A Meeting Point between Mark and Paul
Interpreting Mark 10,45
In
Christ,
Galatians
1,3-4
who
himself
gave
Paul
up
writes
for
about
our
"the
sins".
Lord
This
Jesus
can
be
compared with Romans 4,25a: the Lord Jesus "who was delivered
for our transgressions" and 1 Cor 15,3: "Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures". Paul expresses himself by
means of such "deliverance formulae" in order to point to the
"evil averting death" of Jesus. These formulae may go back to
a pre-Pauline tradition. In his recent article "Narrating the
Death of Jesus in Mark: Utterances of the Main Character,
Jesus"
Cilliers
Breytenbach
asks
the
question:
"Does
the
Gospel according to Mark narrate the deliverance of its main
character,
Jesus
Christ,
the
Son
of
God,
against
this
-
Pauline - backdrop?"1 We almost spontaneously think here of
Mark 10,45: "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to
serve, and to give his life a ransom for many". Petr Pokorný
claims that this is one of the verses which betray Pauline
influence on Mark's gospel2. In this brief note we will try to
find
a
"meeting
point"
between
the
Pauline
deliverance
formulae and Mk 10,45.
Cilliers BREYTENBACH, "Narrating the Death of Jesus in Mark: Utterances
of the Main Character, Jesus", in ZNW 105 (2014) 153-168, quotation on p.
156; for the "deliverance formulae" see pp. 155-159.
2
Petr POKORNÝ, From the Gospel to the Gospels. History, Theology and
Impact of the Biblical Term 'euangelion' (BZNW 195), Berlin 2013, pp. 118120.
1
2
The Reasoning of Breytenbach
1.
According
delivers
Jesus
to
(3,19
Mark's
and
gospel
Judas
14,41-44).
The
is
the
Son
one
of
Man
who
is
delivered by him to the Jewish authorities who hand him over
to the Romans who kill him. Jesus' death occurs through divine
necessity (cf. the theological  in 8,31) and according to
the
Scriptures
(cf.
9,12-13
and
14,21.27.49).
In
Paul's
letters, however, it is God who delivers his Son or the Son
who delivers himself. His death is for the benefit or the
deliverance
of
sinners.
Breytenbach
concludes:
"The
Markan
predictions of deliverance and resurrection of the Son of Man
thus do not belong to the so-called deliverance formulae in
the pre-Pauline and Pauline tradition"3.
2. According to Breytenbach Mark, in composing 10,45, does
not depend on Isaiah 534. The term  in "the Son of
Man came ... to give his live 'a ransom' for many" should be
understood
in
the

way
as
in
8,37:

 Moreover, in 14,24 Jesus says that
his blood is the "blood of the covenant which is poured out
for many". Jesus' death is the exchange, the ransom for those
who have nothing. It appears that Breytenbach understands 8,37
Breytenbach, "Narrating the Death of Jesus in Mark", p. 157 and pp. 155159 for this paragraph.
4 Breytenbach here follows M. Hooker's
study Jesus and the Servant, London
1959.
5 Breytenbach, "Narrating the Death of Jesus in Mark", p. 162, compares
10,45 with 8,37: "the recurring verb , the similarities between
 and , and the re-occurence of as
preposition in Mark 10,45 urge the interpreter to understand Mark 8,36-37
and Mark 10,45 within the frame of 'ransom'". Somewhat strangely he too
easily,
I
think,
assumes
'echos'
of
Is
43,3-4
(LXX:
) in 10,45 and then states: "It is
possible that the Evangelist could have combined the notion of ransom in
8,37 with that from Isa 43,3-4" (p. 164).
3
3
as a general saying: nobody can give anything in exchange for
his or her life. "Because man can give nothing in return for
his life (8,37), it is the Son of Man who gives his life as a
ransom for many" (10,45)6.
3. Breytenbach admits that Mark does not explain precisely how
salvation by the death of Jesus works; nor does the evangelist
indicate why nobody can do anything in return for his life.
Mark states that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins (2,10). But he does not picture Jesus as saying
that he pours out his blood for many "for the forgiveness of
sins" (so Matthew in 26,28)7.
The Position of Pokorný
1. According to Pokorný, there are in Paul's letters three
formulae which clearly express the Easter gospel: 1 Thess 1,910; 1 Cor 15,3-4, and Rom 1,3-4. Together they point to Jesus'
death for our sins and to God raising Jesus. These formulae go
back to the pre-Pauline Easter gospel8. Pokorný claims that
almost
all
of
Mark's
uses
of
the
term

refer to that Easter gospel (cf. e.g. 8,35; 10,29; 13,10).
Moreover,
"gospel"
is
"the
overarching
concept
which
structures the Gospel of Mark"9.
2. Like many others Pokorný assumes a "positive prejudice"
in Markan exegesis. He is convinced that Mark was influenced
by
Pauline
theology.
"Paul
used
different
...
images
-
Ibid., p. 166.
Cf. also ibid., p. 164: "In Mark 10,45 the Son of Man gives his psyche as
ransom for the benefit of many, and not because of them".
8 See POKORNÝ, From the Gospel to the Gospels, pp. 5-14).
9 Ibid., p. 118.
6
7
4
reconciliation, atonement - in order that the higher idea of
the
positive
meaning
of
the
death
of
Jesus
might
be
expressed"10. On pp. 118-121 he discusses three Markan texts
which point to the influence of Paul: 10,45; 7,19 and 7,28-29.
In 10,45 Mark may be editing a Pauline tradition (cf. 1 Tim
2,5-6:
).
"This
is
an
example
of
Mark
introducing Pauline elements into the memories of Jesus. The
ransom saying was one of the alternative ways of expressing
justification by the grace of God (Rom 3:24)"11. Mark shows
here a sacrificial interpretation of the death of Jesus. His
death, however, is linked with the resurrection: "The saying
about
the
suffering
Son
of
Man
is
understood
as
leading
towards 'being great' (10:43-44)"12. We may also refer to the
predictions of the passion in 8,31; 9,31 and 10,33-34 which
also mention Jesus' resurrection.
Critical Remarks
a) Breytenbach
The notion of "sin" is most probably present in Mk 10,45.
The Son of Man has come to give his life for many, because
those many are sinners and have to "ransomed". It would seem
that the same idea of sin is equally present in 8,37. "To gain
the
whole
world"
in
8,36
means
to
"forfeit
life"
through
sinning; this may already be indicated by the clause "those
who want to save their life" in 8,35a. Verse 37 is not a
general saying which would imply that no human being can give
anything in return for his or her life. No, Mark points to
those who try to gain the whole world in the wrong way and by
10
11
12
Ibid., p. 119.
Ibid., p. 120.
Ibid., p. 140.
5
doing this are sinners. A similar remark must be made with
regard to 14,24. Most probably the Markan Jesus deals with his
coming death which he will die for many. Those many need his
death for no other reason than "for the forgiveness of sins".
Matthew's addition of this expression in 26,28 makes explicit
what Mark most probably already implies. Until the end of his
life
-
death
included
-
Jesus
has
come
"to
call
not
the
righteous but sinners" (2,17).
Although
in
writing


and
Mark uses his own images, through the hidden allusions to sin
he does not differ that much as to content from what Paul
extensively deals with in his major letters. The later Mark at
Rome may indeed have been influenced by Paul who died in the
same city.
b) Pokorný
Our
preference
clearly
goes
to
what
Pokorný
claims:
Pauline influence is extremely likely. We hesitate, however,
to
qualify
Mk
10,45
so
bluntly
as
an
"alternative
way
of
expressing justification by the grace of God", although in Rom
6,23 Paul writes: "the wages () of sin is
death"13 which is not so different from Mk 8,35-37. Within the
limits
of
this
note,
a
critical
evaluation
of
 in Mark's gospel - however needed - cannot
be provided.
Conclusion
In
his
letters
Paul
explains
his
vision
of
the
significance of Jesus' death and resurrection in great detail.
13
Cf. ibid., p. 119.
6
Mk 10,45 is but one saying at the end of a narrative pericope.
Yet, through paying careful attention to 8,35-37 and 14,24, it
becomes almost evident that in 10,45 Mark intends to speak
about
Jesus'
death,
a
ransom
which
redeems
sinners;
paradoxically life is given them through forgiveness of their
sins. "Sin" is indeed the meeting point between Mk 10,45 and
Paul's theology of justification. However, we do not therefore
have to deny that, with regard to his use of  (10,45)
and

(8,37),
Mark
may
be
original
independent.
September 2015
Jan Lambrecht
and