Most of the content of Mark’s Gospel is also found in either Matthew or Luke (or, in many cases, both Matthew and Luke). There is a small amount of ma- terial that is found only in Mark (see box 6.4), but for the most part, what is distinctive about this Gospel is its perspective and style.
Mark tells his story of Jesus with an urgency that surpasses what is found in the other Gospels. Everything seems to happen very quickly: the Greek word for “immediately” (euthys) is used forty-two times in this Gospel, eleven times in the first chapter alone. And the breathless anticipation with which Mark writes has theological implications. The first words of Jesus in this Gospel are
“The time is fulfilled!” (1:15), and the story that follows is told in a manner to confirm that claim: the world is rapidly changing and will never be the same again. The events that Mark says have unfolded were of cosmic, ultimate sig-
hyperlink 6.2 Box 6.3
Possible Sources for Mark’s Gospel
• a collection of controversy sto- ries, including those found now in 2:1–3:6
• a collection or, possibly, two col- lections of miracle stories, includ- ing many of those now found in chapters 4–8
• an apocalyptic tract containing much of what is now in chapter 13
• an early version of the passion nar- rative (the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection)
131 What Is Distinctive about the Gospel of Mark?
nificance, and the events that he says are about to unfold will be more momentous still (see 9:1; 13:28–30).
Mark’s Gospel usually is said to be written in a style of Greek that is colloquial and unrefined, which is to say that he is not always attentive to matters that strict gram- marians consider important (e.g., providing his pronouns with clear antecedents). One feature of his style that has attracted considerable attention is his abundant use of the “historical present”: he begins a narrative in the past tense (“The Pharisees came up to Jesus . . .”) and then continues it in the present tense (“and they say to him . . .”). Mark does this 151 times, enough to drive a grammar teacher mad. Still, as many scholars note, the effect of writing this way is to “make the past come
alive.” Mark draws his readers into the action, reporting history as though it were occurring now rather than then.
Mark exhibits a special knack for storytelling in other respects as well. He makes notable use of a rhetorical technique known as intercalation, wrapping one story around another to make what some pundits call a “literary sand- wich.” Four examples of this technique are presented in box 6.5. The rhetorical effect seems to be to invite the reader to look more closely at the two stories, to compare and contrast them. Thus, the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree helps to interpret the account of his purging of the temple: like the fig tree, the temple no longer bears fruit (i.e., it does not produce what God intended it to produce), and so, like the fig tree, it is doomed.
The ending of Mark’s Gospel is also distinctive—indeed, quite striking. It is Easter morning, and a group of women have come to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. A young man (probably an angel) tells the women that Jesus is risen and that they are to convey this message to his disciples. Then, Mark’s Gospel comes to a close with this sentence at 16:8:
They went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
This seems like an odd way to end a Gospel. One might well ask this: If the women really “said nothing to anyone,” how did the disciples find out about the resurrection? And did anyone ever actually see the risen Jesus?
This abrupt ending was so odd that some Christians sought to compose more suitable endings for the book, stitching together accounts of what hap- pened next, based on material found elsewhere in the New Testament. The best known of these makeshift endings still appears as Mark 16:9–20 in En- glish Bibles (usually enclosed in brackets or printed in italics at the bottom of
hyperlink 6.3
intercalation: a literary device in which one story or narrative is inserted into the middle of another.
hyperlink 6.3
hyperlink 6.4 Box 6.4
Material Unique to Mark’s Gospel
• Parable of seed growing secretly (4:26–29)
• Healing of deaf and dumb man (7:31–37)
• Healing of blind man of Bethsaida (8:22–26)
• Sayings on salt (9:49, 50b)
• Flight of young man in the garden (14:51–52)
the page). All of our oldest Greek manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel, however, conclude with 16:8, which leaves us with two possibilities: (1) the ending of Mark got lost sometime before any of our oldest manuscripts were produced (in which case there is no way to know how this Gospel actually concluded);
or, (2) Mark deliberately ended his Gospel in this fashion to achieve some sort of rhetorical effect. Both theories have their advocates, but a strong majority of scholars favor the latter solution, which then leaves us with more questions:
What was the rhetorical effect that he had in mind? Why end the story with fear and silence?
This touches on another distinctive aspect of Mark’s Gospel: it is imbued with a sense of mystery and ambiguity, and the story is told with a profound appreciation for letting things go unsaid (cf. 1:43–44; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26, 30; 9:9).
Jesus doesn’t mind leaving people in the dark (see 4:10–12), nor does Mark feel any compulsion to sort things out for us. We will note one example among dozens that could be cited. In Mark 8:14–21 Jesus tells his disciples, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” They don’t understand what this means, and he becomes upset with them. What he does not do, however, is explain what he meant, and many readers might be left feeling as unenlightened as his disciples. We get that we are supposed to understand the metaphor of yeast, but do we understand it? Interestingly, both Matthew and
Box 6.5
Intercalation in the Gospel of Mark
Jesus’ family sets out to seize him (3:21);
religious leaders accuse Jesus of using the power of Beelzebul (3:22–30);
Jesus’ family arrives and is rebuffed by him (3:31–35).
Jesus goes to heal the daughter of Jairus, a synagogue ruler (5:22–24);
a woman with hemorrhages is healed by touching Jesus’ garment (5:25–34);
Jesus raises the daughter of Jairus from the dead (5:35–43).
Jesus sends his disciples out on a mission (6:7–13);
Mark gives an account of how Herod killed John the Baptist (6:14–29);
the disciples return with a report of their mission (6:30).
Jesus curses a fig tree for not bearing fruit (11:12–14);
Jesus attacks the temple, calling it a “den of robbers” (11:15–19);
The fig tree that Jesus cursed has withered and died (11:20–21).
133 What Is Distinctive about the Gospel of Mark?
Luke amended Mark’s story to let the reader know what Jesus meant; even more interestingly, they interpreted the saying differently. Matthew tells us that Jesus was referring to the “teaching” of these religious leaders (Matt. 16:12);
Luke says that he was referring to their “hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1). Mark was content to leave it unexplained; he does not mind leaving his readers to ask,
“So what does it mean?” Or, sometimes, “What happened next?” Or, more important, “What now?”
Fig. 6.2. The Hem of His Garment. A third-century fresco from the catacombs in Rome depicts the story of a woman being healed simply by touching the hem of Jesus’ cloak (see Mark 5:25–34).
(Bridgeman Art Library)