How did Mark portray the death of Jesus?

Answer 1

A:

Scholars have established that Mark's Gospel was the first New Testament gospel to be written and that it was the principal souce for the othe gospels, either directly (Matthew and Luke) or indirectly (John). Thus, we can say that any difference between the account of Jesus' death and resurrection in Mark's Gospel and in the others is the result of elaboration or theological design. The passion story begins with the Last Supper, and that is where we start.

Mark's Gospel divides the last twenty four hours in the life of Jesus into eight periods of just three hours each, marking off time to measure the three hours in each period:

• "When it was evening", or approximately 6 pm, Jesus and the disciples began the Last Supper.
• The duration of the Passover meal was three hours and it concluded with the singing of a hymn. So at the end of his segment Mark noted, "And when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives". It was about 9 p.m.
• Jesus and the disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where his closest disciples, Peter, James and John, were not able to remain awake. "Could you not watch one hour?" Jesus asked. The process was repeated two more times. The disciples could not watch one, two or three hours. It was now midnight.
• The act of betrayal, the darkest deed in human history occurred at the stroke of midnight.
• Jesus was led away for a trial before the Sanhedrin. This governing body then judged him, on the basis of his messianic claim, to be worthy of death. It was 3:00 a.m.
• The watch of the night between 3 am and 6 am was called cockcrow. Mark now inserted his account of Peter's threefold denial of Jesus, once each hour until the cock crowed, marking the end of that phase of the night. That makes it 6 a.m.
• "As soon as it was morning", which would be 6 o'clock, Jesus was led by the chief priests, scribes and elders to Pontius Pilate for judgement.
• "It was the third hour", or 9 o'clock "when they crucified him".
• When "the sixth hour had come" (12 noon), as if on cue, darkness covered the whole earth for three hours, a counterpoint to the midnight betrayal.
• At the end of the three hours, at 3 p.m., Jesus said "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and gave up the ghost.
• Jesus was buried in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb in the final period from 3 to 6 p.m., before the sun went down and the Sabbath began.

Jesus was crucified between two thieves, but there is no suggestion that they both joined the priests and others in mocking him (Matthew 27:44), nor that one of the thieves repented and Jesus promised to see him in paradise (Luke 23:39-43).

Mark's Gospel originally ended at verse 16:8 with the young man telling the women that Jesus was risen and they fled in terror, telling no one - therefore with no further information about the resurrection. The 'Long Ending' (verses 16:9-20) that we now use was added to the gospel long afterwards to add details about the resurrection.

Answer 2

Mark portrayed the death of Jesus by emphasizing his suffering and agony on the cross through detailed descriptions of his physical and emotional pain. He highlighted the darkness that fell over the land and the supernatural events that occurred at the moment of Jesus' death, such as the temple curtain being torn in two. Mark also included the reactions of those present, including the Roman centurion who declared Jesus as the Son of God.