The Gospel of Mark

Mark 15: Shame

Mark 15 features women "watching from afar" as Joseph buries Jesus, and they come to the tomb after the sabbath to anoint his body (15:40-41; 16:1). According to a male-oriented first century Mediterranean social system as current social-scientific critics reconstruct it, these women are enacting "shame" as a positive value. Shame in this context takes the positive form of "following and serving" Jesus from the time he was in Galilee until he came to Jerusalem. The women continue this role when they come to the tomb to "serve" his body after it is buried. From the perspective of current social-scientific reading of this account, then, these women enact the role of "shame" in exemplary manner (Malina 1993: 50-55).

From V. K. Robbins, Exploring the Texture of Texts, (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1996), p. 77.

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