GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 9:14
Metamorphosis and Conflict
Recently, I saw two people walking their dogs, or was it dogs walking their people :-). As the dog walkers paused to chat, the dogs began sniffing one another, not aggressively, but not quite friendly either. It was the dog version of getting acquainted. Then, a third dog-walker joined the other two, but his dog was not friendly; the dog began growling, snarling, barking, and had to be pulled back. Then, the other two dogs began growling and snarling, and likewise had to be separated. Not an unusual phenomenon for a human group.
St. Mark wrote that Jesus and three disciples were on a mountain where they saw Jesus change. The word Mark used for this event transliterates into the English word “metamorphosis” (μετεμορφώθη, metemorphōthē), which is rendered changed, transformed, or transfigured. Coming down from the mountain, the three disciples had a discussion with Jesus regarding a scribal teaching about a future sequence of events. Mark does not indicate how long Jesus and his three disciples were gone. “And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and scribes disputing with them.” (Mark 9:14) The word rendered “disputing,” which Mark used in this case, can either be friendly, “reason with,” or adversarial, “dispute with,” depending on the context. One impression of this account is that when the scribes began arguing with the disciples it affected the behavior of the whole crowd.
The scribes were questioning the disciples who had been left behind. As usual, a crowd had assembled in the neighborhood where Jesus was, for the purpose of watching him. The object of the scribes in questioning the disciples was doubtless to cast discredit or doubt on them because they were not able to heal the boy brought to them by his father.
Mark’s account reminds me of the three dogs. The first two dogs were friendly; they were getting acquainted. Then, when the third dog became aggressive, all three became aggressive. There’s likely a sociological term for this behavior, which may be somewhat parallel to the cliché that one can be either part of the solution or part of the problem.
Previous
Next
Directory