Mark 9: The Invitation of Mark's Editor
Mark 9: The Invitation of Mark's Editor
1 And he said to them, "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power."
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what "rising from the dead" meant.
11 And they asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
12 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?
13 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him."
What is the relationship between the event of the Transfiguration (verses 2-8) and the subsequent questions and answers (verses 9-13) in relation to verse 1? There are perspectives that see any assertion of a connection between verses 1 and 2-13 as speculative, while others find the relationship meaningful. What might the editor of Mark's Gospel have intended?
The editor of Mark set the interpretive key at the point "until the Son of Man had risen from the dead." Indeed, this was also the moment when the editor's understanding of Jesus began to unfold. Thus, the 'Messianic Secret' scattered throughout Mark's Gospel is a testament of the editor.
From the perspective of the editor of Mark, the Old Testament contains both the return of Elijah and the suffering of the Son of Man. These two prophecies were central to the debate about the end times in Judaism and Christianity during the time of the editor of Mark. From the Jewish perspective, Elijah must come before the end times to achieve a great reconciliation (Malachi 3:23f.). However, Elijah had not yet come. Using this as a basis, when Judaism questioned Christianity, Christianity responded by questioning how the reconciliation promised by Elijah's return and the suffering of the Son of Man could fit together. Christianity proposed to Judaism not to focus on the figure of Elijah himself. Verse 13 suggests that Christianity views the return of Elijah as possibly being fulfilled in the appearance of John the Baptist. Therefore, as a Christian, the editor of Mark's Gospel wanted to resolve the conflict between Judaism and Christianity.
Those who recognized Jesus' identity before his suffering, death, and resurrection, as 'those who saw that the kingdom of God has come with power before they died,' include representatives like Simeon and Anna. Simeon and Anna recognized who Jesus was when he was still an infant, before he performed any miracles or even before he proclaimed, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." They were people with a spiritual sensitivity, with eyes of the spirit wide open, more so than the editor of Mark. The minimum point of reference presented by the editor is 'the resurrection of Jesus.' The editor invites readers to the moment of his own awakening. Surely we should read the work following the intent of the author!
1 And he said to them, "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power."
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what "rising from the dead" meant.
11 And they asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
12 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?
13 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him."
What is the relationship between the event of the Transfiguration (verses 2-8) and the subsequent questions and answers (verses 9-13) in relation to verse 1? There are perspectives that see any assertion of a connection between verses 1 and 2-13 as speculative, while others find the relationship meaningful. What might the editor of Mark's Gospel have intended?
The editor of Mark set the interpretive key at the point "until the Son of Man had risen from the dead." Indeed, this was also the moment when the editor's understanding of Jesus began to unfold. Thus, the 'Messianic Secret' scattered throughout Mark's Gospel is a testament of the editor.
From the perspective of the editor of Mark, the Old Testament contains both the return of Elijah and the suffering of the Son of Man. These two prophecies were central to the debate about the end times in Judaism and Christianity during the time of the editor of Mark. From the Jewish perspective, Elijah must come before the end times to achieve a great reconciliation (Malachi 3:23f.). However, Elijah had not yet come. Using this as a basis, when Judaism questioned Christianity, Christianity responded by questioning how the reconciliation promised by Elijah's return and the suffering of the Son of Man could fit together. Christianity proposed to Judaism not to focus on the figure of Elijah himself. Verse 13 suggests that Christianity views the return of Elijah as possibly being fulfilled in the appearance of John the Baptist. Therefore, as a Christian, the editor of Mark's Gospel wanted to resolve the conflict between Judaism and Christianity.
Those who recognized Jesus' identity before his suffering, death, and resurrection, as 'those who saw that the kingdom of God has come with power before they died,' include representatives like Simeon and Anna. Simeon and Anna recognized who Jesus was when he was still an infant, before he performed any miracles or even before he proclaimed, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." They were people with a spiritual sensitivity, with eyes of the spirit wide open, more so than the editor of Mark. The minimum point of reference presented by the editor is 'the resurrection of Jesus.' The editor invites readers to the moment of his own awakening. Surely we should read the work following the intent of the author!