The Main Themes

Synopsis

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In this learning unit we will study Mark’s second major theme: Jesus’ way. Mark used the motif of the way throughout his gospel. By referring to it so often, he is drawing out attention to the meaning of Jesus’ way. The Greek word for “way” is hodos and the preposition for “out of” is ex. Put together, the ex-hodos or “exodus” means “the way out of.” For Mark, Jesus is the new Moses who came to lead us on a new exodus, a way out of our spiritual slavery to sin and into the life of the Trinity.

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This new way starts with Jesus’ baptism; it will lead him to Jerusalem, where he will suffer and die. His death tears open the temple curtain that symbolically blocked our access to God, opening our way to the Trinity. Now, Jesus nourishes us with his body and blood as we journey to God and he accompanies us along the way as the new temple.

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Learning Objectives

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You will have successfully completed this learning unit when you can: 

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• Describe how Mark presents Jesus as the new Moses leading us on a new exodus that will lead us out of our slavery to sin.

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• Explain how Jesus’ baptism marks the beginning of this new exodus and shows us that our destination will be the life of the Trinity. 

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• Explain how the Eucharist is the manna that nourishes us during this new exodus.

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• Explain how Jesus accompanies us as the new temple. 

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The Motif of the Way

 

To understand what authors want to say, we need to pay attention to the literary devices they use. One important device employed by Mark is the motif of the way. A motif is a recurring image, idea, or symbol that develops or explains the central themes and deeper meaning of a story. It offers clues which help the reader understand the author’s message, but does so in an indirect manner, forcing the reader to pause and ask questions. By using motifs, authors can get their ideas across more poignantly and in greater depth.

 

The motif of the way appears throughout the gospel. It first shows up in the opening verses:

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As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,

who shall prepare thy way;

the voice of one crying in the wilderness:

Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight—” (Mk 1:2–3)

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It also occurs in the center of the gospel, when Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Christ.

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On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” (Mk 8:27)

 

But, it becomes a key theme in the second part of the gospel, when Jesus travels towards Jerusalem. We can recognize the importance of this motif by the frequency with which the word “way” is used.  Unfortunately, this can be obscured by our modern translations. The RSV-CE translation, for example, translates the same word as “way”, “journey”, “road”, and “roadside.”

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“What were you discussing on the way?” But they were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest. (Mk 9:33–34)

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And as he was setting out on his journey [literally “gone forth on the way”], a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mk 10:17)

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And they were on the road [or way], going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them (Mk 10:32)

 

And they came to Jericho; and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside [or way]. (Mk 10:46)

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And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. (Mk 10:52)

 

And many spread their garments on the road [or way], and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. (Mk 11:8)

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The New Exodus

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By referring to this motif so often, Mark is inviting the reader to reflect on the meaning of Jesus’ way. The Greek word for “way” is hodos and the preposition for “out of” is ex. Put together, the word ex-hodos or “exodus” means “the way out of.” Jesus’ way is therefore a new exodus.

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In the original exodus, Moses led the people out of slavery in Egypt and into freedom in the Promised Land. The new exodus is a common theme throughout the Old Testament. Actually, Moses himself was the first to speak of it.

 

The Lord your God will restore your fortunes, and have compassion upon you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will fetch you; and the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, that you may possess it; and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. (Dt 30:3–5)

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It was also an important theme for the prophets. For example:

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• Hos 2:14–23; 11:1–11; 12:9.10

• Is 32:15; 35:1–10; 40:1–5; 43:16–21; 44:1–5; 63:7–64:12; 65:8–10

• Jer 2:1–3,5; 3:14–4,4

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After the destruction of the kingdom and the exile, the prophets expected God to save his people and bring them back to Jerusalem in a new and greater exodus.

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In addition to the repeated use of this motif, Mark presents many other images related to the original exodus that help us recognize that he is speaking of a new exodus. For example, the people go out to the desert to be baptized by John the Baptist. This recalls the fact the during the exodus the people spent 40 years in the desert. John the Baptist preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mk 1:4). In the original exodus, the people were freed from slavery in Egypt.

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Jesus’ Baptism

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Now, Jesus will save them from their spiritual slavery to sin. His mission, as the new Moses, is to lead his disciples on a new exodus. That is why he calls them to “repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:14).

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In Mark 1:9, we read how Jesus begins his mission by being baptized by John in the Jordan river. The original exodus began when the people of Israel crossed through the parted waters of the Red Sea. That is when they definitively escaped from slavery in Egypt and started their journey towards the Promised Land. It ended 40 years later with another miraculous parting of water. We read in Joshua chapter 3 how the people entered into the Promised Land by passing through the parted waters of the Jordan.

 

Jesus is now standing in the very place where the original exodus had ended, ready to begin the new exodus by being baptized in the Jordan. John’s baptism was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4). Of course, Jesus was sinless so he didn’t need to be baptized, but he did it as a sign for us. 

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With this background information in mind, we might have expected another miraculous parting when Jesus entered the waters, but this doesn’t happen. Instead, the heavens were torn open, and we are given a manifestation of the Trinity—Jesus, the Son of God, is in the river; the Holy Spirit comes down upon him in the form of a dove; and the Father speaks from heaven. This tells us that the destination of this new exodus won’t be here on Earth, it won’t even be in heaven, but, rather, the new exodus will lead us directly into the life of the Trinity.

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This was already prefigured in the Old Testament. In 2 Kings 2 we read how the prophet Elijah was taken up into heaven. But before this happened, he also walked through the parted waters of the Jordan.

 

Then Elijah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground. (2 Kgs 2:8)

 

Here we can see how the Old Testament is already suggesting to us that our true destination is not to be found in this world.

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The Eucharist

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In the original exodus, Moses miraculously fed the people for 40 years with the mana, that is, bread from heaven. Jesus does likewise. Marks tells us twice that he fed the crowds by miraculously multiplying loaves of bread. 

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And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. (Mk 6:41–42)

 

However, there is a deeper meaning here. We read how Jesus took the loaves, blessed them, broke them, and gave them. These are the same verbs Mark used in his description of the Last Supper. 

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And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” (Mk 14:22)

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Mark is telling us that as we travel along this new exodus, on our way to heaven, Jesus, the new Moses, will feed us just like Moses fed the people in the original exodus. What food will he give us? His own body and blood!

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In Jerusalem

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Jesus’ way led him to Jerusalem, where he was crucified as a criminal. Some claim that Jesus was just a Jewish rabbi who unfortunately got caught up in local politics and was eventually crucified by the Romans for this. However, Mark’s gospel contradicts this opinion. He shows us that Jesus clearly knew what was going to happen to him—he mentioned it three times.

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And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. (Mk 8:31–32)

 

He was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” (Mk 9:30–31)

 

And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise.” (Mk 10:32–34)

 

Jesus’ freely chose to follow this way, even though he knew that it would pass through Jerusalem, where he would suffer and die, before resurrecting.

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The New Temple

 

In the original exodus, God instructed Moses to construct the tabernacle. It was a portable tent in which God came to dwell. During the exodus through the desert, the Israelites carried the tabernacle with them. In this way, God accompanied his people. Centuries later, David replaced the tabernacle with the temple. God now resided there instead, hidden behind the curtain of the Holy of Holies. 

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After Jesus entered Jerusalem, he performed three symbolic actions: he rode on a donkey, cursed a fig tree, and cleansed the temple. By doing these things, he revealed that he was coming as king to judge the city and its temple, as we saw in the previous learning unit. Although the temple was physically destroyed in the year AD 70, when the Romans captured and destroyed the city, it had already ceased to function spiritually as the temple after Jesus’ death.

 

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The Temple Curtain

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And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. (Mk 15:37–38)

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Remember what we saw when we studied Jesus’ baptism in section 2. The word translated as “torn” is the same Greek word schizomenous used only by Mark to describe the opening of the heavens during Jesus’ baptism. By using the same word in these two places, Mark is telling us that Jesus’ baptism and death are connected. This parallelism is intentional. For Mark, the new exodus, which began with Jesus’ baptism, ends with his passion and death. The curtain that blocked our access to God has been torn open by Jesus. 

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This also symbolized the destruction of the temple, which is replaced by Jesus himself. He is the new temple because in him, God dwells in fulness. He is the stone which the builders have rejected, but that has become the cornerstone of a new temple (see Mk 12:10–11). He replaced the temple, which is no longer needed in the new exodus. Just as God accompanied his people during the exodus in the tabernacle, and later the temple, now he accompanies us as we travel along our way in Jesus. In this new exodus, the faithful, gathered around Jesus as the new temple will produce the fruit God is looking for: that is, faith, prayer, and mercy.

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As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Master, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mk 11:20–25)

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This is what Isaiah prophesied when speaking of the new exodus and the new temple.

 

Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,

for soon my salvation will come,

    and my deliverance be revealed.

Blessed is the man who does this,

    and the son of man who holds it fast,

who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it,

    and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

 

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,

    “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;

and let not the eunuch say,

    “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

For thus says the Lord:

“To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,

    who choose the things that please me

    and hold fast my covenant,

I will give in my house and within my walls

    a monument and a name

    better than sons and daughters;

I will give them an everlasting name

    which shall not be cut off.

 

“And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

    to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,

    and to be his servants,

every one who keeps the sabbath, and does not profane it,

    and holds fast my covenant—

these I will bring to my holy mountain,

    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

    will be accepted on my altar;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

    for all peoples.

Thus says the Lord God,

    who gathers the outcasts of Israel,

I will gather yet others to him

    besides those already gathered.” (Is 56:1–8)

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The Name of the First Christians

 

As you study these things, keep in mind that Jesus himself said that he was the way.

 

I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. (Jn 14:6)

 

Also, as we see in the Book of Acts, the first Christians were commonly called “the Way.”

 

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1–2)

 

But this I [Paul] admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law or written in the prophets. (Acts 24:14)

 

They called themselves this way because they were fully aware of the fact that, as Christians, they were called to follow Jesus along his way.

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The Resurrection

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Mark ends his gospel with Jesus’ resurrection.

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And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid. (Mk 16:1–8)

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The purpose of this narrative is to show us that the tomb is empty and Jesus has been raised from the dead. The women didn’t have enough time to anoint him properly on Friday, before the sabbath rest, so they come early on Sunday morning to finish their work. But, as the enter the tomb, they are told by an angel that he is not there, because he has resurrected from the dead. The women were supposed to tell Peter and the other disciples but they say nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

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Some scholars think this is how Mark ended his gospel because several ancient manuscripts omit verses 9 to 20. If this is true, it would be a very abrupt and surprising ending because the women just flee trembling in astonishment and fear, and don’t even tell anyone anything about Jesus’ resurrection. Yet it would also be a very effective ending.

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His opening verse—“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”—doesn’t mean that it is the introduction to his book, “The Gospel of Mark”, but that his book is the introduction to the gospel, or good news about Jesus. Mark leaves his gospel open–ended because the good news about Jesus continues in our own lives and up till the end of time. 

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Other scholars believe that the original ending may have been lost.

 

Whatever the case, it appear that someone added verses 9 to 20 to give the gospel an adequate conclusion. These verses summarize the appearances of the risen Jesus found in the other gospels. Their vocabulary and style suggest that they were written by someone other than Mark. This fact doesn’t diminish their value for us. We know that these verses were composed by the second century because several early Church Fathers cite them and they are considered to be inspired and canonical scripture, even if Mark did not write them.

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Assignments

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• Map out all the verses in which Mark mentions the motif of Jesus’ way. You can use the attached files for this in Excel or PDF formats (click icon to download). ​​