The Fourfold Gospel, Lecture 2

Durham University, U.K.

Lecture 329 September, 2014

Mark: the Way of the Lord

(1) MARK IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TRADITION

(2) THE GOSPEL PREACHED AND WRITTEN

(3) MARK’S GOSPEL AND PAUL’S

Mark: the Way of the Lord

(1) MARK IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TRADITION

(2) THE GOSPEL PREACHED AND WRITTEN

(3) MARK’S GOSPEL AND PAUL’S

Mark: the Way of the Lord

The Evangelist Mark

(Lindisfarne Gospels)

• Mark and his lion

• Mark as author

Mark and his LionRevelation 4.6-8:

“And in the middle of the throne and around the throne [I saw]

four living creatures full of eyes before and behind,

and the first creature was like a lion,

and the second creature was like a calf,

and the third creature had the face of a man,

and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.

Jerome (late 4th century):

Mark the Evangelist opens thus – “The beginning of the

Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, ‘The

voice of one crying in the wilderness’ – and has the image of

the lion.”

Mark and his Lion(San Vitale, Ravenna): 6th century

Papias (early 2nd century) on the Gospel of Mark

“And this the Elder used to say: ‘Mark, Peter’s translator, wrote accurately what he remembered of the things said or done by the Lord, but not in order. For he neither heard nor followed the Lord, but later, as I said, Peter – who adapted his teachings as required, rather than providing an ordered account of the Lord’s sayings. So Mark was not at fault in writing as he remembered, for he had just one concern: to omit nothing of the things he had heard and to falsify nothing in them.’”

(quoted by Eusebius, Church History, 3.39.15)

Peter and Mark:

Grado Ivories

(7th/8th century)

(1) MARK IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TRADITION

(2) THE GOSPEL PREACHED AND WRITTEN

(3) MARK’S GOSPEL AND PAUL’S

Mark: the Way of the Lord

Lindisfarne Gospels: Mark

INITIU[M]

EUAN

GE LII IhU

XPI FILII DEI SICUT

SCRIPTUM EST

IN ESAIA PROPHETA

“The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet”

Mark and “Gospel”

1.1 “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet...

1.14 “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near; repent and believe in the gospel.”

8.34 “... whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.”

10.29 “Truly I say to you, there is no-one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will receive a hundredfold...”

13.10 “The gospel must first be preached to all nations [or, all the Gentiles]”

14.9 “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

[16.15] [“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”]

Mark and “Gospel”Mark is the only “gospel” to describe itself as “gospel”:

• Mk. 1.1, “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God”

• Mt. 1.1, “The Book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ son of David, son of Abraham”

• Lk. 1.3, “... it seemed good to me to write for you an orderly narrative...”

• Jn. 20.30, “Now Jesus did many other signs... which are not written in this book.”

“Gospel” is a Pauline word: Paul is “set apart for the gospel of God”, the gospel which “concerns his Son, born of the seed of David”, etc. (Rom. 1.1, 3).

How far does Mark’s “gospel” agree with Paul’s?

(1) MARK IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TRADITION

(2) THE GOSPEL PREACHED AND WRITTEN

(3) MARK’S GOSPEL AND PAUL’S

Mark: the Way of the Lord

The Gospel according to Paul (1 Cor.15.1-5)

“I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the

gospel which I preached to you, which you received,

in which you stand, through which you are saved... I

passed on to you at the first what I myself received:

• that Christ died for our sins, according to the

scriptures,

• and that he was buried,

• and that he was raised on the third day,

according to the scriptures,

• and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the

Twelve...

Mark’s Gospel and Paul’s

that Christ died Mk.14.1-15.39

for our sins ? Mk.14.22-24, 10.45

according to the scriptures, Mk.14.27, 49and that he was buried, Mk.15.42-47and that he was raised on the third day Mk.16.1-8

according to the scriptures, -and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve...

? Mk.16.7 [16.9-20]

Mark’s Gospel and Paul’s

Mark prefaces his narrative version of “the gospel” as Paul understands it with an account of Jesus’ ministry, in Galilee and in Jerusalem.

This account is made up of: Landmark events: the baptism + temptations, the call of

the Twelve, Peter’s confession, the transfiguration... Stories of healings, exorcisms, and other “signs and

wonders” Controversy stories, in which Jesus debates with

opponents Teaching and parables, addressed mainly to the disciples

Mark integrates all this traditional material into a single connected narrative. But how is this extended narrative still “gospel”?

Paul: What...

The gospel events: Christ died, was buried, was raised, appeared.

Mark: Who? where? when?

The subject of the gospel events: “Christ” is Jesus, who “came from Nazareth in Galilee to be baptized by John” (1.9), etc.

The context of the gospel events: contextual information confirms Jesus’ reality.

Mark: “The Way of the Lord”

“The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘... A Voice crying out in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord...’”

Mk.1.1-3

Jesus said: “If anyone would come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Mk.8.34

For Mark, “the gospel” is the story of the way of the Lord to the cross.

LECTURE 51 October 2014 (Wed)

The Fourfold Gospel, Lecture 2

Luke: Annunciation

John: The Word Made Flesh

LECTURE 430 September 2014 (Tues)