"COME AWAY" IN THE GOSPELS

Figure 1: “Come away” (aperchomai) Passages In Mark

A. two believers (1:20)

    B. Jesus prays apart from the disciples (1:35)

C. leper goes to priest for ritual purification (1:42)

                D. Twelve are appointed including one "who would betray him" (3:13)

E. conflict with swineherds (5:17)

                  F. follower does and says what Jesus commands (5:20)

G. faith of Jairus, ruler of synagogue (5:24)

                                            H. John beheaded for the gospel (6:27)

    I. departure by ship before feeding episode (6:32)

                                                            J. Jesus feeds crowd bread (6:36-37)

        K. Jesus departs to mountain to pray (6:46)

                                                                    K'. Jesus attempts to hide in house (7:24)

            J'. Jesus feeds woman "crumbs" (7:30)

                                                    I'. departure by ship after feeding episode (8:13)

        H'. entering heaven maimed (9:43)

                                    G'. faith of "rich young ruler" (10:22)

        F'. followers do and say what Jesus commands (11:4)

                           E'. conflict with pharisees (12:12)

        D'. Judas betrays Jesus (14:10)

               C'. Jesus and apostles prepare for the ritual feast (14:12)

        B'. Jesus prays apart from the disciples (14:39)

A'. two believers (16:13)

Perhaps the most miraculous examples of literary symmetry in the whole Bible is found in the Gospel of Mark, a book generally not considered to have much much attention given to literary considerations. If one traces all 23 times in which the Greek word aperchomai (“ come”or “come away”) appears, you will find that there is a clear thematic parallelism between the first and last occurrence, the second and next to last occurrence, etc. right down to the two center passages K and K'. It turns out this is just one (although the most elaborate by far) example of many such symmetries found in this Gospel.

The most unexpected pairing was that between sections H and H'. In the first, we have the story of John the Baptist who preaches the Word so uncompromisingly that he is beheaded. In the matching passage, Jesus teaches, “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the the kingdom of heaven with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell.” Both involve believers losing body parts rather then compromise their godly principles.

As if the above were not enough to demonstrate some of the “hidden” patterns in Scripture, consider the similar case of Mathew's Gospel in which aperchomai is also prominent:

Figure 2: “Come away” (aperchomai) Passages in Matthew

A. Joseph afraid to go to Judea, is warned by God and goes to Galilee (2:22)

B. Jesus ministers to those throughout Galilee; crowds follow him (4:23-25)

C. Difficulty of true discipleship taught (8:18-22) (3x)

D. Demons pray for relief but no relief comes (8:28-34) (3x)

E. Jesus’ authority to forgive sins (9:1-8)

F. Teachings on Gentiles and money (10:5-10)

G. Mix of good and bad separated at Final Judgment (13:24-30) (2x)

H. Importance of follow-through action taught (13:45-46)

I. Selfish attitude of some disciples toward others (14:13-17) (2x)

J. Imperfect followers (14:22-31)

K. An evil generation (16:1-4)

Central Appearance: 16:21, between the Great Confession and Jesus’ Prediction of His Death and Resurrection (16:13-28)

K'. A wicked servant (18:23-35)

J'. Imperfect follower (19:16-22)

I'. Selfish attitude of some disciples toward others (20:1-16)

H'. Importance of follow-through action taught (21:28-32) (2x)

G'. Mix of good and bad separated at Final Judgment (22:1-14)

F'. Teachings on Gentiles and money (22:15-22)

E'. Jesus’ authority to judge sins (ch. 25) (4x)

D'. Jesus prays for relief but no relief comes (26:36-46) (3x)

C'. Judas realizes his sin and hangs himself (27:60)

B'. Jesus is ministered to by a few women and one man (27:55-61)

A'. Jesus tells disciples, “Do not be afraid...go to Galilee...” (28:10)

The only “cheating” I have done to obtain the above organization is to group together any occurrences of aperchomai which appear within the same passage.

Now, one might at first think that naturally Matthew would have the same symmetrical pattern as Mark since a great deal of Matthew's Gospel comes directly from Mark's. However, if you compare the two organizations above with one another, you will see that hardly any of Matthew's pairs match up with any parallels in Mark's writing. These are completely independent of one another; the only similarity is in the ultimate author of both, the Holy Spirit.