Sunday Matinee #56 Tombstone

Doc Holliday, why do you wanna play with the devil?!

Mark 1:29-39 | Revised Common Lectionary | EnterTheBible.org
Fifth Sunday of Epiphany | 02.04.2024
Context: Like last week, Mark keeps dashing along. Only 29 verses in and Jesus was baptized, tempted, called his disciples, and healed people. Now, he needs a break. A breather, a respite. He wants to retire for a bit.

35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37 When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." 38 He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."

Tombstone | 1993
IMDb | Letterboxd | RRMC
Context: Famed Deputy US Marshall Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) is looking to settle down in Tombstone, AZ and retire. But his reputation means people come looking for him and a bit of trouble along the way. Unlucky for these troublemakers, and lucky for we as the audience, Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) is more than happy to oblige.

Curly Bill: [takes a bill with Wyatt's signature from a customer and throws it on the faro table] Wyatt Earp, huh? I heard of you.
Ike Clanton: Listen, Mr. Kansas Law Dog. Law don't go around here. Savvy?
Wyatt Earp: I'm retired.
Curly Bill: Good. That's real good.
Ike Clanton: Yeah, that's good, Mr. Law Dog, 'cause law just don't go around here.
Wyatt Earp: I heard you the first time.
Wyatt Earp: [flips a card] Winner to the King, five hundred dollars.
Curly Bill: Shut up, Ike.
Johnny Ringo: [Ringo steps up to Doc] And you must be Doc Holliday.
Doc Holliday: That's the rumor.
Johnny Ringo: You retired too?
Doc Holliday: Not me. I'm in my prime.

Commentary:

The gospels are filled with memorable moments of Jesus in action. He’s over here, teaching and preaching. He’s over there, healing and praying. He went this-a-way, pointing out hypocrisy and challenging people to repent. He went that-a-way, offering cryptic messages about resurrection and showing people how to live with an inclusive heart. My hunch is that for most of you, Dear Reader, if I asked what is a memorable moment of Jesus in action, you could think of at least three without much trouble.

But few of us remember the time Jesus snuck away.

Jesus has spent the entirety of chapter 1 in the Gospel of Mark in action. He was baptized, he was tempted, he called his disciples, he healed people. The urgency of his mission is obvious simply by the speed of which these memorable scenes occur. Here, he takes a step back. It’s early morning, and before anyone else wakes up, he goes off into a deserted place and he prays. He needs a break. He needs some down time, some alone time. We all need to recharge, from time to time, can we really be all that surprised if Jesus did, too? 

Perhaps it is surprising to think God needs a rest. But it shouldn’t be. In the poem of creation that begins Genesis, God rested after a divine swirl of creation. And besides, if Jesus is God and human, then humans have to rest and tend to self-care - and that means Jesus valued that, too. He went off on his own to prepare (Luke 4, when he is tempted in the wilderness), to recharge (here and later in Mark 6 he tells the disciples to rest or in Luke 5 when he needs a break), to make a decision (Luke 6, when he prays before choosing his disciples), to grieve (Matthew 14, when he learns John the Baptist has been murdered), and to process his emotions (Matthew 26, when Jesus prays in the garden of Gethsemane before he is arrested). Jesus takes breaks. That’s a good thing. We can learn from that.

Wyatt Earp (played by a mustache that is wearing Kurt Russell) has earned a break by the time he settles in Tombstone, Arizona with his friends and family. In Tombstone, we see him hang up his marshal badge and pick up a small gambling enterprise. Both careers trade on his famous name, but in this case, he truly just wants to settle down. Time to forget the past of chasing down criminals (the real life Earp was arrested quite a few times himself) and belly up to the bar for a game of cards.

When The Cowboys taunt Earp for his reputation, he puts it simply: “I’m retired.” Unlike Jesus, Earp didn’t sneak away to absolute solitude in the wilderness. He selected a city with enough population to set up an enterprise so he could make a living. And this was to be a permanent thing, at least he hoped it would be. But like Simon Peter comes looking for Jesus, The Cowboys come looking for trouble when they see Wyat Earp. Try as he might not to oblige them, they will keep obliging him until he cannot resist.

Doc Holliay (played by a puddle of sweat that is wearing Val Kilmer) is, as he says, “in his prime,” and ready to go, if The Cowboys want trouble. The trouble for Doc, however, is his tuberculosis is catching up with him. If anyone in this scene actually needs a rest, it’s Doc. And if anyone in this scene is going to avoid rest, it’s Doc. What can we learn from Doc and Wyatt? When we have the opportunity to rest, we really should rest. When we have an opportunity to take a break or retire or whatever, it’s worth taking. 

When was the last time you snuck away to give yourself rest? How have you supported others to do this? When did you push through when you were exhausted and it worked out? What about when it didn’t? Who is the most well-rested person you know?