SECTION I
CHAPTER 9 -- Background Against Which Mark Wrote His Famous Gospel


  According to the gospel stories, Jesus clearly foretells the destruction
of the famous Temple in Jerusalem.  For example, there is one scene in the
gospel of Mark, where Jesus' disciples are admiring the magnificent Jerusalem
Temple. Jesus then prophesizes:

 "Do you see these great buildings?  There will not be left here one stone
  upon another?" (Mark 13:2)

The other gospel writers have very similar scenes were Jesus predicts the
destruction of the Temple.

   Yet, Paul's letters (which can be reliably dated to around the 30-50's C.E.)
NEVER refers to any belief that the Temple would be destroyed. Paul's writings,
of course, are known to have been written before the Jewish-Roman war of 66-70
C.E. (Note: Other very early Christian writings sometimes show a general
belief that the Temple will be destroyed--but only by DIVINE forces upon
Judgment Day.)

  Just as important, there is NO prophecy in the gospels that predict that
the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed a SECOND time. This occurred
during the Roman-Jewish war of 132-5, after a second major revolt by the Jews
was quashed by the Roman Empire.  As a result, most scholars today believe
that the gospel of Mark was composed sometime AFTER 69 C.E. (before the
first Jewish-Roman war), but BEFORE 132 C.E. (the second Jewish-Roman war).

   Regardless of the exact year, we know that the times during which Mark
wrote were very troubling ones for the early Christian communities living
within the Roman Empire. Local Christians living in Rome had experienced
local persecutions in Rome, sometime around 64 C.E., by the mad emperor Nero
who was looking for a scapegoat to cover his bad policies. This fact was
recognized even by pagan Romans.

Earliest Pagan Reference to "Christians"

  The earliest ROMAN reference we have of the existence of Christians is
from the early second century writings of the Roman historian, Tactitus.
Writing somewhat sympathetically of the tortures imposed by the Emperor
Nero on this group of men known as "Christians", he paused to reflect on
the founder of Christianity, and the spread of Christianity to Rome:

   "Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the
  reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate, and the
  pernicious superstition was checked for a moment, only to break out once
  more, not merely in Judea, the home of the disease, but in the capital
  itself, where all things horrible or shameful in the world collect and find
  a vogue."

  (Note: There exists a second, but more vague reference to a group of 
individuals named "Chrestus" in Suetonius' LIFE OF CLAUDIUS: "Since the Jews 
continually made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, Claudius expelled 
them from Rome." (cf. Acts xviii, 2).  Probably this second century C.E. 
reference was to Christians--however there are no other real details given to 
know for sure.)

   Tacitus was writing some fifty years after Nero (i.e., around 110 C.E.),
on a history of earlier corruptions in imperial power. As Tacitus had
official connections in Rome, his writings are indicative of how educated
Romans in the early second century C.E. viewed early Christianity during
this time.  That is, that their leader Jesus had been a Jew who was sentenced
by a Roman governor in the rebellious, fanatically religious province of
Judea.

  Tacitus also wrote of the terrible savagery imposed on the Christians
by the Emperor Nero in Rome:

  "First, Nero had self-acknowledged Christians arrested.  Then, on their
  information, large numbers of others were condemned--not so much for
  incendiarism as for their anti-social tendencies.  Their deaths were made
  farcical.  Dressed in wild animals' skins, they were torn to pieces by
  dogs, or crucified, or made into torches to be ignited after dark as
  substitutes for daylight.  Nero provided his Gardens for the spectacle,
  and exhibited displays in the Circus, at which he mingled with the crowd--
  or stood in a chariot, dressed as a charioteer.  Despite their guilt as
  Christians, and the ruthless punishment it deserved, the victims were
  pitied.  For it was felt that they were being sacrificed to one man's
  brutality rather than to the national interest. [ANNALS 15.43]

Why Were Christians Later Persecuted by Pagans?

  The Christians were targeted for persecution basically for the same reasons
that the Jews were--that is for their refusal to worship the Roman pantheon of
gods. The Romans branded first the Jews, and later the Christians as atheists--
that is "non-believers" in THEIR gods. (From the Roman point of view, this
was true because the Christians and Jews refused to worship THEIR Roman gods.)

  From the time of Augustine on and into the next few centuries, various
conservative Roman leaders stressed the importance of EVERYONE returning
to the worship of the "true" gods of Rome:  The emperor Augustus had
begun the cult of the worship of the emperors.  Although he took pains
not to claim divine status for himself--after his death his "divine spirit" 
was proclaimed as a state god by the Senate, and actively worshipped.
Roman leaders believed that paying religious homage to the Roman gods
served both to encourage patriotism towards Roman rulers, AND ensured the
protection of the Empire from the "gods".

   It was acceptable for any one to have a SECOND religion which worshipped
its own local set of gods, as long as: (1) the Roman pantheon was also
honored and (2) criminal activities were not engaged in. For example
Roman law FORBADE the religious rites of Druids and Phoenicians because they
involved human sacrifice.  Their deities could be worshiped as long as Roman
morality laws were followed--and as long as they showed reverence to Roman
gods and goddesses as well. (Roland H. Bainton, CHRISTIANITY, 1964, p 56)

  It was only the Jews and Christians--whose religions mandated a belief
in ONLY ONE God--who could NOT compromise in this way! As can be seen below
in the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus, it was from this, that the
Jews incurred feelings of hostility and resentment by the Romans:

  "Among the Jews, all things are profane that we hold sacred; on the other
  hand, they regard as permissible what seems to us immoral...Proselytes to
  Jewry adopt the same practices, and the very first lesson they learn is
  to despise the gods, and shed all feelings of patriotism." (HISTORIES 5,4)

   This attitude would also be directed towards Christians, who refused to
worship the Roman gods just as fervently as did the Jews. Interestingly,
many ancient Christians believed that the Roman gods did indeed EXIST-- but
that they were DEMONS!  It is not surprising, therefore, that conservative
Roman authorities would be angered at any group who pronounced their patriotic
gods to be "evil" instead of "good".  (This was compounded by the fact that
the early Christians also taught that this "evil" world was about to be
destroyed.)

The Roman-Jewish War of 66-70 C.E.

    When the Jews in Palestine revolted against Rome in 66 C.E., the Romans
were greatly alarmed, as they feared this rebellion could spread to other
regions (which indeed happened). The capital city of Rome was very nervous,
as roughly three quarters of its population were slaves.  Therefore every
effort was made to quash the rebellion as quickly and harshly as possible.
A wave of patriotism swept through Rome, as the people felt any failure
would encourage other regions of the empire to rebel as well.

   As the war continued, hatred against the Jews increased as reports
circulated of their massacre of Roman stations in Judea, and fanatical
resistance on the battlefield. Gentile Christians became increasingly
alarmed over whether they would be persecuted for their religion's Jewish 
connections.  For the fact remained that the founder of their religion had 
been a Jew in Palestine who had been executed by orders from a Roman 
governor!  As the Roman execution of crucifixion was generally reserved
for seditious activity against the Roman government, Jesus would almost
certainly have been associated, in their eyes, with the Jewish rebellion
against the Roman Empire.

  It would be natural then for the Roman Christians to feel threatened.
In this crisis, a re-evaluation of the true meaning of their religion would
be necessary to relate it to these current events. There were older texts
on the life and worship of Jesus, but these were probably written from a
pro-Jewish Christian viewpoint (as we have see, these earlier religious
texts  probably originated from the Christian community in Jerusalem before
the revolt).

    The gospel of Mark is believed by some scholars to have been written
during these troubled times in some Roman city-- (possibly even Rome
itself), sometime after the Jewish Revolt of 66-70 C.E.  One eastern
Christian tradition places the community that Mark wrote for in Antioch,
Syria. Most scholars believe Mark was composed shortly after the Jewish-
Roman War--but some have argued for a date closer to 90 C.E.

    Most scholars agree that Mark's main goal in writing his gospel was
to address the theological issues and concerns of his local Roman Christian
community and NOT to write necessarily a historical document on the life
of Jesus. According to John Collins, professor of Theology at Notre Dame
(whose view is shared by more liberal religious scholars),  all four gospel
stories "are not precise, factual accounts--but they weren't intended to
be.  The evangelists were not reporters or historians in the modern sense."
They were instead, "testimonies of faith" and "stories with a view to
getting points across."

  The significance of the gospel of Mark, is that it is now believed to be 
the OLDEST of the four gospels included in the New Testament.  That is, all
the older texts that Mark used as reference materials were probably either
lost or destroyed.  Scholarly research has also demonstrated that both
Matthew and Luke almost certainly used Mark as one of their strong text
references. (That is, fully 610 out of Mark's 661 verses are believed to
have been used by these two gospel writers). The gospel writer of John is
thought likely to have been at least familiar with the text of Mark
(either directly from Mark or indirectly from the writings of Luke and
Matthew).

The Gospel of Mark

  According to Christian oral tradition, the author of Mark was written by a
companion of the apostle Peter, who directly gave Mark his version of what
happened.  As we have seen, during the times when Paul wrote, there was a
bitter controversy going on as to whether Christians were obliged to obey
Jewish rites and laws.

   When Mark wrote his gospel, the Christian community in which he lived,
appears to have had LITTLE to no interest or knowledge of basic Jewish
customs or geography. Indeed, Mark takes the time to explain such basics
as "the Pharisees and all the Jews never eat without washing their hands..
and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify 
themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe", (Mark 
7:3-4).  He does not refer to the prophets and Old Testament passages as 
Matthew does. He feels it necessary to explain that the Jordan is a "river".

  Mark also used Roman conventions throughout his gospel: He translated
the Greek/Maccabean coins used in his stories into their Roman monetary
equivalent (two leptons was worth about the same as a quadran--the smallest
Roman coin or penny).  In his account of Jesus' walk on the Sea of Galilee,
he used the Roman time convention which divides the night into four watches
(see Mark 6:48)

  Mark mentioned Jesus miraculous healing powers more often than any of
the other Gospel writers. Mark's Christian community was composed primarily
of pagan converts. These pagan converts would have been familiar with pagan
shrines where miraculous cures were being reported.  Mark's gospel is filled
with miracles performed by Jesus, which would demonstrate to his audience
that Jesus was a greater miracle worker than any of the older pagan gods.

   Even the casual reader of Mark cannot miss the blatant anti-Semitic
themes that prevail throughout this gospel.  By the time Mark wrote his 
gospel, gentile Christian congregations were wanting to cut off all ties 
with Judaism. Jews for their part, had become angry at what they viewed to 
be a distortion of their history and culture.  For Jesus had become portrayed 
by gentile Christian groups not only the messiah, but as a divine god in his 
own right-- a god who even claimed to have the authority to supercede the 
Torah. After the revolt of 70 C.E., the Pharisees had become the spokesman 
for Judaism, (as the Sadduccees had lost their symbolic source of authority 
with the destruction of the Temple). The Pharisees would be even more 
adamant about the authority of the Torah, than the Sadduccees.

the Messianic "SECRET" theme in Mark

  Mark needed to explain in his gospel WHY the majority of the Jews had
refused to accept Jesus as the Christ, and why Jesus' earthly mission had
ended in failure. One way he does this, is to explain Jesus' mission against
a cosmic background--good forces combating evil demonic powers.  And to keep 
the demonic powers at bay, it was necessary for Jesus to perform most of his 
miracles in SECRET.

  According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus addressed the people exclusively 
in parables, and later explained their true meanings in private to his
disciples.  Jesus stated that he had chosen to teach in parables, to
keep his true message a SECRET from the general public, "lest haply they
should turn again, and it should be forgiven them. (see Mark 4:11-12)
Mark thus talks in terms of predestination:  That it is God's plan to
reveal His will to some, but hide it from others. (Mark 4:25) Mark also
carefully has Jesus instruct his disciples so as not to tell the others
of his miracles.  Even when demons cry out, 'You are the Son of God!' Jesus
orders them not to make him known. (Mark 3:11-12).

  One would think, that the nature of some miracles was such, that it
would have been virtually impossible for the public to have MISSED their
occurrences.  For example, after Jesus raised Jairus' daughter from the
dead, it had already been public knowledge that she had died.  Jesus
orders those present to tell no one, even though surely the fact that she
was now alive should have been publicity in itself that a miracle had occurred.

  This SECRECY mission of Jesus is a theme that occurs repeatedly throughout
Mark.  Interestingly, the other three Gospels do NOT present this secrecy
view! In the other gospels, Jesus' miracles are presented before all, as
opposed to in secret --and  Jesus is publicly hailed as a great prophet
and miracle worker.   (See further below for details.)

Theme of Jesus Disciples NEVER Understanding His Messiah-ship

    Mark also presents Jesus' Jewish disciples as AMAZINGLY stupid and blind 
in recognizing his messiah-ship.  The disciples are astonished at witnessing 
Jesus' miracles, but they do not understand what it means-- ie that Jesus 
himself is the predicted messiah. For example, when Jesus walks on the water 
at the Sea of Galilee, Mark writes that the disciples were "utterly astounded" 
and "their hearts were hardened" (Mark 6:51-2), for they did not understand 
previous miracles performed by Jesus, such as "about the loaves".

  As we have seen regarding the writings on the Jews of this time, this was
not an accurate portrayal of the social political environment in Palestine
during which Jesus lived. For, according to the reports of Josephus, all
of Palestine was teeming with various religious leaders who were claiming
to be either prophets or messiahs. According to Matthew, Jesus himself warns
about "false Christs and false prophets" who shall show great signs and
wonders, in trying to deceive the people--including the elect themselves,
if possible.

  In Mark, the first person to believe in Jesus' true status as the messiah
is a GENTILE--a Roman centurion, who seeing Jesus on the cross exclaims:
"Truly, this man was the Son of God". (Mark 15:39) (In the gospel of
 Matthew, Peter is the first to understand Jesus' true mission as messiah.)

Jesus, the "Loyal" Roman Subject

  Mark presents Jesus in such a way as to make him as "UN-Jewish as possible.
As we have seen, the tense revolutionary activity in Judea would have placed
Christians on the DEFENSIVE to prove that Jesus was NOT a revolutionary,--
especially since it was common knowledge that Jesus was executed by order
of the Roman governor of Judea (who generally only became involved in
POLITICAL or revolutionary trials.)

   Mark's gospel carefully presents Jesus-- NOT as a political revolutionary
messiah of the Jews--but instead as a SPIRITUAL messiah. In Mark's gospel,
the Jews hate Jesus and oppose him whenever possible. Mark also presents
POSITIVE evidence that Jesus is a loyal subject of Rome--such as in the
scene where Jesus tells the Jews they must pay their fair taxes to Caesar.

   In this scene, Mark portrays the Pharisees as scheming to entrap Jesus:
They ask Jesus whether it was lawful or not to give tribute to Caesar.  Jesus
however outsmarts them. After requesting to see a penny, Jesus asks whose
image appears on it. When they said it was Caesar's.  Jesus replied,

  "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the
  thing that are God's. And they [the crowds of people] marveled greatly
  at him." (Mark 12:17)

  Against what the historian Josephus and others have written about Judea
during this time period, it is obvious that the attitude of the Jews
towards the Romans was one of outright hatred!  The Romans, as we have seen, 
were brutal in their conquest of Palestine-burning cities to the ground and 
forcing entire city populations into slavery for even being "late" for tribute.  
The Jews were overtaxed, and many were forced off their land from the continued 
devastation of wars.  The hostile feelings by the Jews were religious in nature 
too--seeing resources from the Holy Land, "those things that are God's" being 
sent to a pagan Empire.

   Indeed, throughout the gospels, the profession of "tax collector" in
Palestine is automatically equated with "SINNER"--and shown in equal
ill-repute with prostitutes. (See Mark 2:14, Matthew 9:9,Luke 5:27-9,19:2)
Thus, for Jesus to have truly made a saying on Roman taxes-- before crowds
that "marveled greatly at him"-- the understanding would have had to have
been 'That's right pay to Caesar those things which are Caesar's--ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING!'  Indeed, roughly thirty years later, one of the major causes of
the Great Revolt against Rome in 66 C.E. by the Jews was over the payment of
tribute to Rome.

  Some scholars have maintained that the "Messianic secret" and the "Stupid
Jews" themes, were used by the gospel writer Mark to explain to his Christian
community why the majority of Jews had rejected Jesus' messiah-ship. Mark's
account assured his Christian community that it was God's will that the
majority of the Jews had not comprehended the true nature of Jesus. Mark's
themes would explain why the Christians were being falsely persecuted
by the Romans AND also WHY a bitter feud had developed between Christians
and the Jews. Mark explained how the Jews had been hostile to Jesus from
the very beginning of his ministry in Palestine.  Jesus had always been a
loyal Roman citizen and NOT a revolutionary--and therefore Christians were
undeserving of persecution by the Romans.

   To explain the embarrassing situation of how Jesus had gotten caught
up in Jewish Roman politics, Mark provided an ingenious solution.--Jesus
had been a victim of Jewish hatred and hostility from the very beginning
of his ministry.  Jesus' own disciples were of course Jews--but even they
were incredibly stupid and could not understand Jesus' true mission.

  Mark shows how Jesus had always kept himself apart from his revolutionary
Jews and instead had been a loyal citizen of Rome. As for the execution of
Jesus at the orders of the Roman governor, Mark shows how Pilate personally
believed Jesus was innocent. Local Jewish politics "FORCED" him to order
Jesus' crucifixion, after Jewish mobs began chanting to crucify Jesus.


   The gospel of Mark was almost certainly read and used as a text source
by at least two of the other gospel writers -- ie Matthew and Luke (and
possibly even John). Starting with Mark, all four gospels emphasized that
Jesus' message was RELIGIOUSLY offensive to the Jews, as opposed to
POLITICALLY offensive to the Romans--and that his crucifixion was therefore
staged by the Jews, not the Romans. Mark does this by portraying Jesus as
"pro-Roman", while the other gospel writers tend to emphasize instead Jesus'
political pacifism. (Brandon, THE TRIAL OF JESUS OF NAZARATH, p 76)