Messiah and emperor : "Son of God" in the inclusio of Mark 1:10-11 and 15:38-39

2015·6.3 MB·English

by  Neumann, James M.

MESSIAH AND EMPEROR:
"SON OF GOD" IN THE INCLUSIO OF MARK 1:10-11 AND 15:38-39
Abstract
This study challenges the understanding of "Son of God" as a simple title
with a static meaning in the Gospel of Mark. Conversely, I argue that Mark gives
dynamic development to the Son of God identity through a broad inclusio spanning
from 1:10-11 to 15:38-39 in order to narrate how Jesus's messianic enthronement
effectively deposes the Roman emperor. I examine the contrasting messianic and
imperial connotations of Son of God in each of these two passages using a mixture of
historical, narrative, and rhetorical-critical methods before finally assessing the effect
of this juxtaposition in Mark's narrative as a whole. An emphasis is placed on
indications of the author's own intentionality, as well as discerning what would
constitute a credible narrative for his first-century audience.
After surveying the scholarship on the issues above in Chapter One, I retrace
the historical origins of divine sonship in Mark 1:11 via Psalm 2:7 in Chapter Two. I
observe that Psalm 2:7 belongs to a coronation liturgy for the Davidic king, through
whose enthronement YHWH will overcome the raging of the nations and kings who
oppose him. Chapter Three then demonstrates the messianic interpretation of Psalm
2 and Son of God in the Second Temple period, as well as in Mark 1:10-11. Several
early Jewish messianic interpretations of Psalm 2 explicitly polemicize against Rome.
Mark himself, I argue, appears to retain Psalm 2's original emphasis on the
impending defeat of the rebellious nations while portraying Jesus's baptism as his
messianic anointing.
As the counterpart to Chapter Two, Chapter Four explores the meaning of
"son of god" per imperial Rome. As the "son of (a) god," the emperor was a supreme
ruler of soteriological and eschatological import, whose reign could be termed
"gospel." I argue that this narrative so permeated the fabric of the empire that no
one living under Roman rule could have missed the probable imperial associations
uioc; 0rnu would have held for a centurion. Thus, in Chapter Five, I challenge the
common views that the centurion's acclamation in Mark 15:39 is either a Christian
confession or a sarcastic remark. Instead, I argue that the centurion's claim about
Jesus is congruent to the claim these words would have signified about the emperor.
Rhetorically, the centurion's acclamation has the effect of depicting Jesus's
crucifixion as his enthronement over against the acknowledged ruler of the known
world at that time. I conclude that the final pronouncement of Jesus's sonship fulfills
the anticipations of the first, such that the entire earthly career of Jesus in Mark is
revealed to be the story of how the Messiah takes up his throne and triumphs over
every power, earthly and cosmic. Son of God becomes a shorthand for the gospel
itself.