We have blogged in the past about some of the reasons many scholars believe the Gospel of Mark presents a divine Jesus. In his recent book, Jesus, Contradicted: Why the Gospels Tell the Same Story Differently, New Testament scholar Mike Licona summarizes some of the reasons many have come to believe that the Gospel of Mark presents us with the view that Jesus is God.
He writes:
"Mark begins his Gospel as follows (1:1-3):
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God]. Just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face
Who will prepare your way.
The voice of one crying int he wilderness
Prepare the way of the Lord.
Make his paths straight.
Mark is quoting from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. First-time readers might anticipate that Mark is going to write of Jesus preparing the way for God. However, Mark immediately proceeds to inform his readers that God has sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus, who is called 'the Lord.' In its original context of Isaiah 40:3, 'the Lord' refers to God. And Mark has applied this text to Jesus. Thus, it appears that in the very first sentences of his biography of Jesus, Mark may be portraying Jesus as God, although Mark might be thinking of Jesus as God's emissary without requiring his divinity. Yet there is much more for us to consider.
In chapter 2, Mark tells the story of Jesus healing a paralytic and forgiving his sins, to which the experts in the Jewish law who are present (called 'scribes') respond by thinking that Jesus has blasphemed, contending that only God can forgive sins (2:5-11). In Mark 3:22-27, scribes assert that Jesus is able to exorcise demons because he is possessed by Satan. But Jesus answers that Satan does not work against himself. Instead, Jesus claims that his exorcisms demonstrate that he has bound Satan and is now plundering his kingdom of souls. What a bold claim! For what mere human can bind Satan? In Mark 4:37-39, Jesus commands the wind and the waves to be still and they obey, which is an act attributed to God in the Old Testament (Pss. 89:9; 107:28-29; Eccl. 8:8). In Mark 5:22-24, 35-43, Jesus raises someone from the dead, which Ecclesiastes 8:8 asserts is something only God can do. Although the Bible contains a few other instances when the dead are raised, God is doing the raising in answer to the prayer of his servant (1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:17-37; Acts 9:36-42; a possible exception is Acts 20:9-12). But Jesus raised the dead without appealing to God. In Mark 6:45-51 Jesus walks on water, which Job 9:8 states is something only God can do. In Mark 9:14-29 Jesus casts out a demon after his disciples were unable to do so. Later that day his disciples ask him why they were unable to cast out the demon, and Jesus tells them, 'This kind is not able to be cast out except by prayer.' However, Jesus could do it without prayer. In Mark 12:35-37, the Messiah is David's Lord. In Mark 12:1-12 and 13:32, Jesus claims to be God's Son in a sense that is greater than prophets and angels. In Mark 13:24-27 and 14:61-64, God will give Jesus all authority to judge the world and be worshiped and served in a manner that belongs to God alone (see Deut. 6:13; 10:20; Dan. 7:13-14).
When Mark is read in view of its biographical genre, it is very clear that he narrates numerous teachings and deeds of Jesus in order to illuminate his character: Jesus is God is some real sense."1
Courage and Godspeed,
Chad
Footnote:
1. Mike Licona, Jesus Contradicted: Why the Gospels Tell the Same Story Differently, p. 59-61.
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