AN UNRESOLVED QUESTION IN THE GOSPEL CALLED MARK: "WHO IS THIS WHOM EVEN WIND AND SEA OBEY?

" (4:41)
WILLIAM F. MCINERNY Rockhurst College Kansas City MO 64110

From its opening verse to its concluding episode, it is evident that the gospel called Mark has a focused, persistent interest in the issue of Jesus' identity. That major character is named some twenty-eight different ways throughout the story.1 In light of this interest, one may be startled to discover that understood in its entirety, this gospel constitutes a masterfully posed question about Jesus, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?" (4:41)a question which is unanswered by the story's content. An answer to the story's question about Jesus' identity can be achieved, but that will take place at the level of discourse, that is, at the level of what the narrative does to and with the reader, the spell which the text weaves over the latter,2 its effects on those encountering it in terms of "mental moves, emotional feelings, anticipations, attitudes, persuasions, realizations, convictions."3 In other words, this gospel is designed to
Jesus is called: Christ, Son of God (1:1), Messiah, Son of the Blessed One (14:61), the mightier one (1:27), Jesus from Nazareth (1:9), beloved Son (1:11; 9:7), Jesus of Nazareth (1:24; 16:6), the Holy One of God (1:24), Son of Man (2:10, 28; 8:31, 38; 9:9, 12, 31; 10:33, 45; 13:26; 14:21, 41, 62), a bridegroom (2:19), Son of God (3:11; 15:39), a madman (3:21), Teacher (4:38; 5:35; 9:17, 38; 10:20, 35; 12:14, 19, 32; 13:1; 14:14), Son of the Most High God (5:7), a carpenter (6:3), brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon (6:3), a prophet (6:4, 15; 8:28), John the Baptizer risen (6:14, 16), Elijah (6:15; 8:28), a ghost (6: 49), Lord (7:28; 11:3), Christ (8:29; 15:32), Rabbi (9:5; 10:51; 11:21; 14:45), Good Teacher (10:17), Son of David (10:47, 48), shepherd (14:26), King of the Jews (15:2, 9, 18, 26), King of Israel (15:32), crucified one (16:6), the one who "has been raised" 16: 6).
2 Robert M. Fowler, Let the Reader Understand: Reader Response Criticism and the Gospel of Mark (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991) 2. 1

John Paul Heil, The Gospel of Mark as a Model for Action: A Reader-Response Commentary (New York: Paulist, 1992) 2.

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interact with the reader by drawing the reader into the story and enticing one to respond to its central question "Who then is this?" Whatever answer emerges does so out of the experience of the reader with the story because the content of the story does not provide one.4 An examination of Mark 1:1 reveals an implied puzzle about Jesus' identity within the verse. Further analysis of six strategic episodes shows how the reader is continually teased (perhaps compelled) by the story to solve its central riddle. Though the content of the story does not offer a clear portrayal of Jesus' identity, it does suggest at least two directions for the reader's interpretation of Jesus to take. MARK 1:1 "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, [Son of God]." This looks like a proclamation which identifies Jesus; however, the verse actually raises questions about what it means to profess him as "Christ" and "Son of God." Here, the narrator of the story addresses the reader. No characters are part of the story yet, so only the reader can be the target of these words. One is not given much help in understanding the words, though. No explicit context is present for the first verse which could give meaning to these identifications. No characters are involved, no action, not even a setting. If this is an identification of Jesus it is contextless and therefore quite ambiguous. Thus, the meaning of Jesus as "Christ," "Son of God," has to be sought elsewhere. Obviously, the author of the story would know what was meant by these designations, but what the author understood by them is not evident in 1:1. The original audience to whom this text was addressed would have some understanding of these words but their comprehension of Jesus as "Christ," "Son of God," is not recoverable in 1:1. What then about an implicit context, namely, the historical meanings of these identifications? Even knowing the historical meanings of the designations "Christ" and "Son of God" does not clarify their content here. It is well known that there were multiple expectations within Judaism regarding just who the Messiah would be. The Greek translation of Messiah in 1:1 does not indicate which (if any) of these historical expectations is implied. In Judaism this concept was fluid, and as Pheme Perkins concludes, "the

See Fowler, Let the Reader Understand, 180, 191, 219, 222, 240, 244, 250, 258.

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expression 'messiah' does not convey much information about a person."5 In terms of the identification of Jesus as "Son of God" (if that was part of the original verse) the case is the same. Again, it is a matter of record that "Son of God" was an equivocal identification with multiple meanings in both Jewish and Greek cultures.6 Did the author of the story intend to develop a new understanding of these identifications in reference to Jesus? On the basis of the first verse we cannot tell. Understanding what these designations express is further complicated by the fact of early Christian pluralism.7 It is not plausible to assume that by the time of this story's composition (ca. 70 C.E.) the designation of Jesus as "Christ" or "Son of God" had already assumed selfevident meaning (in the gospels alone we find four quite different Christs portrayed). At best, 1:1 offers an enigmatic presentation of the major character. Buttressing supports for this claim come from analyses of the gospel's nature. Robert M. Fowler demonstrates that a defining quality of this gospel is its propensity to offer puzzles and riddles for the reader to solve. He places the identifications of Jesus as "Christ" and "Son of God" in that category. He states further that they "are not clearly defined or interpreted in the story."8 A different but complementary line of thought is given by C. Clifton Black when he concludes, "The greater one's familiarity with Mark, the less sense it seems to make."9 Scholars such as Weeden, Borsch, Tanehill, Donahue, Crossan, and Kelber point out the parable-like quality of this gospel, lending further support to the idea that the identifications of Jesus as "Christ" and "Son of God" are intentionally ambiguous because of
5 Pheme Perkins, Reading the New Testament: An Introduction, 2nd ed. (New York: Paulist Press, 1988) 102, 101-103. Also see Dennis C. Duling and Norman Perrin, The New Testament: Proclamation and Parnesis, Myth and History, 3rd ed. (Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace, 1994)26, 86-88.

For some suggestive examples see Perkins, Reading the New Testament, 43, 105, and Duling and Perrin, The New Testament, 2>1, 73, 165. Also see Patricia Cox, Biography in Late Antiquity: A Quest for the Holy Man (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1983) 34, 38-39, 43; and Wayne E. Ward, "Son of God," Mercer Dictionary of the Bible, ed. Watson E. Mills (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1990) 845(a). See Elisabeth Schssler Fiorenza, In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins (New York: Crossroad, 1984) 78, and Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent (New York: Vintage Books, 1988) 152.
8 7

Fowler, Let the Reader Understand, 180.

9 C. Clifton Black, "Ministry in Mystery: One Evangelist's Vision," The Christian Ministry 22 (March-April 1991): 17.

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the overall context in which they are embedded, namely, a parable-like story.10 Hence, the story's opening verse initiates a puzzle about Jesus' identity. Given that puzzle, the reader needs to rely on the content of the story to clarify the substance of such fluid identifications. Following are six examples which illustrate how the issue of Jesus' identity is raised and kept "alive" throughout the story and how the content of the story fails to answer that major question. These passages also exemplify an aspect of the story's structure, articulated by Joanna Dewey. She argues that the gospel's structure is best understood as an "interwoven tapestry" or a "fugue made up of multiple overlapping structures and sequences, forecasts of what is to come and echoes of what has already been said."11 By strategically recalling the story's central puzzle and the failures to solve it, the story keeps driving the reader forward in search of some answer to it. MARK 4:35-41 Jesus' calming the squall on the Sea of Galilee is related to 1:1 in a significant way. Up to 4:41, Jesus is identified some ten ways: Christ (1:1), Son of God (1:1), beloved son (1:11), Jesus of Nazareth (1:24), the Holy one of God (1:24), Son of Man (2:10, 28), bridegroom (2:19, 20), Son of God (3:11), out of his mind (3:21), and Teacher (4:38). These identifications, however, have not clarified who he is. In fact, they function to demonstrate how variously he is understood. Then, in 4:41, a direct question is posed which shows what the ambiguous first verse and the other identifications have been leading up to, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?" The momentousness of that question can be seen in five ways. First, this question echoes the implicit puzzle raised by 1:1 and now makes it explicit (moreover, a miraculous event prompting witnesses to pose a question about Jesus recalls the exorcism episode in 1:23-27). Second, the twelve disciples, the most important group of characters in the story next to Jesus, are the ones who pose this query. Third, they pose it not only to themselves, but also to the reader. Fourth, their question receives
10

See Werner H. Kelber, The Oral and the Written Gospel (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983) 120-29. Joanna Dewey, "Mark as Interwoven Tapestry: Forecasts and Echoes for a Listening Audience," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 53 (1991): 224.
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no answer. A fifth significant aspect of the episode has to do with the context in which the question in 4:41 is raised. Up to 4:35-41, Jesus has performed a number of wonder-works. These are impressive displays of power, but to this point, Jesus has not engaged in any unprecedented wonder-works. The great prophets of Israel even raised humans from the dead as well as performing other miraculous feats. However, 4:35-41 is unprecedented. Jesus' orally commanding the wind and water is a God-like action. In the Hebrew Scriptures only God can control water as in Gen 1:6-7; 6:17; Isa 43:16; Ps 65:7; 74:13; 77:19; 89:9; 104:6; 106:9; 107:29; and Job 9:8; 26:12; 38:16.12 But despite this singular display of God-like power, Jesus' disciples do not come to an understanding of who Jesus is. Instead, a question arises indicating a lack of understanding about his identity. A strikingly similar passage to the one just discussed appears to offer a direct response to that puzzlement. MARK 6:45-52 Jesus' walking on the sea of Galilee is an episode conspicuously like 4:35-41 and, therefore, echoes it. Furthermore, besides being another wonder-work on the sea of Galilee, this passage appears to be an epiphany story as well. As such, a question-answer relationship between 4:35-41 and 6:45-52 seems to emerge. As an epiphany story, one would expect a revelation of Jesus' self to the disciples (and to the reader) in this passage. The identifying characteristics of an epiphany story are clearly present. First, the narrator informs the reader that Jesus meant to "pass by" the disciples (6:48). "Passing by" is the way in which God manifests God's self to humans in the Hebrew Scriptures. That phrase gives the scene the appearance of an epiphany story, as in Exod 33:19, 22; 34:6; 2 Sam 23:4; 1 Kgs 19:11; Amos 7:8; 8:2; Job 9:11. Second, Jesus "spoke with them" (6:50). The latter phrase often refers to epiphanic encounters between God and persons in the
12 See Daniel J. Harrington, "The Gospel According to Mark," The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1990) 606-60. Even figures in the Jewish Scriptures who perform miraculous feats with water do not approximate this action of Jesus in Mark. Moses stretches his hand and rod over the Red Sea and parts those waters as well as closes them; however, the texts make it clear that it is the Lord's power executing these wonders (Exod 14:16, 21, 26-27). Elijah uses his mantle and actually strikes the waters of the Jordan to part them (2 Kgs 2:8); but he did not simply command the water as Jesus does.

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Hebrew Scriptures as in Gen 35:13, 14, 15; Num 11:17; Judg 6:17; and Exod 3:10. Third, the disciples' response of terror (6:50) to which Jesus says "take heart" and "have no fear" (6:50) is found in epiphanies in the Hebrew Scriptures (Exod 14:13; 20:20; Zeph 3:16; and Gen 15:1; Jos 8:1; Dan 10:12, 19; Tob 12:17 respectively). Finally, Jesus' words "It is I" (6:50) are a revelation formula.13 Thus, one is prompted to expect an epiphany. Moreover, 6:48 introduces an action of Jesus which is even more unprecedented and dramatic than that of calming the squall. Jesus is depicted performing a God-like activity directly on water (6:48), thereby intensifying the symbolism of his walking on the sea and heightening the anticipation of a coming decisive identification. However, the result of this wonder-work goes in precisely the opposite direction from what the reader is led to expect. Jesus' disciples do not recognize him. In fact, they think he is a ghost ( 6:49). No epiphany occurs for them (or for the reader). Jesus has to tell them who he is (6:50), and his statement "It is I" does not clarify much. Majestic and highly suggestive imagery associated with Jesus in the episode does not result in the disciples correctly seeing who he is. They do not even recognize him as a human being. The disciples may have asked who he could be in 4:41, but at least they knew about whom they were speaking. Therefore, this scene functions as a negative epiphany. No manifestation of Jesus' identity occurs. In fact, here the gospel stresses the theme (which has already surfaced in several other previous scenes) that one cannot see Jesus rightly in the context of extraordinary, miraculous, or even God-like events.14
13 Harrington, "Mark," 611; Edward J. Mally, "The Gospel According to Mark," The Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1968) 36; and Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus (Mary knoll: Orbis, 1988) 197.

When a heavenly voice proclaims "You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased" at Jesus' baptism, no one in the story is affected by itapparently, only Jesus hears the voice (1:11). After an exorcism early in the story (1:23-27), crowds are amazed and ask "What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him." Thus, a wonder-work provokes a question about Jesus' action, but a question is not an identification. Regarding healings Jesus will not permit demons to announce who he is (1:34), and when a demon did so in 1:24 Jesus rebuked and silenced it. A crowd is astounded by Jesus' words and actions in curing the paralytic and exclaim "We have never seen anything like this" (2:12), but that is not an identification of Jesus. When unclean spirits proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus silences them, warning them "not to make him known" (3:11-12). In response to his exorcisms, scribes from Jerusalem claim that Jesus is "possessed by Beelzebul" (3:22). The twelve disciples who participate in wonder-working (6:13, 30) are ultimately blind to Jesus' identity and fail as disciples (14:10,

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If images of the extraordinary, even God-like activities, do not express who Jesus is at the story's content level, then the reader is being goaded to ask "What does?" To address such a query, the narrative progresses to another episode where Jesus' identity once again becomes an explicit question. MARK 8:27-33 Near the villages of Caesarea Philippi, significantly, for the first time in the story, the major character poses the thematic question about his identity to the second most important group of characters in the narrative (8:27, 29). Jesus reverses the disciples' previous question about his identity (4:41). He now asks them the question they originally asked themselves (and the reader), and now they are in the position of having to answer it (and so is the reader). A number of important "firsts" occur in this passage. With the introduction of these new aspects of the story, the sense that something decisive may occur is again heightened. Jesus' relationship to suffering shifts dramatically. Until now that relationship has been indirect. In and around Galilee he was only in proximity to many who were suffering. John

37, 40, 41, 50, 66-72). Mark's Jesus performs God-like acts of power on the sea of Galilee, but this results in raising a question about his identity (4:41) and a total misrecognition of him by those who should know him best (6:50). Raising Jairus's daughter from apparent death had no effect on Peter, James, John, or her parents. In fact Jesus commands silence about the event (5:43). The miraculous feeding of the 5,000 people did not manifest Jesus' identity to the disciples (6:34-44, 52). Mark's Jesus sighs "from the depths of his spirit" and tells Pharisees seeking a sign from heaven that no "sign shall be given to this generation" in connection with him (8:11-12). Again, when a heavenly voice identifies Jesus as "my beloved son," Peter, James, and John do not understand (9:7). Mark's Jesus tells his disciples that "False Christs and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect" (13:22). Mark's Jesus commands silence about his identity and actions seven times within the context of a wonder-work. Jesus accepts the titles "Christ" and "Son of God" without qualification only in the scene before the High Priest (14:62) where he is bound, arrested, abandoned by all but one of his disciples, and under the imminent threat of death. Finally, the last reference to Jesus in the story is in terms of his earthly name "Jesus of Nazareth" and a well known manner of death: "who was crucified" (16:6). Within the scene of the empty tomb (16:1-8), referring to God's most momentous act of raising Jesus from death, Mark's Jesus does not appear and is not named with a title of honor. The theme presented here is clear and consistent throughout the gospel: Jesus' identity is not revealed amid miraculous circumstances. In fact, the story definitely distances Jesus' identity from the miraculous and extraordinary. Also see Myers, Binding the Strong Man, 98, 223-24, 403.

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the Baptizer functioned as a foreshadowing of Jesus' destiny.15 The narrator in 3:6 informed the reader that Jesus is marked for death. In 3:19 the narrator informed the reader that one of the twelve betrayed him. Furthermore, until now, only the reader was aware of Jesus' connection with suffering. Then against the backdrop of these indirect associations of Jesus with suffering, in 8:31, Jesus' connection to suffering becomes conscious and anticipatory. Finally, the story's major character, for the first time, expresses an inseparable union between himself, suffering, rejection, and death. Regardless of all these "firsts," Jesus' identity is not settled by Peter's response in 8:30. In fact, the real question here is what does Peter's identification mean?16 Peter apparently misidentifies Jesus as the "Christ" because he seems not to make the connection between Jesus and suffering. Presumably that is why Jesus chastises him in 8:33, but the story does not tell us what Jesus rebuked Peter about.17 Furthermore, after the command for silence in 8:30, Jesus' near immediate self-designation as the Son of Man, in the middle of predicted circumstances of suffering, rejection, and death, does not illuminate much either. How is the reader to understand the juxtaposition of "Son of Man" with such circumstances?18 The reader is faced with a clear example of what Fowler calls the paradoxical or incongruous reading experience regarding Jesus in this gospel.19 The surrounding context and the whole story to this point do not provide the means for the reader to interpret clearly what these identifications mean. Consequently, the question, "Who do you say that I am?" remains very much open.
15

See Werner H. Kelber, Mark's Story ofJesus (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984)

17.
16 See M. De Jonge, "The Earliest Christian Uses o Christos," New Testament Studies 32 (1986): 325. 17

Fowler, Let the Reader Understand, 241-42.

18 "Son of Man" may be a corrective replacement for the identification of "Christ." It could be a complementary identification. It may be meant to have priority over the more political appellation of "Christ." Furthermore, the text does not clarify whether "Son of Man" in this context is simply an Aramaic way of Jesus' referring to himself or whether the heavenly triumphant judgment figure ("one like a Son of Man") of Daniel 7 is implied. The reader is given many pieces of a puzzle but without direction regarding how to configure them. 19

Fowler, Let the Reader Understand, 174, 184-85, 190-91, 193.

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We should note some of what is involved in this scene. Jesus is in Jerusalem. He has been betrayed by Judas (14:45) and abandoned by the other ten disciples (14:50). He is under arrest, being led around. He is being interrogated by the High Priest in an attempt to frame him. Under these circumstances, in this place, Jesus is asked "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One ?" Once more the issue of Jesus' identity is posed as a direct question. That question is decisive for this scene's impact. There are only two verses in the gospel where these two identifications, Christ (Messiah) and Son of God (Son of the Blessed One), appear together in the same sentence in reference to Jesus: 1:1 and 14:61. Moreover, a clear symmetry is now evident with the High Priest's question. The identifications of Jesus in the opening verse are expressed as an ambiguous declaration, and now they appear in the form of a question put to Jesus. This echoes the puzzle initially raised in 1:1, as well as the disciples' first direct question in 4:41, and Jesus' own questions to the disciples in 8:27, 29. The major query about Jesus' identity seemingly receives a startling clear and unequivocal answer from the major character, "I am" (14:62). This is the only episode in the gospel where Jesus appears to acknowledge who he is without qualification or rebuttal. In fact, he goes on to quote a combination of Ps 110:1 and Dan 7:13-15 with the only identification he uses of himself throughout the gospel, Son of Man. Mark 14:61-62 is the only passage in the gospel where "Christ," "Son of God," and "Son of Man" appear in conjunction with one another. The story seems to have turned rather decisively. Within circumstances of powerlessness, almost total abandonment, false accusations, imminent suffering, and the threat of death, the major character has finally acknowledged his identity, an identity with which the first verse of the story commenced. However, the circumstances fused with Jesus' affirmation about being "Messiah" and "Son of God" remain puzzling. None of these circumstances fit established meanings for these titles, and the story gives the reader no guidance about how to harmonize these circumstances with those titles. It may be that the story is reinterpreting these titles and giving them new meanings; however, even that is not clear. Moreover, more must come if the story is to square with Jesus' anticipation of his end in 8:31. Hence, the story moves forward to Golgotha.

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MARK 15:22-39

As a place in the narrative, Golgotha, has preeminence. This is where Jesus' journeying as an active character ends. Going to Golgotha is the final travelling Jesus does as a living character. The journeying motif throughout the story sets the reader up to expect a resolution to the question of Jesus' identity at the end of his travels. Golgotha is also the site where Jesus is identified for the last time as "Son of God" in the story (15:39). Consequently, this place has special, but as we shall see not definitive, import for understanding Jesus. Jesus' actions and utterances at Golgotha are significant for appreciating the startling declaration of the centurion in 15:39. He has been handed over to a hostile occupying political power by his own religious leaders, accused of blasphemy. He is mocked (14:65; 15:16-20,29-32). He is crucified between two criminals (15:27). He is dying. His manner of death is religiously cursed in Deut 21:23. It becomes dark (15:33). He speaks about being forsaken by God (15:34), screams and dies (15:37). And then a Roman centurion proclaims "Truly this man was the Son of God" (15:39). With these words of the centurion, the reader is coaxed to understand this scene and these words as a revelation of Jesus' identity. Those words certainly echo the first verse of the story and its puzzle, the disciples' question in 4:41, Jesus' questions in 8:27, 29, and the High Priest's question in 14:61. Furthermore, this is the finale of Jesus' journeying. He has reached his destination and fulfilled his prediction about suffering. Such factors lure the reader to expect closure at last. If the gospel has a scene which answers the question of Jesus' identity, this appears to be it. In context, however, the centurion's identification does not resolve the issue. For one matter, the centurion appears out of nowhere and has no relationship to the major character. Thus, there is no basis for taking the centurion's identification seriously. He is not necessarily a trustworthy character. Moreover, in this passage all the identifications of Jesus have been in the context of derision and mockery (cf. 15:26, 29, 30, 31, 32). Why should we not consider the centurion's words in the same way? In that case, his words are the height of derision.20 The stark contrast between the details of Jesus' death and the assertion that this dead Jew is truly the Son of God constitutes a jarring if
Fowler, Let the Reader Understand, 206-208. Also see Earl S. Johnson, Jr., "Is Mark 15:39 The Key to Mark's Christology?" Journal for the Study of the New Testamenti (1987): 14-16.
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not surrealistic scene. Moreover, this declaration has no effect on the two crucified criminals, and there is no effect on others present in 15:26-32. To whom is the centurion speaking? It appears that the centurion is directly addressing the reader. Once more, the reader is put in the position of experiencing an incongruity which can only be addressed by the reader at the level of discourse. An additional riddle remains. What are we to make of the striking contrasts expressed in the episode? That is to say, Jesus' death on Golgotha "inverts" many images previously associated with him in Galilee. In Galilee, the theme of Jesus' suffering is present but played down; at Golgotha it is the central emphasis. In Galilee Jesus calls male disciples to himself (1:16-20; 2:14; 3:13-19); at Golgotha he has been abandoned by them. In Galilee Jesus heals suffering; on Golgotha he is the one who suffers. In Galilee Jesus heals a paralytic, a man who could not walk (2:312); at Golgotha Jesus cannot walk. In Galilee, Jesus successfully responded to the challenges of religious leaders; at Golgotha he is silent before their mockery. In Galilee Jesus heals a woman's uncontrollable bleeding (5:25-34); at Golgotha he is the one who bleeds. In Galilee Jesus raises Jairus's daughter from apparent death (5:42); at Golgotha Jesus is the one who dies. In Galilee Jesus' disciples at one point think he is a ghost (6:49); at Golgotha Jesus' humanity is ultimately confirmed by his death. What does this say about who Jesus is? MARK 16:1-8 If Jesus' identity is to be revealed, this episode represents the last chance to do so. However, instead of tying up the loose threads of the story and bringing the narrative to closure these final verses present still more enigmas. For example, three women come to the tomb. These women followed Jesus from Galilee, served him, and witnessed his death. They may be intended to replace the inner core of three chosen male disciples (Peter, James, John) who have been written out of the story in disgrace, but this is not clear.21 When they arrive, the tomb is already open. How was it unsealed? The women encounter a numinous figure, a young man robed in white who greets them. Who is he? That ambiguous character appears to have the ability to read the women's thoughts because he tells them (without their speaking) what they are doing, "You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified." Significantly, that is the last time the character Jesus is
See Meyers, Binding the Strong Man, 407.

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identified in the story, and this is done without any of the more prominent identifications found throughout the narrative, namely, Christ, Son of God, and Son of Man. In fact, the last time he is identified, it is done in terms of the mundane, namely, his hometown and manner of death. The young man in white continues, "He is not here; he has been raised." Incredible. A crucified Jew is described as having been raised up by God. The belief in God raising up the righteous after death was a part of Judaism at the time of this gospel's composition; however, the details in this episode do not fit any of those beliefs. One is faced with incongruity again. Inside the tomb with the young man the three women respond by running out, filled with terror in fear and trembling, and they say nothing to anyone. Thus ends the gospel. This abrupt and disturbing passage is by design. The story began with the narrator addressing the reader. The story ends with the narrator again addressing the reader; however, the position of the reader in 16:1-8 is radically different from that of 1:1. In 16:8, after the women's failure is narrated, look at where the reader is: still inside the tomb (see 16:5)the women rather literally run past the reader, leaving her or him at this "place." All the characters in the story who could have interpreted who Jesus was for the reader are now written out of the narrative, and none of them have successfully solved the puzzle of Jesus' identity.22 Now, only the reader is left, inside the empty tomb, having heard the message of the young man in white, having experienced the story, and knowing that the women failed in their task. That final episode forces the reader to respond to the story and to begin answering for herself or himself what it means to call Jesus the Christ, Son of God, Son of Man, the one who was crucified, the one who was raised, etc. The reader is meant to experience the story as an unresolved question, not unlike the experience of a Jewish parable ending with a question. But what should be the reader's response? This story about the empty tomb (16:1-8) has strong ties to another episode which occurs in Galilee; namely, the intercalation in 5:21-43. Taken together, these scenes provide a direction for the reader's response (and interpretation of Jesus) to follow. Examining the similarities between these scenes allows that direction to emerge. There are only two passages in the gospel where the word is used: 5:42 and 16:8 . Both uses of the word are found within the context of an extraordinary event: the resuscitation of Jairus's daughter and the empty tomb. Both uses refer to a
22

Johnson, "Is 15:39 the Key," 16-17.

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group: the mother and father of the little girl with Peter, James, John, and the women at the tomb. Both uses appear in contexts which emphasize discipleship: the episode of raising Jairus's daughter involves the symbolic number twelve, the theme of following Jesus, and the special inner group of Jesus' male disciples. The three women at the tomb have fulfilled important conditions for discipleship; moreover, Jesus' disciples are explicitly mentioned in 16:7. Both uses of the word are found in contexts where females are involved: the little girl and the women at the tomb. Furthermore, there is only one instance in the gospel where "fear and trembling" are found together describing the same person; namely, the woman with a flow a blood who approaches Jesus, (5:33). There is only one instance in the gospel where "trembling" and "bewilderment" or "astonishment" are found together describing a group, namely 16:8: the women fled the tomb . Additionally, the following also binds 5:2143 with 16:1-8. Mark 16:8 combines the response of the woman in 5:33 () with the response of the little girl's parents, Peter, James, and John (5:42, ), and now uses this combination to describe the womens' response to the young man and the situation at the empty tomb. Moreover, another link is evident. The woman in 5:33 is described as "fearing" ( ). Jairus is told not to be afraid ( 5:36). The women at the tomb not only exhibit the reaction of the bleeding woman in 5:33 and those in 5:42, but they also are afraid just as the woman and Jairus were. The same root word is used in all three instances: 5:33 , 5:36 , 16:8 . How does this invite or tease the reader to respond after 16:8? The counterpart to the woman's fear and trembling in 5:34 was faith, " ." The counterpart to Jairus's fear in 5:36 is faith, " , ." A conclusion emerges. An extraordinary, miraculous phenomenon provokes fear, trembling, misunderstanding, and other reactions. The appropriate response to fear and trembling in the face of the extraordinary is faith. Mark 16:8 combines , , and , all in reference to the women who have been involved with the most astounding extraordinary circumstances in the whole gospel. These women are the final characters in the story associated with discipleship. It is left to the reader whether she or he will respond with faith as the counterpart to the womens' reaction. The content of that faith will be formed at the level of discourse.

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PERSPECTIVES IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES

CONCLUSIONS

After 16:8, the journey of the reader in response to the story can begin. Now there is the possibility for the reader that "there you will see him as he told you" (16:7). The "there" referred to, Galilee, is associated with the place of beginnings in the gospel: the beginning of Jesus' ministry, the beginning of discipleship, the beginning of Jesus' preaching about God's kingdom, the beginning of Jesus' association with suffering, the beginnings of the commands for silence, the beginnings of the theme that one cannot see Jesus amid circumstances of triumph, power, control, success, i.e., the miraculous and the extraordinary. Galilee is a geographical place in the story; however, "'Galilee' is wherever one 'follows' and 'sees' Jesus."23 Since this gospel disassociates Jesus' identity with the miraculous and extraordinary, it is a fair conclusion that wherever one follows and sees Jesus will be along the path of the ordinary. The story does not deny that Jesus was a wonder-worker; however, it does make it clear that Jesus' identity is not revealed by the miraculous.24 After the experience of the story, the reader is faced with the young man in white's message to go to Galilee. One is ready to begin to "see" Jesus now if the reader begins by some response of faith; hence, the reader's journey commences. We are still puzzling over the question of Jesus' identity. Consequently, if faith becomes involved as part of one's response to the story, this is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God. When the reader does so, the question of Jesus' identity begins to be resolved; however, this takes place in the mind of the reader, not in the content of the story. Thus, the content of this story has partially prepared the reader for beginning to answer the dominant question about Jesus' identity at the level of discourse in two ways: (1) faith is required to initiate one's journey to "Galilee," and, (2) one must seek out and see Jesus within the ordinary.

23

Fowler, Let the Reader Understand, 249n.45.

See the section on Mark 6:45-52 above and footnote 14. Also, see Meyers, Binding the Strong Man, 401-04 for complementary conclusions regarding the relationship between Jesus and the miraculous.

24

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