Vine and fig tree

The vine and fig tree are symbols of Israel’s safety from enemies during the days of Solomon (1 Kings 4). The fact that each Israelite has his own orchard and vineyard is a sign of national prosperity and widespread distribution of wealth, as well as a sign that there are no invaders coming . . . . Continue Reading »

This cup

In his Exhortation to Martyrdom ( Origen: An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer, and Selected Works , p. 61 ), Origen ponders why Jesus would have resisted martyrdom by asking His Father to remove the cup from him. Origen quotes from the synoptics, each of which quotes Jesus praying for the removal . . . . Continue Reading »

Naked, Clothed

Hovey has a remarkable discussion of the young man who is stripped of his linen garment in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:51-52). In the garden, he wears the linen garment of a martyr. But like the other disciples he is not prepared for arrest, trial, the cross. He flees without his martyr robe, . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus’ temple action

In Mark’s gospel, Jesus is the royal “son of God” (1:1), the stronger man who enters into combat with the “strong man” in order to plunder his house (3:20-35). Thus Jesus “casts out” ( ekballo ; cf. 1:34, 39, 43; 3:15, 22, 23; 6:13; 7:26) demons from the . . . . Continue Reading »

Exorcism

In the early chapters of Mark’s gospel, the only beings to identify Jesus as “Son of God” are the Father and demons. No human being recognizes Him until He dies, and then it’s a Roman centurion. Perhaps Mark intends us to remember the demonic identifications when we get to . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus and purity

In a 1986 article in Semeia , Jerome Neyrey examines the role of purity in Mark’s gospel against the background of Mary Douglas’s work. Importantly, he emphasizes that, while Mark shows how Jesus transgresses the boundaries of purity, he also shows that Jesus is the “Holy . . . . Continue Reading »

Legion

Graham Twelftree ( In the Name of Jesus: Exorcism among Early Christians ) argues that there is not political dimension to the gospel story of Jesus and the Legion demoniac. Contrary to much contemporary scholarship, “legio” did not necessarily conjure up the image of Caesar’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Temple in Mark

Timothy Gray’s monograph on Temple in the Gospel of Mark, The: A Study in Its Narrative Role (now happily published in an affordable edition by Baker) is excellent. Gray pays close attention to intertextual and intratextual echoes as he examines Mark’s account of Jesus’ entry to . . . . Continue Reading »

Legion of Boars, 2

Mike Bull offers this suggestive reply e to my earlier post on the Romans and the swine: Based on the structure of the early chapters in Matthew, the story of the Gadarene is a Day of Atonement ( http://www.bullartistry.com.au/wp/2009/09/08/why-jesus-healed-some/ ). Matt 1 - Genesis Matt 2 - Exodus . . . . Continue Reading »