Friday, November 09, 2007

Mark's Christology

How is this for a statement:
Mark’s story of Jesus essentially unpacks the designation ‘Jesus Christ’ from the incipit so as to show that the Messiah that Christians confess is made known as the:
-The Son of God who is beloved by the Father, commissioned for his messianic mission by reception of the Spirit, and exercises command over God’s enemies be they demons or the armies of Rome.
-The Son of Man who is authorized to speak for God, appointed to suffer and rise from the dead, and to judge the inhabited world.
-The Son of David who heals the afflicted of Israel and is greater still than David himself.
- The King of the Jews who, in an ironic twist, at the end of his triumphus is enthroned as the King of Israel on the cross and there reveals the true power of his kingship by refusing to save himself by saving others instead.

4 comments:

J. R. Daniel Kirk said...

Q: What does "Son of God" mean in your taxonomy?

Michael F. Bird said...

Daniel:
(1) Messiah, (2) Filial relationship with Israel's God, and (3) Divine agent par excellance.

jleim said...

Thanks for this post. I've been tracking with you blog and thoroughly enjoy it. A question regarding this post:
"Filial relationship" - is this something along the lines of Jesus being included in the "divine identity" in a unique way (per Bauckham)? Or, is it a broader category, such as Israel as God's son, or Israel's King as God's son? Or, soemthing different?

Anonymous said...

I was blessed enough to preach a series using certain Markan themes at a small church in my home town and good commentators helped me to expound these designations and proclaim, to use pulpit language, that greatness of Christ as God's means of summing up the history of Israel and the whole world.