Reading Mark’s Christology under Caesar by Adam Winn

Author:Adam Winn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gospel of Mark;Mark;Mark's gospel;emperor worship;emperor cult;Roman imperial propaganda;political theology;fall of Jerusalem;historical setting of Mark;Flavian emperors;messianic secret;secrecy motif;passion narrative;powerful Jesus;honor and shame;christological titles;temple
ISBN: 9780830885626
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2018-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

A ROMAN READING OF MARK’S CENTRAL SECTION

This proposed reading of Mark 10:42-45 has significant ramifications for both the way in which one understands the narrative within Mark’s central section and the way in which that central section functions in the entirety of Mark’s narrative. This reading illuminates the motif of blindness that is prominent within the central section. The oft-proposed notion that the disciples’ blindness is the recognition of Jesus as a powerful Messiah instead of a suffering and dying Messiah is misguided. Based on the first half of Mark’s Gospel, there is nothing wrong with concluding that Jesus is a powerful Messiah. Such vision is not wrong, but it is incomplete or partial. It fails to see the humility, service, and sacrifice that are inseparable from such power. This blindness is evinced both through the disciples’ failure to understand Jesus’ passion predictions and through their own selfish desires—motifs that make up a large portion of Mark’s central section. Like the tyrants of Rome, the Markan disciples seek power over others as well as their own prestige and greatness—attitudes and ambitions that Jesus repeatedly rejects throughout the central section. As those appointed with authority from Jesus, the disciples must exercise that authority in the way Jesus himself will exercise it—as a humble servant who is willing to give up his life for his people. It is not accidental that immediately after Jesus’ climactic teaching in Mark 10:42-45, teaching that is paradigmatic for the entire central section, Jesus heals a blind man in a single attempt. Through this narrative structure the Gospel signals to the reader that those who understand Jesus’ teaching in Mark 10:42-45 see Jesus clearly and completely.

Not only does Mark’s central section function to help the reader see Jesus fully, but it also functions as a narrative bridge in Mark’s Gospel, one that joins the Galilean ministry with Jesus’ passion in Jerusalem. Often Mark’s central section is perceived as standing in unity with Jesus’ passion and in tension with Jesus’ Galilean ministry, with the result that the latter’s narrative significance is minimized. But my proposed reading of the central section resists such perceptions and allows both the Galilean ministry and the passion narrative to play prominent roles in Mark’s narrative. The two convey equally significant information about God’s Messiah and Son, Jesus.

Closely related to this function as a narrative bridge is the central section’s function as a christological bridge. My proposed reading eliminates the long-perceived tension between the power elements of Mark’s Christology and the suffering and death elements. Through the use of Roman political ideology, Mark is able to bring these two realities into a meaningful and tension-free union. The cross does not contradict or stand in tension with the tremendous power of Jesus, power that evinces Jesus’ identity as God’s appointed ruler. Instead the cross is presented as the ideal way in which a ruler would and should exercise divinely granted authority. Thus Mark’s central section, culminating in Mark 10:42-45, provides the crucial bridge between the

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