The Gospel of Mark is a profoundly rich theological work which gives us an insight into the way his community understood and saw Jesus. Mark’s Gospel paints a picture of Jesus that is distinct from the other three Gospels. We know that Mark was written sometime before the destruction of the temple and most scholars estimate between 64-67 A. D We also have good reason to believe that the Gospel of Mark was composed in Rome and his community faced persecution from secular authorities. All these factors contributed to the way Mark’s community understood and related to Jesus.
In this brief essay I will highlight some of the most important Christological aspects of Mark’s gospel. Knowing these Christological elements gives us a better insight into how this early community understood Jesus and how he worked within their community The very first verse of Mark’s gospel leaves no questions as to whom Mark believes Jesus to be. He tells the readers, “This is the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus [the] Christ, the Son of God”. Mark from the very start of the Gospel gives to us the identity of Jesus.
There is no question or confusion as to the purpose of this book or what will ensue on the pages to come. Mark from the first verse establishes Jesus identity as the Son of God. Throughout Mark’s narrative the characters will struggle with the identity of Jesus even though we have been told by Mark exactly who he is. In the first miracle of Jesus he casts out a demon and the crowds who gathered said “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him. ” Even his own disciples struggled to understand the identity of Jesus and who he was and why he came.
Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey? ” Jesus’ identity culminates in Mark’s Gospel with one final question “Are you the king of the Jews? “. Mark uses these questions of identity to paint a picture of the Christology of Jesus. He wants the reader to know exactly who Jesus is and why he came. The first title that we hear of in Mark’s Gospel is Jesus the Son of God which is contained in the prologue and throughout. Mark is trying to do what Mathew and Luke do in their genealogies, he is trying to show God’s miraculous intervention in the birth of Jesus.
He is essentially trying to connect Jesus as the word made flesh as John does in his prologue. Scholars are unsure as to how much divinity Mark ascribed to this title, if any. This is the first time any such title has been applied to someone since King David. In David’s sense there was no divinity ascribed to this title and it meant he was God’s son in an “adoptive sense” and was common among monarchies in the Ancient Near East. It is interesting to note the few times Jesus is referred to as Son of God.
One of the most climatic moments is on Mt. Tabor when a voice came from heaven and said “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased. ” Twice when Jesus exercised demons they called out his identity “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? ” The first time a human calls Christ the Son of God is after his death when the centurion standing before him said “Truly this man was God’s Son! “. Regardless of how Mark may have understood this title this paved the way to our eventual understanding of Christ as summarized in the council of Chalcedon.
Another title in which Mark gives to Jesus is Messiah. Messiah is the Hebrew word for “anointed one” and he uses the Greek “Christos”. A variant of this title is Son of David or King of the Jews. In the OT this title was only used to describe priests, prophets, or kings who were actually anointed with oil. In the NT the term messiah carries a variety of meanings including political. One of the most powerful examples of Jesus as Messiah is when Peter recognizes Jesus as such, “But who do you say that I am? , Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.
Another instance is when Jesus is mocked by the authorities “Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe. ” Mark also refers to Jesus as the Son of Man. This is probably one of the most written about titles ascribed to Jesus. In the Old Testament Ezekiel is given the title Son of Man by God himself and then ordered to prophesy in his name. Daniel sees in a prophetic vision “one like the son of man” who receives dominion and kingship from ‘the Ancient of Days” In Enoch the Son of Man is a preexistent being who passes judgment on all of humanity and even angels.
We see Mark’s use if this title in reference to Jesus’ passion and death. “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again. “. The Son of man sayings are similar to Ezekial’s son of man sayings when Jesus refers to his authority to forgive sins. “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”, he said to the paralytic “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home. There are also Son of Man sayings which make reference to Daniel and Enoch. “You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven. ” It is clear that all Son of Man sayings are in reference to his suffering and death or eschatology. The last point of Mark’s Christology that I wish to emphasis and which is unique to Mark is the Messianic Secret. Jesus commands those whom he heals to not tell anyone about what he has done for them. This is the only Gospel where Jesus is found giving such exhortations.
At the healing of Jarius’ daughter we hear, “He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat. ” When Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah the disciples were told to say nothing. “Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. ” Even at the exorcism Jesus commands the demons to be silent when they call him the Son of God. “He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.
There are two traditional understandings of why Jesus would want to conceal his true identity. The first, states that Jesus feared the political zealots would take advantage of the coming of the messiah and turn it into a revolt for political gain. The other view says that Mark’s community needed to explain why Jesus never presented himself as the Messiah in his public ministry or he may have just wanted to redefine the term messiah in light of Jesus’ death and resurrection and so puts of telling Jesus true identity until his death.
