Category: Characters in Mark
Musings on Mark: Markan Christology – Jesus is God’s Son #1
Series Introduction MARKAN BOOKENDS The very first scene wherein Jesus appears is one in which he is baptized by John in the Jordan River (cf. Mark 1:4-8): And it happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by… Continue Reading “Musings on Mark: Markan Christology – Jesus is God’s Son #1”
Musings on Mark: Minor Markan Characters – Bartimaeus, the Blind Beggar
“Through the identification with Bartimaeus and subsequent minor characters, the reader is encouraged to move beyond faith in Jesus and his power toward a more faithful acceptance of the demands and values of Jesus.” – Joel F. Williams1 MARK 10:46-522 46 And they came… Continue Reading “Musings on Mark: Minor Markan Characters – Bartimaeus, the Blind Beggar”
The Weekly Roundup – 4.12.19
“Mark, wanting to make a theological point, locates the event in a place whose name is associated with casting out demons – the language, as Marcus points out, does kinda support this. This strengthens the exorcism theme of the pericope– seems legit. A few years later, Matthew, using Mark… Continue Reading “The Weekly Roundup – 4.12.19”
Musings on Mark: Minor Markan Characters – The Centurion at the Cross
In her excellent book In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark’s Gospel,1 New Testament scholar Elizabeth Struthers Malbon uses the tools of narrative criticism2 to analyze the story we find in the Gospel of Mark. As the title of her work suggests, Malbon focuses on characters… Continue Reading “Musings on Mark: Minor Markan Characters – The Centurion at the Cross”
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon: Minor Characters in Mark as “Narrative Punctuation”
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark’s Gospel (WJK, 2000), 209. In addition to their significance in extending the continuum of responses to the Markan Jesus, minor characters often appear at significant points in the narrative. Especially when Mark’s Gospel is… Continue Reading “Elizabeth Struthers Malbon: Minor Characters in Mark as “Narrative Punctuation””
Evangelical Eisegesis: SJ Thomason, the Tabernacle, and the Trinity in the Old Testament
Few Christian doctrines are as bizarre as the doctrine of the Trinity. Most people have a vague understanding of what the doctrine entails but far fewer can articulate it without accidentally falling into some cesspool of heterodoxy. Lest I follow suit, I’ll allow the… Continue Reading “Evangelical Eisegesis: SJ Thomason, the Tabernacle, and the Trinity in the Old Testament”
Musings on Mark: The Demise of John the Baptist
The story of the death of John the Baptist feels like a hiccup in the narrative flow of Mark’s Gospel. In 6:6b-13 we read of Jesus sending out the Twelve to preach the message of repentance as well as to perform exorcisms and healings.… Continue Reading “Musings on Mark: The Demise of John the Baptist”
Musings on Mark: Another Reason to Doubt Peter Was Behind Mark’s Gospel
In addition to my regular Bible reading schedule and my verse-by-verse translating of the Gospel of Mark, I’ve also been reading a Markan pericope a day each weekday. Today I was in Mark 14:43-52 and something struck me as really odd. Jesus is in… Continue Reading “Musings on Mark: Another Reason to Doubt Peter Was Behind Mark’s Gospel”
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon: Women With Jesus to the End
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark’s Gospel (Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), 60. Within the Markan story, only the women follow Jesus to the end. At Gethsemane one of the twelve betrays Jesus (14:43-45) and the remaining eleven forsake him… Continue Reading “Elizabeth Struthers Malbon: Women With Jesus to the End”
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon: The Silence of the Women
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark’s Gospel (Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), 64-65. Perhaps one’s initial impression is of a certain irony to the women’s silence: throughout the narrative Jesus asks various characters to be silent and they rarely are;… Continue Reading “Elizabeth Struthers Malbon: The Silence of the Women”
