1. RELS 3300: Early Christianity
The Gospel of Mark
RELS 3300: Early Christianity
Monday, March 20, 2017

2. Announcements Second project email due March 22nd (Wednesday)
Papers handed back at the end of class.
Grades updated on iCollege (minus attend./participation)
Observation by colleague- Dr. Molly Bassett March 22nd

3. Review of the Synoptic Gospels
Matthew, Mark, and Luke
Stories of Jesus’ life and teachings
The Synoptic Problem
Ancient biographies + types of criticism
Literary-historical
Redactional

4. Mark: The Basics Oldest and shortest of the gospels
Written in Greek around 70CE
Author?
Account of the life of Jesus from Baptism to Resurrection
Likely used both written and oral sources
One of the source texts for both Matthew and Luke
Most likely written for a largely gentile audience

5. Literary-Historical Criticism of Mark
Mark as an ancient biography
Who was Jesus?
What were his most important characteristics?
Narrative trajectory + multiple aspects of Jesus

6. Jesus the (Jewish) Messiah
Christ, Messiah
Fulfillment of ancient Jewish Scripture
The role of John the Baptist, according to Mark?
“Son of God”

7. Jesus, the Authoritative
Jesus immediately obeyed by others, human and nonhuman
Leader (1:16-20)
Teacher (1:22; 4:10)
Healer (1;24; 5:1)
“Son of God”

8. Jesus, the Opposed
Immediately opposed by Jewish authorities (Pharisees)
Actions (2:7; 2:18)
Associations (2:16)
Followers (2:24)
Death (3:6)
According to Mark, Pharisees oppose Jesus because they do not understand that he is the Messiah/ Son of God (emic)

9. Discussion Question
How are the Pharisees portrayed in the excerpt from Mark (Mark, Ch. 2)?
How is Jesus portrayed?

10. Jesus, The Misunderstood
Who realizes Jesus is the Son of God in the first half of Mark? (Ch. 1-8)
God (1:11)
Demons (1:24; 3:11)
Author
Reader
No one else, not even his specifically chosen disciples up to this point.

11. Jesus, the Acknowledged
Major plot point in Mark Ch. 8
Healing of the Blind Man (8:22-26)
Story is symbolic; represents disciples’ gradual understanding of Jesus as the SoG
Still only partial understanding, based on the popular understanding of “messiah”
The “messianic secret”

12. Jesus, the Suffering
Jesus must suffer death as the Son of God; predicted 3x
He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. (8:31)
He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” (9:30)
“We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” (10:33-34)

13. The Passion Narrative of Mark- Group Activity
Look at the passage from Mark (Ch ) and draw a chart/timeline of the Passion Narrative, including major events.

14. Death + Resurrection in Mark
According to Mark, disciples never fully grasp who Jesus is/ his role
Different understanding of Messiah
Doubtful Jesus
Significance of Jesus’ death through literary device
The curtain in the Temple (15:38)
The Roman centurion (15:39)

15. Jesus, Vindicated!
Jesus Has Risen 16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.[a]

16. Jesus, Vindicated!- What do you think?
Thinking back on some of the major themes of Mark, what is the purpose of such an abrupt ending?
What does this say about the characters within the narrative?
What does this ending do for the reader?