2 Kings 4:8-37

The story of Elisha and the “Shunammite woman” is long and involved. Go through the text and examine the interactions between the woman and Elisha, and vice versa. Other characters play a role, it seems to me, in the interaction between the “holy man of God” and his hostess. What does each offer to the other? What does the previous relationship have to do with the end of the story? Describe the woman’s experience with Elisha. What is the significance of the son? What is the difference between the two times that the woman finds herself at Elijah’s feet?

Mark 1:29-39

Upon reading the 2 Kings passage, we see that it prefigures and prepares us to read the precise story from the gospel of Mark. What do you notice about the passage in reading it after reading the passage from 2 Kings?

Several things about the passage. In early Christianity, church’s met in houses, and it might be that the movement of Jesus and the disciples from the synagogue to the house of disciples also symbolizes the movement many made later of those who came to believe in Jesus. The crux of the passage, it seems to me, is the phrase “and she began to serve them.” The Greek word is the word “to minister” (the noun is “diakonia” from which we get the English word “deacon”). Beginning in the 1930’s, scholars, based on faulty parallels, translated the term as “lowly service.” It fit nicely with gender expectations of the time – Jesus heals her and she cooks them a meal, washes their cloths, and brings them drinks in response. Recently studies, however, have shown this as false. The word comes from a series of words that are related to “messenger” or “ambassadorial” activities. This helps a curiosity about the passage – Jesus heals her and then everyone in the village shows up at her house at night fall (after Sabbath is over!). How? If we translate the term as “she ministered for them” or “she represent them” or “she talked about them,” after her healing, then we can understand how it was that people came to them. We know that women held offices of “representation” or “deacon” in early Christianity (See Phoebe in Romans 16:1).

If this is so, watch the relationship between Jesus and Peter’s mother-in-law. What happens between them? What is the result for both? How does she provide a model for the life of the one whom Jesus encounters in the “house” – the gathered congregation?

How does what happens in the second part of the passage relate to that which has happened before? Why would Jesus withdraw for prayer? How is prayer a gift to Jesus here? Why does he “re-enter” the task of traveling and preaching? Why not just stay in the wilderness in prayer?

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

How does Paul’s words here parallel the Shumanite woman and Peter’s mother-in-law? Read 1 Cor. 15:1-4 for the gospel. Why does Paul’s behavior help lend credibility to the Gospel? How does this allow him to share in the blessings of the gospel?

What is the pattern that you see in this passage? Can you share how it relates to the experiences in your life of how you concretely came to faith? Have a wonderful evening!