Challenging the authority of Jesus: Mark 11: 27-33 and mediterranean notions of honor and shame

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Jun 2000 by Hellerman, Joseph H

The connection of the temple incident with Jesus' honor rating is as follows. In his symbolic prophetic warning of the imminent destruction of the Jerusalem temple-the very center of Jewish social and religious lifeJesus intentionally identifies himself with Old Testament prophets who, at God's command, acted out their verbal prophecies by means of certain striking behaviors (cf. Jer 19:27-28). In so doing, Jesus thus pointedly claims for himself the divine authority characteristic of God's messengers in the classical prophetic tradition. This, in turn, constitutes a profound, overtly public, declaration of honor on the part of Jesus, due to the relationship between religious authority and social standing in Jesus' world. Finally, Jesus' claim to honor is, once again, immediately-and publiclyacknowledged as legitimate, for, as Mark is quick to inform us, ... ... (11:18). The stage is now set for a direct challenge to Jesus' honor.

2. Step Two: The challenge of the Jewish Sanhedrin. The opening of our narrative finds Jesus and the Twelve "walking in the temple" where, Mark informs us, "the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him" (11:27).28 To fully appreciate the highly charged nature of the ensuing verbal duel, we must keep in mind the physical environment in which the confrontation occurs. Recent archaeological work in Jerusalem has generally confirmed the magnitude of the temple mount as detailed in ancient sources. The mount occupied more than 172,000 square yards-"a rhomboid equivalent in area to thirty-five football fields"-making it the largest site of its kind in the world.29 Much of the site was open space, the largest portion of which is known as the Court of the Gentiles. Jesus is believed to have taught his followers in the pillared halls surrounding this outermost court. The Court of the Gentiles is therefore the most probable setting for the confrontation outlined in Mark 11:27-33. It is not unreasonable to assume the presence of several thousand persons in the outer court on the day in question, for Passover week attracted great crowds of people to Jerusalem. The encounter narrated in our text is therefore a highly public one, thus reinforcing my contention that the offensive initiated by the Jewish leaders is essentially a challenge to Jesus' honor.

The representatives of the Sanhedrin ask Jesus, "By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?" (11:28). Robert Gundry rightly interprets "these things" and "them" (translating ... in each case) to refer to Jesus' action in the temple.30 The leaders are specifically challenging Jesus' divine authority to prophetically denounce the temple.

A further aspect of interpersonal behavior in honor-shame societies highlights the significance of the confrontation. As we saw above, traditional societies have clear rules for the kind of challenge-riposte scenario we find in Mark 11:27-33. One of the unspoken assumptions of this cultural script is that a proper challenge to one's honor can take place only among equals. As Moxnes relates, "A challenge always implies recognition of the honor of the other person; hence to challenge an inferior or somebody without honor brings shame and humiliation to the challenger. Likewise, when a challenge is issued, it is accepted only if one considers the challenger worthy of respect."31 By publicly challenging Jesus in the presence of a multitude in the temple court, the leaders thereby implicitly acknowledge Jesus as an equal in honor, even as they seek to publicly shame him.32