Mark's Passion 2: Jesus and the Temple

This is a continuation of last week's beginning.
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5. Then came that final week of Jesus on earth. That was the week that I met Jesus, from his glorious procession into Jerusalem to his crucifixion. I will need more papyrus for that. 

We had heard stories of healings and exorcisms in the north, in Galilee. My family too had gone out to see the Baptizer. We had also been baptized. Could Jesus be the one that John had foretold?

So, we were there when he came into Jerusalem, on a donkey. We knew this was a prophetic act. We shouted, "Hoshi'ah na" from the psalm, "Save us, O Lord." We expected the heavens to open and for angels to descend, decimating the Romans and the leaders of Jerusalem.

That was not the plan. I heard Peter say it repeatedly in his sermons. He was constantly beating himself up for not getting it, for not understanding. He especially was hard on himself for his denials of Jesus.

But it did not happen the way we all expected. We expected vindication when we arrived at the temple. We were confused that nothing happened.

It was then that I met Jesus. In all the confusion, Jesus saw me. "Thank you for marching with us today," he said. The crowd was preoccupied with its questions, but Jesus saw me. What was I? Fifteen?

6. I was not there the next day for the big event. On Sunday, Jesus seemed to just evaporate. Only later did I hear that he had gone back to Bethany. He was staying there with a friend of the movement, Simon the leper. I would get to know all these people later on.

But when Jesus returned on Monday, something about the scene really angered him. I could sense the frustration in my house as well. The leaders of the city were so corrupt. Pilate was so ungodly and yet they collaborated with him without a second thought. My family had money, but they all used their money on themselves. They couldn't care less about the people.

As I look back, I suspect it was just too much, seeing those greedy moneychangers cheating people for an extra shekel--and in the place set aside to worship Adonai. It did not last long, but for a good minute he wreaked havoc there, overturning tables, driving sheep away. The Romans didn't seem to pay much attention, but I'm sure the temple leaders were ticked.

When he came back, he started preaching judgment. He spoke boldly from Isaiah that God's house was supposed to be a house of prayer. Then he shifted to Jeremiah--they had made the temple into a den of thieves. His words from Jeremiah were particularly bold. Like Jeremiah, he warned the Jerusalemites that they should not think that God would spare the city just because it was the place of God's house. 

Peter wondered if God did not come then because Israel was not repentant. After all, wasn't that the message of the Baptist, that Israel needed to repent in preparation for the Lord? We would eventually come to see Jesus death as a kind of ransom for the sins of Israel, like the Maccabees before us but so much more powerful.

7. Jesus would preach the message of Jeremiah more and more as the week went on. He ruffled a lot of feathers. And he did it right there in the temple, not like the Baptizer, who was outside the city by the river Jordan. It made us all nervous. How long would the Jerusalem leaders let such prophecy continue before they did something really bad?

"There was a fig tree that didn't bear fruit," Jesus preached. "Because it had withered, the farmer eventually cut it down and planted a different tree. Let the one with ears to hear, hear."

I heard a prophecy from the Lord a decade later. It circulated widely in the church in the days of Emperor Caligula, not long after he tried to set up an image of himself in the temple precincts. It was a prophecy based in Daniel about a sacrilege that would defile the temple. 

The prophecy spoke of intense persecution for the church, the true Israel. It foretold that we would be beaten in synagogues. We would be betrayed by our families. There would be apocalyptic signs as the creation groaned in longing for its redemption.

Then the temple would be defiled. The prophecy ended with the prediction that this would happen within our generation. And then Jesus would return...

Through the Bible -- Mark 11:26-12:44 (Debate Tuesday)

Psalm Sunday
Temple Monday
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1. Tuesday morning begins with the realization that the fig tree had withered. But the bulk of the day is spent around the temple. Jesus teaches at the temple. He could still have escaped at this point. But the day is solidifying the sentiment of the leadership against him. Meanwhile, an undertone of destruction is getting stronger. This temple will be destroyed because of Israel's faithlessness.

We can divide the material for Tuesday in Mark into two parts. The bulk consists of debates that various groups have with Jesus. He is teaching, and they contest his authority and wisdom by trying to catch him with their questions. However, he bests them at every turn. He wins every argument and then finally in the end silences them with a question of his own.

This somewhat rabbinic sparring was part of the culture. Rabbis debated over the proper meaning and application of Scripture. It is a debate about authority. And these are ultimate questions. That section ends with Jesus' observations of a widow who proportionally gives far more than the wealthy people around her.

The second part of Tuesday's material directly has to do with the temple. In Mark 13 Jesus speaks of the context of the temple's destruction, which would take place 40 years later. We will look at that chapter tomorrow.

2. The first match is with chief priests, scribes, and elders -- the leaders of Israel (11:27-33). By what authority is he teaching? He is on their territory. He is causing a disturbance in the temple. Passover is coming.

They find out he is a Baptist -- one of those who is continuing the teaching of John the Baptist. Didn't Herod get rid of him? 

Jesus makes the connection explicit. By what authority did John the Baptist preach? Now they are in a bind. If they say John was from God, they will disqualify themselves from spiritual leadership for not following him. If they say he wasn't from God, they will face the displeasure of the people.

"We don't know." They dodge the question. They lose round one. Jesus outmaneuvers them.

But Jesus is not finished. He goes on to tell the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (12:1-12), which is clearly about the leadership of Israel. God planted the vineyard of Israel. But it's leaders have rejected God as the owner. They have rejected the servants he has sent to them, prophets. 

Finally, the owner sends his son, and they kill him. The end result is that judgment is coming for those wicked tenants. They will be destroyed. Meanwhile, the stone they rejected will become the cornerstone. This passage also comes from Psalm 118, which Jesus echoed several times on Palm Sunday (118:22-23).

3. Some Pharisees and Herodians spar next (12:13-17). Should Israelites pay taxes? They think they can get Jesus into a double bind on this one. If he says yes, the people will reject him as caving in to the enemy Romans. If he says no, he is a revolutionary and so vulnerable before the Romans.

"Whose image is on the coin?"

"Caesar's."

"Then give him his coin back." Jesus implies that the Roman economy has nothing to do with the kingdom of God. Here is all the profundity of his view of the Romans. They have nothing to do with the kingdom. Their money has nothing to do with the kingdom.

This in part is "Christ against culture" in Richard Niebuhr's terms. There is no need to participate in earthly politics. Yes, at the second coming Jesus will rule over all the earth. But it is not the time for revolution yet. Let the Romans do what the Romans will do. They are on borrowed time.

4. The Sadducees take him on next (12:18-27). We have now seen all the major groups except the Essenes. The Sadducees do not believe in resurrection. They think they have a winning argument. A woman is married to a man. He dies. According to the rules of Levirite marriage, six other brothers marry her in order, but she has no children.

Now they get to what they think is the clincher. In their mind, resurrection makes no sense because it would be impossible to know who her husband would be in heaven. It's really a pretty bad argument, the kind that only works well when you're around people who agree with you in an echo chamber.

Jesus pulls the rug out from under their assumptions. Women are not subordinated to men in the kingdom. They are not "given" in marriage. Rather, they have full autonomous authority. They will be like the angels. They will be equal to all the men who were their husbands in this life.

5. The final question seems sincere (12:28-34). It comes from a scribe who has been listening rather than sparring. This is a seeker, not a debater. "What is the greatest commandment?"

Here Jesus gives the core of all ethics: love God and love neighbor, citing Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18. The first is the Shema, the conerstone of Israelite faith. Matthew 22 will go on to say that all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matt. 22:40).

When Jesus sees the genuineness of the man, he declares that the man is not far from the kingdom of God.

6. After all these questions, Jesus has one of his own (12:35-37). Psalm 110:1 seems to have God telling someone other than David to sit on his throne. David, the psalmist, calls the Messiah "Lord" when Yahweh sits the Messiah at his right hand. This was no doubt a known interpretation of the passage at the time even though it has as its unexamined assumption that David is the one speaking in the psalm.

So is the Messiah David's son or not, because David calls him Lord? This question stumps them, and Jesus does not give the answer. What is clear is that he has won the debates of the day. He has won without trying. He has not been the aggressor or the one seeking the debate. Rather, they have brought it to him.

7. But he does respond. He responds in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants. And the chapter ends with a critique of the religious scribes. 

The scribes, he says, they like to put on a show. They like to be greeted with honor. They like the seats of honor at banquets. They give long prayers to show how spiritul they are.

Meanwhile, they use their lawyer-like skills to devour the houses of widows. After all, they're just women. Their husband's property shouldn't belong to them after he dies. They're just women.

A widow comes by and gives two small copper coins. She goes by unnoticed by all but Jesus. But proportionately, she has given more than all the wealthy. She has given more than all the scribes. She has given from what little she perhaps had left after the greedy had done their job on her.

She is the one who will reign in the kingdom, and the others won't be there at all.

Explanatory Notes -- Mark 12:13-27 (Tuesday Debates II -- Taxes and Resurrection)

Paying the Poll Tax

12:13 And certain of the Pharisees and the Herodians send to him in order that they might trap him in word.

These individuals do not come to Jesus directly. They send innocent-looking representatives. We remember that not all Pharisees were hypocrites, but the Gospels remember certain individuals from the Pharisees as key opponents to Jesus. The Herodians were likely a group wanting to see some Herod in charge of Israel rather than a Roman governor like Pilate.

Jesus is not fooled.

12:14 And, having come, they say to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true, and it is not a care to you about anyone. For you do not look to the face of a person, but in truth you teach the way of God. Is it lawful to give poll tax to Caesar or not? Should we give or should we not give?"

Flattery is the name of the game. They don't mean a word of it. They don't believe he is true. They don't believe he teaches the way of God. 

On the other hand, it is true that Jesus did not play favorites with people because they were important by earthly standards. He didn't care if someone was rich. He didn't care if someone was famous. He didn't care if someone was powerful. If anything, those attributes made him less impressed with someone. Matters of worldly importance were "not a care" to him.

Then they get to the point. Should you pay taxes or not? If he says yes, then what kind of a Jewish messiah can he be, siding with the Romans. That won't make the people happy. These Pharisees can use it to knock down his popularity.

If he says no, then they can take him to the Romans. This guy is telling the people not to pay taxes. He's an enemy of Rome. You must stop him.

This is the double-bind they were trying to put Jesus in.

12:15 And having known their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius that I might see [it]." 16. And they brought [one]. And he says to them, "Whose image [is] this and the inscription?"

And they say to him, "Caesar's."

Jesus sees right through them. But they don't understand his perspective on money. They assume that money matters, that money is a thing. They do not know that money has no place in Jesus' values. It is not a thing. It is irrelevant to him and God's kingdom.

Jesus asks for a coin, worth about a day's wage. He asks whose image is on it. Obviously, it is Caesar's.  

12:17 And Jesus said to them, "Repay the things of Caesar to Caesar and the things of God to God." And they marveled at him. 

Whose image is on the coin? Caesar's? Well, give it back to him. Jesus' answer is that Caesar can have all his coins back. Coins are irrelevant to the kingdom of God. Money is irrelevant to the kingdom of God.

The Resurrection

12:18 And Sadducees come to him, who say there is not resurrection. And they were asking him saying, 19. "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that 'if a brother of someone should die' and leave a wife 'and he should not leave a child,' that 'his brother should take the wife and should raise up seed for his brother.'

The Pharisees have had their shot. Now it is the Sadducees' turn. The Sadducees were a priestly group who differed significantly with the Pharisees on a number of key issues, perhaps the most famous of which was the afterlife. The Pharisees believed in resurrection, often a very bodily resurrection. The Sadducees did not. 

Resurrection belief in Israel seems to have resurrected especially in the early second century BC, around the time of the Maccabean conflict. The Sadducees reflected the tradition before then, such as that found in the book of Sirach (ca. 200BC). Pharisaic belief of the late 100s is best reflected in a book called 2 Maccabees.

The Pharisees also followed oral traditions on how to keep the Law, called the "tradition of the elders." The Sadducees of course had their own traditional interpretations and oral traditions--they just denied it. They claimed just to stick to the Law and not the added traditions of the Pharisees. Nevertheless, the application of Scripture to a new context and new situations almost always involves going beyond what is explicitly said.

The Sadducees were from the highest social class of Israel. In one hypothesis, they actually were from the earlier lineage of high priests before the Maccabees took over the priesthood in 152BC. Then when Herod the Great eliminated the Maccabean line, this formerly priestly class was available to serve once again. In any case, it is a theory.

The law that these Sadducees invoke is the rule of levirite marriage, found in Deuteronomy 25:5. Because the firstborn son inherited the property, it was important for there to be a firstborn son. If an older brother did not have one and died at a pre-mature age, any younger brother was to take on his wife (even though he was probably already married) and raise up seed for him. That child, in effect, was not his son but the son of his older brother. This rule, in effect, is what happened in the case of Boaz and Ruth, although there he was not a brother but a relative of the deceased.  

12:20 "[There] were seven brothers. And the first took wife and, dying, he did not leave seed. 21. And the second took her, and he died, not having left seed, and the third similarly. 22. And the seven did not leave seed. Last of all, the wife also died. 23. In the resurrection, whose wife of theirs will she be, for the seven had her [as] wife."

The mention of seven brothers evokes 2 Maccabees 7, a classical Pharisaic text on resurrection. In that story, seven brothers and their mother suffer martyrdom because they believe in a better resurrection (cf. Heb. 11:35). The Sadducees here must think they are pretty clever and quite cheeky to evoke the image of 2 Maccabees. 

12:24 And Jesus said to them, "Do you not err on account of this, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25. For whenever they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor give in marriage, but they are as the angels in the skies.

Jesus hands it right back to them. Once again, his opponents are making a false assumption. They are assuming that men will dominate women in the kingdom of God just like they dominated them then. They assume that, in the kingdom, women would be subordinate to men just as women were subordinate to men then.

But women will not be subordinate or inferior to men in the kingdom of God. Women will not be "given" in marriage. Indeed, there will be no marriage in heaven because there will be no sex in the kingdom. Both men and women will have transformed bodies like the angels in heaven. [1]

On a side note, there is no biblical basis for the sentiment you sometimes hear that husbands and wives will not recognize each other in heaven. This rumor presumably arose in some way from this passage. But the passage does not say anything like that.

[1] Mark is not clear what the location of this afterlife existence will be. I have chosen the kingdom of God on a new earth as the location. However, it is possible that heaven is in view. 

12:26 "And concerning the dead, that they are raised, do you not read in the book of Moses at the bush how God said to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?' 27. God is not of the dead but of those who live. You err much."

Jesus gives another argument that sounds very much like the rabbinic arguments of his day. At the burning bush, God says, "I am the God of Abraham" (Exod. 3:6). Jesus focuses on the present tense. If God is the God of Abraham in the present tense, then Abraham must have continued to live beyond death somewhere. And we have other Gospel texts that suggest that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will return to the earth when the kingdom of God fully arrives (e.g., Matt. 8:11).

Explanatory Notes -- Mark 12:1-12 (Parable of Tenants)

I've been writing explanatory notes this week on Passion Week in Mark's Gospel. Thus far:

• Palm Sunday (Mark 11:1-11)
• Monday Money Changers (Mark 11:12-19)
• Tuesday Debates I (Mark 11:20-33) 

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12:1 And he began to speak to them in parables. "A person planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it and dug a winepress and built a tower and rented it out to farmers and went on a journey. 2. And he sent to the farmers a servant at the time so that from the farmers he might receive from the fruit of the vineyard.

This is the eighth and final parable in the Gospel of Mark, and it is found in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. It closely parallels the similar parable in Isaiah 5. It is a parable about the leadership of Israel at that time.

God is the planter, and the vineyard is Israel. God planted Israel. In Isaiah 5, the vineyard yields wild grapes or bad fruit. With an unproductive vineyard, God threatens to remove its hedges and let it become a dry wasteland with thorns and thistles.

The hedge in Isaiah seems to be God's protection of Israel from outsiders. Later rabbis would consider the oral traditions that made sure you kept the Law (by overkeeping it) to be the hedge of Deuteronomy 22:8--a guard rail so that you did not violate it. But it is not clear that the Law is in view here.

Interestingly, God rents out the land to farmers. Implicit in this imagery is a sense that the leaders of Israel are not exactly Israel. This is not a parable of Deism, the Enlightenment philosophy that saw God creating the world and no longer involved in it. It is at least possible that this parable has overtones of exile. Israel is being run by outsiders.

Still, God expects his portion of the land. He expects fruits of righteousness. God expects good grapes.

12:3 And having received him, they beat him and sent [him] empty-handed. 4. And again he sent to them another servant, and him they struck on the head and disgraced. 5. And another he sent, and him they killed and many others, beating some, and killing some. 

The prophets of Israel did not always fare well. We should not overread the imagery--this is a parable not an allegory. But one could infer that the leadership of Israel even when it was in control of its land was farmed out. How difficult it is for the righteous to end up in power. How difficult it is for those in power to stay righteous. They are often like farmers God put in control but who are not exactly God's people.

The fact that Israel killed God's messengers is repeated in the Gospels. Luke 13:34 says, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets." Matthew 23:31 says, "You are the descendants of those who killed the prophets." We should possibly see John the Baptist as part of this mix.

12:6 Still he was having one beloved son. He sent him last to them, saying, "They will respect my son." 7. But those farmers said to themselves, "This is the heir. Come. Let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours." 8. And having taken, they killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

Jesus is clearly the Son whom God sent. In this parable, he anticipates that he is about to be killed by the leadership of Israel like the prophets before him. In 11:18, they have already begun to plot. If he stays in the environs of Jerusalem, it is only a matter of time.   

12:9 What will the Lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those farmers and will give the vineyard to others. 10. Not even have you read this Scripture: "The stone that the ones building rejected--this [one] has become the head of the corner." 11. This [head] came to be from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

The victory of such "farmers" is only temporary. There will be consequences. The landowner, so patient for so long, will not suffer this insolence forever, especially when they have killed his son. He will utterly destroy them. Although Mark does not make the connection to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 explicit, the audience of Mark would make the connection easily enough.

The event of Palm Sunday echoed Psalm 118 in more than one verse. Here Jesus quotes it again explicitly (Psalm 118:22). They have rejected Jesus as a stone in the building of Israel, but God is going to make Jesus the cornerstone of the kingdom of God. God is the Master of the vineyard. He will install whom he wants to install. He will build the way he wants to build Israel. And he wants to build on Jesus. This is a truly marvelous development!

12. And they were seeking to grab him, and they feared the crowd, for they knew that he spoke this parable against them. And, having left him, they went away.

The leaders of Jerusalem are not stupid. The fact that they do not have ears to hear does not mean in this instance that they do not know what he means,. They simply reject it with all their being. At the end of Monday, they wanted to find a way to get rid of Jesus. Now it is Tuesday and they feel even more strongly about it.

Explanatory Notes -- Mark 15:38-47 (Burial)

The Aftermath

38. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 

Mark does not explain the significance of this event, but we might infer from elsewhere that the barrier that stood between humanity and God's presence has been severed. Certainly, Hebrews might interpret the event in this way (e.g., Heb. 10:10), and the Gospel of Mark and Hebrews may have been written at about the same time with a Roman audience in mind. 

There are other possible explanations, such as an expression of the grief of God. These interpretations are not mutually exclusive. Perhaps it could be interpreted along the lines of the glory of God leaving the temple.

39. And the centurion standing in front of him, having seen that he thus breathed out, said, “Truly this man was Son of God.” 

Many have argued that this moment is the climax of the Gospel of Mark. A story can of course be told in more than one way. Matthew arguably tells the story with a double climax. First, there is the victorious resurrection. Then there is the Great Commission. But Mark tells the story in such a way that the climax is at the cross. The resurrection is not the focus of the story's energy in Mark.

We can catch a glimpse of why in Mark 10:45. "The Son of the Mortal did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for others." The cross for Mark highlights Jesus absorbing the wrath of God toward Israel and the world. We find this kind of thinking in a Jewish book from about 150 years earlier, 2 Maccabees. In one chapter, seven brothers and their mother are martyred for their refusal to apostatize from the God of Israel. The youngest brother before dying expresses his hope that, through their deaths, "to bring an end to the wrath of the Almighty that has rightly fallen on our whole nation" (7:38).

We might call this atonement theology both a "satisfaction" of God's anger/justice toward Israel and, in a sense, a "substitution" of the deaths of these righteous brothers for the whole of Israel. Isaiah 53:5 expressed the same idea long before any Jew had a sense that part of being Messiah was dying for the sins of Israel: "He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities." This sort of "substitutionary atonement" was part of the Jewish background of the New Testament.

We are so used to this logic that it is hard for us not to read it in its full, cosmic scope. We do not realize how startling the scope of Hebrews' theology is. What, not just for Israel? What, even for all the sins of the Old Testament? Their immediate thought must have been, "He is dying for the Israel of this moment, so that our kingdom can be restored." 

All of these are of course pictures. They are goo-goo gah-gah talk. Theologians have argued and debated the full significance of the cross for two millennia. Mark simply says it was a ransom (10:45) and that his blood was poured out for many (14:24). He doesn't go into theological depth.

The centurion gets it. The way Jesus died demonstrated that he was indeed the Son of God, the king. Ironically, he is the first person in the Gospel of Mark to get the connection between Jesus' suffering/death and the fact that he is the Messiah of Israel, the anointed king. Peter understood that Jesus was king, but he did not get the cross (Mark 8:31-32). The same was true of James and John, who still fight over who will be greatest in the restored Israel (10:35-40). 

The centurion is the first person in Mark to see that Jesus' death demonstrates that he is the Messiah. It is not that he is the Messiah despite dying on the cross. He is the Messiah because he dies for the sins of Israel. And it is a non-Jew who sees it first. 

This is what Paul will say in 1 Corinthians 1:22-23. He preached Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. It was a stumbling block to the Jews because it suggested that the humiliation of the Roman fist was the glory of God. It suggested that the last shall be first and that to lose is to win. This made no sense to the Greeks, just as it makes little sense even to many who call themselves Christians today.  

40. And women were watching from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joseph, and Salome, 41. who were following him when he was in Galilee and they were serving him alongside many others who came up with him to Jerusalem.

It is easy to forget that wherever the Twelve were, wherever disciples were, there were key women who followed and went along with Jesus. Luke 8:3 suggests that they were the primary support for Jesus' ministry. Mary Magdalene is never said to be a prostitute anywhere in the Bible. Luke 8:2 notes that she had been possessed of seven demons before Jesus cast them out. In John 20:17, she is the first witness to the resurrection and the first one sent to witness thereto (which is what an apostle is).

"James the Less" is the other James--in other words, he was not James the son of Zebedee. He was James the son of Alphaeus (Mark 3:18). But his mother was in Jesus' company as a disciple. Joseph is probably another of those who followed Jesus with his mother and brother to Jerusalem, although not one of the Twelve. Salome is only mentioned in Mark. 

It is a reminder again that there were a lot more followers of Jesus than just the Twelve. They had come up to Jerusalem perhaps in part because it was Passover. But they may also have had the same mistaken expectations of others. They may have thought that Jesus was going to be enthroned as king right there at the Passover. Even after his resurrection, Acts 1:6 records this expectation.

42. And it already having become evening, since it was the Preparation, which is before Sabbath, 43. Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who also himself was awaiting the kingdom of God, having dared to enter to Pilate, even asked for the body of Jesus. 44. And Pilate marveled that he had already died, and calling for the centurion, he asked if he had already died. 45. And having known from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph.

Jesus is crucified on Friday. In Mark's account, this is the day of Passover, the fourteenth of Nisan. If he was crucified in AD30, that would be April 7. The Sabbath began at sundown, so there was some hurry to get Jesus down and buried quickly. John says they had to break the legs of the two criminals so they would die more quickly (John 19:32). Pilate is surprised that Jesus is already dead. He double-checks with the centurion in charge of the crucifixion.

Joseph of Arimathea asks for the body and provides the tomb. He is apparently a member of the Sanhedrin. Luke 23:51 says that he had not agreed with the plan to put Jesus to death. We are not entirely sure where Arimathea was, but it was a village in the country. He is a prominent enough person in the city to have direct access to Pilate. 

He was awaiting the kingdom of God. The fact that his name is remembered suggests that he became part of the Jesus movement after the resurrection. These names became sealed in the story as it was told and retold beyond Jerusalem, and the good news reached people who had never met these individuals, like us.

46. And having bought a linen, having taken him down, he wrapped him in the linen and placed him in a tomb which had been hewn out of rock. And he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the [mother] of Joseph were seeing where he has been put.

Assuming that Jesus was crucified at the traditional location in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, then his place of burial was a stone's throw away. Recent archaeological evidence does indicate that the current shrine dates at least back to Constantine, when he first build on the traditional site of Jesus' burial. There are also other barrel tombs hewn out of rock in the church that are possible candidates.

There seems no time in Mark to do the normal anointing for burial. The best the women can do is note where he has been laid and plan to come back first thing Sunday morning to complete the ritual.

Explanatory Notes -- Mark 15:16-37 (The Crucifixion)

The Crucifixion
15:16 And the soldiers led him away outside of the palace (that is, the praetorium), and they called together the whole cohort. 17. And they dressed him in purple and, having woven a thorny crown, they placed [it] on him, 18. and they began to greet him, “Greetings, King of the Jews!” 19. And they struck his head with a reed and spat on him, and getting on their knees, they were giving him homage. 20. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple and put his garments on him and led him out that they might crucify him.

To the Roman soldiers, Jesus is a nobody. He is their sport for the day. "Look, it's the king of the Jews," and they beat him. They dress him up in the purple of royalty. They make him a crown out of thorns. They mockingly kneel before a king that fits their prejudices and "superiority" over the Jews. They are Romans. Everyone else is dirt.

[I write these notes after Russian soldiers have done similar atrocities to Ukrainians.]

They strike him with a reed. They spit on him. In their minds, they have the unquestioned power. To them, Jesus is just a weak piece of scum. They smack him randomly, like a bully in a schoolyard.

Then when they've had their fun, they strip him naked and get on with their business.

21. And they forced a certain Simon of Cyrene as he was passing by, coming from the country ([he is] the father of Alexander and Rufus), that he might take up his cross. 22. And they bring him to Golgotha (which is being translated, “Place of a Skull”), 23. and they were giving him wine mixed with myrrh, which he did not receive.

After the beating he has received, Jesus is not strong enough to carry the crossbeam of the cross. The pole to which it was attached would more or less be situated permanently just outside one of the city gates. Romans crucified criminals as a sign to anyone who might even entertain the thought of defying Rome. The cross was far more than an instrument of torture. It was a tool of humiliation and shame. It was a way of telling non-Romans that they were scum and dirt.

A man named Simon is in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Romans "recruit" him to carry the crossbeam. It must have had a profound impact on him because Mark and his audience know his children, Alexander and Rufus. It makes sense to think that Simon became a follower of Jesus after that.

He is from Cyrene in North Africa, although it is not clear whether he had moved to Israel. He is coming from the country, so he at the very least does not live in Jerusalem. 

Golgotha, just outside the city gate, is where the permanent pole for crucifixion was situated. It was probably on the northwest side of Jerusalem on a small hill. Most scholars believe that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is indeed the most likely location. [1] Although it is currently within the city walls, archaeological evidence suggests that it was outside the wall at the time of Jesus. 

[1] Gordon's tomb became a favorite suggestion in the 1800s, but this suggestion faces serious problems. Principally, it does not matter how the site looks today. 1900 years is a very long time. What is important is what the site looked like 2000 years ago. The site has certain sentimental advantages, but few historical ones.

They offer Jesus wine mixed with myrrh to deaden the pain. Jesus wants none of it.

24. And they crucify him and they divided his garments, casting a lot upon them [for] who would take what. 25. And it was about the third hour, and they crucified him. 26. And the inscription of his charge had been inscribed, “The King of the Jews.” 27. And with him they crucified two thugs one on his right and one on his left. [2]

The dividing of garments echoes Psalm 22:18. As we will see in a moment, this psalm must have been on Jesus' mind on the cross. Again, Jesus is nothing to them. He is just some scum who deserved to die. Perhaps they laugh as they divide up his stuff, almost forgetting that he is there.

The third hour would be 9am. The Sabbath begins at sundown, so the Jewish leaders would be keen for it all to be over by dusk. The Romans would oblige. A friend of mine once noted that Mark does not emphasize the agony of the cross the way we often do today. It was more the shame of the cross that they focused on.

Pilate and the Romans are more than happy to mock the Jews and Jesus with the title, "King of the Jews" above him. Ironically, he is the King of the Jews. Mark will make it clear in a moment that the cross is a demonstration of his messianic identity, not a disproof of it.

[2] A number of later manuscripts of Mark have a verse 28 here: "And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, 'And he was reckoned with lawless ones.'" There is no conspiracy here. Copyists tend to expand and explain rather than cut things out, although this is not an absolute rule. Matthew used Mark and does not mention the Scripture--which is something he would likely have done given his emphasis on Jesus fulfilling Scripture. Luke does have this quote at 22:37. Perhaps a copyist felt like it fit even better at the cross.

29. And those passing by were insulting him, wagging their heads and saying, “Woe, the one who destroys the temple and rebuilds [it] in three days. 30. Save yourself, coming down from the cross.” 31. Similarly, the high priests, mocking to one another with the scribes were saying, “He saved others. He isn’t able to save himself. 32. Let the Christ, the King of Israel come down now from the cross that we might see and believe.” And the ones who had been crucified with him were reviling him.

Jesus' enemies gloat. There is a German word for it, Schadenfreude, joy at the misfortune of others. There was a time where they had to keep their mouth shut because of the crowds who loved Jesus. Now that evil and mischief has prevailed, they can reveal their true hearts and their true colors. We sometimes see this in cultures where the ungodly come to power. The evil that used to be whispered and hidden can now be aired in public along with the kinds of abuse that go with it.

Or perhaps they followed Jesus briefly for the wrong reason. Perhaps they thought Jesus was a violent man like them. He was going to pound the Romans with God's fist. "No? He wants to redeem God's enemies? He lets them arrest him? Serves him right!"

The chief priests and scribal elite have finally won (or have they?). They couldn't beat Jesus in argument. They couldn't beat Jesus in popularity. But by golly they could kill him. "You thought you were so cool healing other people. Can't heal yourself, can you, heh, heh, heh!" "Let's see you destroy the temple now!"

"Still think you're the king, the Messiah? Show us a trick Jesus. Come down from the cross."

Even the two criminals next to Jesus mock him. Mark tells nothing of one of the criminals coming to his senses. If all we had were Mark, we would assume they both mocked Jesus as well. It is one thing for the so-called respectable people to mock you. Even the actual low-lives are mocking you.

33. And the sixth hour having come, it became dark over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34. And in the ninth hour Jesus cried with a great voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani,” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

The sixth hour was noon. Psalm 19:1 says that the skies declare the glory of God. Now they declare the agony of God. The darkness forebodes the death of God. At the ninth hour, 3pm, Jesus cries out in Aramaic, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

In Mark, this is the only thing Jesus says from the cross. He is quoting Psalm 22:1. He feels abandoned by God the Father. We can imagine this psalm running through Jesus' head as he struggles for breath, having to push his feet against the spikes to push himself up for breath. There was not a lot of talking from a cross.

You often hear people say that God the Father had to turn away from Jesus because he was taking on the sin of the world. Nothing in the biblical text says this idea. God the Father cannot be anything but one with God the Son. This is an example of taking pictures and metaphors too far. Jesus feels abandoned--what human would not? But he is not abandoned. God is everywhere present, even in hell. He just isn't experienced there.

Nor does God learn anything on the cross. God knows everything. God created the very possibility of the cross. There is no difference between head knowledge and experiential knowledge for God. God created the very possibility of experiential knowledge. God knows everything. He always has. He always will.

35. And certain of those standing alongside, having heard [him], were saying, “Look, he is calling Elijah.” 36. And a certain man, running, and having filled a sponge with sour wine, having placed [it] on a reed, he was offering him a drink, saying, “Wait. Let us see if Elijah should come to take him down.” 37. And Jesus, having let go a great sound, breathed out.

It is quite likely that Jesus' speech was slurred and halting. They do not seem to hear fully what he is saying. They heard something that sounds like Elijah. They can't make sense of it. Perhaps they think of Malachi 4:3, where Elijah comes before the Lord comes to his temple. A man runs to give him some sour wine, perhaps to quench his thirst.

But Mark does not tell us that the sour wine ever reached his lips. Quite unusually, Jesus dies long before a person being crucified would. His pain is not just physical. Someone has said, "He died of a broken heart."

Explanatory Notes -- Mark 15:1-15 (Friday morning)

Explanatory Notes on Passion Week:

• Palm Sunday (Mark 11:1-11)
• Monday Money Changers (Mark 11:12-19)
• Tuesday Debates I (Mark 11:20-33)
• Prophecy on Destruction (Mark 13:1-23)
• The Last Supper (Mark 14:12-26)

It's Friday.
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15:1 And immediately, the high priests and the whole Sanhedrin, having taken council early with the elders and scribes, having bound Jesus, they brought him and delivered [him] to Pilate. 2. And Pilate asked him, “Are you King of the Jews?”

And he, answering, says to him, “You say.”

The picture is quite remarkable. An entire Sanhedrin of 71 men assembling in the middle of the night. John 18 tells of private meetings first with Annas (18:13) and then Caiaphas (18:24), the official high priest at the time. Then Jesus goes to Pilate (18:28). In either case, a strong majority of the Sanhedrin would have agreed or have already agreed with the trajectory of Annas and Caiaphas.

Pontius Pilate was the procurator of Judea from AD26-36. He was not particularly liked by the Judeans but, then again, what Roman ruler was? Herod Antipas was ruling at this time but in Galilee and the east. It is possible that the "Herodians" wanted to see him or some Herod as ruler of all Palestine, as Herod the Great was (Mark 3:6).

Pilate is known to have done at least two objectionable things as governor. One of the first things he did was let the Roman soldiers bring their standards (the poles with an image of the emperor) into Jerusalem under the cover of night. It was forbidden for any such image to be in Jerusalem, and the Jews petitioned him at risk of their own life to have them removed. The Jewish thinker Philo mentions an incident with shields that is either his misunderstanding of the same story or a different but similar event.

Then Luke 13:1 mentions him mixing the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices. This event is not recorded elsewhere unless Luke is referring to the event that ended Pilate’s time as governor. In that incident, Pilate had some Samaritans killed who were gathering at Mt. Gerazim in Samaria.

The Sanhedrin apparently did not have the authority to sentence someone to death. For this reason, they needed Pilate to order it. Their charge against him is that he is “King of the Jews.” Of course, they don’t believe it, but they are accusing him of being a traitor to Rome, a messianic pretender. They do not actually believe that he is.

15:3 And the chief priests were accusing him of many things. 4. And Pilate again was asking him saying, “You do not answer anything? See of what sort of things they accuse you?” 5. But Jesus no longer answered anything, with the result that Pilate was amazed.

Although the Greek says, “high priests,” the context suggests that “chief priests” is more accurate. There was only one official high priest at a time—at this point Caiaphas. Nevertheless, there were others of high priestly status, often Sadducees.

They accuse him, but Jesus does not respond. This amazes Pilate. No doubt he is used to the accused vigorously defending themselves and begging for mercy. Did some of the guilty get angry in protest of their innocence? Pilate is probably able to sum up this situation easily enough. The Jewish leaders want him dead, while Jesus is no threat.

Barabbas
15:6 Now at the feast he was releasing to them one prisoner whom they were requesting. 7. And there was one being called Barabbas having been bound with revolutionaries, who had committed murder in his revolt.

From everything we can see, Pilate seems inclined to release Jesus. He has a way in mind. He will offer the crowds Jesus as part of the festival. He will put him up against a real criminal, someone named Barabbas who had actually participated in revolt and had actually murdered someone. Surely the crowd would ask for Jesus to be released instead.

The existence of Barabbas is a reminder that revolt was never far away. There probably was not any organized group like the Zealots and Sicarii (dagger men) that we know of from the time of the Jewish revolt (AD66). But there were always violent men around who hated the Romans and wanted to overthrow them.

15:8 And the crowd, having gone up, began to ask [Pilate] as he was doing to them [normally]. 9. And Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you wish that I release to you the King of the Jews?” 10. For he knew that because of jealousy the high priests had handed him over.

Pilate gives the crowds the opportunity to release Jesus. Pilate does not believe Jesus is the King of the Jews, so such a comment is a jab at the chief priests, and perhaps the crowds and Jesus. The epithet suggests that Jesus was arrested as a messiah figure claiming to be or purported to be the king of Israel.

Pilate thinks that the chief priests are jealous of Jesus' popularity. The people like him better than they like them. He has beat their surrogates in debate. The people are interested in his teaching and not theirs.

15:11 But the high priests stirred up the crowd so that he might release to them rather Barabbas. 12. But Pilate, again answering, was saying to them, “What therefore do you wish that I do with the one whom you call, ‘King of the Jews’?”

13. And they cried again, “Crucify him!”

14. And Pilate was saying to them, “For what evil [that] he did?

But they cried out even more, “Crucify him!”

No doubt the more sane elements of society were not present at such an event. Those in the crowd who might want Jesus to be released no doubt feared that harm might come to them if they said something. The leaders had also stoked the crowd. It brought shame and humiliation on them for the Romans to parade a purported king in front of them like that. 

"If Jesus was a real king, he wouldn't just stand there silent." "Barabbas is the real deal. At least he'll go down fighting." "Jesus duped us into thinking he had some special connection with God." "He's made us look like a fool." "Look at him just standing there."

Mob mentality is irrational. It can't be reasoned with. It is especially susceptible to simple slogans that can be repeated over and over again.

15. And Pilate, wishing to make the crowd satisfied, released Barabbas to them. And, having scourged [him], he delivered Jesus so that he might be crucified.

It's no skin off Pilate's nose. He couldn't care less whether another Jew dies. People like Barabbas do more damage to his own people than to the Romans. And perhaps they can make him quietly disappear.

The decision is made. Jesus will be crucified.  

Explanatory Notes -- Mark 14:12-26

Explanatory Notes on Passion Week so far:

• Palm Sunday (Mark 11:1-11)
• Monday Money Changers (Mark 11:12-19)
• Tuesday Debates I (Mark 11:20-33) 
• Prophecy on Destruction (Mark 13:1-23)

Now, some of what we would call Thursday.

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14:12 And on the first day of Unleavened [Breads], when they were sacrificing the Passover, his followers say to him, "Where do you want, having gone, should we prepare that you might eat the Passover?" 

Mark's framing of the Passover is a little confusing. In Leviticus 23:5-6, the Passover is the day before the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins. Passover is one day on 14 Nisan, from sundown to sundown. Then the Feast of Unleavened Bread is an associated but separate feast that begins on 15 Nisan and is seven days long.

By contrast, Mark's text sounds like the first day of Unleavened Bread was the day before the Passover, which then began at sundown. Probably the best solution is to take Mark's language here as very informal. The whole process began when the Passover lambs were sacrificed, and this took place during the day before the Passover meal in the evening.

Despite that question, Mark clearly seems to identify the last supper as a Passover meal. The question is where they will eat it. As usual, Jesus' followers seem more concerned about the logistics than Jesus is. There were at least thirteen of them, and probably more. Where would they find such a space?

14:13 And he sends two of his followers and says to them, "Depart into the city, and a person will meet you, carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him. 14. And wherever he should enter, say to the house owner, 'The teacher says, "Where is my room, where I might eat the Passover with my followers?"' 15. And he himself will show you a furnished upper room prepared, and there prepare for us."

The same kinds of theories are around for this encounter with individuals in town as were for Palm Sunday. Did Jesus have something pre-arranged with certain people in Jerusalem. Was the man with the pitcher a clever way to make contact without anyone catching on? 

The most obvious reading of Mark is that Jesus just knew these things would happen. He knew that there was a willing person with a large house and an upper room. He knew they would send someone out for water at the same time his followers arrived looking.

It is tempting to see this upper room as the same upper room as Pentecost (Acts 1:13). It is tempting to see this as the house where they were having the prayer meeting when Peter was miraculously released from prison (Acts 12). If so, this is the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. In other words, the upper room would be in the very house of none other than the reputed author of Mark, John Mark (Acts 12:20). 

They had preparations to make, not least, the slaughter of a lamb and the preparation of the food. It is of course possible that the owner of the house invited them to celebrate the Passover together. Many Christians will be aware of the practice of the Jewish seder today. However, the rituals involved in the current seder meal did not likely exist at the time of Jesus. The first evidence for it dates to about 200 years later in a collection of Jewish teachings known as the Mishnah.

14:16 And the followers went out and came into the city and they found [things] just as he said to them, and they prepared the Passover. 17. And [it] having become late, he comes with the Twelve.

They went out from Bethany, where they had been staying. Perhaps they had been staying with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. The Gospel of John indicates that they lived in Bethany. Note how Jesus enjoyed the hospitality of these individuals in the early church, even while others were most inhospitable to him.

14:18 And them reclining and eating, Jesus said, "Amen I say to you that one of you will betray me, "the one eating with me."

They are "reclining." This was the standard way to eat in that culture. You did not sit on a chair. You were on the ground, almost lying down but perhaps propped up by your elbow as you casually ate. The Last Supper was indeed a supper. The condensed Lord's Supper we do today for communion is quite different from the meal Jesus and the early Christians ate.

As we have already pointed out, "Amen" is often translated as "truly." It is a word taken directly from Greek.

What a shock this statement must have been! If the evening were not already somber, it was now. They were in an anonymous upper room in Jerusalem. It is possible that they were seen coming into the city limits, but they may also have come after the sun went down. How would anyone find them unless they were betrayed?

We of course know it is Judas from earlier in the chapter.  

14:19 They began to be grieved and to say to him one by one, "Surely not I?" 20. And he said to them, "One of the Twelve, the one dipping who dips in the bowl. 

The sincere among the followers of Jesus begin to question themselves. Would I betray Jesus under pressure? Could I be the one? Jesus mentions the Twelve, but it is quite possible that there are more followers present, individuals like Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome (Mark 16:1). Those others could at least breathe a sigh of relief that it was not one of them.

Unlike John, Mark does not give much of a sense of the seating arrangement. We could easily read John 13:26 to imply that Judas is sitting right next to Jesus. All of the Twelve were presumably dipping in the same bowl as Jesus, perhaps with the bowl being passed around. 

14:21 "Because the Son of the Mortal departs just as it has been written concerning him, and woe to that person through whom the Son of the Mortal is betrayed. Good for him if that person were not born."

We have already talked about the expression, "Son of a Mortal" or "Son of Man," as it is traditionally rendered. It has three main associations: 1) a generic self-reference Jesus used of himself, 2) an association with Jesus' suffering, 3) a reference to Jesus returning from heaven. Here, the connotation of suffering seems most present. 

Jesus indicates that his suffering and death is a fulfillment of prophecy. The eternal consequences of Judas' actions are dire. Jesus surely indicates a fate worse than death. This is the greatest betrayal of all time.

Mark does not tell us which Scriptures from the Old Testament indicate that the Messiah would die. Paul indicates in 1 Corinthians 15:3 that it was very early Christian tradition that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." It is possible that Isaiah 53 is in view.

Lord's Supper
14:22 And them eating, having taken bread, having blessed [it], he broke [it] and gave them and said, "Take. This is my body. 23. And, having taken a cup, having given thanks, he gave to them, and all were drinking from it. 

This is of course the first instance of the Lord's Supper. It was a meal, although the form we use today is easily seen here. He is indicating that his death will be a sacrifice like the Passover lamb. In Exodus, the blood of the lamb on the doorpost meant that the destroying angel would not touch their house. The angel "passed over." Similarly, the blood of Christ on the doorposts of our hearts will save us from eternal destruction.

The bread is of course a loaf, and the cup is a common cup. We do not necessarily have to remember Jesus' meal in exactly the same way. There are several variations in use in the church today, and they all help us remember Jesus' broken body and spilled blood.

"This is my body" is of course a metaphor. "Life is a rose." Some traditions of course want to make more of the "is" than it will bear in itself. "You're a chicken." Jesus is not dead yet. He has a body. To compare this bread to his body is thus a metaphor. [1]

[1] In other words, you cannot prove transubstantiation or any complex theology of atonement from the use of the word is. Transubstantiation is the idea that the bread and wine of communion (the "Eucharist" or thanksgiving) literally become the body and blood of Jesus--this is my body. But the semantics of this statement will not bear that much of a load.

14:24 And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many. 

Another metaphor. The wine of the meal is like the blood Jesus is about to shed in the process of crucifixion. [2] Mark 10:45 has already said that Jesus was giving his life as a ransom for many. Here, again, Jesus says that his life will be poured out for many. This is not "limited atonement." It is simply that not everyone will choose to avail themselves of it. [3]

A covenant is a solemn arrangement where both sides commit deeply to the agreement. Jesus is making this covenant with his own blood. That agreement will save them from the Judgment. Luke 22:20 will echo Jeremiah 31:31 in its wording by adding the word "new" to covenant. We are reminded that the covenant that Jesus had in mind was especially God's covenant with Israel. The earliest followers of Jesus almost certainly understood Jesus' death, in the first instance, as a ransom for the sins of Israel toward the restoration of the people of Israel.

[2] In reality, crucifixion was not about bleeding. One died of suffocation. Our extensive use of blood language is as much about the comparison to animal sacrifice as it is about the actual process of crucifixion. In other words, it is deeply metaphorical.

[3] Limited atonement is the idea some Calvinsts have that sees Jesus as only dying for those God has chosen. In this perspective, Jesus did not die for the whole world but only for those he has predestined to save.

14:25 "Amen I say to you that no longer will I drink from the fruit of the vine until that day whenever I drink it new in the kingdom of God. 

If all we had was the Gospel of Mark, we would assume that Jesus is talking here about the great banquet that will take place after his return. "They will come from east and west and from north and south and will recline in the kingdom of God" (Luke 13:29). However, Luke and John mention Jesus eating with his followers after the resurrection to show that he was not a ghost. In those Gospels, we get the impression that the kingdom of God began with his resurrection. It can be a both/and.

14:26 And having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 

Would that we knew what they sang and how it sounded! Perhaps, they sang one of the psalms. There were other songs. We know, for example, that one of the founders of the Essene movement wrote hymns too. There may actually be early Christian hymns in the New Testament (e.g., Phil. 2:6-11).

They seem to plan to spend the night at the base of the Mount of Olives, perhaps in the Garden of Gethsemane. There are actually some caves nearby.

Explanatory Notes -- Mark 11:12-19

11:12 And on the next day, them having come from Bethany, he was hungry. 13. And having seen a fig tree from afar having leaf, he came [to see] if then he will find something on it. And, having come upon it, he found nothing except leaves, for the season was of figs was not [yet].

In Mark's account, Jesus throws the money changers out of the temple on Monday. However, before he gets there, he encounters a fig tree. We learn two things about Jesus' humanness in these first two verses. First, we recognize that Jesus got hungry. This observation is probably not surprising to anyone.

Secondly, he did not operate with his omniscience while he was on earth. Jesus has to go and see to find out that this fig tree has no figs yet. From a standpoint of orthodox faith, we believe that the second person of the Trinity cannot not be omniscient. However, the Gospel of Mark does not portray Jesus as operating with omniscience while on earth. We will see this fact again clearly in Mark 13. From a theological standpoint, we conclude that Jesus in some way did not access his full omniscience on earth.

The tree has leaves but does not yet have figs. This suggests a date in late spring, probably before May. Mark gives us no reason to think that there is anything amiss with the tree. It just doesn't give Jesus the answer he wants in relation to his human hunger. 

11:14 And, having answered, he said to it, "No longer forever from you may anyone eat fruit." And his disciples were hearing.

Here we learn something else about Jesus in his humanness. He could get frustrated. As Ephesians makes clear, anger in itself is not sinful (Eph. 4:26). It is what you do when you are angry.

The text clearly wants us to understand that Jesus is frustrated, even though the tree has done nothing wrong. But there is something more going on here than meets the eye. Mark wants us to take away something from this tree. We will see what it is later in the chapter.

11:15 And he comes into Jerusalem. And having entered into the temple, he began to throw out the [ones] selling and those buying in the temple and the tables of money changers and the seats of the ones selling the doves he overturned. 16. And he was not allowing someone to bring a vessel through the temple. 

This more than any other passage demonstrates both that Jesus in his humanness could get angry and also therefore that anger in itself is not sin. Some of course might argue that Jesus staged this action. Some have argued that Jesus is symbolically enacting the future destruction of Jerusalem. [1] Perhaps, although it is not clear from this passage. In this passage, Jesus seems to be genuinely angry at what he sees as something wrong taking place.

He is overturning tables and chasing people. What a sight that must have been! It must not have lasted too long or else the Romans would have gotten involved. Roman soldiers stood in nearby towers overlooking the temple situation to make sure that nothing went amiss. Order and crowd control were high priorities for the Romans. Jesus is able to teach thereafter, again suggesting that this action did not rise to the level of high concern for the Romans.

This action is also a key debate point in conversations about whether Jesus was a pacifist. My own sense is that Jesus did not teach a thoroughgoing pacifism. He seemed to teach that God will perform acts of violence when Jesus returns to judge the world. The book of Revelation is full of violence in judgment, and John the son of Zebedee would surely have known if Jesus absolutely opposed its use. 

Jesus did teach love of enemy, so we must be careful not to try to wiggle out of his instruction to turn the other cheek. But Jesus arguably did not teach an absolute prohibition of force. It was not time to fight when he was on earth. Christians are people of peace. In most cases, martyrdom is more noble than a just fight. Those who argue for pacifism are more right than wrong about the tenor of Jesus' teaching. But he arguably did not consider it an absolute.

[1] E.g. E. P. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism.  

17. And he was teaching and saying to them, "Has it not been written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?' But you have made it a den of plunderers."

Mark gives us hints at why Jesus was so upset at the buying and selling. On the one hand, such buying and selling was necessary. If someone traveled from Italy for the Passover, they were scarcely going to bring their own goat with them. Animals needed to be available, and currency needed to be exchanged.

Still, the sight must have sickened Jesus. This is a place for prayer, and the main thing going on in that courtyard was commerce. The temple of Lord had become the temple of mammon. 

Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7, which prophesies that many who are not Israelites will flock to worship the Lord at the temple. Mark is the only Gospel that includes the part of the verse that says, "for all nations." Writing primarily for Gentiles, Mark no doubt wanted his audience to know that Jesus was sticking up for them long before they heard the good news.

Some have indeed argued that the core problem was that this buying and selling was likely taking place in the Court of the Gentiles. The situation must have looked to say, "Gentiles don't matter here. This is a fine place for us to turn a shekel in the space outside where the real people of God go in." Mark and the other Gospels of course do not explicitly say anything like that.

Then he alludes to Jeremiah 7:11. This is the passage where Jeremiah warns Israel that they cannot expect God's favor just because his temple is in Jerusalem. God will not defend Israel if they do injustice. Israel doesn't have a "get out of righteousness card" just because they are his chosen people. If they are unjust, God will withdraw his favor and allow them to be destroyed. [2] 

Jeremiah critiques the Israel of his day for their oppression of foreigners, their treatment of orphans and widows, their shedding of innocent blood, their going after other gods (7:6). They have figuratively made God's "house" into a den where violent people hide, plunderers, people who lie in wait to do violence to the unsuspecting and innocent.

It is easy to imagine that the moneychangers, like many toll collectors, were making a huge profit off a captive market. With a near monopoly on the sale of "clean" animals and being the nearly exclusive place to get temple coins, they had sincere worshipers over a barrel. Given Jesus' general view of the worldliness of money, it is not hard to imagine he found the scene infuriating. [3]

[2] This is relevant to a Christian attitude toward the nation of Israel today. Because of its place in salvation history, Israel deserves perpetual honor (cf. Rom. 9:4-5). But this fact does not mean that the world suspends all moral critique any more than toward ourselves or any nation. From Paul's standpoint, Israel has not yet arrived at Romans 11:26. 

[3] See notes below on Mark 12:17.

11:18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard and were seeking how they might destroy him, for they were fearing him, for the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19. And when it became late, they were going out of the city.

The Jewish leaders have a nice racket going on. The Sadducees have influence and power. They are the class from which high priests are often taken. They are in favor with the Romans. They have the most to lose if Jesus creates unrest.

The scribes are the experts on the Law. In a culture where religion is the center of everything, the people who interpret God and the Scriptures are very powerful indeed. They decide what the Bible means for the people. Jesus threatens that oh-so-enjoyable status quo. Jesus has no "formal" authority, but his favor with the people gives him incredible "informal" power.

For now, they have to keep quiet. But they are waiting for an opportune moment when the tables might turn. Jesus and his followers are only in the city during the day. At night, they go back to Bethany.

Saturday--Hades

Today's excerpt from my novella.
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Two tasks were planned during his time in death. The first was to go to the “place” where one group of fallen angels were bound, near where the spirits of the faithless wait. Some of the fallen angels are already bound for all eternity.

I will share more details later in my diaries, but there was a point early in the story of humanity when most of the inhabited world was destroyed by water. The days right before then were a time of great wickedness. Since the time of that flood, fallen angels remain unseen to the human eye. But it was not always the case.

Before the flood, one group of fallen angels dared to appear as men. The wickedness they brought was swallowing up humanity. It was not God’s time. Humanity was not far enough along for the Logos to come or for God’s people to emerge. God commanded Michael to intervene and those angels were bound forever in the fourth dimension.

Jesus’ first task in death was to proclaim a definitive victory over these imprisoned spirits. With his death, their defeat was final. The earth was redeemed. It just didn’t know it yet. Satan’s power was defeated. He just had not fully experienced it yet.

Jesus’ second task was to announce freedom to the faithful. They already knew peace. They already knew hope. Now Jesus confirmed to them that salvation was accomplished. They would rise again with glorified bodies. All the sacrifices they had made in life had pointed toward this moment in history. They were only foreshadowings of this time, anticipations of a reality that only Christ could actually bring about.

Friday--Pilate's Decision

Today's excerpt from my novella.
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“So are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate said.

“That is why I am here,” Jesus finally said.

“They say you have been stirring up trouble all over Galilee. They say you healed one of the beggars over near the Pool of Bethesda. Is that true?”

Jesus did not say anything.

“You know what I think?” Pilate continued. “I think they’re jealous. I hear the people love you. The people don’t love them. Everyone knows that the money changers get rich off the people who come here to sacrifice.”

Pilate paused. “But that’s just the way the world works. The big fish eat the little fish.”

There was the smallest flicker of the Spirit in Pilate. This was his moment. At some point in every human’s life, the Spirit gives an opportunity for everyone to move toward God. For a moment Pilate felt the smallest tug of the Holy Spirit.

“Let’s see if the people love you enough to save you.”

It was customary at Passover for Pilate to release someone from his jail back to the people. He had a genuine insurrectionist in his jail, a violent man named Barabbas. So at the second hour, eight o’clock in the morning, Pilate presented Jesus and Barabbas to a crowd that had gathered outside Herod’s palace, where Pilate stayed when he was in town. Pilate genuinely thought they would free Jesus.

“Who do you want me to release?” he shouted. “Barabbas, who beat up a Passover visitor here from Egypt this week? Or do you want Jesus, who turned over some tables in the Temple this week?”

Jesus’ mother and some of his followers were in the crowd. They were distraught on the deepest of levels. Others were in hiding.

They thought the crowds would cry out for Jesus, but the priests and elders had planted their servants in the crowd. Much to the disciples’ surprise, people all over the crowd started shouting, “Crucify him!”

Then there were those in town who were bitter because they had hoped Jesus might lead an insurrection. They hoped he would overthrow the Romans. To them he was an embarrassment, a disgrace. They were angry at him because they felt betrayed. He made them feel once again like losers before the Romans.

“Crucify him! Crucify him!” the crowd shouted. Mary and Peter and Lazarus and Mary Magdalene and James and John and the others looked around in horror. What was happening? How could this be happening? Jesus was the Messiah!

Pilate was also surprised. The light of the Spirit flickered just one more time, more brightly than ever before. And then the light in Pilate went out for good. He had made his choice. He would reject the Holy Spirit.

“Then crucify him we will.”

Thursday Last Supper

Today's excerpt from my novella.
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On Thursday they prepared for the Passover meal. They had arranged to eat it at Cleopas’ house. The air was somber. Jesus knew this was the night. Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, and Martha were there. Cleopas, his wife Mary, and John Mark were there too. Jesus own mother, Salome, and a woman named Joanna were there. The upper room was large enough to fit over a hundred people.

The tone was somber, especially when you consider how excited they all had been on Sunday. The kingdom of God did not erupt after he rode into Jerusalem. It did not erupt after he “cleansed” the Temple of the money changers. Each day, the tone got more serious. The venom of the religious leaders was palpable on Tuesday. On Wednesday Jesus had spoken of the desecration, maybe even the destruction of the Temple.

Now it was Passover, and there was a seriousness to Jesus they had never seen. He had never been this way. It terrified them. “This is my body, which is going to be broken for you,” he said at one point during the meal while passing around the bread. As an angel, it was amazing to see how such an important statement did not take its full weight. For some, it went in one ear and out the other.

When the meal was over, Jesus’ heart continued to be troubled. “One of you is going to betray me,” he finally said, looking especially at Judas, who was on his left side. Lazarus was on his right, and Peter next to him.

“Ask him who it is,” Peter said to Lazarus.

“I will dip in the cup with him,” Jesus told John Lazarus, and then he dipped in the cup he shared with Judas.

When Judas saw Jesus hand him the cup, his face hardened, and he immediately left the room. He was determined to follow through on his course. He would show Jesus. He was not betraying him. He was saving him.

Then Jesus took the cup. “This is my blood, which is going to be shed for you.” And he passed the cup around.

It was a strange thing to say, macabre, almost grotesque. A Jew would never drink blood. It was expressly forbidden to ingest blood.

Yet Jesus had told them several times that he was going to die. It was Passover. The Israelites had put blood on the doorposts of their houses during the exodus to protect them from the angel of destruction. Now Jesus was going to give life through his blood. He would become the Lamb, and there was power in the blood of the Lamb to redeem all humanity.

After supper and passing the cup, Jesus and the eleven made their way around the walls of Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane. They were exhausted and deeply discouraged, tempted to doubt. Jesus urged them to pray, but most fell asleep trying.

Jesus especially urged Peter, James, and John to stay awake with him to pray, but they also could hardly stay awake. So Jesus prayed alone.

“Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.”

Three times he prayed this to God the Father. Between each time he tried to wake up Peter, James, and John to pray with him, to no effect.

It was a real struggle for Jesus. His human will was tempted to run. His human will was tempted to escape. His divine will would never have gone through with it, but his human will did not falter. He did not want to go through with it, but he chose to submit to Trinity’s will.

The third time he came to them he felt sympathy. They were willing in their spirits, but they just did not have the will power to stay awake.

It did not matter anymore. Judas had arrived with armed people sent from the priests and elders. He had arranged to greet Jesus with a kiss on the cheek, which he did.

“So you are betraying me with a kiss, brother?” Jesus said to Judas.

Peter sprang awake, as did the other disciples. Confused but ready to fight, he lunged with his dagger at one of the high priest’s servants and actually cut off his ear. It was a man named Malchus. He would later believe. Jesus touched the ear, and the bleeding stopped.

“Put your swords away,” Jesus said to his disciples. “This is the plan of God.”

Then to the mob he said, “You didn’t want to arrest me in the Temple? Am I a violent man, a revolutionary? Nevertheless, it is your hour.”

When the disciples saw that Jesus was going willingly with them, they were stunned. They were ready to fight for Jesus and his kingdom. They were not prepared for him to go willingly. Even Judas was shocked, hoping that God would send ten thousand angels to destroy his enemies.

So the disciples scattered. Some went to Bethany, others to Cleopas’ house.

When he heard Jesus had been arrested, John Mark jumped out of bed, quickly grabbed a linen cloth to cover his naked body, and ran out of the house. Lazarus quickly got dressed and wasn’t far behind.

Wednesday Prophecy

This could have happened on Tuesday too. Today's excerpt from my novella.
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With each day, Jesus’ heart became heavier. On Wednesday, the Spirit opened his memory of the destruction that was to come to the Temple. As he left the Temple with his disciples, he remarked that he was afraid that none of the beautiful stones of the Temple would soon be left standing on each other.

After they had crossed the valley to the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter asked him privately, “When is the Temple going to be destroyed?”

As they sat in the cool of the garden, most took an afternoon nap, but Jesus unfolded a future to Peter and Andrew, James and John.

“It would not have to be the future,” Jesus said. “There is a possible future in which Israel turns to Christ. I am sending you all out as my apostles to work toward that future.”

“But there is another future,” he continued. “It is a future where Israel does not believe. It is a future where judgment comes on this Temple again.

“You remember the abomination of desolation in Daniel?”

“Yes,” Andrew said.

“There is a future where the Romans defile, even destroy this sanctuary.”

“We must stop that from happening!” Peter blurted out.

“The Son of Man will come from heaven,” Jesus answered with a smile. “I do not know the day or the hour,” he said. “But I will surely come in salvation and judgment.”

“But you are here already,” Peter said, confused. “Why not do it now?”

“Everything will become clear in its time, Peter. You still have not understood that I must die first.”

Jesus turned to look at Judas, who apparently could not sleep. He was agitated, throwing rocks at the trees. You could see on his face the festering anger. And I could see that the light of the Spirit had now gone completely out in his soul.

Tuesday Debates

Here's today's excerpt from my novella.
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On Tuesday, Jesus was back in the Temple teaching. As people who like to argue do, several religious leaders tried to best Jesus in argument. This type of person thinks that if they can win an argument, they have shown themselves superior. They do not understand that God is concerned with people’s intentions, not their intelligence.

God looks on the heart. From the standpoint of an angel, the absurdity of human intelligence is obvious. So many think they know so much when they know almost nothing. Their arguments usually blow away like a puff of wind while they almost think themselves gods. As an angel, I know my thoughts are nothing compared to God’s. Yet their thoughts come nowhere close to ours.

Humans are infinitely valuable because God loves them and because God created them in his image. Yet in body and mind they are nothing. I have seen beings around the universe that make humanity pale in comparison.

Jesus of course had a better human mind than any of them, and he was full of the Holy Spirit. Yet he chose not to access the fullness of his divine mind while he was on earth. His omniscience was still there, but it was lurking as a sort of subconscious.

“Should we pay taxes?” one smart aleck asked him. Jesus took a coin and asked whose picture was on it. The answer was of course “Caesar.”

“It looks like Caesar has lost a coin,” Jesus answered. “You had better give it back to him.”

Coinage had nothing to do with the kingdom of God. It had to do with the Roman Empire. Jesus couldn’t care less about money.

Then some Sadducees asked him about the resurrection. They proposed a woman with seven husbands without children. “Whose wife will she be in the resurrection?” they asked. They supposed that their thought experiment showed that the idea of resurrection did not work.

Jesus just smiled at the ignorance of the question. The Holy Spirit opened up a small remembrance of what glorified bodies are like. Suffice it to say, they make questions about gender foolish. Glorified bodies are not sexual, even if they look like earthly bodies to those who are human.

Even more, the question showed ignorance about women in heaven. Women have full equality of status with men in the kingdom. They are not “given” to anyone to lord over them.

“Those who rise are not like you ignorant souls,” he said. “They do not marry. They are not given in marriage. They are like the angels,” Jesus said, and winked directly at me.

There was one last question. This one came from a scribe. Unlike the others, the light of the Spirit had been growing steadily in him as Jesus answered questions. His question came with complete sincerity.

“Sir, what is the greatest commandment of the Law?”

Jesus answered. “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. All of God’s expectations for humanity and everything humanity needs to thrive is found in these commands.

“The person who loves God and neighbor has fulfilled all of Scripture. This person has understood that God looks on the heart, not on outward appearances. This person does not need ten thousands of sacrifices. This person has understood that God loves his enemies just as much as his friends.”

“What a great answer,” the scribe responded, and I could see that he believed. He would be part of the coming kingdom.

Monday in the Temple

Here's an excerpt for today from my novella.
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The next morning, Jesus returned to the Temple. Only his disciples were with him this time. He knew the Romans would be watching for him. They had investigated him on Sunday. They came to the Court of Israel and watched him pray for over an hour. They interrogated some in the crowd.

Today he would make a statement. He took some rope and braided it together into a whip. Then when he got to the moneychangers, he began to overturn their tables and drive the animals out with the whip. Everyone scattered, and coins flew everywhere.

“My house will be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves!” he shouted. “God has weighed Jerusalem in the balance, and it has been found lacking. Repent and believe in the good news of God’s coming kingdom, for the Son of Man is coming on the clouds!”

Then he withdrew. He did it so quickly that he had disappeared by the time the Roman soldiers rushed down from the Tower of Antonia to the courtyard.

This was the last straw for Judas. Why did Jesus leave? A confrontation between him and the Romans was exactly the kind of moment that would prompt God to come from heaven to establish his kingdom on earth. Was Jesus a coward? Was he a fraud?

1985 years ago this moment...

Jesus died on the cross.

April 10, 30 at 3pm is my current guess for the death of Jesus on the cross. With a 7 hour difference between Indiana and Jerusalem, that makes now the anniversary of Jesus' death.

Low in the grave he lay...

I do not believe that any biblical texts properly speak of today except to say that Jesus was in "Paradise" (Luke 23:43). He is not yet "made alive in spirit" (1 Pet. 3:18). He has not yet proclaimed the good news to the dead (1 Pet. 4:6), for the good news has not yet come. The good news comes tomorrow morning, Easter morning.

Today, for us, there is only silence.

In Darkest Day

Jesus hung on the cross from about nine to three. The Gospels give us seven "words":

• "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark, Matthew)
• "Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing." (Luke)
• "Today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke)
• "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke)
• "Woman, behold your son. Here is your mother." (John)
• "I am thirsty." (John)
• "It is finished." (John)

These words express the emotions of aloneness, compassion, and peace. So we know that when we are forlorn, when we are in despair, when we are alone, we know we have a advocate in heaven you can empathize with us.

When we have lost our family, when we have no place to belong, Christ is full of compassion. He gives us each other as family in the church. When we have lost our way, when we have gone down the wrong path, he is longing to be with us and to see our souls restored.

When we enter the valley of the shadow of death, when we are in a dark night of our souls, Jesus gives us peace. He leads us through to the end, if we will surrender to his hands.

Last Supper... for a while

What a somber night, Thursday night, as Passover begins for Jesus at sundown! The darkest day in all history begins as night falls. A final meal before death, before denial, before betrayal. The next meal of this sort with his disciples will be in the kingdom of God, when he returns.

• Peter is confused. He is willing to fight for Jesus, but isn't prepared for Jesus' willing surrender.
• Is Judas trying to manipulate God into establishing the kingdom? Surely God won't allow his king to be killed! Surely he will send ten thousand angels to rescue him and will install Jesus as king.
• Jesus is resolved. He would rather this cup pass from him, but he is submitted to God. He does not run away. He waits, and Judas arrives.

Anointed for Burial

Matthew and Mark both mention Jesus being anointed by an anonymous woman two days before Passover, with generic disciples protesting. If we think of Passover beginning on sundown on Thursday, this might have been at sundown on Tuesday. By Jewish reckoning, that's the beginning of Wednesday.

As usual, John is the Gospel that is hard to fit together from a precise historical perspective. There are features of John that show clear blending with this story, such as the oral kernel, "You will always have the poor with you," and other features. But the timing and apparently the location seems different in John. There, it is six days before the Passover and at the home of Mary and Martha, rather than of Simon the Leper.

[It's a reminder that we are looking at the Gospels the wrong way if we view them as video recordings--especially John. We should read them more for the truths and moral lessons we get from the stories than as modern histories.]

Several truths I take from Mark 14:1-11:

• The worship of Jesus is ultimately even more important than the mission. Not everything about faith is utilitarian. There is a time for beauty. There is a time to stop and praise. God himself is ultimately more important even than saving souls or helping the poor!
• Jesus is in the home of Simon the leper. Even to the end, he is including people who have been excluded. He is sanctifying the unclean and making it clean.
• She is symbolically preparing him for burial. Why did he die again? He died to absorb the sins of his people, humanity, the world. He died as the greatest embodiment of God's love for us and God's desire to reconcile the world to himself. He died to defeat the powers of death and hell.