Lesson 6 Flashcards
What are the options for dating Mark’s Gospel? What are the arguments for and against each view?
- Date
a. 50s- Hinges on dating Acts
- Acts was written < mid 60s
- Luke was still being written (Late 50 – early 60)
- If Luke used Mark, then Mark was written in 50s
b. 60s
1. Irenaeus – Mark and Peter were together in Rome
c. 70s
1. Olivet discourse – after fall of temple
d. Any of them are acceptable.
Discuss Mark’s use of OT passages in his prologue
The OT Focus, vv. 2-3
1. Sets the story of Jesus in its OT context
2. Apocryphal Gospels lacks this characteristic
3. Mark opens with 3 different OT passages blended together.
Mark 1:2-3 = Mal 3:1 + Is 40:3 + Ex 23:20
Mal 3:1 is God speaking about Him coming to visit and clean out the Temple.
- Jesus cleanes His temple
Mark speaks of Jesus coming by modifying Mal and say “Your Way”
Mark is presenting Jesus as God coming (per Mal).
Ex 23 is quoted as an exodus motif in NT.
Is 40 is quotes in Mark 1:3 as a second exodus for His people.
Mark is identifying John the Baptists as Elijah return figure and Jesus as God bringing in a second exodus for His people.
How has “Son of God” been used outside of the Bible? How is it used in the Bible and how does that differ from the Greco-Roman cultural view of “Son of Man”?
3. Jesus as the “Son of God”
a. Analysis of the Phrase “Son of God”
i. Greco-Roman Usage (God’s Son)
1. Reference to political rulers, philosophers, heroes, and miracle workers
2. Greek gods (e.g., Heracles and Perseus)
3. Alexander the Great
4. Emperor Worship
ii. Some argue that Christian belief that Jesus was the divine “Son of God” was a later development influenced by Greco-Roman background, which some argue would not be unusual for Gentile Christians with a pagan background.
1. Same as any other important person.
2. Christians were influence by pagan (Grec-Roman)
a. Curios Christos – history of the belief in Christ (Busett)
iii. Form of Adoptionism
1. God was so pleased with Jesus that God Adopted him
2. Jesus became divine
3.
** Response to various claims: (Response to history of Religion School)**
i. Overestimates Greco-Roman influence on earliest Christians because the main influence would have still been Jewish/OT background
ii. The Greco-Roman world itself often attacked and criticized the idea of men becoming Gods
iii. Judaism during this time period plainly rejected the idea that humans could be exalted to divine status
iv. The fact that Jesus was seen as fully divine from the earliest point refutes the “revolutionary” model where Jesus moves from being just a man to being a “god” due to Greek influence (e.g., 1 Cor 8:4-6; Phil 2:1-11)
** Biblical Usage**
i. Universal Fatherhood of God (e.g., Rom 8:14; Ex 4:22)
1. All image bearers
ii. God’s children as the elect believers of God
1. Special covenant relationship
iii. Angels (e.g., Job 6;1; Dan 3:25)
iv. Messiah/Davidic King (e.g., 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7; Matt 16:16; Luke 1:32; Mark 14:61)
v. A Divine Figure-
1. Temptation
2. Demons
3. Special relationship with God (Jesus claims special relationship)
4. debate with Pharisees
vi. Used by people about Jesus but not used by Jesus
Jesus as Son of God in the Gospel of Mark
i. Structure of Mark & Bookends (1:1; 15:39)
ii. The only time God speaks, he speaks of the sonship of Jesus (1;11, 9:7)
iii. Demons refer to Jesus as the Son of God (3:11, 5:7)
iv. In the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, the owner of vineyard sends “a beloved Son” (12:6)
v. Jesus refers to God as “Abba” in his Gethsemane prayer (14:36), only Mark does this (cf. Roman 8:15; Gal 4:6)
vi. High priest asks Jesus if he is “the Son of the Blessed One” (14:62)
Discuss the title “messiah” as found in your reading from Ladd
Jesus became known as Jesus the Christos or Messiah or the annointed one.
Paul uses Chistos as a compound name with Jesus.
Jesus Christ
Jesus the Christ
Christ Jesus
In the OT, Messiah is used in Ps 2 for Messianic King
Hannah’s song in 1 Sam 2, speaks of the “annointed” or Messiah as coming to Judge
Is 9 and 11 speaks to one who is King, in the line of David, that will come and smite the earth with judgment.
In the NT, there was an expectation of a coming Messiah (Jn 1, 4, Lk 3) and be the son of David (Mt. 21) and remain forever (Jn 12).
Jesus is called Messiah by Peter in his confession in Mt 16, Mk 8
Although Jesus made no overt claim at being the Messiah, he did not deny it when others called Him Messiah and affirmed the title when others used the title for Him.
What is the “Messianic Secret”? What is the evidence for and against this view? How should we understand it?
- Secrecy Motif
a. William Wrede, The Messianic Secret
i. Summary of Wrede’s Theory
1. Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah
2. Later, Christians started to believe that Jesus was the Messiah
3. Mark changed the story that He proclaimed it in secret.
4.
ii. Evidence for Secrecy in Mark:
1. Jesus commands silence from demons (1:25, 34; 3:12).
2. Jesus commands silence from people: (1:43; 5:43; 7:36; 8:30).
3. Jesus attempts to keep his location secret (7:24; 9:30-31)
** Response to Wrede**
i. What then is the reason for Jesus’ death?
1. What lead to his execution with the phrase “king of the jews”
ii. Relation of resurrection and the identity of the Messiah
1. How did Messiah get attached to Jesus after His resurrection
iii. Other gospels have the same secrecy motif (e.g., Matt 8:4; 12:16; 16:20)
1. Not limited to Mark
iv. First century Judaism’s secrecy motif (Dead Sea Scrolls)
v. There are numerous exceptions: some people are never warned (2:12; 10:46-52), and others are even commanded to go and tell (5:19)
** How then should we understand the secrecy motif in Mark?**
i. Scholarly disagreement regarding the meaning of the secrecy motif
ii. Secrecy may have been motivated by the political/religious situation
iii. Many (though not all) had misconceptions of the Messiah
1. Jesus was going to overthrow Rome
2. Maybe pollical revolutionary
iv. Jesus understood himself as a Messiah who would suffer (e.g., 9:9)
1. Suffering Messiah would not be well received
v. Thus Jesus needed to be prudent about how quickly things moved along, lest the crowds attempt to hijack his ministry (e.g., 1:45; 4:10-12)
What is Mark’s literary structure
Prologue (1:1-15)
Galilean Ministry (1:16-8:30)
Passion of Christ (8:31-16:8)
