of something or somebody, to regard or consider 1 Cor , to discover, to find, to become aware of Rom Additionally to these notions, it can indicate to take warning, e.
This notion indicates a physical perception that does not stop in the superficiality of the circumstantial events or persons but it signifies a deeper level of insight. It is a seeing possible only to the one who believes, e. It is worth mentioning the subjects of this verb in the markan narrative: Jesus appears twice in Mark ; ; the Demons once in Mark ; the Crowd seeing the demoniac who had been cured emerges in Mark , and the Women who appear, as the predominant subject of the verb, three times in Mark Now it is fundamental to indicate that the search of a word in a specialized dictionary does not suffice the discovery process of the true meaning of a sentence according to the intention of the author who needed to discern about the choice of words to apply in a specific passage.
A simple example of the modern life can illustrate this point of view regarding the biblical text. A young man who wants to learn English comes to the US, and while he is walking on the street, hears some other youngsters saying «what a cool car!
Immediately he picks his dictionary up and search for the word «cool», finding out the following definition: «moderately cold; neither warm nor cold, fresh, e. Hence the key element to understand the true meaning of that term or expression is the context and the circumstance in which it was pronounced.
For this reason, the study of the biblical context in which every term appears, helps the reader to determine the nuances and the proper significance of the message as it was intended to be. Through this hermeneutic process, the reader uncovers the true meaning that the author had in mind when he was writing the text to a particular community of faith. With this notion in mind, the reader must interpret Mark's Gospel not as a mathematical or systematic tractate of the verbs of visual perception where a clear distinction of them is easy to grasp in accordance with the dictionary, but precisely because of this multifaceted aspect of the Gospel, the natural desire of discovering stimulates the exegesis that must be done by the reader in order to detect other semantic levels of the markan narrative that escape, most of the time, to the superficial reading.
The first active vision of Jesus is located in the context of his Baptism when He saw eiden the heavens torn open and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove Mark Jesus appears as the explicit subject of the verb eiden. This means that the first eyesight of Jesus is marked by the vision of a non terrestrial reality.
The beginning of his public ministry starts with the exclusive divine manifestation that reveals the Lord's point of interest: to look up to heaven, his Father's place, and see the Holy Spirit coming down to his own reality, namely, the one that implies to be human. Thus the first seeing of Jesus is meta-physical 23 in the sense that his visual perception goes beyond or behind the physical reality that is commonly seeing by the bodily sense of sight.
The meta-physical seeing trespasses the barrier of the corporeal limitations in order to see a spiritual reality that is not obvious to the naked corporeal eye, but is typical of Jesus' seeing. At the same time his visual experience is exclusive because the text of Mark indicates that only Jesus was capable of seeing this dual celestial reality; the context does not indicate that other person could perceive the celestial phenomenon.
The synoptic reading of this episode highlights the distinctiveness of Jesus' seeing in Mark. A parallel analysis reveals that Matthew indicates that the opening of the heavens is not related to Jesus' seeing, just only the Spirit of God like a dove descending on him. The heavenly voice accompanying the celestial vision in Mark addresses exclusively to Jesus Mark , unlike in Matthew where the voice speaks to others, indicating an implicit audience Matt The striking difference can be noticed in Luke , where the author does not make any reference to Jesus' seeing.
Extending the comparison to John , the reader realizes that the one who sees the Spirit is John the Baptist, meanwhile Jesus is passive in the scene. The results of this brief synoptic readings and the comparison with John, points out the special treatment of Jesus' seeing according to the theological intention of Mark. The Old Testament has the notion of «heaven» as the abode of God Tobit ; Ps ; ; Eccl ; Lam , as a closed place that only Yhwh can open for an extraordinary intervention or involvement with his people 2 Kgs The term connotes a radical and new situation as it is understood by Juel: «what is opened may be closed; what is torn apart cannot easily return to its former state» The abyss between Heaven and Earth is surpassed by the Trinitarian love of Father and Son, creating now a new communication where the humanity is assumed by the divinity.
This new interaction changes completely the way humanity relates to God, and vice versa. The descending of the Spirit makes a graphic contrast with the ascending of Jesus from the water. The notion of a «dove» can have multiple interpretations; it has been considered the symbol of all kinds of virtues, particularly by cause of its gentleness, innocence, and goodness that inspired this position But according to the Old Testament tradition, the rabbinic interpretation gives to the reader a conception that is closer to the biblical mindset manifested in Mark.
Rashi commenting on Gen affirms: «The Spirit of God was moving: the Throne of Glory was standing in the air and moving on the face of the waters by the Spirit of the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be he, and by his Word like a dove that broods on the nest» In the Midrash Rabbah, Rabbi Simeon ben Zoma expresses regarding the same text of Genesis the following idea: «For it is not written here, and the Spirit of God blew, but hovered, like a bird flying and flapping with its wings» The connection is strong with the Gospel since the Spirit of God is portrayed as a bird or dove, and it is framed in a context of creation hovering upon the waters.
These elements illuminate the notion of Mark indicating in the Baptism a new creation in Christ where the Trinitarian perception is explicit and exclusive of Jesus. The celestial voice in Mark reaffirms the relationship of love between Father and Son in the new state that assumes the human condition.
The passages of the calling of the first disciples demonstrate the special seeing of Jesus, which manifests the manner how God sees. In the context of vocation, Jesus' seeing is the first step in his method of choosing the prospective disciples. Mark indicates Jesus' seeing with the aorist eiden: «he saw» in three significant passages 30 :.
These three episodes present six common essential characteristics:. The markan portrait of Jesus is dynamic and active The first main action is expressed with the aorist indicative eiden: «he saw». This particular verbal aspect indicates a punctual and unique action of perception in time What Jesus sees is the individual identified in the narrative by his personal name.
The first four disciples are mentioned in pairs of brothers, they are being called to be part of a different kind of vital kinship, so as soon as they answered God's call, their brotherhood is transformed into a brotherhood of love where Jesus is the bond of this new community of faith The Greek text is precise in putting the personal name first followed by the brotherly qualification: «Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon» , «James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother» In the case of Levi, the reader observes the same pattern: Jesus sees the person then the narrative states the familiar qualification: «Levi the son of Alphaeus» Jesus' seeing is personal and individual.
The text does not say what specific uniqueness he saw in these prospective disciples, but it must be something that escapes to an exterior physical seeing.
The Sight of God goes beyond the conventionalities of culture and appearances, that is why Jesus can recognize, by way of his scrutinizing sight, the great potential of what they can be. This additional detail continues to demonstrate the divine initiative that reaches the individual circumstances of the disciples.
The calling comes after the seeing as a consequence of Jesus' visual perception. The brief narrative analysis of the three passages indicates that Jesus' seeing is the first step in the process of vocation. The divine seeing is meta-physical, namely spiritual since Jesus can perceive the totality of the person, breaking through the barriers of the superficiality imposed by the circumstances and culture.
Therefore, it is not a casual look to somebody, or just a simple glance of people doing their jobs. Jesus' seeing is personal, attentive, penetrating, and selective. The account of Mark presents a context of calling vocatio with a negative outcome that displays a sharp contrast with the result of the calling of the first five disciples. The pericope talks about a rich man, who is very pious and faithful to the Mosaic Law.
One of the most remarkable and distinctive feature of this narration can be found in the way in which Jesus looked at the man in Mark It is to see everything plainly or to have a clear view of everything; also it means figuratively to look at somebody with penetrating eyes in a spiritual sense The participle indicates a verbal aspect of the action of seeing deeply for an extended period of time.
It is not just a simple gaze in a punctual singular moment. Jesus was looking intensely into the man's soul and heart to the point that his particular and personal seeing leads to love: «And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him» It is precisely by cause of his incessant and profound seeing that Jesus' love of him has self presented and manifested at that moment in the unique gift of the calling to the chosen one; but the call required something else that the Lord knew thanks to his scrutinizing eyes: the wealthy man needed to put God in first place.
The Lord with one statement touched the radical failure in the seemingly perfect spiritual life of this man, whose center was not completely in Yhwh. The answer to Jesus' invitation is graphic and vivid in the markan narrative: «But at these words his face fell, and he went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property» The wealthy man did not say anything; his reaction is clearly a negative response to Jesus.
The action of moving away from the Lord is accompanied with the deepest feeling of sadness, which means lack of peace and freedom. Jesus' invitation demands the perfection and radical self-giving of the chosen person, in fact Matthew makes unequivocal this invitation in terms of perfection that is implicit in Mark: «if you wish to be perfect, go, sell The pericope demonstrates that Jesus' seeing turns out to be the first step that makes his love explicit, motivating the manifestation of it in his call vocatio.
The conditional requirement of the calling indicates Jesus' spiritual seeing because albeit he admires the sincerity and integrity of someone who carefully follows the Law, also he can see concurrently what is lacking in the person.
This capacity of perception goes beyond the human faculty of observation. It is the seeing of God to whom nothing can escape even the inner corners of the human soul. The pericope of Mark displays a context of healing. The important characters in this narration are four anonymous men who knowing the Lord's proximity, found the house where he was.
Then being conscious of the incapacity of the cripple man to get close to Jesus, they made the effort to carry him, and despite the obstacle of the crowd, they found an original way to place the crippled before Jesus. They did not give up until they brought the one in need close to Lord.
At this moment Jesus saw the men's faith as only God can see what is hidden from the corporeal eye. The text never says that Jesus' sees the faith of the paralytic, the only object of Jesus' seeing is «their faith», i. Therefore after Jesus' seeing the nameless men putting the paralytic in front of him, comes as a consequence «the healing of body and soul conjointly» Clement of Alexandria: 1. The explicit object of Jesus' seeing is the «faith» pistis of the anonymous bearers which can be demonstrated with actions, but in this particular case is not just only the outward manifestations of the invisible faith put in evidence in the creative way of surpassing some obstacles, since the text indicates that Jesus literally can see the inner spiritual sphere of the soul of the unnamed men.
Applying the notion of the spiritual senses of Origen and the composition of the place according to Ignatius, the reader can perceive in Mark's narrative that Jesus' seeing is unfailing meta-physical, distinguishing itself from any kind of human visual perception in the episode.
The passage of Mark puts in evidence the contrast between Jesus' seeing and his disciples' visual perception. I do wonder if we see this phenomenon more at work in places where the gospel is coming for the first time thus overthrowing the reign of darkness than in the western world.
That said, I want to make it clear that I would not discount the possibility in our context, and if it seems like this is the case, I would likely connect with others who have more experience in these situations just as I would with most things in ministry and theology — we are better together. I also want to point us back to what we see, which is the power found in prayer and the Spirit as opposed to various techniques that are not explicitly mentioned that of course does not mean they are anti-Scripture or of no value.
Whatever we call it demonized, possessed, or oppressed , can it happen to Christians? Part of the debate is that there is no clear example one way or another. Some have said that Aninais in Acts shows a believer being possessed as Satan fills his heart, but what is going on here and also his status as a believer is unclear. We need to say that Christians can be affected and influenced by demons — believing in Christ does not protect us from these attacks why else are we warned about them?
In fact, we see the Apostle Peter being attacked or drawn away by Satan in various ways see Matthew ; Luke Whether this is possession or oppression I think is somewhat immaterial to the bigger issue; we are under attack and need to be ready! It would seem anytime we wonder away from the truth, we open ourselves up to deception and attack; we need to stay close to the One who has defeated the forces of evil, as we see His power on display in the gospels. We will look at various strategies we need to employ regarding all elements of the spiritual battle in the final post on Satan, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare next week.
Questions about the Bible or theology?
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