This
book asks: How might the earliest gospel have been heard by those first
followers of Jesus who were religious Jews? Assuming that the earliest
Jesus traditions took their shape from forms familiar to Judaism, Sabin
sets the composition of Mark in the context of the theological discourse
of first-century Judaism. In that context, she notes, all theology was
biblical. It took the form of an exchange between current events and
Scripture: contemporary persons and happenings were understood through
the lens of the Hebrew Bible, while at the same time, the biblical word
was reopened--that is, reinterpreted--so as to reveal its relevance to
the present faith-community.
Applying this kind of compositional
process to the Gospel of Mark, Sabin uncovers a fresh reading of the
seed, fig tree, and vineyard parables; of the various Temple scenes; of
the foolish disciples and the wise women; and of the controversial
ending. She highlights the results of her findings by juxtaposing them
with interpretations of the same passages given by various church
fathers such as Origen, Irenaeus, and Bede, as well as by readings from
the twentieth century. The results are provocative.
Sabin sees Mark
as an original theologian shaping his material out of two primary Jewish
traditions: the Wisdom traditions, with their emphasis on God's
presence in daily life, and Creation theology, which imagined the End
Time not as a catastrophe but as a return to the Garden. She thus offers
a new way of understanding Mark's use of Scripture, his eschatology,
and his presentation of Jesus.
In conclusion, she argues that
retrieving Mark's voice in the context of Early Judaism brings with it
insights much needed in our day: of God's presence in the ordinary; of
God's image reflected in female as well as male; of watchfulness as the
way of wisdom; of God's revelation as ongoing.
Mark's
'biography' of Jesus is the earliest of the four gospels, and
influenced them all. The distinctive feature of this biography is the
quality of 'good news', which presupposes a world dominated by the
forces of evil. John Painter shows how the rhetorical and dramatic
shaping of the book emphasises the conflict of good and evil at many
levels - between Jesus and the Jewish authorities, Jesus and the Roman
authorities, and the conflict of values within the disciples themselves.
These matters of content are integral to this original approach to
Mark's theodicy, while the stylistic issue raises the question of Mark's
intended readership. John Painter's succinct yet thorough treatment of
Mark's gospel opens up not only these rhetorical issues, but the social
context of the gospel, which Painter argues to be that of the Pauline
mission to the nations.
