Gospel of Mark, Part I

Last updated on: September 20, 2006 at 5:38 pm by Tim Suttle

Gospel of Mark, Part I 2006-09-20T17:38:00-06:00 Tim Suttle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Reading Mark
A Literary and Theological
Commentary on the Second Gospel

Sharyn Dowd

Sharyn Dowd is a Southern Baptist theologian and is a professor in the religion department at Baylor. Dr. Dowd has a PhD. from Emory, which is a really good school, I think she got her masters at a Southern Baptist Seminary and her undergraduate at Wake Forest. She was on staff with a large Baptist church in North Carolina but has found some acclaim as an insightful biblical scholar and teacher. Her commentary on the Gospel of Mark has been really interesting to read.

Most commentaries are a little like reading a series of articles or an encyclopedia – they are meant more for reference than just to sit down and read. But this is a much more fluid work. The most remarkable thing about it is that she weaves a lot of historical, textual criticism into her commentary without boring you or grinding to a halt on the minutia.

My favorite thing so far has been that Dowd continually draws out meaning from the way in which the stories were arranged by the author of Mark. She works a lot with the structure of the Gospel as a whole, how each story is arranged and what meanings the original audience would have discerned by the way things were told and especially the context/structure. She contextualizes important ideas and meanings which the author seems to have intended and which would have been realized by the original audience simply by the way the narrative was arranged and ordered. Much of these meanings are lost on most of us on a simple reading just because we don’t know the background and we don’t discern the structure and the implications of each.

Here’s an example. In the Gospel of Mark from Mark 2:1 through 3:6 there is a string of 5 “Controversy” stories. They are arranged in what is called a chiastic structure, which is an ancient rhetorical argument form. It goes like this:

A – (2:1-12) Controversy over healing of paralytic / scene: indoor, house / response: crowd amazed but scribes question only in their hearts. Link word to next story = sins.

B – (2:15-17) Controversy over food / scene: indoor house / Jesus eats w/wrong people / scribes question only the disciples. Link word to previous story = sinners.

C – (2:18-22) Controversy over fasting / allusion to the crucifixion / pits two sayings of new against old / “they” question Jesus directly

B’ – (2:3-28) Controversy over eating / scene: outdoor / Picking grain & eating it on Sabbath / Pharisees directly question Jesus about “unlawful” behavior. Link word to next story = Sabbath.

A’ – (3:1-6) Controversy over healing withered hand / scene: indoor at the synagogue / Pharisees go out with the Herodians and conspire to kill Jesus. Link word to previous story = Sabbath.

Usually I would read through these stories as sort of independent accounts of what Jesus was doing and how they Pharisees/Scribes didn’t like it. Healing people, eating with people who were sinners, eating food, what can any of that mean? Well when you take it in context and look at the actual structure tons of meaning pours forth from the text.

In context we see that the development of hostility toward Jesus is progressive:

– First, scribes question only in their hearts.
– Second, they question only the disciples.
– Third, they question Jesus only about the disciples.
– Forth, they question Jesus about his disciples “unlawful” behavior.
– Fifth, they plot to kill him.

Dowd says “Here the audience begins to get a sense for what is at stake in the proclamation and activity of Jesus. The reign of God will not be welcomed by everyone. If the reign of God has drawn near, that means that all other regnant [ruling] structures are radically relativized and soon to be eliminated,” which includes the reigning religious structures of the day and the agenda they hold so tightly to.

A and A’ are both heavily ironic – the scribes are actually correct when they note that no one can forgive sins except God…this is part of Marks way of establishing the way in which Jesus understood his own divinity. Jesus was doing things only Yahweh could do! Mark was saying, for those with ears to hear, Jesus is divine. Ironically in A’ Jesus has not done anything illegal on the Sabbath, it’s not considered work to tell someone to stand up or reach out their hand. However, “Jesus points out, it is not legal to do evil or kill on any day of the week, let alone the Sabbath. The Pharisees and Herodians violate this law by plotting on the Sabbath to commit murder.”

Dowd works through the rest of the structure in similar fashion. I’m probably not doing it justice because it really sort of reads like a Sunday school lesson. If you are looking for a fun devotional guide, working through this commentary slowly can make for an incredible understanding of how much is going on underneath the plain reading of the text.

The rule and reign of God is dangerous to the religious elitists of Jesus day. Religious power and control is a slippery thing. In the Gospel of Mark, those who had their own agenda and idea of how God was going to bring about the redemption of his people were always at odds with Jesus’ way of bringing about the Kingdom. He did it through self-sacrifice, through healing, through caring for those who were considered unclean by the religious elitists and eventually through dying on the cross. The Pharisees thought the kingdom would come through power and force after Israel became holy once more. They, along with the religious elite, wielded their power without care for others involved in the situation. Especially those who needed Jesus the most.

What about the man with the shriveled hand? The healer was standing right next to him and the Pharisees actually thought it was wrong to tell him to reach out his hand. To say they were not open to new ideas is quite an understatement! They would not hear of other ways of understanding how God’s power could work in the world because they were holding so closely to their own agenda. What was the result? They talked about him behind his back, they tried to stir up trouble and controversy, they tried to subvert his influence with the disciples, they had heated confrontations with him and eventually they burned with a hatred so strong they wanted to kill him. They never stopped to really hear what he was saying. They could never “repent and believe in the good news.”

Maybe holding tightly to our own religious agenda can keep us from experiencing new life in God. Insisting that the ways we’ve always understood things, our systems of theology and dogma, our traditions are simply right and refusing to listen to other points of view can make us blind to the ways Christ is attempting to work in this world. Being open to Jesus requires us to be open to the reality that he can always break forth in new ways and produce new understandings in our hearts and minds of who God is, what God is like, what God is doing in our day and time. Those who dogmatically oppose this are generally forced to respond to God’s working in ways which run contrary to the character of God, just like the Pharisees.

I’m really thankful for this wonderful woman of God and scholar, (especially in such a male dominated sphere), and I feel like an open posture to new understandings of Mark is helping me to follow Christ more closely and remain open to the work of God which is always breaking forth in new and inspiring ways. It’s pretty cheap on Amazon and it’s a great way to study the Gospel of Mark.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 4, 2006

N.T. Wright - The Challenge of Jesus

Next Post

October 9, 2006 Martin Luther: two great reads

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion corruption Donald Trump elections Empire Entertainment Ezra Klein ideology Justice Lacan politics race Sports Ta-Nehisi Coates Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 March 2026 September 2025 March 2025 June 2024 January 2024 December 2023 May 2023 February 2023 October 2022 April 2022 March 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 March 2020 September 2019 July 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What food did Jesus multiply to feed 5,000 people?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Bread and wine Grapes and figs Quail and manna Loaves and fish