Crucifixion was a gruesome, humiliating means of execution - remember Paul claiming his right of a Roman citizen to be beheaded rather than crucified. For us late Christians, the cross has lost its significance- we wear it on necklaces where we would not conceive of wearing tiny electric chairs or nooses. The mockery of the Romans, of the passersby, of the Judean leaders, and even of the insurrectionists hanged with him, only added to the agony. The charge inscribed was "King of the Jews".

Chapter 15: 33 - 39 The Death of Jesus

Jesus, hanging on the cross, cried out "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Then he died after three hours, a relatively short time. Note that Jesus feels the same agony as in the garden at Gethsemane: he has been forsaken by God, and the symbolism/reality of that was that he had been forsaken by his friends. Let's read Psalm 22.

Question: How do we take the striking similarity of language between Mark's account of the death of Jesus and the prayer of David in Psalm 22? Amazing coincidence? Proof of Jesus' fulfillment of the foretellings in the Hebrew Testament? Source of Mark's narration? Did Psalm 22 come to Jesus naturally as he was dying in agony?

The centurion declares, "Truly this man was the Son of God." We aren't told what so impressed him to make such a statement.

Chapter 15: 40 - 47 The Burial of Jesus The women - Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Younger (not the brother of Jesus), and Salome, and also many women of Jerusalem, watched Jesus' death from a distance. This is Mark's first mention of women disciples, even though he says "They had followed Jesus in Galilee and had attended to his needs." They are the scriptural witnesses that Jesus really died, which was sometimes denied. They must have been the reporters to the writers of the Gospels. They now witness the burial of Jesus and note the location of his tomb.

Joseph of Arimathea, "a respected member of the council of the Sanhedrin who was himself eagerly awaiting God's kingdom" took it upon himself to see to Jesus' burial. Pilate was incredulous that Jesus had died already, but had it confirmed by the centurion in charge of the crucifixion. Joseph had to accomplish the burial before sundown when the Sabbath began. We don't know if he was doing this out of respect or reverence for Jesus, or just because his Jewish piety would have been revolted at the violation of the laws that require same day burial and no exposure of dead bodies over the Sabbath. However, there was no mention of his burying the bodies of the thieves. He may have made himself ritually unclean by handling the dead body of Jesus, and may have excluded himself from participating in the Sabbath rituals by doing this act of mercy.

Mark 16: 1 - 8 The Resurrection

On Saturday night, after the Sabbath, the same women bought spices to wrap around the body of Jesus. On Sunday morning they went to the tomb, but the found it empty. A young man announced that Jesus had been raised and that they should go an tell the disciples, even Peter who had renounced Jesus in the courtyard of the High Priest, and tell them Jesus was going ahead of you to Galilee. But "the women said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid." THE END!!

Mark 16: 9 - 20 Two Extra Endings

We have two alternative endings which almost all scholars agree are not genuine parts of Mark's account. But was verse 8 the actual end? Some propose that there must have been more, but as the last page of an unbound book crumbles away or is torn off, the final verses disappeared.

Final Exam: write a statement defending each of the possibilities:

1. verse 8 is the last line. Why did Mark stop there?
2. additional verses are lost. What do you think they would have said?

1. Mark has no infancy narrative; the first we know of Jesus is his baptism by John.
2. Jesus became angry several times, at petitioners for healing, and at his disciples.
3. Jesus' message was the coming of the Kingdom of God
4. Mark's Gospel is the shortest and most succinct.
5. The signs which we take today to make Jesus unique, and which are therefore proof of his divinity, such as the virgin birth and the resurrection, are in fact common to many contemporary myths, such as the dying and rising gods: Attis, Adonis, Osiris, and Dionysius. The gospel writers may have included such signs not to show that he was divine by his uniqueness in history, but that he had divine characteristics which were recognized by people all over. Which is better?

We did get to take a break long enough to totally consume a pumpkin cake that was out of this world. Danke bitte, C!

We reconvened in two small groups to discuss what we began in large group and it was fast and furious. We did a little of our homework assignment and talked about having our soil disturbed and loosened up for God which is as a seed. We are definitely being prepared. We discussed being shaken up and being uncomfortable with many things discussed hear but that we keep coming back and we keep discovering. We keep looking for the breaking open and the new, for the Kingdom springing forth from within and around us. We spoke about wanting to hold on to some of the magic and we will! And as our friend Richard Rhor, once said, once you have seen one bush burning you never see a bush the same way. All forests are enchanted.

Now, going back a week or two, I recall some of us being intrigued by the woman anointing Jesus (and the disciples rebuking her harshly) and by this action she appears to realize his impending death and what that means. Jesus says,

9: "And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."

And during our small group discussion we noted that Judas was mentioned very little in Mark's gospel or didn't seem to play such a big role. His suicide is not depicted and he is never named by Jesus and he isn't shown departing the last supper. So doing some research we find one Mark scholar, Ted Weeeden, summarizing why Judas' betrayal should be considered fiction.

1. Paul, whose letters predate the Gospel of Mark in most dating schemes, does not appear to have known of Judas' betrayal. 1 Cor 11:23, where Paul is often held to have said Jesus was "betrayed" in reality says only that he was "handed over or delivered up" (parededideto). The passage is often translated with the Gospels in mind. Weeden points out that it is strange that if a trusted disciple in the inner circle did betray Jesus, Paul does not use that information to attack the "false/super apostles" in 2 Cor. 10-13, particularly in 2 Cor. 11:13-15 (13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.(NIV)). Note how perfectly Judas would serve as an example here. Further, when Paul discusses the the resurrection appearances to various early Christian leaders in 1 Cor. 15, Paul cites "Peter and then to the Twelve"--- not "Peter and then to the eleven." Weeden argues that Paul's citation, which must date before the 50's, suggests that the Twelve are a coherent and faithful body of original disciples whose original integrity is in tact. Weeden sees the election held for Judas' replacement in Acts to be a fiction, invented to counter the invention of the story that an insider betrayed Jesus into the hands of his enemies. Note that while almost all exegetes believe that the famous passage in 1 Cor 15 where Jesus appears to the apostles is in fact genuine, some have argued HYPERLINK "http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/robert_price/apocrypha.shtml" that it is an interpolation and thus, this piece of evidence for Weeden's argument would fail. In fact, in addition to the arguments of Price, the fact that the passage contains a reference to the Twelve, the only one in the entire Pauline corpus, when it should say 11. Recognizing this as an "error," numerous ancient manuscripts have been corrected by scribes from "12" to "11."
2. Other ancient Christian traditions that many scholars believe to be early, such as the Q traditions and the Gospel of Thomas, also do not appear to know the Judas story. Further, as Weeden observes, there is one Q saying, incorporated into Matthew, (19:28): where Jesus says "when the Son of the human shall sit on his throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." It is difficult to imagine how Jesus could be believed to have said that if the developers of this tradition had known of a betrayal by Judas. In Luke 22:21 Jesus sits down with the apostles and tells them that they will also sit on the twelve thrones judging the tribes of Israel.
3. In addition to the lack of evidence from early Christian literature, the literary background of Mark is also a strike against Judas. The Gethsemane scene, as Weeden and many other scholars have noted, is built out of 2 Sam 15-17 and 2 Sam 20:4-10. In that sequence David is betrayed by his right-hand man, Ahithophel. Weeden argues that Mark modeled Judas after Ahithophel. In addition to the connections to the David epic, Weeden summarizes Shelby Spong's arguments for OT creation:

   "....Among the interesting parallels between the two biblical stories Spong notes are the following (267): (1) Joseph was handed over "by a group of twelve who later became known as the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel," (2) in "both stories [the story of Joseph and the story of Jesus] the handing over or betrayal was into the hands of gentiles,' (3) in "both stories money was given to the traitors- twenty pieces of silver for Joseph, thirty pieces of silver for Jesus," and (4) "one of the twelve brothers of Joseph who urged the others to seek money for their act of betrayal was named Judah or Judas (Gen. 3726-27)."

   Weeden, following Spong, also points to the traditional hostility between northern and southern Palestine, writing:

   "Mark's choice of IOUDAS as the name of Jesus' betrayer was carefully designed, in my view, to symbolize the southern kingdom of Judah (IOUDAS) and its successor the province of Judea in Mark's day."

For next week, don't forget the potluck and remember the earlier starting time of 6:30pm!

Also, we may have time for a question and answer session following our meal. Our special guests may include but certainly are not limited to, Mary, Mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Peter (the rock), Paul of Tarsus, Jesus, John the Baptist, Martha, etc. So come with a dish to share and with those burning questions you've been dying to ask.