Mark's Big Secret

Hello! I hoped you had a blessed Resurrection Sunday! Let's not waste any time. Since I took a little sabbath from blogging yesterday, I'll catch you up on all the qs and as. . .


Here's the question and answer from Sunday:
Sun, Apr 12 Who does the angel of the Lord appear to in Judges 6?
Judges 6:11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.

Here's the question and answer from Monday:
Mon, Apr 13 At whose house does Jesus have dinner with many tax collectors and sinners? (Mark 2)
Mark 2:15 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

And here's the question of the day:
Tues, Apr 14 What did God do when the Israelites disobeyed him? (Judges 10)


And here's the reflection of the day:
Mark has a big secret in Mark 3. Well, that's not wholly true. It's Jesus who has the secret, but it doesn't seem to be much of a secret. In fact, demons and spirits keep blurting it out whenever Jesus comes near. Jesus quickly shushes them, giving "them strict orders not to tell who he was."

The secret is just what the evil spirits claim: "You are the Son of God." Which is totally true and EXACTLY what Jesus is trying to convince the disciples of! So, why keep it a secret? Especially now, when all the crowds are eagerly following him, straining and pushing to get closer to his healing power. The stage is set for the big revelation. But Jesus continues to shush them.

Students and scholars of Mark call this the "messianic secret." Mark, as a gospel writer, likes to communicate on two levels: at the narrative level, "characters in the story interact within an assumed framework of relationships, attitudes, and knowledge that becomes evident as the plot unfolds" (Lamar Williamson, Jr, Mark, Interpretation Commentary series).

The second level is the interaction between the writer and the READER--that's us. For example, Mark 1:1 says, "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." So, the reader knows who Jesus is, but it has not yet been revealed to the disciples and followers of Jesus Christ. In this level of communication, Mark enjoys using ambiguity, irony, paradox and lots of other literary devices we English majors love but drive others crazy!

So, this "messianic secret" is a little bit of irony (that is, the demons knowing who Jesus is even when the disciples don't). For Mark, Jesus cannot truly be known outside of the context of his passion, death, and resurrection, which Mark has gotten to yet. So to reveal Jesus' identity before he tells the whole story is do jump to the punchline before you've finished setting up the joke.

This "messianic" secret will keep popping up throughout the book. Keep your eyes peeled for those. Also, be on the lookout for other clues pointing toward Jesus' Passion, death, and resurrection. Mark drops a lot of hints along the way; we just have to notice them. (For example, Mark 3:6 says, "Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.")

So, is this a secret to keep or a secret to share? Perhaps that is the greatest irony of all--this is a secret Jesus wants us to share with everyone!!
Allison