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Cornell Capa with Robert Capa

Mark 1:29-39

If you have been following the News this week then you know that it is filled with bad news. Specifically it has been filled with bad news concerning a certain newscaster. The lead anchor of NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams, is currently embroiled in a controversy surrounding him allegedly fudging a few of the details of his reporting adventures in the Second Iraq War. The scandal of this possible lie is so large because it does not only cause viewing audiences question the authenticity of his story but also the veracity of his reporting in general. The news profession relies on factualness. Factualness relies on honesty and a commitment to authenticating details. That being the case, many in professional journalism and the amateurs of the blogosphere have taken to inspecting the photo record to verify Brian William's reporting. This fact checking practice has been the standard for well over a century. Since the early days of photography, Photojournalism has been means by which we decide if we will extend our trust to any Journalism. In the words of the modern day social media mantra "Pics or it didn't happen." Over the years there have been many great names to grace this profession but the greatest of these came from one family: The Capa Brothers. Robert Capa was the older and more famous brother who sacrificed his life in dedication to being known as the greatest living war photographer. He also created Magnum, a trailblazing company composed of jet-setting, photojournalists who were famed for possessing lives worthy of a Hemingway novel (and yes, they also were personal friends with Ernest Hemingway). Cornell Capa was the younger brother who followed in the footsteps of his great brother and rounded out the staff of Magnum. The difference between the two siblings is that Cornell Capa wasn't known primarily for covering wars but he was known for covering other types of campaigns. The documentation of an extended campaign through snapshots of its daily activities is also where we find the writer of Mark's Gospel. This book covers Jesus from the vantage point of a series of operations organized to reach an intended objective. In Jesus Christ, God was enacting an intentional, methodical and measurable campaign to achieve His aims. The question is: what is God's plan? I believe that we can understand them through these pictures of the life of Jesus in Mark 1:29-39.

Falling Soldier, Robert Capa/Magnum Photos

Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them...

Robert Capa's life was immersed on war and conflict yet he found spaces for love. So much so that PBS labeled its documentary biopic about his life "In Love and War." And 

D-Day, Robert Capa

by "love" I partially mean what theologians would term "hanky panky"... But I also mean the type of lifelong love that only comes in family. Even the breaks that he took for engaging in famed romances or photographing celebrities were respites taken due the conflicts of the Cold War. Robert Capa was the picture of James Bond if James Bond ever took up the business of taking pictures. Like a spy he even had a fake name. He was born Endre Friedman, but eventually

US Marines landing on Omaha Beach, Robert Capa

the Hungarian Jewish refugee from the Nazis would take on the fictional persona of a famous American photographer named "Robert Capa."  In documenting war campaigns like the Spanish Civil War, the Allied invasion of Normandy on World War II, the Six Day War in Israel and finally the French Indochina War in Vietnam Robert Capa pictured the face of suffering and the fruit of violence. Yet on all of these images it becomes evident that he is not glorifying war but rather

Robert Capa,1954 INDOCHINA

fighting a war against war with his camera. The 

God of the Old Testament is often pictured as a God of war. Through the armies of Israel, plagues and pestilence he exerts His wrath upon the Earth. But that's a very limited view of God isn't it. Right under the nose of those who do a cursory glance of the Old Testament, this same God is exerting love, mercy and forgiveness far more than wrath. And those two sides continue to converge in the person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Jesus is the full revelation of God. Mark and the other three Synoptic Gospels all present the story of Jesus healing Peter's mother-in-law. In viewing it we must understand it in context of the surrounding events. Jesus has just left the temple where he castes out a demon and follows it with casting out sickness. Jesus is engaging in a war campaign. His warpath is not set against men and women but against spiritual darkness, sickness, sin, violence and hate. Jesus is waging war with the weapons of love.

Supporters of Robert Kennedy in upstate New York during his 1964 Senate campaign. Cornell Capa

...At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him...

Cornell Capa is probably best known for his documentation of another pair of brothers. 

Cornell Capa, New York City, October 19, 1960

These were the political campaigns of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. Both of these were presidential campaigns but Cornell Capa's intimate portraits of the day to day rituals make us see this familiar phenomenon with new eyes. These black and whites evoke that a presidential campaign is about being pictured as the president. They are created to instill confidence in the voting public by showing him embodying the qualities that they will vote for in a new president. Jesus is pictured as holding court and exercising his government. He judges demons, sickness and every other evil that afflicts all of God creatures. This picture in the Gospels is a prefiguring of his future role in Glory, where he will judge the works of sin, shame and anything opposed the Sovereign God's love. Jesus is engaging in a political campaign. But it is not one where you will choose whether or not he is king. It is one where you discover that he is the king who us choosing you. John F. Kennedy was shown as

Robert Kennedy Presidential Campaign, Cornell Capa

intelligent, witty and cosmopolitan while Robert Kennedy was depicted as a compassionate seeker of justice and class equality. They could be seen as a future American president because they were already carrying themselves as the American president. Mark depicts Jesus as engaging in a political campaign. He was not running for any position because he was already the reigning King of Heaven and Earth. Yet his campaign was an attempt to convince the public of the reality of his kingdom. 

 

 

Russian Orthodox Monks, Zagorsk, 1958, Cornell Capa

...Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.”

But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.”

And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.

Cornell Capa's coverage of campaigns was not restricted to one's that are willfully chosen. All

Russian Orthodox, Cornell Capa

campaigns are not ones in pursuit if victory. Some campaigns are only designed to defeat others...to destroy them. Some campaigns are oppressive punishments that are placed on a populace from an outside force. Such was the case with Cornell Capa's coverage of the Russian Orthodox oppression by the Soviet government. The USSR was not only a secular state but a anti-religious state. Their communist rulers acted as atheistic fundamentalist in their repression of the religious practices of the Russian people. In the end the Russian Orthodox Church prevailed while the USSR crumbled. The Soviet government may hay ruled the Russian p

Russian Orthodox Church, Cornell Capa

eople's land but the Church represented the one who ruled their hearts. This ruler, Jesus Christ, was himself familiar with being the victim of a religious oppression campaign. That is one of the background factors at play in Mark 1:29-39. While Jesus moves from town to town engaged in God's campaign he encounters the campaign of the Pharisees and religious authorities. Jesus' traveling mission must be seen in light if it's impending political oppression and his eventual execution. Every campaign, be it military, political or religious meets a counter-campaign. These reactionary forces may be ruthless and persistent but in the end they will not prove victorious if they fight against love, if they fight against destiny, if they fight against God. So Jesus continued in his preaching throughout Palestine even with his persecution and martyrdom in site. He could not be distracted by the ups and downs of individual battles for his sights were set on winning the overall war. Jesus suffered from the oppressive campaign of intolerance and oppression. He knows the suffering of every martyr, victim of violence and political prisoner on a personal level. Yet Jesus also knows the truth that darkness only lasts through the night. Jesus is engaging in a campaign to bring back the light through the power if the rising Son of God

Pablo Picasso and son, 1948, Robert Capa

After this week of bad news comes the revelation of the Good News. It shines like the image of artist Pablo Picasso taken by Robert Capa in 1948. It is the image of an aged creator sharing the joy for life with his child. It is analogous with the vision that the Gospel shares with us. That of a eternal Creator sharing the joy of eternal life with his children. This good news is a look into the future after all of the campaigns are done. It is the good news that God is fighting for love. It is the good news that God rules through mercy. It is the good news that God's goodness outlives every evil. It is the good news that throughout all of history God has been enacting an intentional, methodical and measurable campaign to achieve to bring you be reunited with His children. This good news about God is found in the picture of Jesus. This Good News is the Gospel.