Jesus then recruits other disciples, such as James and John, and decides to spread the Word of God to other parts of the region while doing good deeds, like miraculously healing the sick and the blind. As a symbol of his personality, Jesus does not accept the role of prophet and then forbids his disciples to spread the idea that he is the messiah, due to "the contemporary messianic ideals of the Jews which he rejected" (Barclay 234). For the first time, this appears to be a weakness in the text, for after all of the exposition on Jesus as the Son of God, the "expected One," the author throws the reader into a contradictory quandary, for how could Jesus be prophetized as the Son of God while not acknowledging his role as the Messiah?
However, in Chapter 8, verse 31, Jesus clears up any questions concerning his role as the Messiah, for he states that "the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed...," an indication that Jesus will die at the hands of his enemies. The disciples find this rather hard to accept, possibly because they realize that their involvement as one of Jesus' disciples might contribute to their master's death and suffering.
Yet in Chapter 9, verses 2 thru 8, we find the so-called "transformation" event in which Jesus takes Peter, James and John up into the mountains where Jesus is "transformed" ("his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow," verse 3) and where Elias and Moses miraculously appear before them. Soon after, there appears a cloud "that overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, this is my beloved Son: hear him" (verse 7).
All of this occurs in the second half of the Gospel of Mark which up until its conclusion focuses on "the teachings of Jesus and several miracle stories, such as the possessed boy, the blind Bartimaeus, and the withering of the fig tree" (Peterson 256). The seeming contradiction in Chapter 8 concerning Jesus as the Messiah is thus overcome by this "transformation" event which by its very nature symbolizes the true position of Jesus as the savior of mankind, due to being "transformed" by God his Father.
One of the most important areas in the Gospel of Mark is the passion narrative which begins with the priests plotting the death of Jesus and concludes with the crucifixion. First of all, the prophesies associated with the passion commence with Jesus' anointing at Bethany ("There came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment... she brake the box and poured it on his (Jesus') head" (14:3), then proceeds through the betrayal of Judas Iscariot who "went unto the chief priests to betray (Jesus) unto them" (14:10), the words of Jesus at the Last Supper (the "Eucharist") -- "Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave it unto them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body... And he took the cup... he gave it to them, and they all drank from it... This is my blood of the new testament" (verses 22, 23, 24), and the arrest of Jesus ("cometh Judas...and with him a great multitude with swords and staves," verse 43).
Another important aspect of this passion narrative is Peter's denial of Jesus. In verse 28, Jesus says, "But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee;" Peter responds with "Although all shall be offended, yet will not I," whereby Jesus replies, "Verily I say unto thee, that this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice" (verses 29,30). This event is yet another strong piece of evidence for the otherworldly personality of Jesus Christ, for this shows that, along with being able to heal the sick, he can also foretell the future.
In Chapter 15, verses 24 thru 26, the author of the Gospel of Mark relates that "And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take/and it was the third hour, and they crucified him/and the superscription of his accusation was written over (his head) -- the KING of the JEWS." Although Jesus was by birth Jewish, the fact that he went against the priests of the temple and condemned them for practicing their "new religion" which contradicted the laws of Moses, makes it appear unusual that his executors would place a sign above him reading "King of the Jews."
The passion narrative then reaches...
Much literary criticism assumes that the gospels are not necessarily historical or else it plays down theological or religious context. However, these assumptions are not inherent in the method; a well-crafted piece of historical writing also promotes certain ideological concerns in an artistic and aesthetically pleasing (Bloomberg)." Now that we have garnered a greater understanding of the climate of Israel at the time of Jesus Christ and the criticisms that
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This is evidenced in the first chapter's list of Jesus' linage, recalling similar lists in the Old Testament, tracing the line of Israel. Second is the nativity gospel, or story of the hero's extraordinary origins, along the lines of Moses' story of persecution and salvation from death as a baby from Genesis. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is a dogmatic illustration of the role of Jesus as teacher to
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