Author: Wesley White

Yet not even on that point did their evidence agree.

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disciples are disciples
whosoever’s they are
they can’t help themselves

still practicing
a fine art
of mimicry

behaving themselves
into the shape
of their master

whether of Jesus or Council
overly enthusiastic disciples
betray their assignment

every one
had a better idea
of how to best please

resulting in no result
again and again
acting before praying

---

When in doubt about how to respond, be sure to get the technicalities correct. If at least two witnesses report, their testimonies must cohere. If they differ in any detail neither can be used to condemn you. Not only is the devil in the details, so are the angels.

As our end is in our beginning, and all along the way, we might begin to see that not only does Mark’s story carry an “ironic mixture… or uncanny truth with deliberate falsehood” [Sabin2₁₃₅] but so do our lives. This irony is a better description of our experience of life than is “original sin”.

What is not ironic here is the reality of the danger Jesus poses to institutions that just roll along of their own weight. His call, along with John’s and other prophets, is a reordering of hearts and, thus, behaviors. When such are changed, so are the systems in which they live and move and have their being.

Myers₁₉₉ sharpens this irony and points it back upon us and asks:

… disciples to face up to the ways in which we have denied the suffering Christ who is present in the world. Where have I seen the Christ and pretended that I did not know him? When have I broken faith with the Human One to save face, to stay safe, to guard my own life?

The opportunity to betray is always present. It is important to recognize this as part of our reality so we won’t fool ourselves with our self-persuasive denial and rationale to break the trust of creation and next generations. Our incremental excuses lead us to miss one critical detail or another. We become climate deniers or deniers of belovedness in this moment. As a result we shade the truth in a hope of getting by with an easier way for another day.

“We ourselves heard him say ‘I will destroy this Temple made with hands, and in three days build another made without hands.’”

---

I heard a threat
to our lovely Temple
with its awesome stones

my ancestors built it
my offerings support it
my meaning depends on it

a threat to this edifice
is a threat to the one
who cannot be directly named

I heard he was Joshua
who would shout walls down
not that I believe that

I heard he had aliens lined up
to build it in the shape
of a pentagon

I heard he would snap his fingers
and broken walls would
arise of their own accord

---

Mark is clear that this is a false testimony. The irony here is laid out by LaVerdiere2₂₆₄:

In Mark’s presentation, those who brought false witness against Jesus had no idea what they were saying. From their point of view, distorting Jesus’ words, they gave false witness. From Mark’s point of view, they could not have spoken more truly. So understood, the “false testimony” against Jesus plays an important role in the trial, introducing Jesus’ interrogation by the high priest and Jesus’ extraordinary Christological proclamation (14:60–62).

The accusation of another can lead to a great affirmation. Those in the Methodist tradition are very fond of the story of gaining their name through the misapprehension of their way of approaching holiness—methodically. The slur of “Methodist” was turned into a positive value.

It might be asked what sort of building can be built without hands. Today we might think of robots, but then we would have to ask who built the robots. There is no way to get away from our anthropocentrism.

Mark is looking for a different kind of “temple”—one not built with human hands—a baptism of repentance that results in forgiveness (1:4, 15). This “building” will have elements of changed hearts in a matrix of mercy and compassion. There will be a breathing, a beating of life—seeds that grow of their own accord.

Presently some men stood up, and gave this false evidence against him –

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witness number one
come on down

what’s your name
where are you from

do you promise to play
according to our rules

tell us in words we need
what you saw and heard

be careful a loophole
will upset our apple cart

---

Definitely a strange verse. It is open to the perspective that Mark protests too much. It is almost like modern campaigning that the one who calls “liar” first wins or the pervasiveness of negative ads.

From another perspective, we could see this as a great money-maker for those willing to join in a game of perjury when there are only positive consequences. We may not get 30 silver coins for bringing a false witness, but it may still be worth it. When a bounty is placed on heads it can get paid in many different ways.

Mark has been leading us along to see Jesus as a new Temple. Now Mark says that testimony about Jesus being a Temple is false.

What seems to be false is that Mark doesn’t want any side story to take away from Jesus being good news. In a land occupied by a foreign power and assisted by a religious system under the leadership of the occupier, there needs to be a credible threat to the powers that be.

There is not much more to be said than Mark is working from multiple sources and is stuttering a bit at this point.

for, though there were many who gave false evidence against him, yet their evidence did not agree.

---

the very richness
of our database
is working against us

there is no designing
a bumper-sticker
from this mish-mash

everything is riding off
in every direction
stampeding even

our procedures
have let us down
it’s time for a consultant

who are we going to call
the best money can buy
we’ve got to get this guy

---

The sequence in 13:9–11 is not an orderly progression. An arrest has been made. Who knows if an interrogation or a beating will come first. Whichever it is, it is to be understood as part of the reality of a situation when authoritarian tendencies ascend.

At some point there will be questions. To respond to all of them or none of them is one kind of witness but giving selected testimony is the strongest position to be in.

At this point there is no spirit-led position that would improve on letting the contradictions flow of their own accord. This doesn’t sit easy for folks who try to make their point and will go to practically the same length their accusers will go to shade things their way.

To follow the insights of chapter 13, it is important not to be in a worry mode (like Peter is when he tries to warm the hope in his heart by sitting near the light). It is only time to observe what is important and what isn’t important.

If one is clear that there is no exceptional exception available to the difficulties of life and judgments within it, attention can be made to what a spirit not bound to institutional protection will envision. This is a time to get to the heart of the matter and not be sidetracked by all the squirrels jumping here and there and back again.

I am exhausted when talking with true-believers fixated on doing anything to win. They expertly flow back and forth between accusations that I don’t measure up and then, caught making one too silly an accusation, will then flip into whining that they are the injured party. This is exemplified in the little scene about authority (11:27–33) where an accusation is followed by a whine and then followed by plans to bring bigger accusations and traps (12:13–17 and 18–27).

At such times I need to expectantly await a new spirit’s Wisdom.

Meanwhile the chief priest and the whole of the High Council were trying to get such evidence against Jesus as would warrant his being put to death, but they could not find any;

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our self-imposed rules
require filling
check every box
of Form W6H6Y6

what was the offense
when did it take place
where did it occur
who was a witness

no there is no line
for why
there is no excuse
for this behavior

just do the best you can
give us the facts
that best describe
how bounds were broken

---

A difficulty with any attempt to come to a desired conclusion is uncooperative reality. There is a need to be careful in cherry-picking evidence. If climate change is denied, the very proof offered only lasts for a moment as the change will eventually wipe out all theories to the contrary.

There is an even more difficult problem than picking among pieces of evidence—finding any at all that would stand up to the criterion of having 2 or 3 witnesses who agree.

Institutions have a built-in disadvantage of appearing to know what they are talking about. It doesn’t take much to make any institution or process appear foolish if it tries to fudge a bottom-line of truthfulness.

Not finding evidence is not a breaking point for true believers playing at being realists. The Grand Inquisitor’s Speech from The Brothers Karamazov continues to reveal what is going on in this scene and in countries and churches around the world to this day.

The Speech takes place during the burning of thousands of “heretics”. Christ has quietly and humbly returned and been recognized by the Church. The Inquisitor says:

What I now tell thee will come to pass, and our kingdom shall be built, I tell Thee not later than to-morrow Thou shalt see that obedient flock which at one simple motion of my hand will rush to add burning coals to Thy stake, on which I will burn Thee for having dared to come and trouble us in our work. For, if there ever was one who deserved more than any of the others our inquisitorial fires—it is Thee! To-morrow I will burn Thee. Dixi’.”
[gutenberg.org/files/8578/8578-h/8578-h.htm]

Christ’s return is dangerous to the Church for it threatens to upset the social order and wealth the church controls.

Peter, who had followed Jesus at a distance into the courtyard of the high priest, was sitting there among the police officers, warming himself at the blaze of the fire.

---

the cold
of my heart
is spreading

I need warmth
even as fearsome
as an enemy’s

I’ll sit in
double discomfort
to abate one

I am self lonely
running back
but only this far

so brave before
so marginalized now
a situational traitor

---

Having run away in order to fight another day, Peter fled just far enough to be able to turn around and see the crowd on their way back to and through the Jerusalem walls. Picking up their scent, he follows until he finds himself in the courtyard of the high priest.

Waking up at this point, Peter either needs to leave or blend in. Most translations say that Peter sat with the guards. The Greek is ὑπηρετῶν (hupēretōn, servant). This can be extended to the soldiers of a king. Whether regular servants such as a maid or guards, there is a significant question about not being noticed. Even with just a warming fire for illumination, dress and familiarity with a person are hard to fake. If the heightened energy of gathering dignitaries and an arrestee having just come through, it seems unlikely that a stranger would not be spotted.

Even if Peter pulls off this Mission Impossible, we still have the prime insider only marginally closer than all the other missing-in-action disciples. Betrayers are now all outsiders, no matter what their intentions might be. While Peter is being warmed, Jesus is facing the fire of fearful antagonists.

It is worth noting a word more about the setting of a fire from Waetjen₂₁₉:

…the natural expectation is that Peter is warming himself at the fire, as, in fact, it is translated in most English versions. But the word pye (“fire”), which occurs in 9:48–49, is not used here. Instead, the narrator has chosen the noun phōs (“light”). Peter is deriving warmth from some kind of light, and the most reasonable assumption seems to be that its source is Jesus, who is inside the high priest’s palace being interrogated before the Sanhedrin.

This helps keep us in the realm of a Wisdom story, not history.

Then they took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, elders, and the teachers of the Law assembled.

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privilege
means never
having to say
welcome

you come
burdened
with chains
without agency

all who enter
are bound
to agree to terms
already drafted

our name is Council
you question
our authority
prepare to die

---

The high priest was appointed by the Romans and the other groups mentioned have their own reasons to collude with the Romans. Together they act as a kind of parliament or advisory council and as the kinder and gentler face of occupation. Remembering the parable of the vineyard, it seems that many of them were also absentee landowners who also had an economic incentive to keep a lid on change. We are entering into a system based on power, which requires manipulation and lies.

The first evidence of irregularity in due process is a meeting called in the night. We are already in the midst of an ad hochearing very similar to an after-meeting gathering in a parking lot to re-do of just-made decisions.

This meeting, at the high priest’s domicile, is the equivalent of a smoke-filled backroom where deals are made outside of public view. It is a place where institutional malice aforethought can take place.

Those who deconstruct narratives can have a field-day with the distance this scene comes from the arrest of Jesus. Between the arrest and here there have been three events—the cutting off of an ear, an aside to those carrying out the arrest, and a youth running away naked. None of these have moved the story along, but they have added style and given opportunity to review the scene from other perspectives.

We have seen the arrest through sleep-crazed reactions to a stressful situation trying to live up to promises to die with Jesus—what is one sword against a mob? We have seen irony out front—why go to this nighttime charade outside the walls when it could have been ever so much easier at a number of earlier points? We have seen a mysterious figure flee helpless—where are the guardian angels?

Abusive Power continues to this day—think Black Lives Matter and Me, Too. Too many have been falsely killed/raped/detained.

but he left the sheet in their hands, and fled naked.

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when our identity
is known by
the corporate insignia
we willingly
put on every day
there comes a time
to give the economy
of the time
what belongs to it

leaving a corporate shroud
behind
in its owners grasp
turns one to a shadow
haunting
all who lay burdens
on others enslaved
to provide their place
and time of power

---

Just like in an earlier episode when someone with a sword cut off an ear, this scene had no groundwork laid for it and no follow-up. If it were not for Mark’s frequent interruption of one story with another, these could be seen as arbitrary insertions from other stories about the arrest that were too dramatic to leave out and just stitched in.

What this episode does do is highlight that the disciples are not only quick to run away, but willing to go to every length to do so. In this case to run out of their clothes—to run away naked.

Waetjen₂₅₀ does put a positive spin on this scene when he looks back on this moment from the vantage point of another youth announcing that Jesus has risen, and sees the “youth” as Mark’s narrator.

The youth of 14:51–52 fulfills the strategy of the implied author by serving as the ideal disciple in mirroring the reality of dying with Christ in baptism and its witness to the judgment of the Day of the Lord, which Jesus inaugurated and suffered.

This allows Waetjen, and others, to turn this transformation of a naked youth into a white-clad youth in a tomb being a sign of transfiguration for the disciples’ turn from inept students to fully fledged, spirit-filled, leaders in Galilee and beyond. This reading rests on references to a linen cloth and the age of the characters. Readers can tuck this away in their memory and see what they think of it at the end of Mark’s gospel.

My preference is more in keeping with La Verdiere2₂₅₃ who notes the short scenes of swordplay and running away play, “a symbolic, literary role in the story, if not a historical one.” The energy present in both of these incidents adds images of importance and intensity to the narration to raise the stakes of betrayal.

One young man did indeed follow him, wrapped only in a linen sheet. They tried to arrest him;

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a strange story
shrouds
an unwillingness
to find our own
nakedness

there is no hand
but our own
that can turn
our freedom
into restraint

---

Mark, like Jesus, gives us puzzles/parables that are not easy. We need to open our eyes and ears wider than usual. There is no satisfactory way to reduce the puzzle of this young man to a single solution.

To be wearing a single layer of clothing, particularly if it is a sheet, is unexpected even though it is evening and much energy has been spent on sleepy disciples.

Is this Bartimaeus who threw off his cloak before being healed and has not put it back on? Is this a representation of the beginning of the end when we are not to go back for a cloak? Perhaps it is someone who placed their cloak on the road into Jerusalem and it was soiled beyond cleaning? Might it be a set-up for the next puzzling appearance of an unnamed youth in Chapter 16?

Such questions do not exhaust the speculations that include this young person being Mark himself.

A personal remembrance of the Police Riot at the 1968 Democratic Convention and being willing to discard any loose clothing that could be grabbed makes this an all too vivid scene. Both this youth and myself could have been there innocently (I was taking a break from studying at Loyola to become an elementary teacher after just returning from two years in the Peace Corps and was curious about all those people over there) but innocence is no protection from things falling apart.

Mark does talk about clothing as it represents status. In such a case the last disciple to leave is a poor one without an outer garment.

Generously, the young man had been on an apostolic mission with the appropriate lack of a purse and only one cloak. Speculatively, in the process of their proclamation, the clearest message of mercy they could give was to give their one cloak to someone. This is to say what has already been said—there is no way to come to an explanation of this scene. Nonetheless, it is clearly drawn and undoubtedly meant something to Mark and his circumstance. Imagine, if you can, what this might have to do with Mark’s immediate audience.

And all the apostles deserted him and fled.

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standing between mobs
loneliness personified
brings an unexpected
place of prayer
in a wilderness
of proliferating systems

there is no need
to search out a retreat
it finds us
in the most awkward
and common places
we will allow

at question
is not where or when
or why to listen
in the silence of absence
there is naught else
worth attending to

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If this verse is a fulfillment of scripture that the sheep will be scattered (Zechariah 13:7), there are additional questions to be asked about fulfillment. Aichele₁₈ looks at that question in regard to Judas but it is equally applicable to disciples and  Readers in every age.

If God wills Jesus to be betrayed, as is implied in the prayer-scene in Gethsemane, then Judas also does the will of God and deserves no condemnation. However, if Judas betrays Jesus on his own and is therefore worthy of condemnation, then in what sense are the scriptures “fulfilled?”

With the word “all”, Jesus is returned to the wilderness after his baptism (1:13). The impetus this time is from Powers and Principalities, not a Spirit of Belovedness. He is with the beasts without the offset of angels or a response to his Gethsemane prayer.

We begin again an extended wilderness stay that cannot be returned from with a learning to pass on. There are some wildernesses that are too deep. Like black holes, there is no return past its event horizon. The gravitational pull of the massive amount of material packed in an extraordinarily small space will not release what enters this black wilderness to come out the same way it came in.

Here we are lost in a dark night or a cloud that has taken the information of creation and lined a black hole with it. Ordinary activities of making meaning must now give way to unknowing.

If we were following Mark’s usual rapid recounting of events, this verse might very well follow verse 46 without the intervening episodes with a sword and an un-answerable question to a mob. In such a case Mark would immediately jump from the arrest of Jesus to the scattering of the disciples.

For such a small verse that has been anticipated for quite awhile, there are enough sparks to keep a Reader lingering.