Paper

The question I chose to address in my paper is what does the death of Christ mean in Mark's gospel. I have chosen to narrow that whole theme down to one portion of the death theme in Mark: the trials of Jesus. As the class has probably read already, Jesus is tried both before the Jews and then also the Roman official Pilate. I believe that Mark not only recounts these trails of Jesus simply to retail a part of history but also to reveal certain theological truths about Jesus.

In my paper, I intend to show why the Jews reacted to Jesus's statement as an act of blasphemy. I have learned already that the Misnah explicitly states that one is not guilty of blasphemy without uttering the divine name of God. My paper will show that Jesus does this by uttering the words "I am." I will also emphasize the theological significance of Jesus' being tried as the "King of the Jews" before Pilate. Truly in most of Mark, the class has learned what low Christology is about, but make no mistake that there is some high Christology in Mark as well. Praise be to Jesus, my Lord and my God!