Watchwords: Mark 13 in Markan Eschatology (Journal for the study of the New Testament)

Mark has written a remarkable Gospel. Deceptively simple on the surface, its mystery and ambiguity have intrigued and challenged scholar and lay reader alike. Through veiled clues, controlled word usage and carefully contrived ambiguity, Mark embeds profound theological reflections in the stories he tells. The eschatological discourse (Mark 13) is a prime example. Modern scholars have attempted in vain to eliminate the ambiguities of Mark 13. Does Mark expect the End to come very soon? What is the relationship between the Fall of the Temple and the End of the Age? But the evidence indicates that Mark has deliberately produced the very uncertainty which has troubled scholars and which they want to eliminate. In Mark, attention is diverted from'signs'and'evidences'to the twin and inseparable themes of'discernment'and'discipleship'. These themes are captured by the two primary'watchwords'of Mark 13, which call believers to understand the significance of events they experience and to serve (and if necessary suffer) faithfully in the unknown period before the return of the Son of Man. In his communication techniques, his content and his priorities, Mark models himself after the Jesus he portrays. He calls readers, as Jesus called disciples, to follow and to understand - and sometimes to follow without understanding - until the unknown future when the Son of Man will reveal in its fullness the Kingdom now secretly present for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. "An immense amount of scholarly effort has gone into the study of Mark 13. Nevertheless, not everything that can be said, and needs to be said, has been said. This study is born out of the conviction that there is a method of studying Mark's eschatological discourse, and therefore the eschatology of Mark, which has never been thoroughly attempted. That method is to read and interpret Mark 13 in the literary and theological context of the entire Gospel in which Mark placed it."-- From introduction Timothy J. Geddert. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [317]-340) And Indexes.