1. Presentation of Christ's Person and work.— Beginning with the preaching of John and our Lord's entering on His ministry, St. Mark de- scribes at length the Galihean ministry and the slow unfolding of Jesus" claims. Our "Lord, for example, does not at once jjroclaim His Messiah- ship, nor does He allow eWl spirits to proclaim it in- opi)ortunely ( 1-5 3'-, cf. !« etc.). Even after Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi, when the Galilaean ministry was nearly ended, the disciples were charged to tell no man (S**). At first Jesus begins by calling Himself the Son of Man (2^"). Then
the crowds begin to see in Him a prophet ; His own people and the learned .scribes from Jerusalem think Him mad. We might even think, at first sight, esiieciallj' if we have the Matthwan account (16'") of Peter's confession chiefiy in mind and not the Markan, that the disciples then and then onlj' found out that Jesus was Messiah. But this deduc- tion would be precariou.s. The account in Jn., which makes the Baptist begin by calling Jesus the Lamb of God and the Son of God, and makes Andrew, Philip, and Nathanael at once recognize Him as Messiah (Jn l». 34. 4i. «. wj^ ije^rs all the marks of probabilitj-. A Judai-an ministiy, as to which the Synoptists are almost silent, must have been carried on simultaneous!}' with the Galila^an preaching. We should expect Jesus, as a religious Jew, to visit Jerusalem frequently ; and indeed, if the last Passover were His first visit during the ministry, we could not explain the sudden enmity of the .Jerusalem Jews, or the fact of there being Juda-an disciples — Judas Iscariot (probablj' from Kerioth in Juda>a), Josej)!! of Arimatluva, the owners of the colt at Bethphage and of the room where the La-st Supper was celebrated (these evi- dently knew Jesus), t'ne household at Bethany, and Simon 'the le])er.' Also nonMarkan portions of Mt. and Lk. imply visits to Jerusalem or a wider ministrj- than that in Galilee (Mt 23^, Lk 4« BCK, 13-1- *''•); and in Acts the Apostles at once make their headquarters at Jerusalem, which would have been unlikely if they had only just arrived there for the first time. On that occasion they were perfectly familiar with i^laces and people. But if this be so, we should expect two methods of proclaiming the Person of Christ to have been adopted for these two quite distinct people, of such difierent characteristics, and separated by hostile Samaria. In Jerusalem, where religious contro- versy was rife, the question of Jesus' Personalitj- and office could not be postponed ; this is shown by the way in which the Pharisees questioned the Baptist. But in Galilee this was not the case, and the revelation consequently was much more gradual. The Apostles, doubtless, had heard the questions asked in Judsea, and did know the claim of Jesus to be the Christ, though perhaps they did not fullj- realize all that it meant until the inci- dent at Cajsarea Philippi. Thenceforward Jesus speaks to them of His future glory (8^, cf. 9') and of His Passion (8^' 9^-- ^i etc.). After the Galilfean ministry (which ends at 9***) Mark gives some short account (ch. 10) of journeys in Juda?a and Persea, and it is only on the final approach to Jerusalem that all reserve passes away. In common with all the Evangelists, Mark gives a detailed account of the last daj's at Jerusalem.
In describing our Lord's Person, Mark emphatic- . alh' brings out His Diviniti/. Jesus claims super- human authority — e.g. 2^ (lord of the Sabbath), S^ and 14*- (coming in glory, the latter in answer to Caiaphas' question, 'Art thou the Christ?'), P26ff. (|-jjg beloved Son and Heir) ; and especially authority to forgive sins, 2^- '" (the jmralytic). He is a supernatural Person: 1" 9' ('my beloved Son '), 1-^ (' the Holy One of God '), 3" ('the Son of God '), 5" (' Son of the Most High God '), 15^» ('the Son of God' or 'a .son of God'). He knows the thoughts of man, 2^ 8^' 12^^, and what is to hapjjen in the future, 2-'" (fasting), 8^- and 9^1 etc. (the Passion), 8** (the Second Advent), I'J*-* (the .sutl'er- ings of the Apostles), 13- (destruction of the Temple), 13"* (the universal gospel), 14'-^ (.scattering of the .sheep). His death has an atoning efficacy, 1(P {XiTpov avTi Tro\\(I>v), 14-^ ('my blood of the covenant which is .shed for many').
But still more striking is the emphasis laid on the true human it ij of our Lord. The reality- of His human bodj' is referred to much as in the other
124 MARK, GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
MARK, GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
1^
Evangelists — e.g. He is ■wearied and sleeps (4^^ ; sleep is perhaps implied also in P^) ; He eats (14^) and drinks (15^') ; His 'touch' is frequently spoken of (1^1 etc.) (see Gestures) ; the burial of His body is dwelt on in IS"''^"^-. But Mark pre-eminently describes the human soul and spirit of our Lord. Note especially His human compassion (1'*') and love (10-'), and the more painful emotions (l'*'* 3^ 6" IQH i433f- 15'"), for which see below, § iii. 3. Note also the reference to our Lord's human soul and spirit in 2^ 14^^, and to His human will in 14^". Mark also refers to the sinless limitations of Jesus' human nature. Questions are asked apparently for information (5"" 8^ 9'") — for in these cases an ' economical ' questioning seems scarcely Avorthy. The Evangelist also records the one perfectly certain instance of Jesus' ignorance qua man, 13"^ (the Day of Judgment — so Mt. ). It is because so much stress is laid in Mk. on our Lord's true human nature that St. Augustine assigns to the Second Evangelist the symbol of the man. Other Fathers vary much in assigning the four sjanbols, but it is remarkable that each one of the four is assigned to St. Mark in some one or other of the Fathers, Irenjeus making him the eagle, Victorinus the lion, Augustine the man, pseudo-Athanasius the calf (see Swete, St. Mark, p. xxxviii).