“And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, ‘Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?’” (Mark 6:2).  The Gospel According to St. Mark shows us Jesus in action.  Mark keeps repeating the word “immediately” (35 times, more than all three other Gospels combined).  For Mark, Jesus is a man of action, like the young warrior David. 

If you contrast Matthew 6:2 to Mark 6:2, you find the first Gospel mid-way through the lengthy Sermon on the Mount.  There are no similar multi-chapter sermons in Mark.  Mark moves his narrative quickly.  Mark 6 relates the death of John the Baptist.  Matthew does not arrive at that event until his chapter 14.  Again, in contrast, Mark 14 is nearly the end of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ betrayal and arrest.

So, Matthew ends with Jesus charging the apostles to make disciples by baptizing and teaching everything Jesus had taught.  Mark’s parallel passage (16:15-18) emphasizes, instead, the actions we take as disciples, following in Jesus’ path.

We can compare these two foci to a passage in neither Gospel, John 15.  There, Jesus tells us He is the true vine, that abiding in Him, we will bear good fruit.  Matthew’s emphasis on Jesus’ teaching shows how we abide in Him.  Mark’s emphasis on Jesus’ actions shows us the good fruits we are called to produce ourselves.

A way of writing Mark uses often is called the “sandwich story.”  Think of a good sandwich; the things which make it up- bread, meat, cheese, dressing, vegetables- are very different.  You would not always think they belong together.  When you put it together, you might think they interrupt each other, but when you taste it as a whole, it works.

As you read Mark 5, Jesus is on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter.  Suddenly, the story shifts.  A woman in the crowd has touched Jesus.  He stops and interacts with her.  While Jesus is doing that, news comes from Jairus’ house.  His daughter has died.  But Jesus goes and raises her from the dead.  This is a sandwich story, and truly, the entire sandwich works together.

When we look at the details of each healing, we find that the unnamed woman has had a discharge of blood for twelve years.  We find that Jairus’ daughter was twelve years old.  We find both of these women were facing exclusion from Israel.  The woman with the discharge of blood would have been considered perpetually unclean by Jewish law.  The people who come from Jairus’ house similarly urge, “Why trouble the Teacher further?”  Twelve is the number of Israel.  Jesus’ ministry, the entire sandwich teaches, will cleanse Israel and raise her from the dead by restoring the outcasts who the Jewish leaders would have excluded.

As you read through Mark, watch for more sandwiches.  Indeed, you’ll find another one “immediately” in Mark 6. What is the sandwich meaning of Jesus sending out the Apostles and receiving them back only after we hear what happened to John the Baptist?