GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 6:39
Comfort
In 1823, John Howard Payne published the lyrics for “Home, Sweet Home,” which contains the line: “Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, / Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.” The song became popular in the early 19th century, and Civil War soldiers often sang the song when they were homesick or nostalgic. The phrase became an aphorism for the comfort one experiences when one sits in his own recliner or sleeps in his own bed after a journey.
The English word “comfort” comes from the Late Latin “comfortare” (to strengthen much), and it came to mean “to give or add strength, encourage or exhort.” The prominent New Testament word “comfort,” however, takes a slightly different view. Parakaleō (παρακαλέω < παρά, near or beside, + καλέω, to call) has the idea of calling someone or imploring someone for help, counsel, or encouragement. Both words—the Latin and the Greek—share the idea of the satisfaction one derives from strengthening or being helpful. A host, for example, wants to ensure the comfort of his guests—that they are encouraged, strengthened, or helped.
When Mark described Jesus teaching a large crowd on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, evening approached, and it became time for the evening meal. There was debate about where to get enough food in that desolate area to feed such a large crowd. John, writing about this event, said that it was at the time of the Passover, which would have been during the spring, typically April. (6:4) “And he commanded them to have everyone sit down group by group upon the green grass.” (Mark 6:39) Even after a long time teaching and ministering, Jesus was concerned about the comfort of the crowd, for they were to sit on the “green grass.” John, an eyewitness, said, “There was plenty of grass in that place.” (6:10)
At times, it seems that throughout the New Testament, the focus is on the spiritual, the transcendent, and the ethereal. But there are places where the emphasis is on existential comfort, such as having people sit upon “green grass”—a phrase that can easily get lost in the wondrous miracle that is taking place. This is a reminder that Christianity focuses not just on the spiritual but also on the physical.
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