The Gospel of Mark: Interpreting Biblical Texts Series

The Gospel of Mark: Interpreting Biblical Texts Series

by Donald H Juel
The Gospel of Mark: Interpreting Biblical Texts Series

The Gospel of Mark: Interpreting Biblical Texts Series

by Donald H Juel

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Overview

This volume is written for anyone who—for whatever reason—is drawn to the New Testament. It is also for those who are not so drawn, for it is written out of the conviction that good readers need to be formed. Anyone can read the Bible; no particular level of education is required, but readers need to learn what to look for in stories that may seem distant and strange. The long tradition of reading the Scriptures in the church is not the enemy in such an enterprise, but audiences change, and the Bible must be heard and wrestled with in each new situation. This volume focuses on the Gospel according to Mark, probably the first of the four Gospels to be written. It has received the least attention of the four in the history of the church. The explosion of Markan scholarship in the last decades tells a fascinating story that is not the focus of this study but informs it. The result of intense engagement with Mark within and outside the academic community has not achieved a meeting of the minds. Mark’s Gospel does not easily yield its secrets. It is the case, however, that conversing about Mark has been enormously interesting and productive for the church as well as the academy. This volume is written to open readers to its remarkable story. Where engagement will finally lead remains as unpredictable and as promising as the Gospel itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780687008490
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Publication date: 10/01/1999
Series: Interpreting Biblical Texts Series
Pages: 224
Product dimensions: 6.06(w) x 9.01(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Donald H. Juel is Richard J. Dearborn Professor New Testament Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey.

Read an Excerpt

The Gospel of Mark


By Donald H. Juel

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 1999 Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-687-00849-0



CHAPTER 1

The Opening (1:1-15)


The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
"See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.'"


John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."


THE OBSERVANT READER AND ATTENTIVE LISTENER

Contrary to the kinds of expectations generated by academic institutions, one does not need to know anything to appreciate Mark's Gospel. Much of what is necessary to appreciate the story is available to observant readers and careful listeners.

For example, the story begins with an assessment: what follows is "the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." The story is good news; in what way, we are not told. What is meant by the "beginning" is likewise left unexplained. Already readers may begin to form an agenda of questions to ask as the story unfolds.

What follows is a reference to something "written in the prophet Isaiah ..." Even without knowledge of the Old Testament, readers have a sense that the "beginning" is somehow related to some ancient promises.

The speaker of the words is not identified, as in Luke. When read silently, the reader may imagine a narrator (and behind the narrator an unidentified author) whose character and personality emerge as the story is told. When read aloud, the lack of a specified author forces the reader to make a decision whether to serve as advocate or, conscious of the possibility, to make the audience aware that he or she is at least ambivalent about what is being said and thus has a critical relationship with the "inscribed narrator." Those who listen are from the outset placed in the position of insiders who learn what characters in the story cannot know.

The first character we meet is John the baptizer. We learn that he is enormously popular, that he is a fire and brimstone preacher, and that his diet and clothing are unusual. None of these things is explained further. His diet and clothing apparently mark him as peculiar. Some knowledge of the geographical setting (especially the proximity to Jerusalem) and the peculiar clothing adds depth to the story but is not necessary to appreciate what is happening.

While John proclaims "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (1:4), his only recorded words have to do with a successor:

He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (1:7-8)


His words, the first to be spoken by a character in the story, serve as a prophecy—interestingly, a prophecy that is not immediately fulfilled: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (1:8). Those who read carefully will come to the end of Mark's story without having learned about Jesus' having baptized anyone with the Spirit. When asked about this, students generally point to Acts as the place where the promise is fulfilled. Mark writes no sequel to his Gospel, however, and particularly if Mark is the earliest of the Gospel stories, the absence of a narrative like Acts 2 is all the more interesting. This is the first in a series of promises that are not fulfilled by the time the story ends. What to make of them will be important for interpreters.

Jesus is introduced virtually without preparation. We have been offered an assessment: he is Christ, Son of God (1:1). But the particulars of his background—his birth, education, credentials—are completely omitted. We learn only that he comes to be baptized by John. Even for those who know virtually nothing about the terms "Christ" and "Son of God," that Jesus—presumably the protagonist in the story—comes to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins will seem peculiar. There is no effort to explain the tension, in contrast to Matthew's account in which the dialogue between John and Jesus at least acknowledges the problem (Matt 3:14-15).

The account of Jesus' baptism is as interesting for what it does not say as for what it does. Peculiar is the failure to mention anything about John's view of things. We have no idea if the Baptizer recognizes who has come to be baptized, no sense that he appreciates what has occurred. The reactions of others present are likewise not mentioned, perhaps because they are unimportant. Most striking is the failure to say anything about Jesus' reaction. We learn nothing about his own feelings. While people in our society are interested in little else, the story is not played out at the level of the psychological. How Jesus feels, what motivates him, what has influenced him to decide as he does—these are apparently unimportant compared with the public consequences of his arrival. Readers are expected to be more aware of the political and social dimensions of life than the psychological.

The spectacle of the heavens being torn open, the Spirit descending on Jesus, and a voice from heaven making a declaration about "my Son" contrast with the public reaction: there is none. The narrator says only that "he (Jesus) saw"; the voice addresses him: "You are my Son." Is this perhaps a vision? There are no clues that it is. It is described in the same matter-of-fact style as the rest of the narrative. It is difficult to imagine what a "tear in the heavens" might look like and even more difficult to imagine that no one but Jesus noticed. We can only wonder that the narrator and reader hear what only Jesus appears to see and hear. Readers and listeners are cast in the role of "insiders."

Once again, to appreciate the story readers do not need to know what it means that Jesus is called "my beloved Son" by the voice from the torn heavens, or that someone is "pleased" with him. It is enough to recognize that the events are singular. We are not given to imagine that such features accompany other baptisms. Jesus is obviously special—as we have been told.

What it means that the Spirit comes down "on" Jesus (NRSV) will become apparent as the story unfolds. The immediate consequence is that Jesus is "driven" into the wilderness where he is "tempted" by Satan. Without knowing more, readers can assume this will be important for future tests Jesus must face.

Finally, the coordination of the beginning of Jesus' public preaching and John's arrest foreshadows another sense in which John will be a "forerunner."


THE KNOWLEDGEABLE READER AND LISTENER

Those with access to a Bible with footnotes may learn a most interesting thing about the opening verses: versions of Mark in ancient manuscripts do not agree. Some important manuscripts lack "Son of God" in the opening line; experts on the text of the New Testament agree that deciding on which version to print and which to relegate to the footnotes is difficult. Some ancient versions read "as it is written in the prophets" rather than "in the prophet Isaiah," a reading followed by the old King James Version. Verse 4 occurs in four different versions among the manuscripts, and the passage chosen by textual critics features a grammatical infelicity not preserved in the English translation. Even deciding what will be read as "the Bible" requires decisions among alternatives, as we have noted earlier.

While much is available on the surface of the text, the narrative takes on texture and richness when readers know some particulars. The citation of a passage from Isaiah, for example, links the story of Jesus to a whole set of images from Israel's scriptures and tradition. The prophet Isaiah in turn writes within a rich tradition. Prophetic oracles collected from well over a century became part of Israel's scriptures as "Isaiah," to be read and reread in the centuries following the fall of Israel and Judah, the Exile, the restoration, and during the intervening centuries. Encompassed in the citation is not just a phrase from a literary work but a whole history of experience gathered around a pregnant text. While we cannot know all that the citation brought with it, we can learn a great deal—and the more we know, the richer the experience of the citation.

Those knowledgeable about the scriptures will, of course, immediately recognize that the citation is not only from Isaiah. It includes words from Malachi 3:1 and perhaps an echo of a passage from Exodus (23:20). That will not be a problem for readers of the King James Bible, since it introduces the citation in 1:2 as written "in the prophets." For those who use a contemporary text, however, the tension becomes apparent. How the passage about the "messenger" from Malachi came to be linked with the line from Isaiah is a topic for study. It may be that the writer of the Gospel had access to the scriptures as they had become part of Christian tradition rather than as actual biblical texts. Such questions have generated a whole field of scholarship. Again, the more we know about the background of the scriptural passages, the more interesting they become.

Certainly knowledge of geography contributes to an appreciation of the story. That crowds throng to John in the "wilderness" around the Jordan is remarkable—not simply because the area is an unlikely setting for gathered crowds but because of the proximity to Jerusalem. Not far from where John is preaching is the religious center of the earth, according to many in Israel. Sacrifices for sin are offered daily. It is there, according to Psalm 132, that God promised he would dwell forever. So why do crowds have to come to the wilderness, outside the city, to "get religion"? A whole history of debate revolving around the Temple is conjured up—and it is hardly surprising when the Temple comes to be the center of the controversy that ends with Jesus' rejection and execution.

Some knowledge of John the Baptist is likewise helpful. The narrator presumes readers know something about the strange figure. We can learn more about John from the Jewish historian Josephus, who indicates that John was a person of political as well as religious importance. During the first century, John was in fact more well known than Jesus.

One of the interesting details in Mark's account is the mention of John's clothing. In 2 Kings 1:8, we learn that Elijah the prophet wore such clothing. Elijah, according to 2 Kings 2:11, was taken to heaven alive in a chariot of fire. Elijah's future became a topic for discussion—and still is to this day. Even within Israel's scriptures there are expectations about Elijah. The prophet Malachi ends his oracles with a promise from God:

Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse. (Mal 4:5-6)


For those who know the promise, John's appearance can be understood as Elijah's return. And when one's "Old Testament" ends with Malachi, the link is all the more significant. Mark's story begins on the note on which Israel's scriptures end.

Even these few examples indicate how important to an appreciation of Mark's story knowledge of Israel's scriptures can be. Such knowledge is not necessary, but it contributes to a far richer experience of the story.

Other details are striking. The "tearing" of the heavens is one (presuming that English readers use a version that renders the Greek "tear" [NRSV] and not "open" [RSV]). Observant readers will note that the image appears once more in Mark's Gospel, at the conclusion of Jesus' ministry, at the moment of his death: "And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom" (15:38). Is there a relationship between the "tearing" of the heavens and the "tearing" of the temple curtain?

Translation again matters with regard to the comment about the descent of the Spirit. The NRSV translates, "he saw ... the Spirit descending like a dove on him" (1:10). The translation is particularly unfortunate. While Matthew and Luke use "upon," the preposition in Mark is translated literally "into." Those who know Greek can appreciate why later in the story those who claim that Jesus is possessed by the ruler of demons are guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (3:22-30): Jesus is indeed possessed, but by the Spirit of God and not a demon. Something has indeed "gotten into him."

A final detail is the wording of the voice that speaks to Jesus from the torn heavens. The words are reminiscent of several important Bible passages. One is Psalm 2:7: "You are my son; today I have begotten you." The verse is actually quoted in Hebrews 1:5, in a passage discussing what it means that Jesus Christ has "become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs." Jesus, according to the passage cited by the author of Hebrews, is called "Son" by God. Knowledge of the history of this psalm in Jewish tradition provides an important setting for the whole Gospel. In the psalm, God speaks to his "anointed" (Messiah, Christ) and calls him "my son." Jesus is "Christ" and "Son of God." The titles have a history. Their setting within the royal tradition in Psalm 2 is a good place to begin.

"With you I am well pleased." The words are reminiscent of a famous passage from Isaiah 42:1:

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.


While Mark's Greek is not a rendering familiar from the Septuagint, the wording is unmistakably from Isaiah. What it means—that Jesus receives the Spirit—is hinted at in these words reminiscent of Isaiah 42. As God's chosen and favored Son, he will bring justice to the nations. A script begins to emerge for the story.

At least as interesting is the reference to "beloved Son." The image is familiar from the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is told, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love ... and offer him there as a burnt offering ..." (Gen 22:2). Does Jesus' destiny as a "beloved Son" have anything to do with the other? Traditions about the "Akedah," or "Binding of Isaac," have opened significant new vistas for readers of the NT. The story of Abraham and Isaac, read in Jewish synagogues as the appointed text for Rosh Hashanah, the festival of the new year, may provide part of the setting for the story of another Father and Son.

None of this information is necessary to an appreciation of the passage. For the knowledgeable reader, however, the passage opens to new richness and depth.


THE IMAGINATIVE READER AND LISTENER

While close reading is necessary and knowledge helpful, the Gospel comes to life only as there is imaginative engagement. That is obvious at the most elementary level. The author provides few transitions. If the Gospel is to be experienced as a narrative, connections need to be supplied. We are not explicitly told, for example, that Jesus is the one of whom John speaks. At no point do we learn if John even knows that. Because the account of Jesus' baptism follows John's prophecy, however, we are inclined to make the connection. There is no great mystery here.

More interesting is what to make of some of the patterns in the narrative. For example, Jesus' story opens with the tearing of the heavens, the descent of the Spirit, and a declaration about his relationship to God as "Son." Jesus' ministry concludes with the same three elements, with some variation. It is the curtain of the temple that is torn, the Spirit leaves (Jesus "breathes out his spirit" [15:37 my translation), and a centurion makes a statement about Jesus as God's son (or Son). Even identifying the "pattern" suggests some creative involvement on the part of the interpreter, since nothing is explicitly said. Precisely how the initial events are related to the later is likewise not explicitly spelled out, and there are different possibilities. This is a place, in any case, where interpreters are required to exercise their imaginations.


(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Gospel of Mark by Donald H. Juel. Copyright © 1999 Abingdon Press. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents

Contents

FOREWORD,
PREFACE,
INTRODUCTION: INTERPRETING MARK'S GOSPEL,
CHAPTER 1 THE OPENING (1:1-15),
CHAPTER 2 THE PLAYERS,
CHAPTER 3 WHO IS GOD!,
CHAPTER 4 WHO IS JESUS?,
CHAPTER 5 PLUNDERING SATAN'S HOUSE,
CHAPTER 6 THE TEACHER,
CHAPTER 7 THE DEATH OF THE KING (14:43–15:47),
CHAPTER 8 THE DEATH OF JESUS AND THE WILL OF GOD: A THEOLOGICAL APPRAISAL,
CHAPTER 9 ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS,
CHAPTER 10 SECRETS AND SECRECY,
NOTES,
BIBLIOGRAPHY,
INDEX OF ANCIENT AND MODERN AUTHORS,

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