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Dear Parish Faithful,
Oh, the inexpressible condescension of the Word of God!
- Matins Canon of Holy Monday
This Great Lent I chose to concentrate on St. Mark's narrative of the Lord's Passion. In the process I have read - or have not quite finished - a rather massive and remarkable book: The Gospel of Mark - A Commentary by Frances J. Mahoney. At four hundred pages it may not be exhaustive, but it is a very thorough and detailed commentary on the earliest and shortest of the four canonical Gospels. The insights that escape us on a normal reading are endless.The Passion Narrative commentary itself (Mk. 14 & 15) takes up sixty-six pages, so it too is thorough and detailed.
My purpose is simply to select just a few key episodes from these two powerful chapters of the Gospel and share some of the insights that I just mentioned. I am hoping these little glimpses will further enlighten your reading of the culminating chapters - together with the account of the resurrection in Mk. 16 - of St. Mark's Gospel as presented by a seasoned scholar and Christian believer.
I would like to add here that another remarkable commentary on St. Mark's Gospel was written by the former archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, Dimitrios Trakatellis, entitled Authority and Passion. I have learned a great deal from the book over the years after many readings of it, and would highly recommend it.
I am going to focus on the failure of the disciples to remain loyal to Christ, and choose some of the passages in which this is made painfully clear. This does have a pastoral dimension to it, as we also fail often enough in our vocation as disciples of Christ. And as they were restored to fellowship, so can we also be restored to that same fellowship with Christ through repentance. Mahoney presents a convincing case throughout his commentary that the failure of the disciples is indeed a key theme of St. Mark's Gospel and how in the end Jesus is essentially abandoned by them and alone when facing the fierce hostility of the religious authorities and the might of the Roman Empire. Yet, though alone and abandoned, Christ remains obedient to the will of His heavenly Father and fulfills His mission as the suffering Servant of God. As we proclaim in Holy Week, the Lord is going to His "voluntary passion." Even though God is apparently silent when Christ prays to Him in both the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross, Jesus trusts God to the very end. His resurrection on the third day reveals that God "heard" Him and vindicated Him. The failure of the disciples unfolds with acute and somewhat shocking clarity as Jesus draws closer to the Cross. The ignorance of the disciples found throughout the Gospel descends into total abandonment by the time Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. No one would create a text that would discredit and thereby undermine the main proponents of the Gospel to the world! These were the "facts" and St. Mark the Evangelist records them in his telling of the Good News.
Anticipating this pastoral dimension, Mahoney first writes of the failure of the disciples - and here he includes the women disciples in that failure, though that may be questioned - as follows:
"Throughout the Gospel of Mark it has been the disciples who, in a "this-worldly" way of judging events, had the good sense to oppose Jesus' suicidal journey to Jerusalem and to death (see especially 8:32-33) ... Even their flight (14:50), Peter's denials (14:66-72), and the flight of the women from the empty tomb (16:8) are sensible approaches to very uncomfortable and unpromising situations. Yet Mark writes "good news" (1:1, 15; 8:35): the death and resurrection of Jesus reverse the common sense of this world. The Suffering Son of Man has been vindicated. The crucified Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, while the sensible approaches of the disciples and the women lead to failure, fear, and flight. The Markan resurrection story proclaims that the way of Jesus is the way to victory, while the way of the worldly-wise leads into terror and flight (see 14:50 and 16:8)." (p. 23)
The Passion Narrative begins with Ch. 14 of St. Mark's Gospel. At the opening of this chapter, we have these intercalated passages (the Gk. word is pericope) that introduce us to the theme of betrayal, but also of steadfast loyalty. These passages can be outlined as follows:
- The Jewish leaders plot to kill Jesus - (14:1-2)
- Jesus is anointed at Bethany (14:3-9)
- Judas, one of the twelve, joins the plot of the Jewish leaders (14:10-11)
- Jesus prepares for the Passover Meal (14:12-16)
As Mahoney comments: "Within the broader structure outlined above, 14:1-16 forms an impressive sandwich construction in its own right: conspiracy - unconditional love - betrayal." (p. 282) This effects points to the simultaneity of the recorded events. Thus, intercalated - or "sandwiched" - in between two passages of betrayal we encounter the beautiful passage of an unnamed woman who perceives who Jesus really is and who therefore anoints Him in preparation for His burial as if He were a a king. In St. John's Gospel the woman is identified as Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus. Her deed will always be remembered and proclaimed "wherever the Gospel is preached in the whole world." (14:9) While others plot against Jesus, she treats Him with royal dignity, for the "nard" that she used to anoint Jesus was very costly, and she shattered the jar in order to do so - an act which is itself a sign of unconditional devotion to Christ. Mahoney summarizes this whole passage nicely:
" ... The woman recognizes that Jesus is on his way to death, and the anointing of his body is a proleptic honoring of the body of Jesus for its burial (v. 8). Jesus' speaking of his oncoming burial links this episode with the literary frame of the plot (v. 1-2) and Judas's joining the chief priests and the scribes (v. 10-11). Readers ... learn from Jesus' own lips that the efforts of the authorities to kill him will be successful ... This episode announces at the beginning of the passion narrative, that Jesus is king, and that his crucifixion, death, and burial will point to that truth." (p. 282-283)
As to Judas, I would like to include the following comments from Mahoney:
"Judas's handing over of Jesus is a betrayal of what it means to be a disciple (i.e. to be with Jesus), as his betrayal means a willing, violent and physical separation from him who appointed him to the Twelve. There is also a paradoxical connection between Judas' act and God's design; the passion predictions have already said that Jesus must (Gk. dei, Mk. 8:31) be handed over. The chief priests and scribes , who earlier where perplexed concerning when they might trap Jesus, are now delighted to have the complicity of an intimate follower of Jesus, and the promise of money links Judas with the shame of a plot that began in stealth (v. 1). Judas now joins Jesus' enemies, seeking an opportunity to betray him." (p. 282)
I have always found it exceedingly difficult indeed to work out the connection of the betrayal of Judas - of which he is morally responsible - and the unfolding of the eternal design of God that it must happen the way that it did. Perhaps one of the supreme examples throughout the Scriptures of the futility of trying to dissect the intersection between divine design and human culpability with logical precision.
So, just a very slight "taste" of what a thoughtful, careful and perhaps prayerful commentary on the part of a responsible and believing scholar on the richness of the passion narratives can yield. This can lead to our own enrichment of the saving Passion of Christ our God.
