7.11

The Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark

Theme: Jesus Dies as One Abandoned

Peter, James, and John fall asleep while he prays in the garden (14:32–42).

Judas betrays him (14:43–45).

Disciples forsake him and run away (14:50).

A young man leaves his clothes to get away (14:51–52; cf. 1:18, 20).

Peter denies Jesus (14:66–72).

Jewish leaders mock him as a false prophet (14:65).

The crowd calls for him to be crucified (15:6–14).

Roman soldiers mock him as a false king (15:16–20).

Passers-by join Jewish leaders in mocking him on the cross (15:29–32).

Crucified criminals taunt him (15:32b).

Darkness covers the land, and Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (15:33–34).

Theme: Jesus Gives His Life as a Ransom

Jesus knows of his passion in advance and says that it must take place (8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34).

Jesus accepts his passion as the will of God (14:36).

Jesus describes his passion as giving “his life a ransom for many” (10:45) (in Greek, lytron = payment to free a slave, or a substitute sacrifice).

Theme: Jesus’s Death Reveals Him as the Son of God

Jesus is declared to be the Son of God from the outset (1:1).

Humans do not recognize or confess him as the Son of God (1:27; 2:7; 4:41; 6:2–3; cf. 1:11, 24; 3:11; 5:7; 9:7).

Jesus is sentenced to die because he claims to be the Son of God (14:61–62; 15:29–32).

Ironically, his death inspires the first recognition of him as the Son of God (15:39).

Theme: Jesus’s Death Is Linked to His Baptism

Events at his death recall events at his baptism: ripping of the heavens and of the temple curtain (1:10; 15:38) and identification as the Son of God (1:11; 15:39).

Jesus refers to his death as his baptism (10:38–39).