The Gospel of Mark is a Passion Narrative with a Long Introduction - Essay Example

The Gospel of Mark is a passion narrative with a long introduction” The Gospel of Mark tells of the horrible death of Jesus after the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate sentenced him, the disciples abandoned him, the Pharisees tried him in a mock court, he was mocked and beaten by the soldiers and those around him, and he was nailed on the cross and died. Mark tells the Passion Narrative as Jesus was to die according to the Scriptures, invoking Psalm 22 which opens with a cry of anguish but ends with victory. The first passages of Mark’s Gospel prepare the reader for Jesus’ Passion and death on the cross. His actions and his teaching were preparing him for that final day. Jesus’ messianic mission is to prepare the world for the rule of the kingdom of God. This rule is a metaphor for the transformation of the human heart. Jesus is rejected by the Pharisees and the rulers of the Jews at that time. Death is already seen in the early parts of the Gospel.1 The Gospel of Mark is one of three synoptic Gospels which have almost the same structure. The term synoptic means “to see together”. Mark’s Gospel is believed the first to be written and the most important.2 Mark shows us the Jesus who began his preaching with actions. It does not speak of Jesus’ life as a baby and a child when he lived with Mary and Joseph, but Mark shows us Jesus in all his expression. This is a prelude to his passion on the cross.3 From the start of his ministry, Jesus already knew that he would be a sacrificial Lamb to be slaughtered, that’s why his death is more painful than anyone else’s, even the martyrs’ who would soon sacrifice for him and his church. Jesus’ most explicit teachings reflect that of his mission: to lose his life to save the world. The Passion Narrative has references to Psalm 22, particularly Mark 15:29-30, but there are other evocations not only in Psalm 22. Psalm 21 is referred to three times, although not with great lexical similarity.4 From the beginning of the Gospel, the Passion Narrative is already invoked in the early actions of Jesus. But the Gospel is not a mere introduction to the passion. Instead it is Jesus’ ministry that will lead to the passion: the passion is a consequence of his ministry. Jesus chose the path to the cross – his teaching is to give his life for the salvation of the world. This teaching and mission provide a redemptive meaning to his passion and death on the cross.5 The first verse of the first chapter proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God. The phrase Son of Man already refers to the coming Passion. The entire Gospel deals with the statement that Jesus is the Son of God and then narrates Jesus’ actions which relate to the Passion Narrative. The first chapter also introduces the reader of the three important events of Jesus’ beginning of his ministry, namely, the preaching of John the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus, and the desert experience. When Jesus started his ministry, John the Baptist was arrested and turned over to the high priests and Pharisees, and eventually killed. We are also confronted with another verse after Jesus’ baptism by John wherein God the Father said, ‘You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’ (1:11). This is reflective of Genesis 22:2 wherein God asked Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering. These passages refer to the Passion which also bears a sacrificial element. Another passage that refers to the Passion is the experience in the desert in which Jesus was tempted by the devil. Jesus was tested for forty days by the devil, by Satan himself. After the desert experience, Jesus began his ministry in Galilee. In his first preaching Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the Good News.”6 Jesus said those words because Israel’s long wait is over and God’s promise is now fulfilled. Israel will wait no more. Jesus says that the kingdom of God is at hand, meaning the disciples should respond to the call and join in his kingdom. This is a dangerous path for Jesus that will eventually lead to his arrest and Passion; dangerous because changing the character of a people and following Christ was not what the Pharisees and the rulers of Israel wanted. To change the character of the people means to make rebels out of them. The Pharisees felt that Jesus was inciting to rebellion. But what Jesus was trying to mean when he said that the ‘kingdom of God is at hand’ was a change of heart. Jesus said, “Believe in the Good News.” God is with us, reconciling with us, he is not imposing us the laws but only asking us to believe in his words. He also said to Simon and his brother Andrew, “Follow me!” This is a call for commitment, and only a good and charismatic leader can say that to people, “Follow me.” That’s why they began to follow him (1:18), sharing their life with him, leaving behind their livelihood, their family, everything. Jesus summed up his ministry in chapter 1, verse 15. When God proclaimed to Israel that the Kingdom of God was near, Jesus was there present in their midst. This Kingdom is described in Romans 14:17 – a kingdom of “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”.7 Jesus prepares to transform the hearts of his countrymen, a dangerous situation for the Jews and the Pharisees who were holding on to power. Other passion verses in the Gospel include Jesus’ contradiction against the Pharisees and the religious officials. Wherever Jesus goes, he leaves an impression of strength and confidence. He preaches in the synagogue, the Jewish house of prayer. This is a challenge to the teachers of the Law, who were only good at repeating verses, while Jesus speaks on his own and with authority. The devil recognizes him (1:24) and Jesus drives them out. Jesus delivers them from the influence of the Devil, who strives to destroy man created in the likeness of God. Another great warning of the coming Passion is when Jesus is asked why his disciples are not fasting and he answered that they cannot fast because the bridegroom is still with them. He said that there will come a time that the bridegroom will be taken away from them and that’s the time that they will fast. Jesus metaphorically refers to himself as the bridegroom and by saying this he predicts his own death. In Chapter 3, Jesus heals a man on a Sabbath. Jewish law prohibited all work on the Sabbath, a day of the week consecrated by God. Jesus wanted to correct which again gained for Jesus the ire of the Pharisees. The Pharisees and Herod’s people unite because it was not to their interest that the people were aware of what was going on in the country.8 Mark’s Gospel portrays some secrecy in Jesus’ teachings when Jesus spoke through parables (4:1-8, 26-29 and 30-32). Under Roman rule, there were some words that were very sensitive to speak about, for example when Jesus spoke about the kingdom or the messiah, the Romans mistook this as inciting to rebellion. In Chapter 8, the Gospel foretells the tragic end. The apostles take account of who their Master is: ‘You are the Messiah’ (8:30). Christ is a Greek word which means the Messiah in Hebrew, meaning the anointed, and refers to the Saviour whom the Jews had long been waiting for. The apostles realized that Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour, and he told them that the Son of Man had to suffer many things, be rejected by his own followers. He would suffer the fate of those who proclaim the truth. He had to accept death because self-sacrifice and his death is the only way to save the world. The passion narrative is also revealed in 8:29 when Peter said ‘You are the Messiah’. Jesus said that he was going to suffer, be killed and will rise again on the third day (8:31). Jesus said that it is necessary to lose oneself, like Abraham who went to a foreign land, or Moses when he decided to be the leader of irresponsible people, or Jesus’ mother Mary when she entered a path nobody could understand and help her. To lose oneself means to rid oneself of the temporary existence and to be born again from God. Jesus said, “Take up your cross and then come and follow me.” In the transfiguration (9:1-4), Jesus reveals himself as the Saviour announced by the prophets (Is 42:1; Lk 3:21). Moses and Elijah, the two most important persons in the Bible, appear in front of Jesus and the disciples, and a cloud covered them which indicates and hides the mysterious presence of God (Ex 19 & Kg 8:10). Jesus is the Chosen One. The Son shares the divinity of the Eternal Father. “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him” (Mk 9:7). Immediately after the transfiguration, they went down the mountain, and the apostles were asking, “Why did Moses and Elijah speak of the imminent death of Jesus?” The Bible said that Elijah had to return to earth before the coming of the Messiah, so that he would not encounter so much opposition (Mal 3:1 and 4:22). But Jesus said that he had to be rejected. The Bible should not be taken literally. Elijah would not return personally but instead John the Baptist had already come as the new Elijah (Lk 1:16). In Chapter 9, Jesus again speaks of his Passion. As he was preparing his church to leave in the hands of the apostles, he told them that the Son of Man would be delivered to the “human hands” and be killed (9:31). When James and John, the sons of Zebedee, asked Jesus that they be allowed to sit one on his left and the other on his right when they would be in his kingdom, he answered, “Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized in the way I am baptized?” (10:38) Jesus was referring to his passion and death on the cross. “Drink the cup” refers to Jesus’ suffering. The parable of the tenants also referred to Jesus’ Passion: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (12:10). All the other events in Jesus’ life were a Passion narrative, to prepare the way of the cross: his entry into Jerusalem (11:1); Jesus speaks of the end (13:1); the conspiracy against Jesus (14:1-1); and finally, the Last Supper, Judas’ betrayal, his arrest at the Garden of Gethsemane and the mock trial in the court of Pilate. With all the things that Jesus did, he is still rejected. But in this rejection, he loves and lays down his life to redeem the world from sin. He forms his church and ministers onto them, tells them what to do, and makes sure every word is remembered. Jesus knows that his time is limited and that his stay on earth, no matter how short, must all be recorded and remembered by the apostles and the church. The apostles continue the works of Jesus with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. References Ahearne-Kroll, Stephen. 2006. “Challenging the Divine: LXX Psalm 21 in the Passion Narrative of the Gospel of Mark.” In The Trial and Death of Jesus: Essays on the Passion Narrative in Mark, ed. Geert Van Oyen and Tom Shepherd, 119-148. USA: Peeters Publishers. Barclay, William. 2001. The Gospel of Mark. Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. Carmody, Timothy. 2010. The Gospel of Mark. New Jersey: Paulist Press. Senior, Donald. 1984. The Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. Minnesota: The Liturgical Press. The Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Read More