The Main Themes

(Cropped image by Nick Thompson on Flickr - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Today, we are his disciples and he forms us in the same way.

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The Healing of the Blind Man of Bethsaida

In chapter 8, Jesus heals a blind man.

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man, and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the village; and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see men; but they look like trees, walking.” Then again he laid his hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and saw everything clearly. (Mk 8:22–25)

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This miracle is only found in Mark’s gospel. Up until now, Mark has been using Jesus’ miracles to gradually reveal his divinity, but this one is unique.  It is the only miracle which apparently goes wrong. After Jesus laid his hands on the man, he could see, but he saw people that looked like trees. So Jesus had to lay his hands on him again. Could Jesus have failed the first time? Of course not, being God, he can’t fail in anything he does.

The healing of the man’s physical blindness is a sign of the healing of the disciples’ spiritual blindness. Mark is telling us through this miracle that we will be cured of our spiritual blindness, or lack of faith, in stages. This is what happened to Peter. In the passage that immediately follows this miracle, Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ. He has begun to “see,” but his faith is still imperfect because in the passage that immediately follows this, he refuses to accept that Jesus must suffer and die.

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Peter took him [Jesus], and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.” (Mk 8:32–33)

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The Healing of the Blind Man Bartimaeus

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Jesus heals another blind man at the end of chapter 10, right before he reaches Jerusalem.

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And they came to Jericho; and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; rise, he is calling you.” And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Master, let me receive my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. (Mk 10:46–52)

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This miracle teaches us another important lesson about discipleship. A true disciple of Jesus is one who gives public witness of his faith, prays with constancy, and overcomes any obstacle so that he can follow Jesus along the way. This is what Bartimaeus did and that is why he is a model disciple for us. To see this, we must analyze not only Mark’s words but also the structures he uses, especially his repetitions and inclusios. Remember, authors use this literary device to inform their readers that the text in between the bookends should be read in the light of the inclusio’s theme.

By calling Jesus the son of David, Bartimaeus was publicly proclaiming his faith in him as the Messiah. In doing so, he is similar to Peter, who had professed the same thing. But Mark also draws our attention to the differences between the two of them. One difference is that whereas Peter’s profession was done privately, Bartimaeus proclamation is public. This is important, because up until now Jesus had always forbidden people to speak openly about him.

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[And he] said to him, “See that you say nothing to any one.” (Mk 1:44)

And he charged them to tell no one about him. (Mk 8:30)

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Mark creates an inclusio by repeating the expression “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

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He began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mk 10:47–48)

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By doing so, he wants to highlight Bartimaeus’ perseverance in prayer. Despite being rebuked by the crowds, he never gave up praying. On the contrary, he cried out all the more. The word “rebuke” should remind us Peter’s attempt to rebuke Jesus in chapter 8. This is another difference between the two.

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We find another repetition in 10:36 and 10:51.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

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This repetition further highlights the dissimilarities between Bartimaeus and the apostles. Bartimaeus is tired of sitting down and wants to be healed so that he can follow Jesus along the way.

And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. (Mk 10:52)

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The apostles, on the other hand, are afraid of following Jesus and want to sit down.

And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. (Mk 10:32)

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And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him, and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory. (Mk 10:35–37)

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The Importance of Faith

The healing of the two blind men forms an inclusio. Knowing this can help us understand the meaning of the miracle in chapter 9, which occurs in between these two healings. After the Transfiguration, when Jesus came down the mountain, he found his apostles arguing with some scribes. When he asked what was going on, someone answered him:

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Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit; and wherever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able. (Mk 9:17–18)

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Jesus replied:

“O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” (Mk 9:19)

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Jesus then conversed with the boy’s father and said to him, “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mk 9:23). Then we read that, “immediately the father of the child cried out and said, 'I believe; help my unbelief!'" (Mk 9:24). Then Jesus healed his son. Mark wants to show us that a disciple must have faith in Jesus.

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The Conditions of Discipleship

The story of Jesus sending out his disciples is interrupted by the story about the death of John the Baptist (Mark 6:14–29). These two stories form one of the Markan sandwiches. Mark’s message is clear: Discipleship can lead to martyrdom. John the Baptist’s death not only prefigures Jesus’ death, but it prefigures his followers’ death as well.

This message would have certainly resonated with Mark’s original audience. Remember, Mark was writing to Christians in Rome. This was a community that was suffering persecution. Mark wanted to teach them that following Jesus entails enduring persecution. That is, his disciples should trust that despite their trials, they were following the one true God, who also suffered likewise.

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Each of Jesus’ predictions is followed by special teachings for the disciples. Those who want to follow him must be willing to take up their cross.

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If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mk 8:34–35)

But not every Christian is going to suffer persecution or be put to death for their faith. What does taking up the cross mean for those who aren’t called to be martyrs? What are the conditions of discipleship for them? Jesus answers these questions by saying:

If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all. (Mk 9:35–37)

Taking up one’s cross and following Jesus means serving others. The apostles had just been discussing who was the greatest so Jesus chastises them and teaches them this. Taking up the cross also means:

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• To not cause others to sin and to resist all temptation to sin: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off” (Mk 9:43).

• To be faithful in marriage: “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mk 10:9).

• To not be attached to our material possessions: “How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mk 10:23).

Jesus teaches all of this after his second prediction about his passion. This pattern is repeated again after the third prediction. He tells them once again that a disciple is called to serve.

But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mk 10:43–45)

But Jesus also gives them a word of encouragement:

Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mk 10:29–30)

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The Connection to our LC/RC Spirituality

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Our Legionary Constitutions and Regnum Christi Statutes say the following:

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In their mission of forming apostles, Christian leaders at the service of the Church, Legionaries make present the mystery of Christ gathering the Apostles around him, revealing to them the love of his heart, forming them and sending them out to collaborate with him in building up his Kingdom (see Mark 3:13-14; Matthew 10:5-10; 28:18-20) (CLC 4)

To fulfill our mission, we seek to make present the mystery of Christ who goes out to people, reveals the love of his heart to them, gathers them together and forms them as apostles and Christian leaders, sends them out and accompanies them as they collaborate in the evangelization of people and of society. (SRCF 8)

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An apostle is someone called, formed, and sent by Christ. But this is not something that happens once; it is a continuous process, as we saw when we studied the cycle of apostleship. Our mission, as a movement in the Church, is to make this mystery present in the world. What does this mean?

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The Meaning of the Word “Mystery”

In our culture, the word “mystery” is often used to refer to something that is a secret or that baffles our understanding. For example, we speak of unexplainable natural phenomena as the mysteries of nature. But this is not the meaning of the Greek word mysterion used by St. Paul in his letters. For him, a mystery is precisely the opposite of a secret because it is something that has been unveiled or revealed to us and is, therefore, no longer a secret.

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St. Paul’s use of the word is similar to our mystery novels. In this type of literature, a crime is committed but the criminal remains hidden throughout the novel until they are finally revealed in the last chapter. St. Paul applies this term to certain truths about God and his plans for us that are impossible for us to discover on our own. Yet we know them because God has revealed them to us.

The life of the Trinity is a good example of this. We would never have known that God is a Trinity if he hadn’t revealed it to us (see CCC 237). Our Redemption in Christ is another example. St. Paul calls our Redemption a mystery because it was hidden to the people of past generations but has been revealed by the Holy Spirit to the apostles and prophets (cf. Ef 3:1–6).

The Catechism, taking up the tradition of the Church, says that Christ’s whole life was a mystery, because everything in his life revealed the hidden truth of his divinity.

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From the swaddling clothes of his birth to the vinegar of his Passion and the shroud of his Resurrection, everything in Jesus’ life was a sign of his mystery. His deeds, miracles and words all revealed that “in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” His humanity appeared as “sacrament”, that is, the sign and instrument, of his divinity and of the salvation he brings: what was visible in his earthly life leads to the invisible mystery of his divine sonship and redemptive mission (CCC 515)

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If everything in Jesus’ life is a mystery then the cycle of apostleship, as described above, can also be called a mystery.

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The Meaning of the Phrase “Make Present”

As Christians, we aren’t supposed to just believe in these mysteries, as abstract ideas. We are called to live or participate in them, thus reproducing them in our lives. Once again, the mystery of the Trinity is a good example of this. God doesn’t want us just to know this about him; he also calls us, through our baptism, to enter “into the life of the Most Holy Trinity through configuration to the Paschal mystery of Christ” (CCC 1239).

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We read in the gospels that Jesus revealed his divine identity by healing the sick. He did likewise through his preaching. Some people are called to make present in our world the mystery of Christ the teacher or the mystery of Christ the healer. This happens, not as the result of their human effort or talents, but rather, because Christ is working through them. Thanks to their baptism, he is present in them, and through them he is also here in our world, continuing his work of Redemption.

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Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us. “By his Incarnation, he, the Son of God, has in a certain way united himself with each man.” We are called only to become one with him, for he enables us as the members of his Body to share in what he lived for us in his flesh as our model:

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We must continue to accomplish in ourselves the stages of Jesus' life and his mysteries and often to beg him to perfect and realize them in us and in his whole Church… For it is the plan of the Son of God to make us and the whole Church partake in his mysteries and to extend them to and continue them in us and in his whole Church. This is his plan for fulfilling his mysteries in us. (CCC 521).

Our Charism

Using this definition of mystery, Pope St. John Paul II wrote that a religious institute will have an authentic charism if it gives “witness to some aspect of his [Christ’s] mystery” (Mutuae Relationes 51).

The charism of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi is to make present the mystery of the cycle of apostleship. Through us, Jesus continues reaching out to people, revealing his love to them, gathering them together and forming them as apostles and Christian leaders, to send them out to continue doing the same with others. All the time, Jesus accompanies us as we collaborate with him in the evangelization of people and of society (see SRCF 8). This is the specific mystery in Christ’s life we are called to live. This is our charism!

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Conclusion

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In summary, a disciple for Mark is someone who is: (1) called by Jesus to be with him and learn from him; (2) to be sent out to speak his words and to do his work. But Mark wants us to know that a disciple should be humble because this doesn‘t necessarily make them better than others. In fact, Mark doesn’t shy away from showing us the apostles’ defects.

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• They don’t understand (8:21)

• They lack faith (4:40)

• They prevent people from coming to Jesus (10:13)

• They are cowardly (10:32)

In comparison, he presents others, even foreigners, in a more positive light. For example,

• The paralytic’s friends (2:3–5)

• The woman with the hemorrhage (5:24–34)

• The Syrophoenician Woman (7:24–30)

• The poor widow who gave two copper coins (12:41–44)

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Assignments

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• Map out the passages in chapters 8 to 10 in which we find Jesus foretelling his passion and death and giving instructions to his disciples. You can use the attached files for this in Excel or PDF formats (click icon to download). ​​