Palm/Passion Sunday (B)

Readings:
  1. Isaiah 50.4-7
    Psalm 22.8-9, 17-18,19-20, 23-24  Resp:  “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
  2. Philippians 2.6-11
  3. Mark 14.1-15.47  The Passion according to Mark

[Note:  Many parishes use the readings from Cycle A during Lent.  In that case, the gospel would be Matthew 26.14-27.66, the Passion according to Matthew.]

Reflections on the Gospel Reading

Listening to the passion according to Mark is not easy for twenty-first century Americans.  To begin with, it is not as familiar as the passions according to Matthew and John.  Prior to the Second Vatican Council’s reform of the lectionary, Matthew’s passion was read every Palm Sunday, and John’s passion was read every Good Friday, but there was no continuous reading of either Mark’s or Luke’s passion.

Furthermore, praying the Stations of the Cross, attending passion plays, listening to sermons on the seven last words, or viewing a movie like Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” tends to blur the distinction between four quite different passion narratives, each with its characteristic concerns and its particular theological approach.  For example, Mark is relentless in his depiction of the disciples’ betrayals and failures.  Matthew and Luke are less critical, and in John’s passion narrative the Beloved Disciple stands with Mary the mother of Jesus at the foot of the cross.

Mark’s portrayal of Jesus’ suffering is stark, with Jesus’ last utterance being the cry in Aramaic: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Even though by placing the words of Psalm 22.2 in the mouth of the dying Jesus, Mark implicitly alludes to the end of that Psalm where the psalmist gives praise to God for deliverance, it is a far cry from Luke’s confidant exclamation: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23.46)

Still another difficulty arises from the fact that Mark was the first gospel writer to put together a passion narrative.  It is hard to distinguish Mark’s editorial contributions from the way the story came down to him.  For example, was the order of events already set in the tradition he received, or is it the result of his creative handling of the materials he had to work with?

It is important to remember that Mark’s passion narrative is not a strictly historical account of “what actually happened.”  It is primarily a theological reflection on the meaning of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  Mark’s passion narrative is artificial in the sense that it is a work of art.  To better understand this, I will look at 1) the traditions that Mark worked with, 2) the lenses through which he interpreted those traditions, and 3) the themes that are distinctive of his treatment of the subject.  Following these reflections I have included an outline of Mark’s passion narrative that can serve as a listening or reading guide.

The Underlying Tradition

Mark’s Gospel was written for people who already believed that the resurrected Jesus was the Messiah of God.  For them “Christ” or “Anointed” was a second name.  They celebrated the death and glorification of Jesus Christ in the rituals of baptism (Romans 6.1-11) and Eucharist.  In the letters of Paul from the decade of the fifties the institution of the Eucharist (1 Corinthians 11.23-26), Christ’s redemptive death by crucifixion (Philippians 2,5-11), his burial, his resurrection “on the third day,” and his subsequent appearances (1 Corinthians 15.1-11) are already considered traditional in the sense that they were handed down as unassailable fundamentals of the gospel preaching.  Also, 1 Corinthians 5.7 (“For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.” NRSV) seems to reflect a tradition that the crucifixion took place in conjunction with Passover.

Paul, however, notoriously lacks information about the words and deeds of Jesus during his public ministry or about the specifics of his passion and death.  Paul preached a gospel of Christ crucified and risen, but without the four Gospels, one might never know that Jesus himself proclaimed the reign of God.  The Paul of the authentic letters never mentions Pontius Pilate, Caiphas, or Judas.

There seems to have been a danger of “spiritualizing” Paul’s message into a kind of “divine man” theology that downplayed Jesus’ humanity or the reality of his birth and death.  Also, as time went on there was a danger that the Jesus story would recede into a kind of mythological time.  To balance this tendency the gospel writers called upon sayings of Jesus and stories of his deeds preserved by early Christians.

The outlines of Mark’s passion narrative, then, were already in place by the mid fifties of the first century:  occurrence around Passover; Last Supper the night before he died; suffering; death by crucifixion; sacrificial and redemptive death; resurrection “on the third day;” and subsequent appearances of the risen Lord.

We know less about the traditions that Mark used to fill out this outline.  We do know from the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas and from the hypothetical document Q that there were collections of sayings of Jesus.  However, few, if any of these sayings relate to Jesus’ suffering and death.  We presume that stories about Jesus’ actions were preserved as well.  Some of them illustrated particular sayings of Jesus, and others seem to have been related to places such as Jerusalem, Jericho, or the Sea of Galilee.

We will never know what traditions Mark chose not to pass on, just as we will never know the exact criteria for those things that he actually selected.  All we know is that he was the first to create a continuous narrative that uses stories, dramatization, sayings, and scriptural allusions to interpret the meaning of Jesus’ suffering and death as well as his subsequent resurrection.

Mark’s Interpretive Lenses

It is probably impossible to isolate all the interpretive tools that Mark used to write his Gospel including his passion narrative.  Some, however, are obvious:  Mark’s rhetorical background and training; Mark’s immersion in first century Mediterranean culture; and Mark’s use of the Israelite scriptures.

  1. Mark’s Rhetorical Background

Mark was a man of his time.  He was trained in the conventions of Greek and Roman rhetoric.  Like any writer, he organized his materials to make particular points.  He was an interpreter rather than a chronicler, and the balance between factual description and interpretation was different from what we have become accustomed to in the twenty-first century.

For example, sayings or speeches in the mouth of a particular character are not transcriptions of audio recordings or reproductions of stenographers’ notes.  Thus, each of the gospel writers puts different words on the mouth of the dying Jesus.  There is no way of knowing what, if anything, Jesus actually said in his last moments.  Each of the gospel writers uses a particular saying to get across his theological understanding of the meaning of the crucifixion.

Mark, as the first to write a passion narrative, groups Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem into a single week from the symbolic entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on one Sunday to his resurrection appearances on the following Sunday. (See Borg & Crossan 2006, ix-x.)  Does this reflect historical reality, or was it a literary technique that Mark used to organize and present the different traditions about Jesus’ last days that had come down to him?  Most likely, the latter.

Mark used the forms of writing that were familiar to his audience such as biography, encomium  (a set way of praising an important figure), or conflict story such as the description of a trial.  Each form of writing had its rules and conventions that enabled an author like Mark to communicate his message effectively to his audience.  (For an excellent account of how ancient rhetoricians went about their business see Neyrey 1998, 70-89.)

  1. Mark’s Immersion in the Values of First Century Mediterranean Culture

Without going into all the aspects of first century Mediterranean culture (See, e.g. Malina 2001a.) suffice it to mention the key value of male honor.  Crucifixion was an elaborate degradation ceremony designed not only to inflict excruciating pain and death but also to destroy the victim’s reputation and erase his memory from friends and family.  Paul alludes to the horror of crucifixion in Galatians 3.13 by applying to Jesus’ crucifixion the words of Deuteronomy 21.23:  “for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse.” (NRSV)

Mark shapes his passion narrative in such a way as to vindicate Jesus’ honor in spite of his crucifixion.  Jesus is a reliable, truthful, innocent witness.  He is a prophet who foresees the arrangements for the Passover dinner, Peter’s denial and the flight of the Twelve, and the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven.  He suffers in silence making no reply to false accusations.  After Jesus dies Mark puts his evaluation of Jesus’ honor on the lips of the Centurion:  “Truly this man was God’s Son.” (Mark 15.39 NRSV)

  1. The Israelite Scriptures

It is a truism to say that our outlook and even our perception are influenced by what we read.  Just as science shapes our thinking and the things we take for granted, so also the Israelite Scriptures played an important part in shaping Mark’s understanding of the meaning of Jesus’ suffering, death, and glorification.  Mark and the other Evangelists looked to the Scriptures for examples, models, predictions, and even descriptions of the things related in their passion narratives.

In Mark’s passion narrative there is only one explicit reference to the Scriptures prefaced by the standard formula:  “It is written.”  Narrating Jesus’ prediction of the desertion of all the disciples including Peter, Mark has Jesus quote very freely from Zechariah 13.7, considerably adapting the sense of the original:  “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” (Mark 14.26 NRSV)  Also, in narrating Jesus’ reply to the high priest’s question (“Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?”) Mark puts an explicit reference (although not an exact quote) to Daniel 7.13 in the mouth of Jesus:  “‘You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’” (Mark 14.62 NRSV)

However, throughout Mark’s passion narratives there are numerous allusions to Scripture that provide a necessary background for understanding Mark’s meaning.  Reading the following passages would be an excellent preparation for listening to Mark’s passion narrative:  Isaiah 52.13-53.12 (the fourth suffering servant song); Jeremiah 11:18-19 (“But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter.”); Zechariah 9-14 (Contains “the pervasive motif of the suffering person who will be abandoned by followers at a time of trial.” [Donahue & Harrington 2002, 404]); Wisdom 2.12-20 (oppression of the righteous man); and Psalms 22, 42, 43, 51, 69, 109, 110.

Distinctive Themes of Mark’s Passion Narrative  

Consideration of Mark’s interpretive lenses and the structure of his passion narrative reveal a number of characteristic themes even without comparing Mark to other gospel writers.  I have noted seven episodes in Mark’s passion narrative.  The center episode is the trial before the Sanhedrin (D), and central to that is the proclamation of Jesus as “the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One [a circumlocution for “God”].”  This becomes the subject of ridicule both at the trial (Mk 14.65) and while Jesus was on the cross (Mk 15.32).  Yet, the centurion vindicates this claim by attributing a messianic title (Son of God) to Jesus after his death.

The trial before Pilate brings out another messianic title:  King of the Judeans (mentioned four times in twenty verses).  This also is the subject of ridicule by the chief priests and the scribes while Jesus was hanging on the cross.  It was also verified by the centurion’s confession.  Thus, there is little doubt that Mark was saying that Jesus was the Messiah.

A second theme is that of Jesus as a prophet.  Mark includes four prophecy/fulfillment stories in his passion narrative:  1) that the disciples would find a man carrying a water jar; 2) that one of his disciples would betray him; 3) that Peter would deny him; and 4) that the Temple would be destroyed.  Once again, Jesus was mocked for being a prophet (Mk 14.65), yet everything he predicted turned out to be true including (at least in Mark’s understanding) the destruction of the Temple when the sanctuary veil was torn from top to bottom.  These four fulfilled prophecies lend credence to Jesus’ fifth prophecy that his accusers would see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. (Mk 14.62)

In the two trials Mark presents Jesus as a martyr, a faithful witness to the truth in the face of suffering and death.  As an honorable man, Mark’s Jesus does not respond to false accusations or to claims that can be easily misinterpreted, but when asked the right question he responds affirmatively, knowing well the consequences of his response.  This theme must surely have resonated with early followers of Jesus.  By the time Mark wrote his Gospel both civil and religious authorities were already persecuting them for their proclamation of Jesus as Lord.

One theme that becomes more evident by comparison with other passion narratives is Mark’s emphasis on the utter failure of Jesus’ disciples.  The other three gospel writers tone down this aspect.  Mark presents Jesus as being completely abandoned by his followers.  No one comes to his aid.  No one stands by him, even verbally.  “All of them deserted him and fled.” (Mk 14.50 NRSV)  According to Mark’s portrayal, none of the male disciples even witness Jesus’ crucifixion and burial.  In a culture dominated by the value of male honor it is to their shame that this had to be done by women.

Even the women disciples do not escape censure.  In Mark’s narrative they should have known that there was no point in looking for Jesus in the tomb.  Already in Mark 14.28 Jesus had said: “after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.”  Some authors see the young man/angel’s reminder of this as a rebuke to the women for coming to the tomb in the first place.  Furthermore, buying spices after the Sabbath was over was redundant at best, since the unnamed woman in Bethany had already anointed Jesus for his burial. (Mk 14.3-9) Finally, the women disregard the young man/angel’s order to convey his message to Jesus’ disciples and Peter.  Mark’s Gospel ends by noting this failure.  “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (Mk 16.8)

How does one explain this relentless emphasis on the failure of Jesus’ closest followers?  Many commentators think the answer lies in the community for whom Mark was writing his Gospel.

One suspects strongly that Mark’s addressees must include Christians who have suffered and failed—a community to whom this Gospel offers hope since it points out that Jesus himself did not want to drink the cup and that even his most intimate disciples failed.  Since evangelistic theology is geared to spiritual response, this is a [passion narrative] that will have special meaning for those who have sought to follow Christ but find insupportable the cross that they are asked to bear in life, i.e., to those who at some time have been reduced to asking from the bottom of their hearts, “My God, my God, for what reason have you forsaken me?” (Brown 1994, 1.28)

Commentary

Mark’s narrative of the passion forms a single literary and theological unit with the story of the women at the empty tomb and the angelic proclamation of the resurrection. (Mark 16.1-8)  In a similar fashion, in the ancient Roman liturgy Good Friday and Easter Sunday were a single celebration spread over three days with only one Eucharistic prayer and one Communion service.  In our commemoration of the passion we never lose sight of the resurrection; and in our celebration of Easter we never forget Good Friday.  The Jesus whom we acknowledge as risen Lord is the same Jesus who was crucified.

For the people of Mark’s time, Jesus’ death was a huge problem.  The proclamation of Christ crucified was “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” (1 Corinthians 1.23 NRSV)  How could a shamed criminal be the Messiah?  How could a crucified upstart from an insignificant province compete with the Roman Emperor for the title of Lord?

For the people of our time with our particular historical consciousness, the crucifixion is a problem in a different way.  We tend to view it as the tragic end of a heroic figure.  The gospel of love and forgiveness that Jesus preached was so radical that he was inevitably crushed by the religious and political establishment of his time.

Doubtless, there are tragic elements in Mark’s passion/resurrection narrative.  Mark presents Jesus as silent and unflinching in the face of defamation and punishment.  Jesus’ silence before the high priest and Pilate recalls a passage from the Prophet Isaiah:

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
        yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
        and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
        so he did not open his mouth.

                (Isaiah 53.7 NRSV)

However, other elements of tragedy are missing in Mark’s narrative.  Classical Greek tragedy involves “the workings of an inexorable fate that ensures an unhappy outcome.” (EB, Micropaedia, s.v. “Tragedy,” 888.)  Even the gods are helpless to alter fate.  Tragic heroes, both classical and modern, exhibit admirable qualities, but death has the last word.  In fact, it is precisely death with its finality that lends a certain dignity to the hero’s fleeting achievements.

If the passion narrative is isolated from the resurrection proclamation, then God is either impotent or a monster.  Either God is unable to save Jesus from death, or God freely wills the death of Jesus that God could prevent.

Mark takes great pains to show that God was not helpless before fate.  In the Garden of Gethsemane Mark puts this prayer on the lips of Jesus:  “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you.  Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will.”  (Since the disciples were asleep, no one witnessed Jesus’ prayer.  It seems that Mark, who does not record the Lord’s Prayer in his Gospel, took words from the Lord’s Prayer and placed them on the mouth of Jesus in the time of his greatest trial.)  When Jesus emerges from prayer he announces the answer to his prayer to the sleepy disciples,  “Behold, the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.”

Clearly, Mark wants us to understand that the passion and resurrection of Jesus were the will of his beloved Father/Patron, Abba.  How, then, does Mark evade the other horn of the tragic dilemma?  If God is not impotent, what saves God from being a monster?

God willed the glorification of Jesus through his death AND resurrection.  For Mark and for his readers death did not have the last word.  This is what transformed the story of Jesus from tragedy to gospel, and this is why we always read the passion narratives in the light of the resurrection.  (For a deeper treatment of this theme see LaVerdiere 1999.2, 240-241.)

What does this mean for us who listen to Mark’s passion this Sunday?  We who are called to follow Jesus are not just called to follow him to his death with some sort of Stoic resolve or grim determination.  We are also called to follow Jesus to his resurrection.

Christian life is marked by joy: joy in prayer, joy in service, joy in enduring.  Our sentiments should be the same as those of the martyred bishop Oscar Romero when he said, “I rejoice, brothers and sisters, that our church is persecuted precisely for its preferential option for the poor and for seeking to become incarnate in the interests of the poor.” (Quoted in Ellsberg 1997, 131.)

Although pensive and even somber, our commemoration of the Passion is not macabre.  The priest wears red vestments, not black.  So, also, we face death and the suffering that comes to us as a consequence of following Jesus’ teaching in the firm hope of our own resurrection.

In preparing these reflections, in addition to the biblical texts, I consulted the following works:

Borg & Crossan 2006 – Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week:  A Day-by-Day Acccount of Jesus’s Final Week in Jerusalem (New York:  HarperSanFrancisco, 2006)

Brown 1994 – Raymond E. Brown, S.S., The Death of the Messiah, 2 Volumes, The Anchor Bible Reference Library (New York:  Doubleday, 1994)

Dodd 1936? – C. H. Dodd, The Apostolic Preaching and its Developments, Three Lectures with an Appendix on Eschatology and History (New York:  Harper & Row, n.d.)  [Lectures delivered in 1935.]

Donahue & Harrington 2002 – John R. Donahue, S.J. and Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., The Gospel of Mark (Collegeville [MN]: Liturgical Press, 2002)

EB – Robert McHenry, General Editor, The New Encyclopaedia Britannica

Ellsberg 1997 – Robert Ellsberg, All Saints:  Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (New York:  The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997)

LaVerdiere 1999.2 – Eugene LaVerdiere, The Beginning of the Gospel:  Introducing the Gospel According to  Mark, Vol. 2 (Collegeville [MN]:  Liturgical Press, 1999)

Malina 2001a – Bruce J. Malina.  The New Testament World.  Insights from Cultural Anthropology.  Third Edition, Revised and Expanded (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001)

Malina & Rohrbaugh 2003 – Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, Second Edition  (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003)

Neyrey 1998 – Jerome H. Neyrey, Honor and Shame in the Gospel of Matthew  (Louisville, KY:  John Knox Press, 1998)

NRSV = NRSV 1994 – New Revised Standard Version – Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy, Editors, The New Oxford Annotated Bible containing the Old and New Testaments.  New Revised Standard Version.  (New York:  Oxford University Press, 1994)

Taylor 1959 – Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark:  The Greek Text with Introduction, Notes, and Indexes  (London:  Macmillan & Co. LTD, 1959)

A Listening and Reading Guide to the Passion According to Mark

Note how frequently Mark uses the technique of inclusion (often called the Markan sandwich) throughout his passion narrative.  An incident or theme is surrounded before and after by a contrasting incident or theme.  The “meat” of the sandwich is often the key to interpreting the two “slices of bread.”  However, the opposite is true as well; the “slices” also help interpret the “meat.”  The classic example of the Markan sandwich is the story of the woman healed after suffering a hemorrhage for twelve years that interrupts the story of the raising of the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus. (Mark 5.21-43)

In its long form Mark’s Passion narrative covers two full chapters, 119 verses.  Since there is so much in the text, it is helpful to break up the reading with times for reflection, for example after Mk 14.52, and after Mk 15.20.  The following outline can serve as a listening guide.

  1. Preparations for Jesus’ death – The woman’s extravagant act of love and devotion to prepare Jesus’ body for burial is surrounded by plots to kill him.  (Mk 14.1-11)
    1. Plan of officials to arrest Jesus secretly (Mk 14.1-2)
    2. At Bethany an unnamed woman anoints Jesus’ head for his burial (Mk 14.3-9)
    3. Judas agrees to hand Jesus over. (Mk 14:1-11)
  2. The Last Supper – Jesus final meal with his disciples. The sadness of betrayal is bracketed by the joy of the commemoration of liberation from slavery in Egypt (Passsover) and the promise of the new covenant. (Mk 14.12-25)
    1. Preparations for the Passover meal (Mk 14.12-16)
    2. Beginning of the meal. Jesus predicts that one of his disciples will betray him. (Mk 14.17-21)
    3. Jesus’ pronouncements over the bread and wine:  “This is my body.”  “This is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many”  (Mk 14.22-25)
  3. Events on the Mount of Olives (Mk 14.26-52)
    1. Jesus predicts Peter’s denial. (Mk 14.26-31)
    2. In the Garden of Gesthemane Jesus watches and prays while his three disciples sleep.  Climax in the prayer of Jesus to “Abba, Father.” (Mk 14.32-42)
    3. The betrayal of Judas and the arrest of Jesus (Mk 14.43-52)PAUSE FOR REFLECTION
  4.  Trial before the Sanhedrin – Jesus’ bold witness is contrasted to Peter’s cowardly denial. (Mk 14.53-72)
    1. Peter follows Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. (Mk 14.53-54)
    2. Trial of Jesus climaxing in the revelation of him as “the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One” (Mk 14.55-65)
    3. Peter’s denial and remorse (Mk 14-72)
  5. Trial before Pilate – Ironic recognition of Jesus as King of the Judeans (Mk 15.1-20)
    1. Pilate questions Jesus (Mk 15.1-5)
    2. Release of Barabbas (Aramaic: “Son of the Father”) instead of Jesus (Mk 15.6-15)
    3. The soldiers mock Jesus before his crucifixion.PAUSE FOR REFLECTION
  6. Events on Golgatha (Mk 15.21-47)
    1. Jesus is crucified at the third hour (about 9:00 AM) (Mk 15.21-32)
      1. Simon of Cyrene pressed into service to carry Jesus’ cross.
      2. Jesus refuses pain-killer (wine mixed with myrrh).
      3. Crucifixion
      4. The soldiers cast lots for Jesus’ garments.
      5. Bandits crucified with Jesus, passers-by, chief priests, and scribes taunt, mock, challenge, and revile Jesus.  (Note that there is no mention of the Pharisees in Mark’s passion narrative.)
    2. Jesus dies at the ninth hour (about 3:00 PM) (Mk 15.33-41)
      1. Jesus cries:  Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani. (Aramaic; Hebrew in Matthew)
      2. Bystanders misunderstand this as calling Elijah.
      3. Jesus lets out a loud cry and dies.
      4. The sanctuary veil of the Temple is torn in two.
      5. The centurion declares:  “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”
      6. Three named women look on from a distance.
    3. Joseph of Arimathea (no mention of Nicodemus) cares for the body of Jesus. (Mk 15.42-47)
      1. Joseph obtains permission from Pilate to take the corpse of Jesus.
      2. Joseph takes Jesus’ body down from the cross, wraps it in a linen cloth, buries it in a rock-hewn tomb, and seals the tomb with a stone.
      3. Two named women observe where the body of Jesus is placed.
  7. Discovery of the empty tomb (Mk 16.1-8)
    1. After sunset Saturday three named women buy spices for anointing the body.
    2. After sunrise on “day one” of the week (See Genesis 1.5.) the women discover the empty tomb.
    3. A young man/angel proclaims: “He has been raised; he is not here.”
    4. The women flee in fear and silence.

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