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Jesus as the Parable ofGod

in the Gospel of Mark

JO HN R. DONAH UE, S.J.

Associate Professor of New Testament

Vanderbilt Divinity School

Mark's Gospel is a narrative parable of the meaning of

the life and death of Jesus which draws the reader into

the personal engagement that takes place in interpretation

and appropriation of the text in a life of discipleship.

ANUMBER OF YEARS AGO H. Kster published an article entitled "OneJesus and Four Primitive Gospels" which discussed the unity of the Jesustradition within its different permutations.

1Even a cursory look at the prolifera

tion of recent works on the Gospel of Mark would suggest as a title for our

presentation "One Gospel, Four (or more) Jesuses."2

Still, modern scholars are

excused for their continuing quests for Mark's Jesus, for he is the first New Testa

ment author to hand on an explicit christological question: "Who do men say

1. "On e Jesus and Four Primitive Gospels," HT hR 6 1:203-47 (19 68). Also in Robinson

and Kster, Trajectories through Early Christianity (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1971),pp. 158-204.

2. Some of the more recent presentations ar e: W. J. Bennett , ' T h e Gospel of Mark and

Traditions About Jesus," Encounter 38:1-11 (19 77) ; M. Horstmann, Studien zur Markinis-

chen Cristologie, NTA, Bd. 6 (Mnster, Aschendorff, 196 9); Jan Lambrecht, "Th e Christol-

ogy of Mark," Biblical Theology Bulletin 3:256-73 (1 97 3) ; U. Luz, "Das Jesusbild der

vormarkinischen Tradition," in Jesus Christus in Historie und Theologie, ed. G. Strecker

(Tb inge n, J . C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1975), pp. 347- 74; E. Martinez, "T he Identit y of

Jesus in Mark," Communio 1:323-42 (1974); Perrin, A Modern Pilgrimage in New Testa

ment Christology (Philadelphia, Fortress, 1974); H. Sahlin, "Zum Verstndnis der christo-

logischen Anschauung des Markusevangeliums, Stud Theol 31:1-19 (1977); Ernst Trocm,

"Is There a Markan Christology?" in Christ and the Spirit in the New Testament, ed. .Lindars and S. Smalley (Cambridge, University Press, 1973), pp. 3-14. Three excellent,

les technical presentations are: Paul Achtemeier, Mark; Proclamation Commentaries (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1975); C. F. Evans, The Beginning of the Gospel . . . (London,SPCK, 1968); H. C. Kee, Jesus in History (New York, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich , 1 97 7

2).

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that I am?" (8:27). With a certain prophetic clarity this question becomes a

paradigm for subsequent christological investigation. The question is precipitated

by what Jesus has done, and asks who he is. The responses come from contempo

rary models of those who might be God's anointed. The proper answer is confes

sional and is understood only by personal engagement in the events of the

suffering and death of Jesus.

In approaching Mark's presentation of Jesus, we will offer a brief, mainly

bibliographic, overview of some of the ways the Jesus of Mark has been under

stood in recent study. We will attempt no adequate or exhaustive criticism of

these views, but rather direct our attention to a way of reading Mark. Building

on Leander Keek's evocative comments about the historical Jesus as the parable

of God,3

we will apply some of the categories and insights of contemporary parable

exegesis to Mark's presentation of Jesus. Since parable has now become not

simply a description of a select group of sayings of Jesus, but an independent

hermeneutical and theological category, we will propose that Mark's Gospel

can be presented as a narrative parable of the meaning of the life and death

of Jesus.4

I. PRESENTATIONS OF JE SU S

1. Jesus as Hellenistic Savior

Over fifty years ago Bultmann proposed the view that Mark is the conflation

"of the Hellenistic kerygma about Christ, whose essential content consists of the

Christ myth as we learn of it in Paul with the tradition of the story of Jesus."r>

Variations of this view continue to surface. For J. Schreiber, Mark's Jesus is the

"redeemed redeemer" who empties himself in descending to earth, remainshidden during his sojourn, and is killed by demonic powers ; but his death is para

doxically his exaltation (return) and epiphany as Son of God.6

U. Luz, Leander

Keck and Hans-Dieter Betz propose modifications of this theme,7

suggesting that in

Mark there are two major images of Jesus in constructive dialogue : one a Hellen-

3. A Future For The Historical Jesus (Nashville/New York, Abingdon, 1971); pp. 243-49.

4. The relation of parable and theology is developed in S. TeSelle, Speaking in Parables'. A Study in Metaphor and Theology (Philadelphia, Fortress, 1975); D. Tracy, Blessed Rage

for Order (New York, Seabury, 1975), pp. 119-145; "Paul Ricoeur on Biblical Hermeneutics,"

Semeial (1975).

5. R. Bultmann, History of the Synoptic Tradition, trans. J. Marsh, rev. ed. (New York,Harper and Row, 1968), p. 348.

6. J. Schreiber, "Die Christologie des Markusevan geliums," Z TK 58: 154 -83 (1 961 ), also

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Jesus as the Parable of God in the Gospel of Mark

Interpretation

istic "divine man" or demi-god figure, the other the suffering servant and prophet

of the Palestinian tradition. Mark takes over the more nave Hellenistic Christology

but combines it with the title for the eschatological Messianic king (Christos).

Jesus' power is not his because of his "nature" as divine/human but because of

his anointing by God and because of his exaltation at the resurrection. The aura

of power which characterizes his earthly life is proleptic of the resurrection. His

life is, as Dibelius asserted, a "secret Epiphany."8

While Luz, Keck, and Betz see "divine man" motifs as contributing positivelyto Mark's portrayal of Jesus as a figure of power, other authors, most prominently

Theodore J. Weeden, see Mark engaged in a heated polemic against these same

motifs.9

The heresy which employs this image of Jesus consists in claims of false

messiahship, a reliance on signs and wonders, a misguided realized eschatology,

and an over-reliance on the presence of the risen Christ. Mark counters this

heresy by representing the disciples in the Gospel as its advocates and then

rejecting them by having them move from a stage of unperceptiveness (e.g.,

6:52), through misconception of the necessity of suffering (e.g., 8:32-3 3) , to out

right betrayal (14 :4 4) , flight ( 14 :5 0) , and denial ( 14:66-72) .10 Positively Mark

offers a theology which stresses that the way of discipleship is to be the way of

suffering, and that the cross is crucial for human existence. Mark also stresses by

omitting a resurrection narrative that it is not Jesus present in power but present

only in hope who is the good news.11

2. Jesus as the Fulfillment of the Old Testament

While the above perspectives stress the Hellenistic setting of Mark, another

group of interpreters stress the continuity of the Gospel with its Jewish heritage.This becomes most obvious in the careful way in which the life of Jesus is seen

as the fulfillment of Scripture and his death is placed under divine necessity.12

More specifically, Jesus is seen in correspondence to types or figures from the

Old Testament. The leading contenders for an Old Testament prototype have

been the Suffering Servant of Deutero-Isaiah, especially of Isaiah 52:13-53:12,

8. M. Dibelius, From Tradition to Gospel, trans . B. Woolf (New York, Charles Scribner'sSons, n.d.), p. 230.

9. Mark: Traditions in Conflict (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1971). Weeden's position on

the disciples has not met with general acceptance.10. Weeden, Traditions, pp. 26-51.11. Ibid., pp. 159-68.

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and the suffering just one of the Psalms and Wisdom literature. 13 Jesus is seen

as the servant in his election by God ( Isa. 42 :1 ; Mark 1:11) and most impor

tantly in his atoning death for many ( Mark 10:45 ; 14:24). The suffering just one

who is persecuted by unjust oppressors, remains silent, is mocked, and thought

foolish, but who is vindicated by God, provides a model for many individual

parts of the passion narrative.14

Finally there is a resurgence of Davidic motifs

used to describe the Jesus of Mark.15 Though Mark does not favor the exact

title "Son of David" (12:35-37) (perhaps because of political overtones), many

cf the actions of Jesus in the Gospel conform to a Davidic model.

3. Jesus, Messiah: Son of God, Son of Man

By far the most dominant mode of identifying Jesus as God's anointed in

Mark has been through the use of the titles. The procedure as represented by

Cullmann, Hahn, and Fuller has been to describe the pre-Christian use of the

title, its origin as a Christian confession, and its presence in Mark as an index

of a stage of Christian usage.16

Christology was viewed according to a geographical

and evolutionary schema: The former consisted in locating a title either in the

earliest Palestinian community, in Hellenistic Jewish Christianity, or in Hellenistic

(Gentile) Christianity. The evolution involved four stages: An initial stage

of the hope for the imminent return of Jesus and the application to him of titles

from Jewish apocalyptic for the eschatological deliverer. The second stage was seen

as a two-level Christology where Jesus who was Son of David, according to the

flesh (Rom. 1:4-6), by virtue of his resurrection became "Lord55

and Son of

God in power. A third stage consisted of depicting Jesus as already endowed with

that power which was to be his by virtue of the resurrection. The final stage

(most vivid in John's Gospel) involves a theology of pre-existence and a similarity

13. On Suffering Servant see C. Maurer, "Knecht Gottes und Sohn Gottes im Passionbericht des Markus," ZTK 50:1-51 (1953); M. Hooker, Jesus and the Servant (London,SPCK, 1959), esp. pp. 62-103; J. Jeremas, "pais theou," TDNT, V, 654-717; New Testament Theology, trans. J. Bowden (London, SCM Press, 1971) I, 286-99. On the "suffering

just one" see L. Ruppert, Jesus als der leidende Gerechte; Stuttgarter Bibelstudien 59 (Stuttgart, Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1972).

14. For example, enemies conspire to kill him (Mark 14:1; Pss. 31:4; 35:4; 38:12; 71:10;Wis. 2:10ff.); friends betray him (Mark 14:18, 43; Pss. 55:14-21); false witnesses arise(Mark 14:56ff.; Pss. 27:12; 35:11; 109:2); the just one remains silent (Mark 14:61;15:5; Pss. 38: 14- 16; 39: 9) and enemies mock him (Mark 15:20, 29; Pss. 22 :7 ; 31:11;109:25; Wis. 2:19). See J. Donahue, "From Passion Traditions to Passion Narrative," in

W. Kelber, ed., The Passion in Mark (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1976), pp. 4-6.15. S. E. Johnson, "T he Davidic Royal Motif in the Gospels," JBL 87 :136-50 (1968) . D.

Juel Messiah and Temple SBL Dissertation Series 31 (Missoula Scholars' Press 1977)

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Jesus as the Parable of God in the Gospel of Mark

Interpretation

of nature between Jesus and the Father. The journey to Nicea and Chalcedon has

begun. According to this picture Mark is a Hellenistic document and represents

the third stage in the evolutionary schema. While major aspects of this geographi

cal and evolutionary schema are being dismantled, it remains valuable for sorting

out the different threads which are woven into the final tapestry which is Mark's

Christology.17

In the work of Philip Vielhauer and Norman Perrin, title research receives a

new focus. They discuss not simply Mark's handing on of the titles, but his creative

use of them. Vielhauer suggests that Mark organizes his Gospel around three

uses of "Son of God" which follow the pattern of a Near Eastern enthronement

ritual. The Baptism of Jesus is seen as a royal adoption (1:11) , the transfiguration

as a proclamation (9 :7 ) , and the crucifixion and centurion's confession as an

acclamation ( 15:39) ,18

Perrin has brought title research in Mark to its fullest

development by suggesting that Mark uses Son of God and Son of Man in

dynamic interrelation.19 Son of God establishes rapport with the readers; Son

of Man gives a proper interpretation to Son of God. It also provides a christologi-

cal unity to the Gospel by identifying the earthly Jesus who suffered and died with

him who is to come in power and glory, a power which he exercised proleptically

on earth, but which can be understood only by those who follow the way of the

cross.

4. Jesus as Prophetic Teacher and Apocalyptic Seer

One of the paradoxes of Mark's Gospel is that while both absolutely and in

proportion to its size it contains far less actual teaching of Jesus than the other

Synoptics, it still contains far more reference to Jesus as teacher. K russein ( pro

claim) and didaskein (to teach) appear more often in Mark than in any other

New Testament book, and euaggelion is distinctive of Mark.20

Mark also in

places describes Jesus as teaching, but gives no specific teaching.21

The major

blocks of teaching are not clear didache, but are in the parabolic teaching of

chapter 4 and the enigmatic discourse of chapter 13.

Undoubtedly Mark as author was familiar with the tradition of Jesus as

17. For a critique of this schema see H. R. Balz, Methodische Probleme der Neutestament-lichen Christologie, WMANT, 25 (Neukirchen-Vluyn, Neukirchener Verlag, 1967); Vielhauer, "Ein Weg zur neutestamentlichen Christologie?" in Aufstze zum Neuen Testament(Mnchen, Kaiser Verlag, 1965), 141-98 (extended critique of Hahn). M. Hengel's shortmonograph The Son of God (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1976) represents a modification ofthe schema

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teacher. What he does is give it a particular and important slant. This slant

appears in the first miracle of the Gospel, the exorcism of 1:21-27. Though the

miracle concludes with the normal amazement of bystanders, the narrative em

phasizes the action of Jesus as "new teaching with authority," even though there

has been no explicit teaching.22

In 2:1-12 a controversy story is joined with a

miracle so that the exousia of the Son of Man is not simply his power to heal,

but his teaching on forgiveness. In the story of the rejection at Nazareth, the

relation of teaching and mighty works is stressed when the townspeople ask, "What

is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hand?" (6 :2 ) .

The reaction of surprise and wonder is in response to the teaching and the miracles

of Jesus. Teaching is brought under the same aura of power which characterizes

the person of Jesus in the miracle stories.

By doing this a number of things are accomplished. Jesus is now seen not

simply as a Hellenistic thaumaturge but as a divinely authorized spokesman for

God, a prophet. As such an authorized spokesman, Jesus is able to announce and

effect a forgiveness of sin which exists apart from the Torah. He breaks the

barrier between clean and unclean (7 :1-23) and declares the temple now asa place of prayer for all peoples (11:17).

2 3He teaches a new ethic of entry

in the Kingdom (10:23-30) and like the prophets of old defends a poor widow

(12:41-44). By joining word and power Mark is able to invest the tradition of

the sayings of the historical Jesus with authority to speak to the needs of the

community of his time.24

Not only does Jesus in his ministry act and teach with authority, but as

apocalyptic seer he hands on visions of the end time. In chapter 13 Jesus describes

the toils of the end time (13:1-8), but both cautions against identifying any-

historical event with the end (13:7) and warns against false prophets (13:5, 22 ).

Here Jesus teaches not only about the events surrounding the end time, but also

about the conduct of his followers.25

They are to be faithful in suffering, which

will be a means of spreading the gospel (13:10-13); they are to reject false

speculation ( 13:21 ), but are to be watchful guardians of a trust ( 13:32-37). Just

as in the first half of the Gospel, Mark has brought the miracles under the au-

22. On paradigmatic importance of these verses see, R. Pesch, Das Markusevangelium,HTKNT, II (Freiburg, Herder, 1976), I, 127.

23. Kelber, The Kingdom in Mark: A New Place and A New Time (Philadelphia, For

tress Press, 1974), pp. 59, 98-102.24. That Mark orients the teaching of Jesus to his own community is emphasized by K.-G.

Reploh MarkusLehrer der Gemeinde SBM 9 (Stuttgart Katholisches Bibelwerk 1969)

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Jesus as the Parable of God in the Gospel of Mark

Interpretation

thority of the word of Jesus ; so here he subsumes apocalyptic speculation to Jesus'

authoritative word. It is not the apocalyptic events about which the reader is to

be concerned, but the return of the Son of Man. Just as this Son of Man suffered

betrayal, trials, and juridical murder, so too will his disciples. By portraying Jesus

as an apocalyptic seer who gives a testimony to his faithful ones and warns them

about the future, Mark brings this future under the power of the word of Jesus.

In his earthly ministry, in his suffering, and in the future of the community Jesus

is powerful in word and work. No other mighty work, no signs and wonders,

and no apocalyptic speculations are to preempt his place.

Despite the different images of Jesus in the Gospel and the differing perspectives

of commentators, there are striking convergences. The tradition which has always

seen Mark's Jesus as a figure of power, whether it is expressed in Bultmann's

description of the Gospel as a sequence of revelations or of Dibelius' "secret

epiphanies," continues to surface in emphasis on the divine-man Christology

and on Jesus as mighty teacher. Mark clearly presents the earthly Jesus as already

in his lifetime what he was in virtue of the church's proclamation. At the

same time Mark stresses the emptying of Jesus. Suffering, both in its horror and in

its divine necessity, is not mitigated. Though he is faithful Son, Jesus dies aban

doned and forsaken.

All the authors discussed agree that the church in its developing Christology as

represented by Mark turned to a wide variety of materials with which to express

the mystery of Jesus. In trying to re-present Mark's view of Jesus, it is a mistake

to seek a perfectly unified or dominant picture of Jesus. D. Moody Smith's view

that John's Gospel offers a multidimensional picture of Jesus is equally true of

Mark.26

What we now undertake is not an extensive evaluation of the above

presentations of Jesus, nor do we offer an alternative picture. We will suggest,rather, a way of reading the Gospel which is parabolic. Such a reading means that

the Gospel's presentation of Jesus is always "open ended" and always calls for

revisioning and restatement.

II. PARABLE AND MA RK 'S GO SP EL

Concomitant with the explosion in Markan studies has been a flowering of

theological and literary reflection on parable and metaphor.27 In a break with

Jlicher, who viewed metaphor as aligned with allegory, contemporary scholarsnow study parable in the context of literary studies on metaphor. In a now classic

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essay, Robert Funk describes the parable as metaphor which "because of the

juxtaposition of two discrete and not entirely comparable entities produces an

impact upon the imagination and induces a vision of that which cannot be

conveyed by discursive or prosaic speech."2S

J. Dominic Crossan describes parable

as a metaphor or figurative language which proposes a referent so new that this

referent can be grasped only within the metaphor itself.29

In describing Jesus as

the parable of God, Keck describes the parable as "a metaphoric life situation

with disclosure potential."30

Paul Ricoeur proposes a full-scale hermeneutics of

metaphor applied to biblical narrative.31

In adopting metaphor and parable to the Gospel of Mark, we are not claiming

that the work is a product of a sophisticated and subtle imagination which weaves

metaphor throughout the text. What we are claiming is that the Gospel, like

any literary or religious text, is the product of an author's imagination in the

sense stated by Dame Helen Gardner:

By the time we have read through the Gospel of St. Mark nothing has been proved,

and we have not acquired a stock of verifiable information of which we can make

practical use. In that sense reading the Gospel is like reading a poem. It is animaginative experience. It presents us with a sequence of events and sayings which

combine to create in our minds a single complex and powerful symbol, a pattern

of meaning.32

While accepting Gardner's view of Mark as poetry, we will adopt C. H. Dodd's

definition ofparable since it is the most accurate and comprehensive description :33

"At its simplest the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or

common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the

mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into activethought."

". . . is a metaphor orsimile"

As we noted the language of metaphor is referential; it points beyond its

obvious meaning to another level of meaning. At the same time it is not indis

pensable, for only by engagement in the concreteness of the metaphor does the

new referent present itself. Two of the major metaphors by which Jesus is pre-

28. Language, Hermeneutic and the Word of God (New York, Harper and Row, 1966),p. 136.

29. In Parables: The Challenge of the Historical Jesus (New York, Harper and Row,1973) pp 13 15

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Jesus as the Parable of God in the Gospel of MarkInterpretation

sented in the Gospel of Mark are the picture of Jesus as proclaimer of the

Kingdom and as Son of Man.

In taking over the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, Mark is doubtless

close to the historical Jesus. However he does not simply record this tradition but

makes kingdom into a major theological motif which spans the whole Gospel.34

Jesus' initial proclamation is in terms of the Kingdom (1 :1 4-1 5) , the final

question posed to him by an adversary is "Are you the king of the Jews?" (15 :2 ) ,

and he dies placarded as king (15:26). With the exception of 15:43 Kingdomsayings, like Son of Man sayings, are always on the lips of Jesus. The chapters

on the way of discipleship (8:27-10:52) convey a heavy concentration of req

uisites for entering the Kingdom.35

The Kingdom is imminent, calling for belief

and conversion, and it is still future ( 1:15 ; 9 :1 ). Jesus ' private instruction of his

disciples is described as the mystery of the Kingdom (4 :11) .

Therefore Kingdom evokes a whole series of cross referents within the Gospel

itself. This is clear from a closer look at Mark 1:14-15: "Now after John was

arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God

and saying, Th e time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and

believe in the gospel.' " While reproducing the substance of the teaching of Jesus,

these verses have been certainly reworked by Mark.36

They have reverberations

throughout the Gospel. Structurally they conclude the prologue (1:1-15),

but introduce the following chapters which deal with the proclamation in Galilee.

The use of the term "gospel" takes the reader back to verse 1 and effects that

identification of Jesus and his Kingdom preaching with the message of the

Gospel, which will be taken up again (10:29; 14:9).

The verses effect a parallelism and a distinction between John and Jesus.37

Both are heralds preaching a message of repentance (1:4, 14) ; both are handed

over to death as the innocent just one; both are laid in a tomb by faithful disciples

(cf. 6:14-29; chap. 15) . At the same time they are distinguished. John' s function

is to prepare the way; Jesus' function is to follow the way. John points to the

future; Jesus announces that the kairos is now fulfilled and then unfolds a new

future. John calls for repentance, but Jesus calls for repentance and faith in the

gospel. These verses effect also a parallelism between Jesus and his followers. Just

as the time of John and Jesus was to be characterized by preaching and being

34. In addition to Kelber, Kingdom, the other major work on the kingdom of God inMark is A. Ambrozic, The Hidden Kingdom, CBQMS, 2 (Washington, Catholic Biblical As

i i 1972)

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delivered up, so too the followers of Jesus are to proclaim the gospel "to all

nations" and are to be delivered up (1 3:9-13 ).

By making the Kingdom proclamation and sayings such a dominant motif and

integrative factor in the Gospel, Mark gives a radically new referent to Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God is not simply as Perrin notes a "tensive symbol" for God's

sovereignty, but is now a metaphor of that power manifest in the life and teaching

of Jesus. Jesus is the proclaimer of the Kingdom, but in Mark's presentation, the

Kingdom also proclaims Jesus.

The second major symbol Mark uses to convey the parabolic nature of Jesus'

life and teaching is Son of Man. As noted, this "t itle" though adopted from the

tradition is given a distinctive shape and usage by Mark.38

It serves to unite the

three stages of Jesus' lifehis coming in power and glory, the hiddenness of

this power during his suffering and death, and the proleptic exercise of it during

his ministry. Son of Man also gives the proper interpretation to Son of God and

provides a structural unity to the Gospel. The Gospel begins when Jesus is ac

claimed by the heavenly voice as Son of God. Throughout the Gospel until the

trial narrative this description is expressed by a voice from the heavens or bythose with some kind of preternatural knowledge. Son of God characterizes Jesus

as he performs mighty works, but Mark subsumes these mighty works under

that power which Jesus exercises as Son of Man. In the important middle section

of the Gospel (8:27-10:52), the three Son of Man sayings show in what sense

Jesus is the beloved and chosen Son, that is, as one who follows God's pre

ordained will to the way of the cross.

While throughout the Gospel these titles given Jesus have been related, they

have not been found together until the trial narrative (14:53-65). Here, in

response to the question of the high priest "Are you the Christ, the Son of the

Blessed?" Jesus answers with the theophanic revelational formula "I am" and

identifies himself with the exalted and returning Son of Man. The Gospel reader

now knows in what sense Jesus is Son of God; and when at the cross the centurion

utters the proper Christian confession, "Truly this man was the Son of God"

(15:39), the confession affirms the presence of God not simply in the manifesta

tion of works of power, nor even in the eschatological finale, but in the brokenness

and abandonment of God's chosen one on the cross.

Like Kingdom, then, Son of Man has several references. It brings from thetradition a connotation of one who is both an individual and a corporate figure

who will be exalted after a period of struggle39

The story of Jesus is also to be

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Jesus as the Parable of God in the Gospel of Mark

Interpretation

the story of his followers. Mark uses the title to give a particular theological

understanding to Jesus as Son of God too. From the Jewish tradition and from

other Christian writings, we know that Christians as well were called sons and

daughters of God (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 4:6-7). Mark, by showing in what sense

Jesus is to be Son, shows in what sense also his followers are to be "son." Ulti

mately then the christological titles in Mark are not simply descriptions of Jesus

but are metaphors of what God has done in Jesus. Mark's Jesus points to the

mystery of the divine human encounter; he is a paradigm of that encounter.

". . . drawn from nature or common life"

As imaginative literature the parables speak out of the concreteness of their

images. Erich Auerbach demonstrates that the individuality and concreteness of

the Gospel stories explain their enduring quality, and literary critics have noted

that the imaginative appeal of poetry lies in its ability to depict the concrete uni

versal.40

Amos Wilder has underscored the religious dimension of this kind of lan

guage by noting that the realism of the parables calls attention to the everyday as

the arena of God's intrusion into human life.41

The realism of Mark emerges in his presentation of Jesus with a series of strong

emotions : pity (1 :41) , violent displeasure ( 1:43 ), anger (3 :5 ) , indignation

(10:14), groanings and deep sighs (1:41, 8:12), surprise at unbelief (6:6), and

love ( 10:21 ) ; all of which Matthew and Luke omit in retelling the same stories.

There are places where Jesus shows ignorance, for example, about who touched

him (5 :31-32) or of what the disciples were discussing (9 :33) , features which are

also altered by Matthew and Luke. Most dramatically the famous "ignorance of

the day" voiced by Jesus (Mark 13:32) is omitted by Luke and most likely

by the original text of Matthew.42

Further, in contrast to Matthew and Luke, there is a sober realism which

permeates the Passion narrative, especially the latter portion. In the first part

of the Passion narrative, until the arrest in 14:43, Jesus is the constant initiator

of action and the subject of the verbs. After 14:42 he is passive and the object

of the verbs. In the first part of the narrative Jesus speaks thirteen times, while

after 14:42 he speaks only four times and then in short cryptic statements

(14:28, 62; 15:2, 34). The character of the narrative as passion or something

done to Jesus is dramatically communicated by its language. Unlike the Lukan40. E. Auerback, Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, trans.

k ( i i i i 1953) 40 49 "C i

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Jesus who remains teacher (22:24-30), healer (22:51), and salvation bringer

(23:43) , and unlike the Matthean Jesus who can summon more than twelve

legions of angels (26 :5 3) and whose innocence is revealed in a dream (27:19),

in Mark, the passion of Jesus is the radical emptiness of one who died in the form

of a slave.43

As Vincent Taylor aptly marks: "The sheer humanity of the Markan por

traiture catches the eye of the most careless reader."44

In Mark Jesus is truly the

parable of God, but the way to God is not through any docetic circumvention

of the human Jesus. In the case of Jesus himself, no less than in the parables

he utters, the scandal of the human is the starting point for the unfolding of the

mystery of God.

". . . arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness"

The parables take the everyday as a vehicle for mediating the transcendent.

In so doing, however, the everyday is put somewhat askew.45 There is a surprise

element or strange twist in every parable which is most often the point at which

the revelatory or disclosive power of the parable comes into play. It is ordinary,for example, that a person be mugged on the way to Jericho (Luke 10 :33-37),

and it may be ordinary that someone stop to help. What is extraordinary is that the

helper is a Samaritan. It is ordinary that a younger son would go off and live an

independent life (Luke 15:11-32), fall on hard times, and return home downcast

and repentant. It is extraordinary that the father would not only show him

unmerited acceptance, but would restore him to a dignity higher than his

original state. It is through things like surprise and paradox that the hearer is

shaken out of ordinary existence and so is open to revelation. In the Gospel of

Mark there are two major devices by which this shaking occurs; (a ) the explicitreference to shock and surprise and (b) the use of situational irony and paradox.

Along with other motifs which span and unify the diverse elements Mark

includes in the Gospel, such as anticipations of the suffering of Jesus and the

disclosure of Jesus' Messiahship, is the motif of surprise, wonder, awe, and fear.

There are over thirty-four places in the Gospel where Mark records such a

reaction.46

These reactions embrace all the major aspects of Jesus' ministry: (1)

43. On distinctive viewpoints of different passion narratives see H. Conzelmann, "History

and Theology in the Passion Narratives of the Synoptic Gospels," Interp 24:178-97 (1970) :

J. Donahue, "Passion Narrative," IDB Sup, 643-45.44. St. Mark, p. 121.

45 Funk Language 158f ; Tracy Blessed Rage 29-3 1; Ricoeur " T he Specificity of Re

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Jesus as the Parable of God in the Gospel of Mark

Interpretation

as a conclusion to the miracles of Jesus, 1:27; 2:1 2; 4 : 4 1 ; 5: 15 , 20, 33, 42 ;

6 :50 ,51 ; 7:37 (2) asa reaction to the teaching of Jesus, 1:22; 6:2; 10:24, 26;

11:18; 12:17 (3) in narratives of divine epiphanies, 4: 41 ; 6:50-51 ; 9 :6; 16:5

(4) fright of the disciples over Jesus' predictions of suffering, 9:32; 10:32; cf.

14:33 and (5) reactions of opponents, even during the passion of Jesus, 11:18;

12:12; 15:5, 44. Even though a reaction of surprise and wonder may be a formal

element of the miracle stories, and may be pre-Markan in some cases, this

cannot explain the prevalence Mark gives to it. Mark's own theology of fear and

wonder comes out especially in the resurrection account (16:5, 8) and in the

jarring ending to the Gospel, "for they were afraid." This motif which throughout

the Gospel establishes rapport with the reader and which dictates how the

reader should respond to Jesus, now becomes a symbolic reaction to the whole

Gospel. Mark's reader is left, not with the assurance of resurrection vision, but

simply with numinous fear in the presence of divine promise. These reactions

of wonder and surprise accompany the revelation of God in Jesus, and they

signify the power of this revelation to unsettle and change human existence. At the

same time the wonder is a fascinating and attracting wonder.47

People are sur

prised and glorify God, they are led to question who Jesus is (4:41 ) ; it charac

terizes the following of Jesus (10:32). These motifs in the text call for a parabolic

reading of Mark; for an approach to Mark's Jesus with a sense of wonder, awe,

and holy fear; for an openness to the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary;

for a suspension of belief that true faith may occur.

The second major way Mark communicates vividness and strangeness is by

the use of irony and paradox. Kelber writes, "If there is one single feature which

characterizes the Markan Jesus, it is contradiction or paradox," and in another

context I have stated "Irony is the rhetorical medium through which Markconveys his message of faith."

48While the intensity and nuances of paradoxes

and especially irony are pointed out by literary critics, we are working with the

generally accepted understanding of irony as language or situations which "express

a meaning directly opposite that intended" and paradox as "a seemingly self-

contradictory statement, which yet is shown to be (sometimes in a surprising

way) true.49

Common to both devices is a reversal of surface expectations created

by the text.

47. Loc. cit.

48. Kelber, The Passion in Mark, p. 179; Donahue, Ibid., p. 79.

49. R. Lanham, A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms (Berkeley, University of California Press,1968 ) 61 71 F f ll di i f I J J H d I i th

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While a full-scale study of irony and paradox in Mark is to be desired, we can

simply indicate some aspects of his paradoxical picture of Jesus. The expectations

about who the Messiah should be and what he should do are shattered. The day of

the Lord's rest becomes the day of the Lord's labor ( 2:27-3:5 ). Clean is declared

unclean (7 :1-23) ; children who do not ever bear the yoke of the kingdom (the

law) are to enter God's Kingdom (1 0: 13 -1 6) . The one who rules is to be the

lackey, the last will be fiist (10:42-45), the appointed followers are blind, and

the blind see.50 Jesus' way to death is really his way to being raised up. In con

demning him, Jewish officials are condemning themselves to judgment (14 :6 2-63 ) ; in seeking to preserve their priesthood, they destroy its functionthe veil

is now split, their role as mediators is ended (15:38) . Jesus is mocked as a false

prophet at the very moment his prophecy about Peter is being fulfilled (1 4: 65,

72).51

Pilate and the bystanders ironically call him king (15:2, 32), while

the centurion expresses the true meaning of his kingship (15:39). A woman

anoints him, but it is really for his burial ( 14 :3 -9 ). The women and Joseph take

great pains to bury him whom no tomb will hold.52

He is risen, but he is not

here.

We have offered an admittedly incipient and scattered picture of irony and

paradox in Mark. Nonetheless the examples are adequate to suggest that to enter

the world of the Gospel the reader must be willing to have preconceptions shat

tered and to be open to having Jesus himself presented asuthe mystery of the

kingdom of God" (4:11 ) .53 Mark's parabolic and ironic imagination is a counter,

as Paul Ricoeur notes, to any attempt to make a project of our lives or to reduce

Jesus to concepts about him or to take his life as a program initiated by him.

^Mark's Jesus is presented as gift ("to you is given") but also as challenge.

cc

leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it intoactive thought"

One of the elements contained in Dodd's seminal descriptions of parables which

has received intensive discussion is their "open ended" quality.

50. The section, which deals with the inability of the disciples to compr ehend Jesus' teach

ing on suffering, is framed by two "giving of sight" na rra tives, 8:22-26 and 10:46-52. In the

second of these, in contrast to the disciples who hesitate to follow Jesus on the way to the

cross, Bartimaeus "followed him on the way." See, V. Robbins, "The Healing of Blind

Bartimaeus (1 0:46 -52) in the Marc an Theology," JBL 92:224 -243 (19 73) , and E. Johnson,

"Mark 10:4 6-52 : Blind Bartimaeus," CBQ 40:19 1-204 (19 78) .

51 . Juel, Messiah, p. 72.52. Ga rdner, "Poetry of St. Mar k," pp . 109f.

53. That Jesus himself may be the "secret (mysterion) of the kingdom" is suggested,

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Jesus as the Parable of God in the Gospel of Mark

Interpretation

Despite attempts within the Synoptic Gospels themselves to close off the mean

ing of individual parables through allegorization, moralizing application, or in

corporation into the theological perspective of the whole work, the parables

progonally were without application and gain meaning only through the closure

the hearer gives to them. The parable functions as event of revelation only when

the hearer enters the new world of the parable and as actor in the parable looks

from within it backward to a previous understanding and forward to new

possibilities. Mark's presentation of Jesus is no less open-ended.

What New Testament critics say about the text as word event and the need

for the meaning of the text to be completed by the reader is very close to

Wolfgang Iser's observations on the phenomenology of reading.55

Iser notes that

what gives a literary text its enduring and aesthetic quality is its ability to engage

the active participation of the reader. He further notes that it is "the 'unwritten'

part of a text which stimulates the reader's participation." 56 He then describes

various devices which effect this participation. The text may contain various per

spectives among which the reader is forced to choose. Apparently trivial and sche

matic scenes often have a hidden significance which must be discovered. Thereader must make connections between disparate parts of the texts. There are

often hiatuses or "gaps" in the text which must be filled in. Iser calls these gaps

the basic element of aesthetic response and says "it is only through inevitable

omissions that a story gains its dynamism." 57 Another important factor is a process

of retrospection and anticipation, created by individual parts of the text. Finally

Iser discusses the formation of illusions by readers as they move through texts,

along with the subsequent breaking of these illusions, which creates a dynamic

rapport between the reader and the said and the unsaid part of the text.

Again, as in the case of irony and paradox above, we can offer nothing morethan suggestions about devices in Mark by which the text and the reader are

engaged. ("Paradoxically" many of these devices are those very things which

cause literary critics to characterize Mark's Gospel as primitive or unliterary. ) 58

54. Supra, n. 45.

55. W. Iser, The Implied Reader (Baltimore, John's Hopkins, 1974), esp. chap. 11, "TheReading Process," and "Indeterminacy and the Reader's Response in Prose Fiction," in J. H.

Miller, ed., Aspects of Narrative (New York, Columbia University Press, 1971), pp. 1-45; Der

Akt des Lesens (Mnchen, W. Fink, 1976).56. Implied Reader, p. 275.

57. Ibid., p. 280; "Indeterminacy," pp. 11-14; though he does not allude to biblical interpretation, Iser's observations are close to certain approaches of the New Hermeneutic andexistentialist exegesis, see P. Achtemeier, An Introduction to the New Hermeneutic (Phila

d l hi W i P 1969) 54 148 Hi l i i l i il h f H G

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One of the major devices both in the theology and structure of the Gospel and

by which the reader is engaged are the Sammelberichte or summary statements.59

These come at strategic places and often serve to join disparate elements of tradi

tion. Their very schematic and allusive quality, such as the statement in 1:28

"that his fame spread throughout all Galilee" or that crowds from all Palestine

came to him (3:7) or that he went about among the villages teaching, call on

the reader to fill in the gaps, to make a judgment about who Jesus is. By location

and content these summary statements recapitulate the preceding section and

anticipate what is to come.60

Another way in which Mark engages readers in working out things for them

selves is by sowing early in the narrative seeds which will blossom throughout

the text.61

The first appearance of Jesus is accompanied "immediately" by the

rending of the heavens and a voice declaring him beloved son (1 :1 1) ; "other-

wordly salutations of Jesus reappear throughout the narrative ( 1:24 ; 3:11 ;

5:7 ; 9:7), but the true meaning of "son" is held in suspension to the very end of

the narrative (15:39) . Jesus' first public act is to call disciples (1 :16ff. ). Even

though scenes of explicit dealing between Jesus and his disciples come at struc

turally important places in the narrative,62 for major portions of the book the

disciples function as scenery or backdrop and reappear as recipients of an un

fulfilled promise at the end of the Gospel (16:7 -8 ). The ultimate fate of Jesus

is hinted at in the parable of the bridegroom (2:20) and in the conspiracy

of the Pharisees and Herodians (3:6), but is held in suspension until the passion

narrative. Two important predictions, the promise that Jesus will baptize in the

spirit (1:8) and the meeting in Galilee (14: 28 ) are not fulfilled though others

(8 :31; 9:31; 10:32; 14:18, 30) are. Mark has a penchant for duality andfor recounting spatially separate scenes in a similar manner (e.g., 11:1-6; 14:12-

Preservation of the Tradition," Ibid., pp. 21-34; for a counter position, see Perrin, "TheEvangelist as Author: Reflections on Method in the Study and Interpretation of the SynopticGospels and Acts," Biblical Research 17:5-18 (19 72) , and " The In terpre tatio n of the Gospelof Mark," Interp 30:115-24 (1976).

59. See Taylor, St. Mark, p. 85 for complete list. The major summaries are: 1:14f.; 3:7-12;6:66, 30-33. A recent study of the importance of these to Mark's redaction and theology isW. Egger, Frohbotschaft und Lehre. Die Sammelberichte des Wirkens Jesu im Markusevangelium, Frankfu rter Theologischen Studien 19 (Frankfur t, Kne cht , 1976), esp. pp. 158f.

60. This technique of Mark has most recently been noted by R. Tannehill, "The Disciples

in Mark," JR 57:390 (1977).61 . The way in which Mark's narrative technique involves the reader is developed by

Tannehill, art. cit., and in his "The Gospel of Mark as Nar rat ive Christology," (forthcoming

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Jesus as the Parable of God in the Gospel of MarkInterpretation

16).63

All these devices, the holding of suspension of theological motifs, the use

of the fulfillment and non-fulfillment of prophecy, and the juxtaposition and

parallelism of accounts engage the reader in personally working out the con

nections and enable one to become part of the world of the text.

In its own way Mark's presentation of Jesus offers a progression in the creation

and shattering of illusions. In the first part of the Gospel the reader identifies

with a figure of power and renown. Jesus joins successful combat with demonic

forces. He exercises power over death, sickness, and natural forces. He offers bread

to the hungry and solace to the bereaved. In the middle section the reader sees that

this illusion is to be shattered. The figure of power is to be handed over to people

who will kill him. Yet even this new illusion is to be shattered, for the brokenness

of the cross is itself broken by the message, "He is risen." And yet the final illusion

is shattered. "Risen" does not mean a return in power and presence to the com

munity. The community must continue to struggle with illusions (with false

christs, false messiahs) until they finally "see" him (13:26; 16:7) .

The Jesus of Mark truly does leave the mind in sufficient doubt about his

precise meaning to tease it into active engagement. What in the text itself isportrayed as discipleship, complete with its successes and failures, is, in subsequent

history, the personal engagement which takes place in interpretation, in represent

ing the text to one's self, and in appropriating it in a life of discipleship. The

Gospels of Matthew and Luke exemplify the first testimony we have to this

engagement.64

The lived experience of individuals and communities represents

its continuance. As an open-ended parable the Gospel of Mark will constantly

receive new statements and new closures. Exegesis which deals with the "said"

portion of the text can describe certain parameters within which such closure may

occur; it can never exhaust the positive ways in which the Jesus of Mark may bepresent and may be presented.

III . RE-PRE SENTI NG MA RK' S PARABLE

In Mark, Jesus is the parable of God who is present in privileged time (kairos)

and who summons those who hear him to radical faith and radical conversion

(1:14). This Jesus is a figure of power in conflict with the powers of the cosmos

and the powers of hardness of heart (3 :5 ; 6:52 ; 8:17).65

Yet broken, and

63. F. Neirynck, Duality in Mark. Contributions to the Study of the Markan Redaction,BETL, 31 (Leuven, Leuven University Press, 1972). P. Achtemeier calls attention to thedual cycle of miracle stories which are incorporated into chaps. 4-8, "Toward the Isolationf P M k Mi l C " JBL 89 265 91 (19 70)

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abandoned by the source of all power, he dies as the radically powerless one.

During his life his power is manifest yet hidden.06 His disciples and followers are

also to be empowered with his spirit (1:10; 13:11). They will confront evil

powers and spread the gospel (13:10), but will also die, broken by betrayal

and suffering (1 3:11-1 3) . Their power, too, is hidden.

Jesus as good news and the good news which he proclaims are an intrusion

into everyday life. His mission in the world is not one of an isolated prophet,

but involves the engagement of others called out of the ordinary way to follow

his way. He does not exist except in community with others. The summons hegives to those he calls is "to be with him" and to do the things he has done (3:13-

19).67

To share in his power is not to possess power of prestige and playing lord

over others, but is to practice the self-emptying service which becomes the source

of liberation to the many (1 0:41-4 5) .

Response to this parable puts the ordinary askew. It involves a challenge to

the total fiber of life. Riches and the security they offer as well as the love and

trust which comes from family life (brother will betray brother) are problematic.

Rejection and suspicion by religious and civic leaders and a brutal juridical

murder await the caller and the called. Mark offers his readers a human, realistic

Jesus who is also a figure of power and mystery, who has broken down the

barrier between God and sinful humans, and who is now present to the com

munity as word of promise. He does not present the lordly teacher of Matthew

(1:1) nor Luke's compassionate healer. Mark's Jesus is for those who stand

between promise and presence, who like the trembling women are afraid and

often do not know what to do with the message they have received.

Neither responding to the call nor entering the world of the parable nor

sharing its power assumes fidelity to the call. Those first called, first failed. The

way of discipleship in Mark is not the way of the perfect; it is the way of

a pilgrim, failing people. It is the Pauline paradox of strength in weakness

(II Cor. 12:1 0) , of life amidst death (I I Cor. 4: 7- 12 ). Responding to the par

able of Jesus in Mark is engagement in the ultimate paradox of the Christian

faith.

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^ s

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