Qualitative progression in Mark 15:25-16:8

Mark 15:25-32 is a qualitative progression. Once Jesus has been mocked, abused, and hung on the cross, the only logical necessity is death, whether it be quickly or slowly. This scene, instead, features additional mockery. As it unfolds, the action appears completely natural, but it is not necessary that passersby, chief priests and scribes, and those crucified with Jesus speak out in mockery and derision. In fact, one might expect that someone standing nearby, or one of the men being crucified alongside Jesus, might speak a kind word to Jesus. Lukan discourse, as we know, does feature one of the crucified men in such a role (Luke 23:39-43). The Markan scene unfolds programmatic action of mockery and spite, and the reader/hearer accepts it as a natural, though not necessary, outcome of previous events.

Mark 15:40-41 presents a qualitative progression. The reader had no reason to suspect that three women had been accompanying Jesus and the Twelve as they travelled from Galilee to Jerusalem. Once the reader is told, their presence seems fully acceptable, especially since one of the functions they performed on the way (serving Jesus) was the same as Peter's mother-in-law performed after Jesus had taken her by the hand and her fever had left her (1:31).

Mark 15:47-16:8 presents a final qualitative progression suported by the logic of social custom and the characterization of the women in the narrative. Since Joseph had bought a linen cloth, wrapped Jesus' corpse with this cloth, and laid it in a tomb, Jesus' body was prepared for burial and placed where it would remain until it decomposed. Social custom, however, suggests that women should complete a burial by putting aromatic ointments on the body. Also, the portrayal of the women as people who serve the needs of Jesus make it natural for them to attend to his body even at death. While the logic of the narrative does not require the women to anoint Jesus' body in the tomb, both social logic and the implicit logic of the characterization of the women make an unexpected activity seem fully natural for the reader. This is the nature of a qualitative progression at its best.

From V. K. Robbins, Exploring the Texture of Texts, (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1996), pp. 27-8.

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