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Morning Seminar
Charting the Future or a Perspective on the Present?
The Paraenetic Purpose of Mark 13 and Other Apocalyptic Literature
—Dean Deppe
Summary and Conclusion
The Purpose of Eschatological Teaching
The Structure of Mark's Eschatological Discourse
The Connection Between the Eschatological Discourse and the Passion Narrative
Summary
American evangelicals and fundamentalists cannot seem to get their fill of prophecy conferences. Detailed charts of future events, decoded hidden messages from the Bible: these have become the symbols of vibrant Christianity in our time. Paul Boyer, in his 1992 book, When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Beliefs in Modern American Culture, pp. 2-3, contends that “ ‘Obsession' is the appropriate word to describe some eight million prophecy buffs today, who pore over the prophecies of the Apocalypse in Nostradamus style, anachronistically correlating current events with its ancient cryptic warnings.” Red China is equated with the kings of the East (Rev. 16:12-16), the European Common Market becomes the ten horns of the beast (13:1-10), and the mark of the beast is identified with everything from credit cards to the Internet. Before the cold war thawed after 1989, Russia was Gog and Magog. With the Scofield Reference Bible in one hand and Hal Lindsay's The Late Great Planet Earth in the other, this army of prophets marched out into society confident of knowing the future. Every societal peace march became a future prophecy of the Book of Revelation. “The crescendo of peace rhetoric,” wrote Jack Van Impe “is but a … harbinger of history's bloodiest hour.” (Boyer, 176). The organization of OPEC in the Middle East led to John Walvoord's book, Armageddon, Oil, and the Middle East Crisis which sold 750,000 copies and 12 foreign language editions. (Boyer, 164). In 1987 Logos bookstore by the UCLA campus stocked no fewer than 81 separate prophecy titles. The historian Leonard Sweet observed that “Watching, waiting, and working for the millennium … has become, even more than baseball, America's favorite pastime.” (Theological Studies, 40 (1979): 531).
But the tide is turning. With a new emphasis upon the preterist position, the first century context is coming to the fore. Opponents of a future emphasis are letting their voice be heard like never before. Richard Hays in his book, The Moral Vision of the New Testament, 171 pointed out that “The book (i.e. Revelation) was not written to predict particular historical events two thousand years in the future of its original author and audience. To construe it in that way is to make a foolish category mistake and – most important – to misread its word to the church.” Such an interpretation is a category mistake since the genre of apocalyptic was not geared to the distant future. Larry Hurtado (Patterns of Discipleship, 16) adds, “Instead of offering an eschatological timetable or speculative calculation on the basis of a checklist of eschatological woes, Mark 13 focuses on the responsibility of proclaiming the gospel and the opposition that such proclamation receives (vv. 9-13). The worldwide progress of the gospel is the key eschatological necessity. It is the condition that ‘must' be fulfilled ‘first' for the eschaton to appear (v. 10).” Here we begin to approach the point that I would like to underline. It is the exhortation to the present that is the emphasis, not the intricate scenario of future events. Hurtado calls attention to the worldwide preaching of the gospel. That is certainly one of the paraenetic emphases, but there are many more.
To demonstrate the present paraenetic emphasis of apocalyptic literature (i.e. instruction for the now consisting mainly of imperatives on how to live), I will first of all survey various examples of such literature in the New Testament. I will show that each passage climaxes in an ethical exhortation demonstrating that the purpose of eschatological texts is not to predict the future through calculations but to pastor the people through comfort. Then I will turn to Mark 13 as a case in point to demonstrate that an ethical exhortation is its primary stress through
• an investigation of its structure and its vocabulary. The chiastic structure calls attention to Mark 13:9-13 which emphasizes that the church must take up their cross and follow Jesus;
• a close look at its tie to the passion narrative through
a. Vocabulary similarities with Mark 14;
b. Mark 13:35 introducing a structure for the passion narrative;
c. Common themes;
• and a study of the Markan frame around the 13th chapter of Mark.
Conclusion
The implications of this study suggest that preaching apocalyptic texts should climax in the ethical difference that this future teaching makes in the present lives of church members. Apparently there should be a lot less prophecy conferences and a lot more cross bearing action on the part of the Christian community. Jesus, the gospel writers, and therefore the Christian community today should lay the primary stress upon discipleship activities such as the preaching of the gospel, our readiness to suffer, and the sacrificial lifestyle of the believer.
The following handouts give an outline of the four areas of arguments:
The Purpose of Eschatological Teaching
The Structure of Mark's Eschatological Discourse
The Connection
Between the Eschatological Discourse and the Passion Narrative
I. THE PAULINE EPISTLES
A. 1 Thess. 4:13-18 THOSE WHO HAVE DIED AND THE COMING OF THE LORD
4:18 encourage and comfort ( parakalei=te ) each other with these words
B. 1 Thess. 5:1-11 THE TIME OF THE LORD'S COMING
1. Be alert and self-controlled (5:6)
2. Put on the armor of God (5:8)
3. Encourage ( parakaleitw ) one another and build ( oikodomeite ) each other up (5:11)
C. 2 Thess. 1:5-12 JUDGMENT AND THE FUTURE
Pray to be counted worthy of your calling (1:11)
D. 2 Thess. 2:1-15 SIGNS OF THE END
1. Stand firm ( sthkete ) (2:15)
2. Hold to the teachings ( krateite tav paradoseiv ) we passed on to you (2:15)
E. 1 Cor. 15:12-58 RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
1. Stand firm ( edraioi g/nesqe ) (15:58)
2. Give yourself fully to the work of the Lord
II. THE PETRINE EPISTLES
A. 1 Peter 4:7-11
1. TEACHING ABOUT THE LAST TIMES (4:7) “The end of all things is at hand”
2. ESCHATOLOGICAL ETHICS (4:8-11)
a. Be clear minded and self-controlled so you can pray (4:8)
b. Above all, love each other (4:9)
c. Offer hospitality (4:10) (like Mt. 25)
d. Use your spiritual gifts (4:11)
B. 2 Peter 3:3-10
1. TEACHING ABOUT THE LAST DAYS (3:3-13)
2. ESCHATOLOGICAL ETHICS (3:11-14)
a. Live holy and godly lives (3:11)
b. Be found spotless, blameless, and at peace (3:14)
III. JAMES 5:7-11
A. ETHIC PLACED FIRST FOLLOWED BY ESCHATOLOGICAL REFERENCE
1a. Be patient 1b. until the Lord's coming (5:7)
2a. Be patient and stand firm 2b. because his coming is near (5:8)
3a. Don't grumble 3b. the Judge is standing at the door (5:9)
IV. THE GOSPELS
A. Matthew 24
1. TEACHING ABOUT THE END (Mt. 24:1-41)
2. ESCHATOLOGICAL ETHICS (Mt. 24:42-25:46)
a. 24:42 “Therefore keep watch”
b. 24:45 Faithful and wise steward
c. 25:1-13 Have plenty of oil = probably good works for Matthew
d. 25:14-30 Use of talents
e. 25:31-46 Do it unto the least of these my brethren
B. Luke 17:20-37
1. TEACHING ABOUT THE END: Coming of the kingdom
2. ESCHATOLOGICAL ETHICS: “whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it” (17:33)
STRUCTURE OF MARK'S ESCHATOLOGICAL DISCOURSE
A. THE DOUBLE INTRODUCTION
1. 13:1-2 Jesus' prediction of the destruction of the temple (observation and prediction)
2. 13:3-4 The disciples' question about when this will be fulfilled (two questions)
B. THE DOUBLE DESCRIPTION OF SIGNS
1. 13:5-23 SIGNS UPON THE EARTH
a. 13:5-6 Beware of false messiahs (inclusio with 13:21-23 Blepete )
b. 13:7-8 General signs (things you will hear): beginning of birth pains
c. 13:9-13 Persecution ( blepete placed at beginning, middle, and end of 13:5-23)
d. 13:14-20 Abomination of desolation (things you will see): tribulation ( qliyiv )
e. 13:21-23 Beware of false messiahs (inclusio with 13:5-6 Blepete )
2. 13:24-27 SIGNS IN THE HEAVEN
a. 13:24-25 The physical heavens
b. 13:26-27 The coming of the Son of Man
C. DOUBLE PARAENETIC CONCLUSION USING PARABLES
1. 13:28-31 PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE (nearness of Jesus' coming)
2. 13:32-37 PARABLE OF THE DOORKEEPER (suddenness of Jesus' coming)
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ESCHATOLOGICAL DISCOURSE AND THE PASSION NARRATIVE
A. THE CHIASM IN MARK 13:5-23 AND THE DISCIPLESHIP COMMITMENT
B. THE VOCABULARY: blevpete and grhgorei`te Ties with the Gethsemane story
1. Mark 13:34 “tell the one at the door, ‘keep watch'” ( tw`/ qurwrw`/ ejneteivlato i{na grhgorh` )
Mark 13:36 “Therefore keep watch ( grhgorei`te ou\n ) because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back”
Mark 13:37 “What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch'” ( grhgorei`te )
2. Mark 14:34 “Stay here and keep watch ( meivnate w|de kai; grhgorei`te )
Mark 14:37-38 “Could you not keep watch ( grhgorh`sai ) for one hour?
Watch and pray ( grhgorei`te kai; p roseuvcesqe )
Mark 14:41 “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough!
C. MARK 13:36 AND THE STRUCTURE OF THE PASSION NARRATIVE
THE FOUR WATCHES for the eschatological expectation (13:35 evening, midnight, when the rooster crows, dawn) become the four structural units for watching for the events of the crucifixion.
1. Evening = Mk. 14:17-31 -v. 17 “when evening came”
-Jesus predicts that the disciples will fall away (14:27) and that Peter will not be ready for Jesus' passion (14:29-30)
2. Midnight = Mk. 14:32-51 (night so that the disciples sleep)
3. When the rooster crows = Mk. 14:53-72 (14:72 the cock crows; 14:68 some mss.)
4. Dawn = Mk. 15 (15:1 very early; the dawn in Mk. 16 provides the hope)
D. THE COMMON THEMES
1. WORLD MISSION
13:10 “the gospel must first be preached to all nations”
14:9 “wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will be told”
2. THE THREE CALLS TO WATCH for the second coming (13:34,35,37) are paralleled with the three calls to watch for Jesus' passion in the garden of Gethsemane (14:36-41) and the triple denial by Peter
3. Jesus return to the disciples who are SLEEPING (14:37-38,40-41) is exactly what he had warned in the parable would happen (13:36): the master will come suddenly and find his disciples sleeping. The Parable of the Doorkeeper and Gethsemane are the only two pericopae in Mark where sleeping is a vice.
4. Jesus was BETRAYED BY ONE OF HIS OWN (14:45) and brother will betray brother to death in the future at 13:12 (threefold paradidw&mi in 13:9,11,12)
5. THE TRIAL OF JESUS WILL USHER INTO A TRIAL FOR THE DISCIPLES
14:53-72 Peter denies the Lord in his suffering
13:9-13 The disciples will be faced with suffering where they will be tempted to deny the Lord
6. FALSE MESSIAHS
13:21-23 False Christs are coming before the end
14:61,64 The Sanhedrin believe that Jesus is a false Christ
7. THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN
14:62 “You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Might One and coming on the clouds of heaven”
13:26 “men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory”
8. TEMPLE DESTRUCTION
15:38 “The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom”
13:2 “Not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down”
E. THE FRAME OF DISCIPLESHIP AROUND MARK 13: STORY OF THE WIDOW'S MITE (12:41-44) AND THE WOMAN ANOINTING JESUS (14:3-9)
1. Vocabulary and lexical connections
a. The use of term o#lov : 12:44 widow give all;
14:9 whole world hear the message
b. Both begin with amh_n le/gw umi=n (12;43; 14:9)
c. The stitch word “poor” is employed twice in each story (12:42,43; 14:5,7)
2. Similar procedure as with the two healings of the blind men framing the discipleship catechism (8:22-26; 10:46-52)
3. In both Jesus praises a woman who demonstrates the way of self-giving
4. The widow's mite is surprisingly better than the enormous offerings of the rich placed in the temple treasury and the woman's offering is better than giving the money to the poor
5. Both stories anticipate the events of 15:21-16:8 about the death of Jesus
a. The widow gives her whole life (12:44) (Dewey, Markan Public Debate, 154)
b. The woman has anointed Jesus' body for burial (14:8)
c. There is a progression from giving up of life to burial after death
d. Best, Following Jesus, 155 “Jesus praises a woman who gives her all to the temple which is about to be destroyed” just as Jesus is about to be destroyed in death
6. Contrast with its immediate context
• The bad example of scribes with reference to widows (12:40 “you devour widows' houses”) is contrasted with the good example of the widow
• The woman's generous act is contrasted with Judas' dastardly act of betrayal (14:10)
—provided by Dean Deppe