The Big Read 2012 - Hearing Mark

Mark’s Gospel and our lives:

These notes are again intended simply to provide background information and an outline roadmap to support this year’s communal reading of Mark’s Gospel; to assist us to listen with well attuned ears, so as to have a richer experience of the Gospel reading.

Most people in the ancient world could not read, and those who could would regularly read out loud to others. The Gospels are stories that were written to be heard, stories the authors expected to be read aloud to a group of listeners, and not merely in short sections such as we hear on Sundays (although they did that too), but as carefully crafted stories to be heard in their entirety. They were repeatedly listened to at a sitting, probably often in association with a shared meal. We know that in the early centuries of the Christian era some Jesus communities met for this purpose especially as part of their celebration of Easter. It is good that we today can still join them in doing this.

The Gospels were intended to be heard as stories within which the hearers would understand that their own lives were to be lived. This does not simply mean that we are to see something of ourselves in the characters depicted (although it includes that), but above all we are asked to immerse ourselves in a 1st century story in which the Gospel writers claim we find the deepest meaning of the big cosmic drama within which we are all living! This reaches back to the beginning of creation itself, and concerns God’s plan and purpose to enable the whole creation to become all that God has always intended it should be. It is this dramatic story that finds its turning point and fulfillment in Jesus, and it is a story that even in the 21st century has yet to reach its climax. This is the big story in which we are to see that our lives find their place, and it is the drama in which we each have our own significant part to play.

Biblical scholarship in recent years has shown how Mark develops plot from the outset in a manner that connects all the individual scenes, and confronts the listener with a story that demands a response, and asks to be made the primary context for living. In our first encounter with Jesus in the narrative, we are essentially observers, but gradually we are invited to identify more and more closely with the struggles of the disciples and the other followers of Jesus. At the conclusion of the Gospel we are in effect summoned to go again with the disciples to Galilee to make real in our lives what the plot of this Gospel has revealed, and to do so now in living encounter with the risen Christ (16:7-8). As we have “ears to hear”, we will leave the Gospel reading intent on doing just that in the particular circumstances of our own lives, both individually and communally.

It is interesting that, although the place of Mark’s Gospel within the New Testament canon was not disputed and the work was clearly highly regarded by the early

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Christian writers, it is infrequently cited by them, and in the Old Latin translation of the New Testament, which was in use during the third and fourth centuries prior to Jerome’s production of the Vulgate, Mark’s Gospel is placed fourth among the Gospels. No commentary on the Gospel is known before that of Victor of Antioch in the fifth century.

Some recent scholars have suggested that the reason for this is that, while Mark’s Gospel may not have been used as commonly as the other Gospels as a source of texts for sermons, its primary function in those early years was as the most frequently read text in sustained readings of the entire Gospel. Its comparative brevity and the way in which the story is told make it particularly well suited for this purpose, especially for hearers less familiar with a Semitic culture. The other three Gospels appear to have been publically read through in their entirety mostly during Easter, but Mark was perhaps read in this way much more frequently.

The primary requirement for our reading of Mark’s Gospel is to listen intently and prayerfully to the story. It will enrich our reading if as we do so we can have a feel for the overall shape of the story, appreciate something of the interaction and inter-relation of its fascinating characters – a particular hallmark of Mark’s style, and then reflect on the implications of this story for the calling and mission of the Christian community in the 21st century. As we listen to the Gospel, the Spirit will do its work!

The origins of Mark’s Gospel:

Strong and early tradition tells us that this Gospel was written by Mark, a disciple of Peter, who was setting out a written summary of Peter’s preaching. The choice of material, the incidents described, and the ways in which they are treated are consistent with a Gospel that is Mark’s handiwork, but whose voice to a significant degree is Peter’s. It is striking that Peter’s sermon at Caesarea as recorded in Acts 10:34-43 is in several respects a very concise summary of Mark’s Gospel. The first letter of Peter ends passing on greetings from the Christian community in Rome (cryptically designated “Babylon”), and someone Peter calls “my son Mark” (1 Pet. 5:13), probably the writer of the Gospel. The acceptance by the post-apostolic church of Mark’s Gospel as belonging within the canon of scripture was on the basis that it recorded teaching having Peter’s apostolic authority.

Irenaeus tells us (AD c175-c195) that Mark was writing “when Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel in Rome and founding the church there”, adding that “after their departure (exodus, here meaning their death) Mark, Peter’s disciple, has himself delivered to us the substance of Peter’s preaching”.

Clement of Alexandria (AD c200), Origen (AD c240) and Jerome (AD c400) all refer to Mark’s authorship, and connect Mark with Peter.

Eusebius of Caesarea in his Ecclesiastical History (AD 325) preserves fragments of a much earlier (and now lost) work by Papias of Hierapolis, who lived AD c60 - c130, and perhaps wrote his own book Exegesis of the Lord’s Teachings around AD 125, in which Papias states, “Mark, who was the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately

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all that he remembered, whether of sayings or doings of Christ, but not in order. For he was neither a hearer nor a companion of the Lord; but afterwards, as I have said, he accompanied Peter, who used to compose his discourses with a view to the needs of his hearers, not as though he were drawing up a connected account of the Lord’s teaching. So then Mark made no mistake when he wrote down thus some things as he remembered them; for he concentrated on this alone – not to omit anything that he had heard, nor to include any false statement among them.” By describing Mark as an “interpreter” (hermeneutes) of Peter, Papias does not here mean that Mark was translating from one language to another, but that Mark was presenting the substance of Peter’s teaching and preaching to those who had not heard Peter in person.

A document known as the Anti-Marcionite Prologue to Mark (AD c160-c180) records the fascinating information that Mark was (presumably as a nick-name) “called kolobodaktylos (stumpy-fingers) because his fingers were short in relation to the rest of his body; he was Peter’s interpreter, and after Peter’s departure he committed his Gospel to writing in the regions of Italy”.

As discussed last year in relation to Matthew’s Gospel, there have over the past 150 years been enormous developments in New Testament scholarship. Interested readers may refer to the 2011 notes on Matthew for brief comment on the “synoptic problem”. Suffice to say here that the vast majority of biblical scholars regard Mark’s as the earliest Gospel to be written, and to have been used as one of their sources by both Matthew and Luke.

Dating raises complex questions, and scholarly opinion is divided as to whether the Gospel as we know it was written before or after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in AD 70. Peter was martyred probably in AD 64. A plausible case can be made for a date between AD 62 and 69.

Who was Mark?

The Gospel text itself says nothing explicit about its author.

Commentators down through the ages have commonly understood the unnamed “certain young man .., wearing nothing but a linen cloth ..”, who was following when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, and who escaped and “ran off naked” (14:51-52), to be the author of the Gospel. This incident is not mentioned in the other three Gospels. If this person is Mark, it would have afforded him the opportunity to be an eye-witness of events in the Garden of Gethsemane.

There is also a long-standing tradition that the writer of the Gospel is to be identified with the John-Mark who is mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, although this identification cannot be regarded as certain. John-Mark is the composite Hebrew and Latin name of a Jew, whose mother, Mary, owned a home in Jerusalem where the early messianic Jesus community gathered (Acts 12:12). It is possible, though uncertain, that this home was also the location for the last supper, and even possible that John-Mark was the “man carrying a jar of water” (Mark 14:13) - culturally unusual in that setting, water carrying being regarded as “women’s work” - who met the two disciples sent by Jesus to prepare for that Passover meal.

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John-Mark was added to Paul and Barnabas’ party when they visited Jerusalem (Acts 12:25), and he accompanied them on their “first missionary journey”, but turned back part-way through that expedition (Acts 13:45; 13:13). John-Mark was a cousin of Barnabas (Col. 4:10), who Barnabas wanted to take along with them on the “second missionary journey”. Paul however refused to have John-Mark in the party because he had previously let them down, and Paul and Barnabas could not agree on this, so parted, Barnabas leaving for Cyprus with John-Mark (Acts 15:36-41).

Paul was later reconciled with John-Mark, who supported Paul during his imprisonment in Rome, and went on Paul’s behalf to Asia Minor (Philemon v.24: Col 4:10). During his final imprisonment, Paul instructed Timothy to send Mark (presumably the same John-Mark) to him because “he is useful in my ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11).

If John-Mark is indeed also the writer of the Gospel, he must have remained in Rome, working in close association with Peter.

Who was Mark’s Gospel written for?

In addition to the statements by early writers such as Papias, there is other evidence supporting the view that Mark was originally intended for a predominantly Gentile Roman audience. Mark is itself a Latin name. The author of the Gospel uses Latin terms in his narrative (5:9). He interprets Hebrew and Aramaic words for his readers (5:41; 7:11; 7:34; 14:36), gives information regarding apparently unfamiliar locations in the Holy Land (11:1; 13:3), and explains Jewish customs such as ritual hand-washing (1:21; 2:14; 2:16; 2:18; 7:2-4). He uses Roman time (6:38; 13:35) rather than Hebrew time. There is no genealogy of Jesus as in Matthew and Luke, such a genealogy being important for a Jewish readership, but less so for Gentile readers. Mark’s Gospel alone mentions that Simon of Cyrene, who carried Jesus’ cross, was the father of Alexander and Rufus (15:21), the latter perhaps being the same Rufus as mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Romans, and a member of the Christian community in Rome (Romans16:13).

Comparing Mark’s Gospel with Matthew’s:

It is interesting to compare Mark’s Gospel with that of Matthew, which we read together last Easter, and which was the main lectionary Gospel for 2011.

Mark’s Gospel is by far the shortest of the four, and Mark tells a story that unfolds at a breakneck pace; e.g. he frequently uses terms like “immediately” and “at once” (e.g. 1: 10, 12, 18, 23, 28, 29, and 30).

There is no birth or infancy narrative of Jesus in Mark.

John the Baptist bursts on the scene in 1:1-8, and then Jesus makes a similar abrupt entry, and is baptised by John, tempted in the wilderness, and has commenced his Galilean ministry by the end of a further 7 verses (1:9-15)! Matthew takes 12 verses

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to tell us about John the Baptist, and 22 verses to cover the same incidents in the life of Jesus.

The pace may be rapid, but Mark is far from simplistic. There are a few cases where Mark’s account is longer than Matthew’s, e.g. the story of the Gadarene demoniac in 5:1-20 (cf. Matt. 8:28-34). When this is the case it is well worth pondering why this particular story has been given extra prominence.

While Matthew’s Gospel is structured around five great discourses by Jesus (beginning with the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5-7), Mark includes only two larger blocks of sustained teaching (4:1-34 and 13:1-37), neither as long as Matthew’s longer discourses, and these sections of teaching do not have the same structuring role in the overall narrative.

In Matthew’s Gospel the narrator quotes numerous Old Testament texts, and on fourteen occasions these quotations are introduced with the words, “and thus was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet ..”. In Mark’s Gospel, although there are a number of Old Testament quotations on the lips of Jesus, Mark the narrator quotes the Old Testament in a similar way to Matthew only once, but in a very significant way right at the beginning of the Gospel, where he combines Malachi 3:1 with Isaiah 40:3 (1:2-3). This joins together the promise in Malachi (the last of the writing prophets) about Israel’s God returning at last, with Isaiah’s promise that the faithful in Israel would one day be able to shout to Zion that its God was coming back in glory.

Mark depicts Jesus as a man of action, with the focus on who Jesus is, what Jesus does, and what Jesus says. Discipleship from Matthew’s rabbinic Jewish perspective means being committed to Jesus as the inaugurator of the messianic kingdom, and putting into practice all that Jesus teaches (e.g. Matt. 7:24-27). Discipleship for Mark means believing in Jesus, following him and participating wholeheartedly in all that he does as the suffering Son of God and messianic Son of Man, the man in whom God himself has at last come to be present with his people in the midst of his creation; the man in whom Israel’s God is now coming to be a new kind of king.

Comparing Mark’s Gospel with Luke’s:

Several interesting comparisons can be drawn, but we shall note only one. Luke is renowned for an enormous compassion and interest in marginalised groups in the society of the day, such as most women, the poor, and despised groups such as prostitutes and tax collectors, but not even Luke has quite the disarmingly frank identification with ordinary people that Mark exhibits.

E.g. in the story of the woman who was suffering from chronic bleeding, Luke the physician simply records the basic facts of the case: “… a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her” (Luke 8:43). Mark by contrast tells it as the woman had experienced it: “… a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages

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for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.” (5:25-26)

Mark’s distinctive style and themes:

We shall look later at the Gospel’s formal literary structure, but perhaps the best way to get a feel for Mark’s distinctive style and purpose is to explore one major theme in the stories he recounts and the characters in those stories, and to see how Mark works with them.

As has already been noted, when Mark’s Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God, he is not pointing away from himself to God, but is instead pointing to God becoming king in order to explain his own actions. Mark’s view of discipleship then focuses on those who truly follow this Jesus.

Question: Who are Jesus true followers? Mark’s story presents us with two main groups of would-be followers, the twelve disciples and the women in his Gospel.

It has often been said that when Jesus established the band of followers who were to be the embryonic nucleus of God’s new society, and appointed twelve men whom he taught and sent out as his representatives to proclaim the coming of the kingdom, to heal and exorcise demons, to whom he revealed himself after the resurrection, and who then became the leaders of the Messianic community, he was following the accepted cultural norms in the Israel of his day, including its gender prejudice. Some have even suggested that Jesus would have been better to appoint six men and six women to his band of disciples, as a model for the future. On closer examination however, Mark’s Gospel presents a rather different picture from that commonly assumed.

Mark reveals Jesus’ band of twelve male disciples as far from ideal followers or potential leaders. The turning point in this strand of his narrative is when Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, but then refuses to allow Jesus to redefine the meaning of Messiah-ship in terms of Jesus’ suffering and death (8:27-33).

The second half of Mark’s Gospel shows us the consequences of this failure to understand and accept the inescapably cross-shaped nature of Jesus’ ministry. Those previously sent to cast out demons now fail in their attempt at exorcism (9:14-29). Those previously sent to enlarge the Messianic community centred in Jesus now forbid others from extending his reign (9:38-40); and they prevent children from being brought to him (10:13-16).

This reversal reaches its terrible climax with the fulfilment of Jesus’ prediction that they would all fall away (14:27-31). One good reason for reading this Gospel right through is to make the shocking discovery that the very last we see of any of the twelve disciples in Mark’s Gospel is when Peter, with swearing and cursing, three times denies the accusation that he is one of Jesus’ followers (14:71-72). This is even more starkly apparent when we read the Gospel as concluding where it clearly originally ended at 16:8 (see later). Peter’s triple denial is linked structurally to

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the three times that Jesus has told the disciples that he is going to Jerusalem to die and then rise again (8:31; 9:30-31; 10:33-34).

Mark loves to use irony, and it seems clear when we read through the whole Gospel that he wants us to see that Peter (whose name means “rock”) embodied in himself the destiny of all the twelve disciples to be shown up (at least on that side of Pentecost) as what Jesus had described as the rocky (“petrine”) soil, in the most important of all his parables as Mark presents them (4:1-41). The disciples had all proved to be those who initially heard the word with joy, but “they have no root, and endure only for a while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately (that word again!) they fall away” (4:16-17).

The twelve men closest to Jesus would not and did not accept that where this present world sees only weakness, suffering, ignominy and shame, the good news of the kingdom proclaims power and glory, because Messiah’s death was the necessary path to secure a renewed creation; it was the chosen route by which, in Jesus, God was becoming king.

At his time of greatest crisis, the twelve closest insiders all left Jesus in the lurch and a stranger had to be conscripted to assist Jesus to complete the journey to Golgotha for his crucifixion (15:21). The twelve would-be followers all found themselves, at the climactic moment, far removed from the cross on which Jesus came into his kingdom. (Some may wonder how the “beloved disciple” of John’s Gospel, who was at the foot of the cross, fits with this picture? The short answer is that there are several compelling reasons for thinking that the “beloved disciple” is someone other than John the son of Zebedee, or any other one of the twelve.)

Did no seed then fall on good ground and bear fruit? Yes, it did! There is another dimension to Mark’s story and it unfolds in relation to the women in his narrative. This second story, in counterpoint with that of the disciples, begins with a series of four unnamed women; and it concludes with the women at the cross (15:40-41), and then the women at Jesus’ entombment by Joseph of Arimathea (15:47), and then again the women at the empty tomb on resurrection morning (16:1-8). It is these women who are commissioned as the first apostles of the resurrection to “go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” (16:7) Following the account of Peter’s denial, the only male supporters of Jesus that Mark mentions are Simon of Cyrene (and he is perhaps at that stage just a conscript), and Joseph of Arimathea; the others are all women.

Mark is not proposing that women are favoured over men in God’s economy. Rather, the historical reality of women’s status in the world of that day made them especially well able to understand and demonstrate what following Jesus really involves, and to bear poignant witness to how it is that “the first will be last, and the last will be first.” (10:31)

It is very instructive to consider Mark’s four unnamed women:

A The first of these unnamed women is the woman with chronic bleeding. (Mark 5:25-34) She has faith and the confidence to approach Jesus and touch him, seeking

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healing, but also knowing that her illness renders her and everyone with whom she has physical contact ritually unclean. She has been excluded by her affliction from proper participation in society and Israel’s worship for twelve years, and she has “spent all that she had”. Jesus sends her away in peace and healed, affirming her legitimate place in his community by including her in his family - he calls her “daughter”.

Although writing for a Roman readership, Mark reflects his Hebrew roots by making frequent use of literary chiasms, “sandwich stories”, typical of Semitic story telling. In Mark’s style these often consist simply of an ABA’ structure within a larger narrative. With this story Mark gives us a chiasm of this sort, enclosing the central story of the bleeding woman within the story of Jairus, the synagogue leader (an insider, at least in Israel), and the raising of his mortally ill daughter (5:21-24 and 35-43).

A Jairus’ begs Jesus to come to his dying daughter 5: 21-24a B An unnamed woman, bleeding for 12 years, is healed by Jesus 5:24b-34A’ Jairus’s daughter, who is 12 years old, is restored to life 5:35-43

Mark links the two female characters via the period of twelve years which they have shared – the woman has been bleeding for twelve years, and the girl is twelve years old, and after twelve years they are now both experiencing forms of death (socially and bodily) from which Jesus delivers them.

It is surely also significant that Mark positions this story immediately before Jesus’ trip to “his hometown” (Nazareth), where in contrast to both the bleeding woman and Jairus, those most familiar with Jesus demonstrate the least faith (6:1-6).

B The second unnamed woman is a Syrophoenician from Tyre, a Gentile who persists in believing that Jesus, this Jewish rabbi and healer, will at a distance exorcise a demon from her daughter, even though Jesus calls her a dog. Her faith is rewarded and her daughter is healed (7:24-30). Much could be said on another occasion about this story and its setting.

C The third unnamed woman is the poor widow who, surrounded by a crowd of rich and ostentatious donors, is so unobtrusive that seemingly few other than Jesus notice her as she puts her two tiny coins into the temple treasury. Jesus then says that out of her need she has cast in “all of whatever she had; her whole life (bios)” (12:41-44). This text is commonly translated, put in “her whole living” i.e. “means of support”, and that is what from the immediate contest we would expect to be said. However the unexpected Greek word Mark actually uses here is bios, which literally means “life”, not “living”, and he surely does this deliberately.

This deceptively simple story has often been read as merely illustrating the principle that it is not how much you give that matters, but how much you keep for yourself. That is surely part of its meaning, but read in context within Mark’s skilfully constructed and multi-layered narrative, it is a story of extraordinary depth and power.

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It is a good example of how Mark employs overlapping structures, and we shall look at it in more detail.

Within the big picture he is painting Mark makes inescapably clear that this is a key story giving us very important words from Jesus the Teacher:

i) Mark tells us that Jesus “sat down” (12:41), the authoritative position of a rabbi when teaching, just as Mark has earlier told us Jesus did in the boat (4:1) when he taught in parables (chapter 4); and as Jesus is about to do on the Mount of Olives (13:3) to deliver his eschatological discourse about the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the age (chapter 13).

ii) Mark also tells us that Jesus “called his disciples, and said to them …” (12:43). This is the same phrase that Mark used when telling of the earlier highly significant occasions when Jesus first called them from their fishing in the Sea of Galilee (1:16-20); when he called them and appointed twelve with a special role (3:13-19); when he called them and prepared to send them out in mission (6:7); when he called them for the feeding of the five thousand (8:1); and when he called them in order to solemnly tell them that those who would follow him must deny themselves and take up their cross (8:34). Later, Mark tells us that when the disciples were arguing about which of them was the greatest; Jesus “sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ (9:35). The expression occurs once more when Jesus replies to the request of James and John for superior status secondary only to his own, and Jesus tells the disciples that in the Son of Man’s kingdom there is place only for servant leaders (10:42-45).

iii) The importance is further underlined in that Jesus begins his teaching here with the solemn opening expression, “Truly (Amen), I tell you …“, just as he had introduced previous highly significant sayings; e.g. “Truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward” (9:41).

This story of the widow is the central component within an ABA’ chiastic structure:

A Jesus denounces a hypocritical leadership that devours widows’ houses 12:38-40 B A widow donates a tiny sum, yet “her whole life”, to the temple treasury12:41-44A’ Jesus declares that the Jerusalem temple will be utterly destroyed 13:1-2

The story of the self-giving widow is enclosed by an opening section (12:38-40), in which Jesus denounces the scribes who love public respect and social status and want the best seats in the synagogue and at feasts, but who at the same time “devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers” (12:38-40). The point being made by Mark is that this widow is in fact being exploited by an unscrupulous temple hierarchy to support Herod’s corrupt regime. The way of life of the temple leadership is one that ruthlessly takes all, in stark contrast to the widow who gives all.

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In the closing section of the chiasm (13:1-2) the disciples are admiring the impressive grandeur of Herod’s temple, (built in part by exploiting those symbolised by the widow), when Jesus announces its utter destruction. The story of the widow again reveals Mark’s love of irony, for soon not one stone of the building the widow’s sacrificial donation has been given to support will be left standing on another!

There is however a second overlapping ABA’ chiastic structure centring this time on the series of controversies between Jesus and the Jewish authorities in 11:27-12:40.

X A fig tree is cursed by Jesus 11:12-14A First action - Jesus evicts traders from the temple, halting its activity 11:15-19 X’ The cursed fig tree withers 11:20-26 B Controversies between Jesus and Jewish leadership 11:27-12:40A’ Final action - the widow’s offering, and Jesus’ comment 12:41-44

These controversies (which have their own carefully crafted structure) are enclosed by an opening section describing the first action of Jesus in the temple in the Passion story as Mark records it, when Jesus drove out “those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple” (11:15-19), thereby symbolically bringing temple activity to a halt.

That incident is itself the centre of a further chiasm, and is enclosed within the account of the symbolic cursing and withering of the fig tree (11:12-14 and 11:20-26), pointing to the immanent destruction of the temple and its associated activities.

The story of the widow (enclosed as we have just seen within its own chiasm) then provides the closing frame to the controversies, and records the very final act of Jesus in the Jerusalem temple. This combined structure makes the point that just as the “cleansing of the temple” and the withered fig tree allude to the Jerusalem temple’s immanent destruction, so the widow’s offering of “her whole life” alludes to Jesus offering of his “whole life” as is about to be described in chapters 14 and 15.

We may be tempted to think that the widow’s offering of “her whole life” is uncalled for. Did Jesus not bring that sort of exploitation to a symbolic halt just a few days earlier? Mark is however showing us that her action is in precise parallel to that of Jesus, who, as is about to be described in chapters 14 and 15, will also give his “whole life”, and he will do this in submission to abuse at the hands of the same corrupt leadership of Israel as was exploiting the widow. Jesus’ first action in the temple pointed to its end; and his final act there points to his own end.

There is yet a third dimension to the widow’s story within Mark’s extraordinary series of overlapping narrative structures.

A An unnamed widow gives a tiny but extravagant gift 12:41-44 B Jesus announces the temple’s destruction and end of the present age 13:1-37 A’ An unnamed woman gives a lavish and extravagant gift 14:3-9

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The story of the nameless widow and her gift of two tiny coins (12:41-44) is in parallel with the story of the anointing of Jesus by another unnamed woman at Bethany (14:3-9). These two stories together enclose Jesus’ eschatological discourse in chapter 13 about the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, and the end of the present age, as the centre of a further chiasm. One woman gives the smallest offering imaginable in monetary terms; the other woman gives a lavish and expensive gift. Both are to be understood as giving all that they have, and doing so out of self-giving love to YHWH and his Messiah.

D Mark’s fourth unnamed woman is the woman mentioned above who comes to a dinner party in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, just prior to the events of the Passion (14.3-9). Here Mark yet again constructs this text as a chiasm with this story at the centre, enclosed by two statements regarding the plans of the Jewish leadership to have Jesus killed (14:1-2 and 1:10-11).

A The authorities seek to kill Jesus 14:1-2 B The anointing of Jesus at Bethany by an unnamed woman 14:3-9A’ Judas agrees to betray Jesus 14:10-11

The woman pours costly, fragrant oil on Jesus’ head. In the big drama Mark is unfolding this unnamed woman is affirming Jesus as the “anointed one”, which is the meaning of the Hebrew word “Messiah”, and the Greek word “Christ”. Some of those at the party are angry at this “waste”. How outrageous, disposing of almost a year’s wages on Jesus’ head! But Jesus rebukes them, saying that she has done a good thing, preparing his body for burial. The mystery that the twelve had refused to accept is at last proclaimed in this woman’s action – the Messiah must die; and her action is both the anticipation of a coronation, and the anointing of the King’s body for burial. It is not surprising that Jesus promises that her deed will be told in memory of her, wherever in the whole world the good news is proclaimed (14:9), because her deed turns out to be the only deed in the whole Gospel that acknowledges both Jesus’ authority to reign as Messianic King, and that his death is the means of his enthronement.

When we read the Gospel right through as a whole we realise that Mark really does want us to see that second only to Jesus himself, this unnamed woman is in a sense the greatest character in the whole story. Jesus had earlier made clear that true greatness has nothing to do with worldly recognition or insider status. “Whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all; for the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (10:44-45)

As has already been noted, Mark loves irony, and just as there was irony in the fact that the widow’s gift was for a grand but doomed temple, so there is also wonderful irony in the fact that the anointing of Israel’s Messiah takes place not in the temple, but in a leper’s house; and not at the hands of the High Priest, but the loving hands of an unnamed woman.

Mark’s love of irony is also seen in his immediate juxtaposition of this story with his account of Judas and his betrayal of Jesus (14:10-11). An unnamed woman

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gladly gives up the possibility of a lot of money and enters the house to honour Jesus; while Judas gives up Jesus for money, and leaves that same house to betray him.

Other major themes:

A Jesus is the Son of God:

This is an important term in Mark’s Gospel, which begins with the words, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1).

Foundational to Israel’s self-understanding was the fact that back at the beginning of the nation’s story, Moses’ authorised message to Pharaoh had been, “Thus says YHWH: Israel is my firstborn son… Let my son go that he may worship me”. (Exodus 4:22-23)

Centuries later when the monarchy was established, central to the meaning of that kingship was the understanding that the Davidic King personally embodied YHWH’s son Israel. This is expressed in texts such as Psalm 2, “I will tell of the decree of the LORD: he said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Ps. 2:7-8)

By 1st century Israel the title ‘Son of God” had come to be understood by many to refer especially to Messiah, i.e. the long awaited Davidic King who would be the true representative and embodiment of YHWH’s son Israel.

At Jesus’ baptism, a voice comes from heaven proclaiming, “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased” (1:11). Similarly on the mount of transfiguration, a voice comes from heaven, “This is my Son, the beloved, listen to him” (9:7). Within the flow of Mark’s narrative, it is clear that Jesus is to be seen as the one in whom those Old Testament prophecies about YHWH returning to Zion are being fulfilled. It is in Jesus that God is becoming king.

As the story unfolds, demons recognise Jesus as the Son of God, but as soon as they voice this, Jesus silences them (1:34; 3:11; 5:7).

As we proceed through Mark’s narrative, we keep hoping that the twelve disciples will catch on, but although Peter does acknowledge Jesus as in some sense “Messiah” (8:29), he does not understand what this entails, and the expression “Son of God” never crosses any of the disciples’ lips.

Finally, as Jesus dies, and because of the way in which he dies, in another of Mark’s great ironies a human being at last confesses Jesus as “God’s Son”; and he is the Roman centurion overseeing the crucifixion! The disciples had been with Jesus throughout his ministry, but they constantly misconstrued who he was, what he was doing and where he was heading. Jesus revealed his divine Son-ship most clearly in his suffering and death, and the centurion at some important level recognised this crucified “king of the Jews” for who he was. Only a divine being would willingly

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endure such dereliction and suffering. The twelve disciples however were not there to see it.

B Jesus is the Son of Man:

Daniel 7:9-14 was a text of intense interest in 1st century Israel. In Daniel’s apocalyptic vision the heavenly court is assembled, and the Ancient One takes his throne and begins to deal with the forces of evil. Then we read, “I saw one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven; and he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship so that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.” (7:13-14)

This “human being” (which is what the Aramaic expression “son of man” literally means) is depicted as vindicated following a period of suffering, and he is central to the establishment of the heavenly kingdom for which Israel looked and longed. By the 1st century some Jewish teachers were (as with the term “Son of God”) identifying this “son of man” with the expected Messiah.

It is this latter title “Son of Man” that Jesus takes up more frequently than any other and applies to himself. In Mark’s account it makes is first appearance in the story of the paralyzed man who was let down through the roof by his friends, with the highly significant words of Jesus, “So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins …” (2:10).

Overall literary structure of the Gospel:

It is obvious to any reader of the Gospel that the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus are of primary importance to Mark, in that the final one-third of the text is given over to the account of the events of the final week of Jesus’ earthly life, and the events of resurrection morning.

Beyond this, it used to be said by scholars that Mark’s Gospel has little clear structure, and is simply a loosely thrown together collection of component stories that explore some common themes.

Over the past twenty-five years it has become obvious that the text is actually a very carefully crafted Semitic-style narrative, with many overlapping layers, and (as we have seen with the story of the widow’s sacrificial gift) with any given unit of text at times having multiple relationships and functions.

Hebraic story-telling commonly employs what is variously known as inverse parallelism, reflective or mirror parallelism, chiastic parallelism (the term we are using), or ring structure:

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A B C D C’ B’A’

This is different from the usually more linear narrative structures of most European literature. These Hebraic structures belong to a Semitic culture where stories were expected to be heard many times, the audience having the opportunity to become very familiar with them and with the relationships between the parts. Parallel structures also aid memorisation, and these texts commonly needed to be memorised by the story teller.

In chiastic structures the story usually follows a broadly but not strictly chronological sequence, as Papias early in the second century noted is the case in Mark’s Gospel, and with which he clearly did not have any problem. In these chiastic structures key components are put together in parallel so that they inform one another (“inter-textual resonance”); i.e. components within the pairs of segments A and A’, B and B’ etc. are put into relation to one another so as to bring out the full meaning of each. There is a pivot or chiastic centre (D in the diagram) that focuses on the core meaning of the whole narrative - a meaning which, as they think it over, the audience should allow to flow out over the entire story. Listening for the parallel relationships and for the central pivot, and reflecting on what it all might mean, would have been instinctual to any first century audience in a Semitic culture. That was the usual way in which most stories were to be experienced. Mark’s Gospel, although in Greek and for a Roman audience, has been written in this classical Hebraic style.

In one influential analysis of the text (by Duane Christensen), the basic “big picture” of Mark’s Gospel can be presented as a three level nested Menorah (i.e. a series of three seven-branched candlesticks, one enclosed within the other like a Russian doll):

Level One (1:1-16:1-8):

A Proclamation of John – One more powerful than I is coming 1:1-8 B Beginning of Jesus’ ministry – baptism, temptation, calling disciples 1:9-3:6 C Jesus’ ministry in Galilee with the twelve 3:7-8:21 D Jesus’ teaching on discipleship – giving sight to the blind 8:22-10:52 C’ Jesus ministry in Jerusalem with the twelve 11:1-13:37 B’ End of Jesus ministry – death, burial 14:1-15:47A’ Proclamation of angel – He is risen, and is not here 16:1-8

Note that a whole series of incidents are in close parallel and mutually inform each other: a) the baptism of Jesus (1:9-11) and the burial of Jesus (15:42-47); b) the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee (1:14-15) and his final ministry in Jerusalem (15:1-32); c) the calling of Peter and three other disciples (1:16-20) and Peter’s denials of Jesus (14:66-72); d) Jesus’ healing and teaching in Galilee (1:29-

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2:12) and his final ministry on the Mount of Olives (14:26-52); e) Jesus eating with tax collectors and the call of Levi (2:13-17) and Jesus eating with the twelve disciples at the institution of the Lord’s Supper ( 14:22-25); f) the report of the death of John the Baptist ( 6:14-29) and the plot to kill Jesus (14:1-2). (These could all be explored in detail on another occasion.)

Level Two (8:22-11:10) expanding section D in Level One:

A They came to Bethsaida 8:22a B Healing of the blind man at Bethsaida 8:22b-26 C Peter’s declaration – You are the Messiah 8: 27-30 D Transfiguration - Jesus foretells death and resurrection 8:31-10:34 C’ Request of James and John – Jesus models servant ministry 10:35-45 B’ Healing of blind Bartimaeus at Jericho 10:46-52A’ They approach and enter Jerusalem – triumphal entry 11:1-10

Another of Mark’s major themes that we have not yet considered is that of blindness, with the two parallel openings of the eyes of the blind men in Bethsaida and Jericho setting the stage for the heart of the story, where Jesus three times foretells his death and resurrection, and what he reveals is not “seen”, because his disciples too are “blind”.

Level Three (8:31-10:34) expanding section D in Level Two:

A Jesus foretells his death and resurrection 8:31-38 B Unusual teaching – Some will not taste of death until .. 9:1 C Transfiguration – Jesus, Moses and Elijah 9:2-8 D The disciples do not see the meaning of rising from the dead 9:9-10 C’ The coming of Elijah 9:11-13 B’ Unusual healing – Why could we not cast it out? 9:14-29 A’ Jesus twice foretells his death and resurrection 9: 30-10:34

At the centre of the whole Gospel we find the typically Hebraic “riddle in the middle” (9:10-11) - an enigmatic saying on which we are challenged to reflect and to allow to illuminate all that precedes it and all that will follow. This particular “riddle” is the statement of Jesus to Peter, James and John that they should say nothing about what they had seen on the mountain until after the Son of Man has “risen from the dead”. Despite what they had “seen” on the mountain the disciples cannot “see” what Jesus means by this.

Many other structural relationships can be demonstrated in the text within this broad overall scheme, and several variations in detail to the scheme itself have been proposed. It however provides a valuable framework for thinking through the issues with which the Gospel confronts us.

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The ending of Mark’s Gospel:

There are significant variations to the ending of this Gospel in the many texts that have come down to us, and discussion of what are complex textual issues is not appropriate here. There are however several good reasons for thinking that the Gospel originally ended at 16:8, and it is helpful to read it through with that in mind.

It also seems that at a very early stage some in the early church, possibly including the original author himself, felt that the original ending was too abrupt, and that something should be added about the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to the disciples, together with an abbreviated version of what we know as the “great commission” in Matthew’s Gospel. What is usually now called the “longer ending” (16:9-20) was therefore added. This is how the text of Mark’s Gospel appears in most surviving manuscripts, and this is the text adopted in most modern translations. An interesting case can be made that this “longer ending” does bear some evidence of Mark’s hand.

An alternative additional ending, almost certainly not added with Mark’s participation and usually known as the “shorter ending”, appears in one manuscript. Some other manuscripts include the “shorter ending” after 16:8, and then continue on with the “longer ending” as well.

The text the church has generally regarded as authoritative is that with the addition of only the “longer ending”. It is well worth reading through the text with the original ending at 16:8, and then reading it with the “longer ending”, and thinking through how the first reading informs, but is also enriched by the second.

Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first must be slave of all; for the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. Mark 10:43-45

Steuart Henderson,Martinborough

Easter 2012

Note: This document does not pretend to be a properly referenced research paper. It is indebted to many sources, although the content is of course the author’s responsibility, including its deficiencies. These notes have been produced simply to provide some background information for a communal reading of the Gospel by a local Christian congregation. Others are very welcome to use this material on that basis.

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