READING BETWEEN THE TEXTS: MINOR CHARACTERS WHO PREPARE THE WAY FOR JESUS

Encounter, Winter 2005 by Gardner, A Edward

The connection between John and Jesus could not be closer: the head of John is cut off; the head of Jesus is anointed, not for worldly glory, but for burial, for as John was laid in a tomb (6:29), so Jesus will be laid in a tomb. John's baptism of Jesus anticipates the unnamed woman's anointing of him for burial. The baptism of water and Spirit and the anointing with oil correspond to the same type. Jesus coming up out of the water of baptism foreshadows Jesus's coming out of the tomb and rising from the dead. Ironically, in Mark, King Herod first mentions resurrection in connection with John: "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised." The reader may wonder whether Jesus took his cue from Herod after Jesus heard the bad news of the death of John. The death of John is the key crisis or obstacle that Jesus must overcome in the plot. The death of John must have been received by Jesus as terrible news. It takes a while for Jesus to deal with the death of John and the fear of his enemies. After fleeing to Sidon, to the wilderness (as Moses fled from Pharaoh and Elijah from Jezebel), and after taking the road to Caesarea Philippi outside of Israel, Jesus at last turns toward Jerusalem, knowing that, like John, he would suffer; like John, he would die; and like Herod said of John, he would be raised. He has, astoundingly, overcome the obstacle of John's death in Galilee by confronting his enemies in Jerusalem, by laying down his own life, and by trusting his Father (Abba) to vindicate him in raising him from the dead. Mark's riveting story of Jesus's extravagant love, immense courage, and steadfast faith in God is aimed at inspiring readers with awe, wonder, devotion, and love.

CONCLUSION

It is certain the minor characters prepare the way for Jesus and make straight his paths. In some instances, the minor characters declare Jesus's identity as the Son of David or the Son of God, while the disciples remain blind to his significance. In some instances, the minor characters help Jesus deal with the legalism and cult of purity of the Jewish culture. In the anointing of Jesus, a woman anoints Jesus as the Anointed One for burial while Jesus overcomes the obstacle of her love as a temptation and turns it into a victory. The centurion declares Jesus's identity at the climax when Jesus cries out with a loud voice and dies, having met and overcome every obstacle, every stumbling block, and every temptation, and having fulfilled the saving purpose of God. The women at the tomb, by faith and love, find the stone of death rolled away and deliver to the disciples the good news of resurrection. John the Baptist, his baptism of Jesus, and his beheading are central to the plot of the story and foreshadowing the events of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection.

In the text, we can catch a glimpse of Jesus's direct relationship to God, whom he called "Abba." God's voice is only referred to twice in the Gospel of Mark, at Jesus's baptism and at his Transfiguration, but one gets the feeling that Jesus communicated with Abba through the immediacy of events and his experiences with people. His prayer life may have been spent reflecting on the implications and connections between the events and people of his ministry and how Abba was speaking through them. Believers have done well to contemplate Jesus's ministry, death, and resurrection, and how God speaks to them through his life, but this contemplation of Jesus's life leads to his Way: looking for God in minor events and listening for God in ordinary people. His Way is an outward-looking communion rather than an inward-looking mysticism.