Mark's Story of Jesus PDF
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MARK'S STORYOF JESUS Werner H. Kelber FORTRESS PRESS PHILADELPHIA MARK'S STORY OF JESUS Biblical quotations from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copy right 1946, 1952, 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of @ the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., are used by permission. COPYRIGHT ® 1979 BY FORTRESS PRESS All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani cal, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Seventh printing 1989 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Kelber, Werner H Mark's story of Jesus. A revision of the author's series of lectures delivered at the Episcopal Lay Academy in Houston, Tex., during Lent 1978. 1. Jesus Christ-History of doctrines-Early church. ca. 30-600-Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Bible. N.T. Mark-Criticism, interpretation, etc.-Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Title. BTl98.K44 232.9'01 78-14668 ISBN 0-8006-1355-4 3936A89 Printed in the United States of America 1-1355 To my parents my parents-in-law and Magda Kelber Contents Preface 9 Introduction 11 1. The Mystery of the Kingdom 15 Preparing the Way Arrival of the Kingdom The Galilean Journey The Kingdom Speech Summary 2. The Blindness of the Disciples 30 Voyage to Gentiles and Jews Endorsement of the Jews Endorsement of the Gentiles The Issue of the One Loaf Summary 3. The Suffering of the Son of Man 43 The Journey to Death Confrontation between Peter and Jesus The Disciples' Lack of Perception The Glory of the Son of God Summary 7 4. The End of the Temple 57 First Journey to the Temple Second Journey and Temple Disqualification Third Journey and Temple Speeches Prediction of Temple Destruction Summary 5. The Coronation in Humiliation 71 Preparations for Death Parting of Ways at Gethsemane Death in Godforsakenness The Crucified King Summary Conclusion 88 Preface The primary objective of this book is an interpretative retell ing of Mark's story of the life and death of Jesus. Mark's Gospel is viewed as a dramatically plotted journey of Jesus. Throughout the Gospel Jesus is depicted as being in movement from one place to another. He journeys through Galilee, undertakes six boat trips on and across the Lake of Galilee, travels from Galilee to Jerusalem, makes three trips into the temple, and toward the end signals the return to Galilee. Mark invites the reader to follow Jesus on this journey which leads through a series of unexpected experiences and crises. But the reader who follows Jesus' journey to the end will be shown a way out of the crisis. This book has grown out of a series of lectures delivered at the Episcopal Lay Academy in Houston, Texas, during Lent 1978. The lectures were presented before a general audience and hence in tended to be nontechnical both in style and content. This book, although a considerable revision of the lectures, likewise addresses a readership of nonspecialists. Footnotes, technical language, and scholarly discussions have been deliberately avoided. By and large this interpretation of Mark follows the Second Edition of the Revised Standard Version New Testament Text of 1971. At a number of points, however, recent scholarly develop ments demand corrections. Whenever this is the case, the reader is offered the RSV translation and alerted to the new version. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the hospitality shown to me by the organizers and members of the Episcopal Lay Academy. Their critical questions were a constant source of stimulation for me. In addition I should like to thank four persons who have notably con tributed to the making of this book: Mrs. Josephine Monaghan, 9 10 MARK'S STORY OF JESUS an extremely competent typist; Kevin B. Maxwell, S.J., and David W. Rutledge, both Ph.D. candidates at the Department of Religious Studies, Rice University; and my wife, Mary Ann. WERNER H. KELBER Introduction Both in study and in worship the Gospel of Mark has generally been treated as a collection of short stories. Articles and mono graphs single out specific aspects of the Gospel, commentaries are prone to break up the narrative flow, and translations are deeply influenced by this piecemeal approach. Reading only sec tions of Mark in worship likewise fractures our vision, perpetuating habits of hearing and reading which are detrimental to a total comprehension. Because we have focused on the individual stories in Mark we have not really come to know the story a/Mark. This book is designed to introduce the reader to a single coherent story, Mark's story of Jesus' life and death. From a literary perspective the reader is therefore advised to approach the Markan story as he or she would any other story: to read the whole story from be ginning to end, to observe the characters and the interplay among them, to watch for the author's clues regarding the plot, to discern the plot development, to identify scenes of crisis and recognition, and to view the story's resolution in the light of its antecedent logic. In reading Mark one must refrain from injecting Matthean, Lukan, or Johannine elements into his Gospel. Mark deserves to be read on his own terms. This is all the more important since it has become evident that our four evangelists have given us four rather different stories of the life and death of Jesus. Among other things, it was this recognition of their differences which led to the acceptance of four Gospels into the New Testament. Indeed, if the four Gospels were identical, the choice of just one would have been entirely sufficient. The explanation for these four different gospel stories is to be found in the diverse circumstances surround ing their compositions. Each Gospel was written by a different 11
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