The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown (59 page)

“What kind of man is this?—even the winds and the sea obey Him!” (Matt 8:27).

C. Jesus' Ministry on and Around the Sea of Galilee (4:1–8:26)
Already in 3:6, the reader is told of the Pharisees' plot with the Herodians to kill Jesus (cf. 8:15; 12:13). While this rejection of Jesus by the official representatives of Judaism did not cause him to forsake
his mission to the Jews, it did give him increased exposure to Gentiles.
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This includes Jesus' healing of the Gerasene demoniac in 5:1–20; his encounter with the Syrophoenician woman in 7:24–30; and his feeding of the multitude in 8:1–10, which is reminiscent of Elisha's miraculous feeding of Gentiles in 2 Kgs 4:42–44.
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Nevertheless, when Jesus, for instance, restored the Gerasene demoniac to sanity, he did not invite the healed Gentile to join his messianic mission but sent him home to tell his own people what had happened to him.

In his account of the sending of the Twelve, Mark, unlike Matthew (Matt 10:5–6), did not explicitly limit their mission to Israel (6:6b–13). Nevertheless, Jesus' ministry in the first part of the Gospel is primarily devoted to the Jews (see esp. 7:26a). After Herod's mistaken identification of Jesus as the resurrected John the Baptist (6:14–29), Jesus' feeding of the five thousand, and his walking on the water (6:30–52), mounting opposition to Jesus caused him to withdraw from Galilee. He first moved to the region of Tyre and Sidon north of Galilee (7:24–30), then to the Decapolis east of Galilee (7:31–8:12), and finally to the far north in Caesarea Philippi (8:27–9:32).

Throughout his entire narrative Mark not only emphasized the disciples' misunderstanding and hardness of heart, but he also portrayed their increased involvement in Jesus' mission (see 6:41). The primarily Jewish context of Jesus is gradually broken up. This is accomplished by Jesus' indictment of the Jews' unbelief (7:6–7; cf. Isa 29:13); his frequent withdrawals from Galilee (7:24–9:32); and his declaration that all food is clean (7:19). But most pronounced is the incident with the Gentile Syrophoenician woman, who wants Jesus to exorcize a demon from her daughter but who is initially rebuff ed by Jesus (7:24–30). Only after the woman accepts the fact that Jesus' mission is first and foremost directed to the Jews does Jesus grant her request.
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II. Jesus as the Suffering Son of God (8:27–16:8)

A. Jesus' Ministry on the Way to Jerusalem (8:27–10:52)
Subsequent to Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ (8:29–30)—which occasions a thrice-repeated pattern of passion prediction, discipleship failure, and instruction regarding true discipleship (8:27–9:1; 9:30–41; 10:32–45)—the “messianic secret” is gradually lifted, at least for the disciples (1:34,44–45; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36–37; 8:26, 29–30; 9:9). Nevertheless, as long as the disciples fail to understand the inner dynamics of the cross, they do not yet recognize their mission, since this mission is contingent upon the disciples' following Jesus in the way of the cross (see 8: 34).
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Up to 8:26 Jesus ministered in Galilee and did not leave it permanently until 10 :1. The entire section of 8:27–10:52 is cast as a journey from Caesarea Philippi to Jerusalem (see 9:30,33; 10:1,17,32,46,52).
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Intriguingly, Mark limited instances of gospel proclamation entirely to Galilee (see 1:14, 38–39, 45; 3:14; 5:20; 6:12; 7:36). The only two references to preaching the gospel in the Jerusalem section of Mark refer to the
future
proclamation of the good news to the Gentiles. Moreover, a future meeting between Jesus and the disciples is intimated in 14:28 and 16:7, which further directs the reader's attention to Galilee.

B. Jesus' Ministry at the Temple (11:1–13:37)
Following Jesus' entry into Jerusalem (11:1–11), Mark used scenes surrounding the Jewish temple to draw attention to the marked shift that would ensue as a result of Jesus' ministry and his rejection by the Jews.
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Thus Mark referred to the temple as a house of prayer
for all the nations
(see the quotation of Isa 56:7 in 11:17), indicating that the particularism of Jewish worship had come to an end and that the temple would soon be replaced by an eschatological “house of prayer.”
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The cursing of the fig tree, with accompanying lessons regarding its Significance (11:12–14,20–26; 13:28–31), likewise draws attention to the rejection of the Jews as a result of their rejection of Jesus as Messiah. Lane called Jesus' cursing of the fig tree “a prophetic sign warning of God's judicial action against the nation…equivalent in function to Ch. 12:9.”
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The climax is reached in the parable of the tenants of the vineyard (12:1–2), where Jesus declared that God's vineyard would be taken away from the Jews and given
to others
(see 12:9). These “others” come into view particularly during Jesus' eschatological discourse in chap. 13, which is once again occasioned by a scene at the temple. Jesus, after predicting the destruction of the temple, informed his disciples that the glorious coming of the Son of Man would be preceded by the preaching of the gospel to
all the nations.
Thus “Mark in effect identifies the community's activity between Jesus' own ministry and the cataclysmic end of the world as a time of universal proclamation and witness.”
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C. Jesus' Death on the Cross and Resurrection (14:1–16:8)
The last major section of Mark's Gospel begins with Jesus' anointing and the institution of the Lord's Supper. This intimate scene is contrasted with the harsh reality of Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin (14:53–65). At the high point of the Jewish trial, Jesus responded to the high priest's question of whether he is the Messiah (v. 61), the Son of the Blessed One (see John 20:30–31), in the affirmative. In contrast, Jesus refrained from answering Pilate's question of whether
he is the king of the Jews, presumably owing to the term's political overtones (15:2). Thus the reader is led to understand that Jesus is the Messiah in terms of Jewish OT expectations but not a king in Roman political terms (see John 18:36).

Finally, at the climax of Mark's Gospel, the Roman centurion exclaimed at the foot of the cross, “This man was really God's Son” (15:39), indicating that now the messianic secret has been lifted even for the (Roman) Gentiles, so that the missionary power of Jesus' Suffering and death has been extended also to non-Jews. If there is a genuinely Markan equivalent to the Matthean “Great Commission,” the centurion's confession would certainly qualify. Indeed, the fact that it is not a Jew but a Gentile who confessed Jesus at the end of Mark is highly significant for the Gospel's narrative thrust.
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At the same time, it is certainly no coincidence that a Christological confession by a Gentile (see Peter's “Jewish” confession in 8: 29) is not issued until
after
Jesus' death. If 16:8 is indeed the original ending of Mark's Gospel, the account concludes on a note of fearfulness on the part of Jesus' followers, a state of affairs that may resemble the state of Christianity in Rome at the time of writing. The abrupt ending leaves open for the reader how Jesus' announcement that he would meet the disciples in Galilee would be fulfilled (see 14:28; 16:7).

THEOLOGY

Theological Themes

Jesus as the Son of God
The preeminent theological theme in Mark's Gospel is that Jesus is the miracle-working, authoritative Son of God. Beginning with Mark's opening statement in 1:1, strategic references to Jesus as the Son of God are distributed throughout the Gospel. The following chart displays these references in Mark's Gospel and includes the respective person or persons uttering the statement also.

Table 5.1: Jesus as the Son of God in Mark's Gospel

The chart indicates that this theme forms the all-inclusive bookends of the Markan narrative. The evangelist frames his narrative in terms of Jesus' being the Son of God in the opening verse and the Roman centurion's climactic confession in 15:39. This is no coincidence since Mark's audience was the church in Rome, and it is only appropriate that the final reference to Jesus as Son of God in the Gospel should be uttered by a Roman. Evans noted, “The centurion's confession that Jesus was ‘truly’ the son of God (15:39) is the equivalent of Roman deification of their deceased emperors, but the discovery of the
empty tomb and the (angelic?) announcement that he has risen (16:4–7) provide divine confirmation of the truth of Jesus' predictions.”
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Earlier in the narrative, Jesus is declared by the heavenly voice to be the Son of God at his baptism (1:1) and at the transfiguration (9:7). Apart from Jesus' two self-references (12:6; 13:32) and Caiaphas's question at Jesus' trial (14:61), the only other characters in Mark's Gospel who acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God are demons (though Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah is, however, immediately revealed as lacking full understanding, 8:31–33). Remarkably, demons are the only ones to acknowledge Jesus as God throughout his entire Galilean ministry (1:16–8:26).

In Mark's Gospel, other than God, Jesus, and demons, no one understands that Jesus is the Son of God prior to the Crucifixion. This lack of understanding works hand in hand with two other major Markan themes, the “messianic secret” and the “discipleship failure” motifs. Evans said, “Despite rejection at the hands of his own people (and the most important people according to contemporary measures of importance) and a shameful death at the hands of the most powerful people, Jesus was indeed the son of God, humanity's true savior and Lord.”
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In a context where Roman emperors frequently ascribed deity to themselves, Mark's presentation of Jesus as the Son of God is profoundly countercultural. At the same time the OT background in which the Davidic king was considered to be God's Son was clearly a factor as well (see esp. Ps 2:7; cf. Ps 110:1). And indeed, Mark's Gospel has an appeal to Jew and Gentile alike. Blomberg contended that in his account of Jesus, Mark's concern was to achieve a balance between two essential truths that pertain to Jesus as well as his disciples. These are the centrality of the cross and Jesus' glory through suffering (see esp. 8:31–9:1).
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Indeed, Jesus frequently alluded to his coming death and resurrection (8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34) and in a direct way spoke to Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, of his glorious return (14:62).

This is also the contention of R. Martin, who says of Mark's Gospel that it skillfully balances an emphasis on Jesus' divinity with his humanity.
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The Christological titles that Mark uses, particularly the title “Son of God,” which occurs at significant junctures in this Gospel, exemplify this balance. Mark's juxtaposition of Christ's “successes” and “failures,” his mighty deeds and his suffering and death, highlights this distinctively Markan theological perspective on the life and work of Jesus.
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The Kingdom of God
Another important Markan motif is the kingdom of God, which is proclaimed by Jesus (1:15), featured in several parables (4:11, 26, 30), and addressed in the form of entrance requirements (9:47; 10:14–15, 23–25; 11:10; 12:34; cf. 9:1; 14:25;
15:43). The entrance of the kingdom means the beginning of the end of Satan's dominion over mankind and the liberation of those who repent (1:15). Indeed, John's water baptism is only preparatory as people plunge into the Jordan, signifying their repentance to ready themselves for God's coming kingdom (1:7). Evans said, “The ‘beginning of the good news’ (1:1), as inhabitants of the Roman empire would have understood it, would have to entail restoration and renewal. Jesus' remarkable ministry, in which he overpowers Satan and his allies and brings healing and restoration, dramatically validates his message.”
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Mark's use of “kingdom of God” is synonymous with Matthew's “kingdom of heaven,” and both of these evangelists view the kingdom as intimately tied to and demonstrated through Jesus' miracles. In the development of this theme, Mark progresses from Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom, which serves to announce the kingdom of God, and then develops an outline of the coming kingdom by focusing on the ministry of Jesus.
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The miracles that Mark's Gospel records demonstrate Jesus' authority over four different things: (1) nature (4:35–41); (2) demons (5:1–20); (3) death (5:21–24,35–43); and (4) sickness (5:35–43). While Mark consistently affirmed that the kingdom of God is in opposition to Satan and his demons, he made clear that Jesus is the victor (1:24, 34; 3:11, 27; 5:6–10; 9:20, 25). Indeed, the message conveyed by the miracles that Jesus performed are signifi cant in revealing the “manifestations of the kingdom of God, that is the powerful presence of God.”
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That the kingdom is hidden to outsiders is also a vital part of Mark's presentation. Jesus used parables to demonstrate this “hiddenness” of the kingdom, a kingdom that has both present and future aspects (4:11, 26–32, 33–34).

The “Messianic Secret”
Mark's Gospel refers to Jesus' title of Messiah at least seven times, beginning with Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ (8:29–30), which occasions a thrice-repeated pattern of passion prediction, discipleship failure, and instruction regarding true discipleship (8:27–9:1; 9:30–41; 10:32–45). However, this portrayal of Jesus shows a man who was not yet willing to have his messiahship unveiled. Of the four Gospels, Mark most frequently records that Jesus told people not to reveal who he was. In the Matthean parallel (16:17–19) Jesus bestowed praise and promises on Peter for his confession of his messiahship, while no such praise accompanies Peter's confession in Mark 8:30. Other instances include his refusal for insight into parables to be given to “outsiders” (4:10–12), his rebuke of demonic confessions of his true identity (1:25, 34; 3:12), and his orders that spectacular miracles are to be reported to no one (1:44; 5:18–19, 43).
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