MARKAN CHRISTOLOGY: THE SUFFERING SON OF MAN

 

1.                  Jesus is Christ (Messiah), King, and Son of God, but only as he is suffering Son of Man. (3 titles converge at 14:61-62)

 

2.                  Son of Man has a three-fold emphasis:

a.                   Authority on earth (to forgive sins, for example, 2:10, 28).

b.                  Apocalyptic authority at the final judgement (8:38, 13:26) and coming in glory at that point (14:61-62).

c.                   Necessary suffering (8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34).

 

3.                  Jesus' identity as Messiah and Son of God is secret or hidden from outsiders until the climax of 14:61-62 when it is openly claimed.  (The reader, God, supernatural powers, some healed persons, and the disciples partially know even before this.)

 

4.                  Son of God.   Only the demons or God in the baptism and transfiguration address Jesus as Son of God until 14:61 and 15:39 (the Gentile centurion's confession) when it is correctly interpreted.

 

5.                   In the Roman context, emperors could be called Son of God and Savior.  The imperial cult supported Roman rule.  An inscription from Priene reads: "It seemed good to the Greeks of Asia, in the opinion of the high priest Apollonius of Menophilus Azanitus: 'Since Providence, which has ordered all things and is deeply interested in our life, has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit humankind, sending him as a savior [sôtêr], both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things, and since he, Caesar, by his appearance [phanein] (excelled even our anticipations), surpassing all previous benefactors, and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done, and since the birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning of the good tidings for the world that came by reason of him [êrxen de tôi kosmôi tôn di auton euangeliôn hê genethlios tou theou],' which Asia resolved in Smyrna . . ."  http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~fkflinn/Priene%20Inscription.html  Accessed 3-4-11 

 

Does the rule of God (kingdom of God) challenge the rule of the emperor or in a certain sense reinforce its ideology?

 

6.                  Jesus is King in Chapter 15, but a crucified King.  Dramatic Irony.  Framed by Jesus' confession in 14:61-62 and the centurion's confession in 15:39.

 

7.                  Jesus rejects the title Son of David (conventional understanding rejected?).  Only used positively in 10:47.  See  11:10 and 12:35f

 

8.                  The passion is the means of salvation.  Jesus is a ransom for many.  The cross, a sacrifice.  Jesus achieves victory through powerlessness, life through death.  It is at the moment of utter powerlessness that the Temple curtain is torn and the centurion confesses him Son of God.

 

9.                  Jesus is an ambiguous figure.  He has detailed foreknowledge and great authority, yet he is rejected and misunderstood by his disciples and is beaten, spat upon, and crucified.  He is at one and the same time a miracle worker and suffering Son of Man, King of the Jews and someone rejected by the religious leaders.  He asks for followers and speaks in riddles.  He is Son of God and yet dies, abandoned by God, engulfed in demonic darkness.  He upsets the disciples conventional concept of Messiah and reverses the traditional symbols:

Jerusalem/Galilee

Friend/enemy

Insider/outsider

Disciple/persecutor

Power/weakness

Life/death

 

The religious leaders, his family, and even his own disciples do not understand, perhaps even reject him, but Gentiles like the Syrophoencian woman and centurion accept his power and authority.  The high priest condemns him, while Pilate is sympathetic (although, executing him nonetheless). The male disciples flee, but the women remain until the empty tomb when they say nothing to no one.

 

10.              The empty tomb - two-edged, a sign of the resurrection, but also a sign of Jesus' absence until he comes in the parousia (second coming).  Mark's hearers stand at the empty tomb "awaiting the parousia in fear and trembling" (N. Perrin, The New Testament: An Introduction, 191).

 

11.              Jesus' functions include healing, exorcizing, preaching, teaching, and dying as a ransom for many.  Jesus preaches and is delivered up.  Miracles demonstrate Jesus' power, but do not convince.  The source of power could be demonic.  It is not enough to believe in Jesus as a miracle worker.