British New Testament Society

In this paper I argue, from a consideration of the endings of Mark, that the audiences of antiquity and beyond would have experienced different narratives according to the particular ending they were hearing.

The hermeneutical implications of such a treatment are considerable. Most recipients of Mark's Gospel, for most of history, will have heard a gospel that concludes at 16:20. A few, predominantly Latin, audiences, might have heard a narrative that concludes at the strange, shorter ending, and this group would also have heard an unexpected extra section in the resurrection pericope. Modern audiences, however, tend to hear the ending at 16:8 favoured by most text-critical treatments.

The interesting question that arises from this analysis is reflected in the title: how many gospels do we really have in the 'four gospel' tradition?

Mark's healing stories which involve secrecy are distinguishable from those which do not, in respect of the purpose of the narratives, the settings, the degree of contact with the patient, the consequences, and particularly in the level of Christology, which is, astonishingly, highest in the non-secrecy healings. Critical explanations fail to account for these differences. However, the problem can be resolved if we suppose that Mark's church had an image problem with the Jesus of A.D. 30, who had not behaved 'in character' as the Son of God: for example, he had not set up a theocracy, had not removed all evil and illness, had not performed widespread major miracles, and had not openly declared his identity. To resolve this, Mark spun the history of A.D.30, re-packaging Jesus as the Son of God, who had not universally revealed himself. Accordingly, Mark interweaves two themes in his gospel: (a) that Jesus had indeed possessed the appropriate divine qualities, but (b) they were unrevealed in his lifetime.

Repetition is a recognized literary feature in the Gospel of Mark. While Mark's use of Leitworte and Stichworte to call attention to important material both within pericopae and across the Gospel narrative, has received much attention, there has been little investigation of the formal characteristics of repetition in Mark. This presentation will survey Mark's widespread and consistent use of fourfold repetitions. Having described this feature, the presentation will explore its significance for Mark's narrative technique and show how it may act as an indicator of later redaction in Mark and thus cast light on the relationship between Mark and Matthew.

The use of dramatic irony elsewhere in Mark's gospel, and particularly in the sayings of Jesus' opponents in the passion narrative, suggests that the repeated accusations that Jesus said he would destroy the temple (Mk. 14.58, 15.29) were composed after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. All of the accusations and taunts that Jesus' opponents bring against him in the trial and crucifixion scenes are true, not in the way that the opponents intend, but in ways the Christian audience of the gospel is meant to understand. This implies that author of the gospel knew that the temple had been destroyed at the time he wrote and expected his audience to know it as well.