Socio-Rhetorical Examples
Definition of holy person.
In Mark 15:1-16:8, priests and scribes in charge of activities in the Jerusalem temple hand Jesus over to Pilate (15:1), and later they mock Jesus by taunting him to come down from the cross and save himself (15:31-32). Chief priests without the assistance of scribes convince the crowd to insist that Pilate release Barabbas and crucify Jesus (15:11-15). According to Mark, the chief priests act this way because they envy Jesus (15:10). There is, then, conflict between different kinds of people associated with holy things in the Gospel of Mark. The exceptional holy status of Jesus is emphasized through a negative characterization of officials in charge of the Jerusalem temple. The negative identity of officials in charge of holy things creates a context that heightens the image of Jesus as specially chosen to perform extraordinary acts associated with holiness and the ways of God.
Jesus, then, is a person specially chosen by God in the Gospel of Mark. The speech of the heavenly voice at Jesus' baptism and transfiguration makes this clear when it refers to Jesus as "my beloved son" (1:11; 9:7). Thus, the counterpart of God as "Abba father" (14:36), noted above, is that Jesus is God's son. But what does it mean to be God's son? We saw above that God would not remove "the cup" of suffering and death from his son when he requested it. Why would this be? What is the nature of God's son that God will not remove suffering, rejection, and death from him? The narrative only speaks implicitly or obliquely about the reasons why God allows his son to suffer and die. Mark 15:1-16:8, however, contains a dramatic moment that focuses on this aspect of being son of God. When the centurion standing at the foot of the cross sees Jesus die, he says, "Truly this man was son of God" (15:39). There is disagreement in interpretation concerning exactly what the centurion responded to and what his response means. The narrator says the centurion responded this way when he saw Jesus breathe his last "in this way" (15:39). What does "in this way" mean? Does it mean dying in a context of incredible suffering, rejection, and mockery? Does it mean dying in a context of alienation from God? Does it mean dying without saying anything until the moment of death? Does it mean dying in a context where the sky becomes dark and the curtain of the temple is split in two from top to bottom? Even if we cannot answer these questions with certainty, the questions themselves imply some of the meanings and meaning effects of the centurion's assertion that Jesus was truly son of God.
After Jesus' death and burial, a young man in a white robe sitting in the tomb says that Jesus has risen and gone before the disciples to Galilee, where they will see him (16:6-7). Jesus, then, does not remain in death. The implication is that although God allowed his beloved son to die, he did not allow death to be his final state. Divine powers at work through Jesus when he was alive appear to restore life to his body after he dies. This is perhaps the ultimate acclamation in the Markan account of the status of Jesus' holiness. His life on earth was of such a special quality that death was not the final result of his life. The natural question to ask is why this specially chosen person was not spared suffering, rejection, and death? Why was he not simply given special life without dying? This question leads to other aspects of the sacred texture of the Gospel of Mark.
From V. K. Robbins, Exploring the Texture of Texts, (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1996), p. 121.
For other examples from the Gospel of Mark, click here.
Textures Index | Text Index | Discourse Index | Oppositional Rhetoric Index