Why does the Gospel of Mark begin as it does?

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Spring, 2003 by Santiago Guijarro

The humble origin of Jesus, born from a marginal family in an unknown village, was the great obstacle Mark found in writing his "life" of Jesus, for this kind of narrative aims at praising its main character, and noble origins and fine education were of great significance in this praise. Most characters in the contemporary "lives" were distinguished people, belonging to noble families, who could boast of a reputable pedigree regarding their ancestry and education. But Mark could do nothing similar using the available data he had concerning Jesus' origin.

In sum, the eulogizing goal of the lives, especially of their beginnings, is the reason why Mark did not follow the established pattern of the genre at the beginning of his "life" of Jesus. Nonetheless, this is only a partial answer to our question. We have ascertained why the beginning of Mark's Gospel does not fit the pattern of the "lives." Now we must find out why he chose to begin it as he did.

R. Burridge (149-52) has identified seven possible goals in ancient "lives:" encomiastic, exemplary, informative, entertaining, preserving memory, didactic, and apologetic--polemic. Some of these goals are explicit in the above mentioned "lives": to praise the character (Tacitus, AGRICOLA 4; Philo, VITA MOSIS 1, 3); to defend him from accusations (Josephus, VITA 11, 6); to present him as a model (Lucian, DEMONAX 2); to preserve his memory (Lucian, DEMONAX 2; Philo, VITA MOSIS 1, 3); and to give some information (Philo, VITA MOSIS 1, 1). Mark is likely to have pursued some of these goals in wiriting the beginning of his Gospel; but the most important ones were, no doubt, the first two.

Pokorn" (117-20) has observed that the purpose of the temptation narratives is to defend the authority of Jesus. According to him, these accounts were designed to respond to two accusations: expelling demons by Beelzebul's power (Mk 3:28-30), and coming from a low-status family (Mk 6:2-3). The former intention is clearer in the temptation account, while the latter is more obvious in the baptism narrative. However, this defense of Jesus is actually an affirmation of his honor. The introduction of Jesus at the beginning of the "life" written by Mark combines these two purposes, praise and apology, and both work toward the same goal: to show that Jesus was an honorable person.

Mark carried out this task in the frame of a concrete culture. He did not praise Jesus' descent and education, but pointed to his virtues, according to the pattern of the rhetorical praising discourse in those cases in which the person was of humble descent (AD HERENIUM 13, 3: "if of humble descent, he has had his support, not in the virtues of his ancestors, but in his own). To understand adequately how Mark accomplished this and the connotations of his presentation of Jesus at the beginning of the Gospel, we must read these verses in light of the social values shared by him and his readers. We will do this by presenting three reading scenarios, which will help us find the answer to our original question.