Mark's Passion Narrative

The Passion Narrative is the longest story in the New Testament. It details the betrayal of Jesus, the Last Supper; and Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion. For the versions of the story found in Mark, Matthew, and Luke, Mark is clearly the author (See Mark, chapters 14 and 15). It is a work of creative fiction that reflects on the meaning of Jesus’ death.

Although some events depicted in the story may have historical roots, there are four historical problems which we cannot ignore. The first is the burial of Jesus. While we have little historical information concerning the events of Jesus’ ordeal, we know a lot about Roman crucifixions. There were hundreds of thousands of political dissidents crucified in the Roman Empire during the period of Rome’s political rule. This form of execution was reserved for Roman prisoners, and there were rules governing its implementation. One of the rules was that the prisoner was not to be buried. Political prisoners were left on the cross after they died so animals could devour their bodies. It was part of the punishment. The goal was to humiliate the victim and to deter potential dissenters by the horror of the spectacle.

The second problem is the trial. Again, we know a great deal about Roman procedures when it comes to crucifixions. Trials were not held. Roman officials would have done little else but conduct these trials if they had been required. But they were not necessary. The Roman military had the authority and the power to deal with the problem. Suspected political dissidents were arrested and put on a cross.

The problems of the burial and the trial raise the question of why was Jesus treated differently? We surely think of Jesus as special, but the Romans didn’t. To the Roman authorities, Jesus was a peasant from Galilee, a province known for producing political troublemakers.

The setting for the Passion Narrative was the Passover celebration in Jerusalem, a time to remember God’s great act of freeing the Jews from Egyptian colonial rule. Thousands of Jews made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem with the hope that God would intervene again to free them from Rome. Rome sent extra troops to protect against political outbreaks. The idea that Roman authorities would conduct a public trial for a popular political reformer during Passover is not credible. It would be too risky.

A similar problem relates to the portrayal of Pilate during the trial—our third historical problem. The story indicates that Jesus was brought before Pilate, and that Pilate found no case against him. Because the chief priests and the crowd loudly demand that Jesus be crucified, Pilate eventually gives into their demands. The story further indicates that Rome had a policy of freeing one prisoner during the Passover festival. In this case, Pilate agrees to free Barabbas, a man arrested for inciting a riot and murder, in exchange for Jesus, a man Pilate believed to be innocent.

Historians have found no evidence that Rome had a policy to free a prisoner during Passover. No prisoner was freed prior to the crucifixion of Jesus or after. The second problem with the story is the behavior of Pilate during the trial, a trial that almost certainly did not take place. Pilate was famous for his cruelty. Not long after these events, Pilate was replaced by Rome for excessive cruelty. The thought of Pilate trading a known troublemaker for a man he believed was innocent is not credible.

The depiction of Pilate during the trial suggests a possible motive for the story. The author may have been interested in exonerating Rome for Jesus’ death and blaming the Jews. The author’s goal might have been to reduce the chances of Christians being persecuted by the Romans. This distortion of history that the Jews killed Jesus, most fully developed in the gospel of John, has had tragic consequences for Jews throughout history as I will show in a future blog entry.

The final historical problem with Mark’s Passion Narrative is that the story is truncated. Too much happens within too short a time span for the events to be believable. The Last Supper takes place on Thursday night. The trial before the Sanhedrin, the meeting with Pilate, and the crucifixion occur on Friday. Jesus dies before sunset on Friday. The problem is that it usually took two or three days for a person to die on a cross.

As I said at the outset, the Passion Narrative is a work of creative fiction that reflects on the meaning of Jesus’ death. Ancient biographies were written that way. Writers often didn’t have the historical data they needed, and they were primarily concerned with identity, character, and/or meaning. To relate this information, they created stories.

What is Mark telling us about the meaning of Jesus’ death? To begin with, there is no evidence in this story that Jesus was sent by God to die for our sins. The idea of Jesus’ significance as an atoning sacrifice for human sin is not found in Mark. There is much evidence to support the idea of atoning sacrifice in John’s version of the Passion Narrative, but that is a different story. John changes several aspects of the story which I will develop in a future blog.

Jesus died because he threatened the Romans. The key to understanding this important conclusion is the events in the story centering around the Temple. Rome ruled indirectly through the Temple. The High Priest and the Temple authorities collaborated with the Romans. The Temple was also the key to understanding the Jewish faith. God’s presence was known there. The High Priest mediated access to God. Forgiveness was also dispensed through the sacrificial rituals practiced there.

Jesus challenged both the religious and the political aspects of the Temple’s power. Upon entering Jerusalem, the first thing Jesus did was drive out those buying and selling animals for sacrifice. The crowds loved it. He verbally attacks the scribes who worked at the Temple, and then proclaims to his disciples that the Temple will be destroyed which threatened Rome’s political control. Judas may have communicated that threat to the Temple authorities.

We discussed the meaning of his death in the blog dealing with the Messianic secret. Because they define him in traditional Messianic categories, the Jews do not understand the meaning of Jesus’ life or death. The first to get it is the Roman centurion (15:37-39) who participates in Jesus’ suffering. As Jesus dies, the curtain hiding and protecting the mystery of God is torn from top to bottom. The Temple will no longer mediate access to God. Anyone who reflects on and participates in the suffering of Jesus will attain access to God on their own.

As Jesus dies, he is quoted as saying, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me” from Psalm 22 (Mark 15:34). Psalm 22 is about a man who suffers and is later vindicated by God. The Old Testament scripture used here does not point to Jesus, and thus prove the historicity of these events as many Christians believe. The idea that Jesus fulfills Old Testament scripture is not the point of Mark’s using this Psalm. If you read about Jesus’ death in Luke and John, Jesus’ last words are different, taken from different Psalms, and used to describe a very different Jesus. The author of Mark takes these words from Psalm 22 because they support his point. Jesus suffers for all of us, and in doing that he leads us to God.

A new religion has been created. It has nothing to do with atonement for human sin or saving us for heaven. It is about bringing God into our lives. We do it when we participate in the suffering of another because that directs our focus away from self. The message of Mark is both powerful and groundbreaking.