Redefining God – Mark, The Passionate Gospel

TROWEL & SWORD

Redefining God – Mark, The Passionate Gospel

Rev Andre van Oudtshoorn

At the heart of the gospel of Mark lies the issue of power. Mark wants to challenge his readers to question their idea of the person and character of God as an unchanging, almighty God. In this he was reacting strongly to the understanding of God which was current at his time.

The Greek mythologies defined God in terms of 'power'. Aeschylus in his play 'Prometheus bound' refers to Prometheus being punished by Zeus (the supreme god) for showing compassion to people. The chorus starts the play off by chanting “Who of the gods is so hard of heart ...save only Zeus 1.”This was not seen as something negative, but that which properly belongs to Zeus. “Might and violence, in you the command of Zeus has perfect fulfilment2.” Divine power means taking up the right to do what you want. Nothing from the outside can touch you. You are only influenced by your own will. To be god is to be able to do what you want.

The Greek philosophers strongly reacted against the capriciousness of the gods in Greek mythology. The philosophers, instead, stressed that to be 'god' meant to be free from being influenced by anything. God is passionless and unchanging. Aristotle referred to God as the 'unmoved mover'. God simply 'is' . He is absolute existence, without any change or movement in his being, pure spirit, almighty, omnipresent and omniscient.

The God of the Old Testament, of course, revealed himself to be radically different from such definitions of divinity. The God of the Old Testament cares, is full of passion and responds actively to the events on earth. Rather than an abstract idea such as 'the Absolute', God is pictured in the Old Testament as a divine person. Jewish theology, however, could not completely escape the influence of Greek philosophy. The Greek philosophical idea of an almighty unchangeable God was taken up by Philo who carefully reinterpreted the Old Testament to reflect Greek philosophical insights. God 'the doer' of the Old Testament was exchanged for a God of existence, locked away in his divinity, untouched by anything that happens on earth.

The early Christian church, too, did not escape this trend. Both early and later Church councils took up the idea of the impassibility of God. The Council of Chalcedon stated that the suffering of Jesus was so only 'in a manner of speaking', because his divinity could not suffer. The Westminster Confession states that God is "without body, parts, passions: [he is] immutable."

A more pragmatic, individual search for power is also found amongst the disciples of Jesus. For them, the Kingdom of God was about God's power over those who opposed him and the question they struggled with was who was going to benefit the most from their association with Jesus.

Mark's gospel can be read as a theological reaction to all these definitions of God. His understanding of God's character and power is not based on abstract philosophical or theological speculations but is, instead, grounded on God's action in the person and life of Jesus. Through the actions and words of Jesus, as portrayed in Mark's gospel, we come to see God's divinity and power in a new way.

Mark's gospel starts off with the proclamation that it is about Jesus, 'the Son of God' (1:1). The term Son of God was used in the Old Testament to refer to Israel or the king. At first glance it seems that Mark links the term Son of God almost exclusively to power and authority. Jesus is shown to be the fulfilment of divine prophecy (1:2b-3). He is affirmed as the Son of God by God himself (1:11).This is followed by his victory over the adversary, Satan, (1:12, 21-27). Jesus proclaims that the Kingdom of God has come near (1:15). The gospel then shows Jesus, in his kingly power and glory, performing many miracles. He draws large crowds (1:32, 45; 2:2). He calls a number of disciples who leave everything to follow him (1:17 ff, 3:11ff). He teaches with authority (1:22), heals many people (1:23-45) and forgives sins (2:1-12). He has the authority to challenge the Jewish customs regarding fasting (2:18ff) and the Sabbath (2:23). Demons recognise his power and tremble before him. As the Son of Man, a figure expected to appear at the end of the world according to Daniel 7, Jesus claims for himself the right to forgive sins, to be the Master and Lord of the Sabbath and announces that he will appear on the clouds with angels in glory. The high point in the narrative is the confession of Peter in 8:27 where he declares that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who will inaugurate God's rule on earth. Mark stacks all these different titles, Son of God, Son of Man, Messiah together to give a picture of Jesus as clothed with divine authority, inaugurating the Kingdom of God in glory and power.

In Chapter 8:31, however, the narrative suddenly takes a dramatic downward turn. Jesus predicts his death and suffering for others (repeated in 9:32ff and 10:31ff). From now on it is clear that Jesus is steadily moving towards his death. Instead of being the protagonist, the hero of the story, the one who takes the initiative, Jesus more and more becomes the passive victim who ends up suffering at the hands of others. It is now exactly in this radical, passive obedience to the will of the Father, to the point of being willing to give up his power and to die on the cross, that Jesus shows himself to be the true Son of God. The gospel of Mark contains the words 'Surely this is the Son of God' spoken by a heathen soldier at the foot of the cross (15:39). The tension between these seemingly incompatible definitions of Son of God when referring to Jesus as either the powerful and divine miracle worker (chapters 1-8) or the powerless and vulnerable individual, nailed to a cross (chapters 9-16) forms the basis for understanding the message of Mark's gospel.

Mark cleverly uses time to build the contrast between the first and second parts of the gospel. He dramatically crams three years of Jesus' ministry into this first section
(1-8:31). Everything happens at a breath-taking pace. He introduces new episodes with a breathless, almost childlike enthusiasm using terms such as 'and then', or 'suddenly'. There are great crowds, great excitement and powerful events. Any signs of opposition to Jesus are simply ignored or conquered. The ministry of Jesus seems unstoppable. In the second part of Mark the pace suddenly slows down. Instead of years, this section deals with weeks, then days and finally hours. The frantic pace of the first section is replaced by slow motion, slow enough to hear a cock crow three times.

David Platcher in his book, Narratives of a suffering God, has pointed to the use of irony in the gospel of Mark. Irony is a way of saying yes and no at the same time: “Yes, God is powerful,” but, “No, he is not powerful in the same way as the gods in mythology or philosophy are powerful.” Mark uses irony to describe the miracles of Jesus, his teaching and his actions.

When Jesus performs 'miracles' he often does this in a way that spoils the dramatic effect. He heals a leper but makes himself ritually impure by physically touching him (1:41). He spits on the tongue of a deaf and dumb man (7:33), something that would have disgusted the onlookers. Jesus lets an important official wait while attending to a woman who is bleeding, keeping the important male waiting and allowing himself to become ritually polluted by her touch. He then goes further and praises the woman for her faith. He turns the miracle of a dead girl into a farce by saying 'she is just asleep', minimising the event. When he heals a demon possessed man the Gerasenes beg him to leave their area. Jesus prophesied that imposters, claiming to be the Messiah, would do all kinds of miracles. On the cross, when Jesus is asked to do a miracle, he refrains and, thereby, ironically confirms his own true Messiahship.

Jesus calls disciples to follow him. They all obey him but “the narrative paints them as obtuse, obdurate, recalcitrant men who at first are unperceptive of Jesus' Messiahship, then oppose its style and character, and finally totally reject it3.” They continue to seek their own glory. They follow him, confess him as Lord, yet betray, deny and forsake him. Jesus teaches with authority, but his own disciples seem unable to understand his message.

The irony becomes even stronger in the final moments of the gospel. Jesus enters Jerusalem to large acclaim but on a colt. Yes, it is predictive of the Messiah, but no, it looks silly compared to the victory processions of the Roman army.

Jesus is finally anointed as the Messiah in chapter 14 but this is done, not by a powerful prophet or religious leader, but by an unnamed woman.

Jesus prophesied that Peter would betray him, and this happens at the very moment that the soldiers mockingly call on Jesus to prophesy to them and he chooses to remain quiet.

Jesus is dressed in the purple robes of a king and yet is scourged.

Perhaps the greatest irony comes at the end of the book. “Jesus proclaimed himself 'Messiah' in the midst of a criminal trial, and a military officer recognised him as the Son of God as he died on the cross. We do not see a triumphant, divine Jesus, pulling away the mask of suffering like a magician at the end of a trick. Mark's gospel invites us to see Jesus' divinity precisely as he dies on the cross, for after that, we never see him at all4.”

In his gospel Mark portrays God as being both powerful and vulnerable. Mark shows, however, that God's power serves his character as the loving and committed God. It is only in love that God's power is fully revealed. The church has to remain focused on the image of the cross to understand God. The impassible, uncaring almighty God of Greek mythology and philosophy, and even of some reformed theology – it must be added – has to make way for the image of a vulnerable God who powerfully conquers the world through his love.

Footnotes:

1. Aeschylus, Prometheus bound, lines 160-167 in Grne, D. (1991). Greek Tragedies, Vol 1, p.71

2. Ibid, line 12, p.65

3. Placher p.13

4. Placher p.22

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