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crucifixion of Jesus as the fullfillment of Mark 9:1, The
Trinity Journal, Spring 2003 by Bird, Michael
This last aspect can be supported on several grounds: (1) The imagery of clouds may be apocalyptic symbols of Jesus' authority and kingly power,28 confirming the enthronement as a reality,29 or more likely, since the presence of clouds is often used to depict Yahweh in a position of royal power, it portrays Jesus enthroned in the place reserved for Yahweh (cf. Deut 33:26; Exod 40:34; Ps 68:4; Isa 19:1; Dan 7:9; Rev 1:7). (2) Kee points out the emphasis of 14:62 is not Jesus' heavenly location, but rather the visible and earthly display of his vindication to those who judge him and will be judged by him.30 (3) Mark 10:35-40 intimately combines Jesus' glory with his death. No sooner has Jesus finished speaking about his imminent death and resurrection for the third time (10:32-34) than the two ambitious Zebedee lads attempt to beat the pack for the choice places in the new Jerusalem cabinet. The brothers express a selfish hope that the approaching [delta]o[xi][alpha] ("glory") will spill over to them. Jesus makes no attempt to deny the imminent glory, but he radically redefines it around two important Jewish symbols: cup and baptism. The cup of wine is the cup of God's wrath which he shall also have to agonize over in Gethsemane (cf. Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17-23; Jer 25:15-28; 49:12; 51:7; Lam 4:21f; Ezek 23:31-34; Hab 2:16; Zech 12:2; Pss. Sol. 8:14f; 1QpHab 9:10-15). Baptism likewise contains a similar nuance of being overwhelmed with disaster (cf. Ps 42:7; Isa 30:28; Luke 12:50).31 If such a naive request were to be granted, to sit at Jesus' right and left in his glory would entail sharing in his crucifixion (cf. 15:27). Thus the brothers are ignorant of what they truly want, for to share in Jesus' glory means to embrace the same menacing destiny. There is no hint here of suffering as the antecedent to glory, but simply the equating of the two together. (4) The presence of the title "Son of Man" should not draw us to automatically infer that it is a Parousia reference as in 13:26. Like 8:38 where the immediate context concerns the ordained necessity of the cross for the Son of Man and the ethical corollary of cross bearing, the context here is likewise dominated by the impending sentence of crucifixion. Additionally, Mark's depiction of the Son of Man is not so much that of a heavenly judge as that it espouses the one who is the authoritative presence of God and inaugurates the kingdom through his redemptive mission. (5) In continuity with the prophetic hope in which the divine savior enters only once into Jerusalem, so too can Jesus ascend only once to the heights of Jerusalem as king.32
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This proposal stands in contrast to the normal conceptions of the traditions about the Son of Man. Scholars predominantly maintain that the materials about the Son of Man as a suffering figure and an exalted being represent two separate traditions.33 However, if the foregoing observations are correct then we have evidence of a Markan or even pre-Markan tradition which seamed these two traditions together to engender a unique portrait of the Son of Man whose sufferings comprise his exaltation and enthronement.34
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