Brian Reager October 1, 2012 Matt Pereira Religion and Literature The Gospel of Mark

We have often heard that timing is everything; that waiting for the opportune moment is key to achieving ones goals. Throughout the Gospel of Mark, we are able to catch glimmers of the careful planning that Jesus took in ensuring the solidification of his mission. The promise that Jesus proposed to nearly everyone he encountered throughout his mission, helped to ensure a more prolonged and fruitful ministry. In ways this sort of planning strengthens the idea that Jesus was just as much human as he was otherworldly. The Messionic Secretfirst proposed by Wrede in the early 20th centuryis a major factor in the prolonged ministry of Jesus. Textually there are many instances where Jesus cures the possessed, sick, or dead. When the person of interest is revived Jesus usually asks that the incident be kept a secret. However this secret didnt start until after Jesus exorcised a man possessed by a legion of demons. In fact Jesus tells the man, Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you (Mark 5:19). Immediately following the miracle Mark tells us that, Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed manand told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region (Mark

5: 16-17). Prior to this encounter, Jesus had begun preaching to very large crowds. Mark even cites an incident where Jesus had to sit out in a boat on a lake in order to avoid the mob of people that came to hear him speak. It would make sense for Jesus to start avoiding more of a reputation with the threat of the Sanhedrin and Rome. One inciting occurrence brings Jesus to start ordering people not to spread the word of his deeds, and that is his first incident of resurrecting the dead. In Chapter 5, after Jesus enters an unspecified town, a synagogue leader named Jairus approached him and begged him to help his daughter who had died. When the other people in the crowd rebuked him, Jesus took pity on him and followed him back to his house accompanied strictly by Peter, James, and John. After he revived the twelve-year-old girl, Mark tells us that Jesus gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told [her parents] to give her something to eat (Mark 5:43). From this point on, all the miracles that Jesus performed seemed to be followed by a command to keep the encounter a secret. Another factor that couldve played in the careful planning of Jesus ministry, was the death of John the Baptist. John baptizes Jesus, in the first chapter of Mark, therefore initiating his ministry. Somewhere in between this incident and the start of Jesus popularity, King Herod (according to Chapter 6) had John imprisoned for treason and subsequently beheaded due to his manipulative wife and stepdaughter. It was apparent to Jesus that anybody who spoke against the government or taught a drastically different philosophy than the one practiced by the masses, was not in the favor of those in charge.

Jesus popularity begins to become out of control by the time he reaches Jerusalem in Chapter 10. In the past chapters, Jesus had already predicted his death twice. The third time he predicts his death he explains the exact way in which he will be arrested, tortured, and put to death. While in Jerusalem, Jesus begins to become more outspoken against the people of the city as well as the theocracy. In Chapter 13, all seemingly reserved and secretive qualities that Jesus had, were thrown out the window when he encounters the Temple being run as a den of thieves. Jesus overturns tables and screams at the people to leave. This sort of violent behavior is exactly the sort of ruckus that would attract a hasty arrest and trial. Subsequently after Passover in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus fully realizes the fate he must soon face. So much so, that he begs God to take this cup away from [him] (Mark 14: 36). The last hours of Christ henceforward, are history. Based on the Gospel of Marks textual evidence, we are able to see the thought process of one of the most impressionable men in human history. Divine and healing, yes, but also extremely human. Jesus did not need to be all-knowing in order to strategize his ministry. Staying alive as long as possible is fundamentally one of the most important things a person could hope for during a ministry. Jesus was no stranger to this concept.