The Gospel of Mark

Mark 15: Purity codes

Mark 15 attributes the crucifixion of Jesus to priests who capture him, turn him over to Pilate, and stir up the crowd to insist that Pilate crucify him. This means that the people at the top of the temple purity system commit themselves to the destruction of a Galilean whom they perceive to be a troublemaker. After Jesus dies on the cross, a member at the bottom of the list, a Gentile centurion, asserts that Jesus was a son of God (15:39). Mark 15, then, appears to enact an inversion of the purity system presupposed by the temple hierarchy. Priests at the top of the system enact a negative identity, while a Gentile at the bottom of the system makes an honorable statement about Jesus in the context of his death.

From V. K. Robbins, Exploring the Texture of Texts, (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1996), p. 85.

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