(This short paper was written for my group as we were prepared for being inducted into a healing ministry.)
In our study of the miracles of Jesus last week we read three accounts of Jesus’ healing of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. During the discussion we took note of the manner in which Jesus ministered to her, especially in Mark, where we’re told he “took her by the hand” and lifted her up. One of our review questions asked us what we might discern about the heart of Jesus for this woman from the account in Mark. At first, the English phrase “took her by the hand” led us to consider his “gentleness” and “tenderness” towards her. Then I opened my yap.
The verb that Mark uses for taking her hand is “krateo.” (krah-TEH-oh) While we might infer His gentleness because we know His heart for us and for her, the verb says something else. In its most basic sense it means “to grasp firmly.” The word conveys strength and some degree of forcefulness. (And doesn’t that fit Mark’s depiction of Jesus? There’s a reason that the animal symbol for Mark the Evangelist is a Lion. Jesus really “roars” in Mark.)
Then I went on to do my “Bible nerd” bit and shared just how important that verb for “grasping” is in Mark’s Gospel. And that’s why Lora asked me to jot down those thoughts for the group, which I’m about to do.
Mark clearly differentiates between Jesus and the people who oppose Him. And the basic differentiation results from what they “hold to,” or “grasp.” (krateo again!)
In chapter 7, the Pharisees criticize Jesus and His disciples because some of them ate “with defiled hands.”
In verse 8 Jesus responds to them, “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” In two other verses Mark makes it even plainer in the narrative that “the Pharisees and the Jews” hold to traditions, the traditions of their elders.
And so Mark sets Jesus, who holds to (krateo) the commandments of God, over against the people who oppose Him, who hold to (krateo) the traditions of their elders.
And then, throughout the Gospel, Mark makes it plain that what they hold on to also changes what they seek to firmly grasp and how they intend to do it.
Every single time that krateo is used for something Jesus does it is to take hold of someone to help them.
Every single time Mark uses krateo to describe the actions of one of Jesus’ opponents, it describes “seizing” or arresting. (Mostly Jesus but also John the Baptist by Herod and the young man in the Garden of Gethsemane.)
For Mark, what you hold to determines what and how you will grasp others.
I’ve listed all the verses that include the verb krateo below, so that you can see them for yourself. I’m sorry there isn’t a better article to point you to on this, but as far as I know, nobody’s noticed this but me.
Mark 1:31
And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. (ESV)
Mark 3:21
And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” (ESV)
Mark 5:41
Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” (ESV)
Mark 6:17
For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. (ESV)
Mark 7:3
(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders…) (ESV)
Mark 7:4
and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) (ESV)
Mark 7:8
You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” (ESV)
Mark 9:10
So they kept the matter (logos, word!) to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. (ESV) (This “word” of Jesus they kept to themselves was His teaching about His crucifixion and resurrection.)
Mark 9:27
But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. (ESV)
Mark 12:12
And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away. (ESV)
Mark 14:1
It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, (ESV)
Mark 14:44
Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” (ESV)
Mark 14:46
And they laid hands on him and seized him. (ESV)
Mark 14:49
Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” (ESV)
Mark 14:51–52
And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. (ESV) (It is especially important to understand that this nameless young man in Mark functions in the story as an “ideal” disciple, and being “seized” by the authorities is part of what Mark expects for followers of Jesus.)
