The specificity of the Markan Jesus

Abstract

What separates Christ from all men is that he was expected; even the Gentiles had a longing for a deliverer, or a redeemer. This fact alone distinguishes him from all other religious leaders. Every other person who ever came into the world came into it to live; He came into it to die. The story of every human life begins with birth and ends with death, in the person of Christ, it was his death that was first and his life last. Scripture describes him as the lamb slain as it were, from the beginning of the world. It is significant and most encouraging for us to know how much of his temporal ancestry was connected with sinners and foreigners. It is inevitable, that in order to fully understand Christ's character in the Markan tradition, we have to discover and dig in the Gospel of Mark, so that we will try to answer questions which will eventually throw light upon the character of Christ, that Mark wanted to portrait in his gospel. We will try to discover who was Mark, to whom did Mark address his writings? From where did he bring his information and what were his sources? What message and what picture did Mark try to deliver? And how is the character of Christ depicted in his gospel? We shall see how much Mark's gospel concerns real people and how much it is based on actual happenings. Mark succeeded in fashioning a story with narrative, settings, plot, characters and rhetoric to persuade the reader to enter the world presented in the narrative. Mark presents Jesus as the central figure who is filled with the Spirit to inaugurate God's rule on earth. What Jesus does, reveals the extent and his understanding of himself as God's agent to accomplish his purposes. What others say about Jesus and how others react to him reveal the different aspects of his character as people are amazed, take offence, remain loyal or fiercely oppose him. In the story, the portrayal of Jesus moves from one who is authoritative in word and deed to one who is rejected and eventually executed. The portrayal of the character of Jesus as presented by Mark as preacher, teacher, healer, exorcist, miracle-worker, and as one who confronts opponents, reaches its culmination in the passion and cross. Despite the real differences between the gospels and their portrait of Christ's character, it is the one and the same Jesus who demonstrates a lifestyle that embraces an obedience to God, his Father, and self-giving for the sake of others. Jesus invites us who follow him to embrace the same lifestyle so that our life may be progressively transformed into his. It is the character of Jesus, as human person and the manner of his living, that remains normative for all Christians. Mark's picture of the earthly character of Jesus, gains in clarity for the people of faith, after his resurrection. Mark points a many-sided portrait of Jesus, drawing on the traditions available and moulding them to highlight his own accents. His Christology can be summarised in the terms like Messiah, Son of God, Son of Man, and yet none of these can be properly understood apart from his narrative. For the Christology is in the story, and it is through the story that we learn to interpret Christ's earthly character.