Introduction
1. As quoted in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.39.14–15 (ca. AD 303). Translation is from S. P. Kealy, Mark’s Gospel: A History of Its Interpretation (New York: Paulist Press, 1982), 12.
2. As quoted in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 6.14.5–7. Translation is from Oden and Hall, Mark, xxiii.
3. To this list might be added the Anti-Marcionite Prologue, a document attached to the Gospels in many Old Latin manuscripts (ca. AD 160–180), and the Muratorian Canon, an ancient list of the books recognized as authoritative by the Church in Rome (ca. AD 170–190).
4. For further evidence of eyewitness testimony underlying Mark and the other Gospels, see Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2006).
5. For a fuller discussion, see Donahue and Harrington, Gospel of Mark, 41–46.
6. The first commentary on Mark was either that of Venerable Bede (AD 673–735) or that of an anonymous seventh-century monk (once mistakenly attributed to Jerome). See Michael Cahill, “The First Markan Commentary,” Revue Biblique 101 (1994): 258–68.
7. For more detailed arguments in favor of Markan priority, see C. M. Tuckett, “Synoptic Problem,” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman, 6 vols. (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 6:263–70. For Markan priority without the Q hypothesis, see Mark Goodacre, The Case against Q (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity, 2002).
8. See, for instance, Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.1.1; Fragments of Origen, in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 6.25.4–5. For more detailed arguments against the priority of Mark, see William Farmer, The Gospel of Jesus: The Pastoral Relevance of the Synoptic Problem (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994).
9. Letter to the Philadelphians 5.1. Where not otherwise indicated, translations from ancient sources are my own.
Prologue to the Gospel Mark 1:1–13
1. In later usage, “gospel” also came to mean a written narrative of the life of Jesus, especially one of the four that the Church accepted into the †canon of Scripture.
2. The NAB puts this phrase in brackets to indicate that it is missing in some ancient manuscripts of the Gospel. A scribal error caused this phrase to be dropped from the original, or (less likely) added to it.
3. The JB translation, “Someone is following me,” should not be taken to imply that Jesus was a disciple of John the Baptist.
4. Later Jewish sources refer to untying the master’s sandals as a task so menial that a Hebrew slave was exempt from it. See Mekilta to Exod 21:2; Talmud b. Ketubboth 96a.
a. Sermon on Holy Epiphany.
5. The connection is not as clear in the NAB, which reads “a mighty wind swept over the waters.” The Hebrew term ruah, like the Greek term pneuma, can mean both “wind” and “spirit.”
6. Mark does not have an explicitly developed theology of the Trinity, but the fact that he attributes distinct acts to the Father (1:11; 9:7), Jesus, and the Spirit (13:11) shows his implicit awareness of the distinction of Persons in God.
7. Compare Matt 3:17, where the heavenly voice speaks to the people about Jesus; and John 1:32–34, where it is John who bears testimony to Jesus.
8. Paradoxically, the desert is also viewed as a place of solitude and withdrawal from human society and thus of special intimacy with God (see on 1:3 above).
a. From A Word in Season: Readings for the Liturgy of the Hours (Villanova, PA: Augustinian Press, 1999), 7:245.
A New Teaching with Authority Mark 1:14–45
a. On Baptism 1.2.
1. The NAB loses something of the dramatic tension by eliminating Mark’s term euthys, “immediately,” used three times in this passage (vv. 21, 23, 28). Here the demon-possessed man comes on the scene “immediately” as Jesus teaches.
a. See Pope John Paul II, apostolic letter Dies Domini (1998), 11–12; Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1951), 16–18.
b. Mark 1:29–31; 3:1–5; Luke 13:10–17; 14:1–4; John 5:1–9; 9:1–14.
Physician, Bridegroom, and Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2:1–3:6
1. Other examples of performative statements would be “I do” in a wedding, or “I bequeath my car to my brother.”
2. The NAB translates the Greek plērōma literally as fullness (NJB “patch”). Plērōma probably refers to the way a patch fills the space made by a tear, but in context it could also allude to the fulfillment of God’s plan brought about by Jesus (see Gal 4:4; Eph 1:10).
a. Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, Dec. 14, 2001.
b. Enarrations on the Psalms 42.7.
3. The phrase when Abiathar was high priest is apparently incorrect, since it was not Abiathar but his father, Ahimelech, who was priest at the time. A possible solution to the discrepancy is that sometimes a section of a biblical scroll was named for a prominent individual or event in that section (as in Mark 12:26). The phrase, which is literally “concerning Abiathar the high priest,” was then intended to locate the relevant section of 1 Samuel, in a way similar to modern biblical chapter divisions. See Lane, Gospel of Mark, 115–16. In return for his pains in helping David, Ahimelech was killed by Saul, and his son Abiathar took over as priest in his place.
4. See Tim Gray, Mission of the Messiah (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road, 1998), 79–83.
5. For this common interpretation, see the Mishnah, Shabbat 14.3–4.
6. See Marcus, Mark 1–8, 248.
7. Matt 12:8–14; Luke 13:10–17; 14:1–4; John 5:1–9; 9:1–14. See sidebar on the sabbath, p. 47.
A New Israel and a New Family Mark 3:7–35
a. Second Apology 6.5–6.
1. Hence the Gospel reading for the feast of St. Bartholomew is John 1:45–51.
2. Some ancient manuscripts of Mark read “Beelzebub” (see NIV), which is close to the mocking distortion of Baal’s name, Baalzebub (“lord of the flies”) in 2 Kings 1:3, 6.
3. Jesus’ listeners might have perceived in 3:24–25 an allusion to Herod the Great, whose household and kingdom both were divided after his death in 4 BC and “came to an end.” See Donahue and Harrington, Mark, 130.
a. Dominum et vivificantem, 46.
4. Mary’s maternal role in the new family of God is suggested in Mark 3:35, further developed in Luke 1:43; 2:34–35; John 19:26–27; Rev 12:1–6, and elaborated theologically in early Christian tradition.
Parables of the Kingdom Mark 4:1–34
1. Although Mark cites less of the actual teaching than any other Gospel, he accents Jesus’ role as teacher more than any other Gospel: see 1:21–22, 27; 2:13; 4:1–2; 6:2, 6, 34; 8:31; 9:31; 10:1; 11:17; 12:14, 35; 14:49.
2. See Martin, Gospel according to Mark, 79.
a. Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), Jesus of Nazareth, trans. Adrian J. Walker (New York: Doubleday, 2007), 192.
3. The New Testament often quotes or alludes to this passage: Matt 13:13–17; Mark 8:17–18; Luke 8:10; John 9:39; 12:40; Acts 28:26–27.
Authority over Nature, Demons, Disease, and Death Mark 4:35–5:43
a. Sermon 63.1–3.
1. The exact location of this site is unknown, since the city of Gerasa (modern Jerash) is actually some thirty miles southeast of the lake. A few ancient manuscripts have “Gadarenes” instead of “Gerasenes” (in accord with Matt 8:28), but Gadara is about five miles from the shore, with no steep cliffs nearby. Other manuscripts attempt to resolve the problem by substituting “Gergesenes,” a site nearer the lake. Most likely Mark had in mind a general area between Gerasa and the lake.
2. See 2 Kings 4:34; Mark 1:31, 41; 5:28, 41; 6:5; 7:33; 8:22–23; Acts 9:17; 28:8.
3. The Greek verb is sōzō, which means both heal and save. See below at v. 34.
Jesus Comes to His Own Mark 6:1–32
1. See 2 Chron 24:19; 36:16; Neh 9:26, 30; Jer 35:15; Ezek 2:5; Dan 9:6, 10; Hosea 9:7.
2. The accounts in Matthew (10:10) and Luke (10:4) differ slightly in not allowing the Twelve even sandals or a walking stick for their mission. Mark may include these items to emphasize his theme of Jesus’ disciples on a continuous journey, walking with him on “the way” of Christian discipleship.
3. See Wilfrid Harrington, Mark, New Testament Message 4 (Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1985), 83.
a. See Josephus, Antiquities 18.109–19.
Understanding the Bread I Mark 6:33–7:37
1. Artos is sometimes translated “loaf” or left untranslated, so its occurrence is not always apparent in English translations.
2. Num 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; 2 Chron 18:16; Jdt 11:19; Ezek 34:5; Zech 10:2.
3. Gen 15:1; Exod 20:20; Judg 6:23; Mark 16:6; Luke 1:13, 30; 2:10.
4. See similar summaries in 1:28, 39, 45; 2:13; 3:7–12; 4:33; 6:6.
5. The verb “to beg” (parakaleō) literally means “call to the side of,” and is the root of paraklētos (advocate), Jesus’ title for the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John (John 14:16).
6. See John Paul II, Catechesi tradendae, 19–20; Christifideles laici, 59.
7. Donahue and Harrington, Mark, 222. Since the original Greek manuscripts had no punctuation, sometimes the translator has to conjecture the author’s intended syntax.
8. Later rabbinic teaching specifically forbids this kind of abuse: Mishnah, Nedarim 9.1.
9. This is the interpretation offered by St. Jerome, Letter 123, To Ageruchia. It differs from that of most modern interpreters, who hold that the main point is that vows made for an unworthy purpose (for example, to withhold support from one’s parents) should not be considered binding.
10. The NAB, like most modern translations, omits v. 16, “Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear,” because it is missing from the most reliable ancient manuscripts.
11. Mark makes this editorial comment from the perspective of the early Church, which had come to increasing clarity about the full implications of Jesus’ teaching. There is no evidence that Jesus’ disciples immediately interpreted his teaching to mean that the kosher laws were no longer obligatory for Jews (see Acts 10:14). In fact, if Jesus himself had violated the kosher laws it would have given his enemies, who were watching him closely (Mark 3:2), ample grounds for condemnation. For the early Church the primary significance of Jesus’ teaching was for Gentiles, who do not have to observe the prescriptions of the old covenant in order to enter into life in Christ (see Acts 15:28–29).
12. For similar lists see Wis 14:25–26; Rom 1:29–31; 1 Cor 6:9–10; Gal 5:19–21; 1 Tim 1:9–10; 2 Tim 3:2–5; 1 Pet 4:3.
13. The NAB unfortunately obscures the link with the multiplication of loaves by translating artos as “food” instead of its usual meaning, “bread.”
14. Matt 7:7–11; 21:22; Mark 11:24; Luke 11:9–13; 18:1–8; John 14:13–14; 15:7, 16; 16:23–24, 26; 1 John 3:22; 5:14–15.
a. Tertullian, The Resurrection of the Flesh 8. See also Catechism, 1015.
Understanding the Bread II Mark 8:1–26
1. Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth, 193–94.
a. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 40.3–4.
On the Way of Discipleship I Mark 8:27–9:29
1. The NAB usually translates Christos as Christ but here as Messiah (from the Hebrew mashiah, anointed) to make clear that Peter is recognizing Jesus as the fulfillment of the messianic hopes of Israel.
2. This content includes, for instance, Jesus’ divine sonship (1:11; 9:7), his creation of a new Israel (3:14), his universal kingship (13:26–27; 14:62), his redemptive suffering and glorification by God (8:31, 38; 10:45), and his gift of eternal life (10:29–30).
3. See France, Gospel of Mark, 330.
a. Against Verres 2.5.169, 165.
b. Jewish War 7.203.
4. See Moloney, Gospel of Mark, 175–77.
a. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, trans. R. H. Fuller (New York: Macmillan, 1963), 47–48. Italics in the original.
5. Apology 50.13.
6. Paul uses the same verb, metamorphoō, to describe the Christian’s gradual transformation into Christ, even in this life: “All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transfigured into his image from glory to glory” (2 Cor 3:18, author’s translation; see Rom 12:2).
7. Ps 51:9; Dan 7:9; Mark 16:5; Rev 3:4–5; 7:14.
8. See the apocryphal Assumption of Moses, dating from the first century AD.
9. Some ancient manuscripts add “and fasting,” perhaps because of the early Christians’ view, rooted in Jewish piety, that prayer is inseparable from self-denial as expressed in fasting (see Luke 2:37; Acts 13:2–3).
On the Way of Discipleship II Mark 9:30–50
1. See John Michael McDermott, “Didn’t Jesus Know He Was God? Mk. 10:17–22,” Irish Theological Quarterly 73 (2008): 307–33.
2. The theme is not always recognizable in translation, since paradidōmi is translated “arrest” (1:14; 14:44), “hand over” (9:31; 10:33; 13:9, etc.), or “betray” (3:19; 14:18, 21) in different contexts.
3. Donahue and Harrington, Mark, 286.
4. This is not to imply that someone doing ministry in Jesus’ name cannot become his adversary (see Matt 7:22–23).
5. Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism (1993), 206. See also Pope Paul VI, Evangelii nuntiandi, 77; John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint, 15.
6. The NAB, like most modern translations, omits vv. 44 and 46 (which are identical to v. 48) because they are missing from the most reliable ancient manuscripts of the Gospel.
a. See 4 Ezra 7.36; 1 Enoch 27.2.
7. C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (New York: Macmillan, 1946), 72–73. Italics in the original.
The Gospel in Daily Life Mark 10:1–31
1. The Hebrew text of Gen 2:24 uses the word for flesh: “and they become one flesh.” The NAB translates the phrase as “one body.”
2. Jesus’ prohibition of divorce is unconditional here and in Luke 16:19 (see also 1 Cor 7:10–11). Although the parallel passages in Matthew contain an exception clause (Matt 5:32; 19:9), this clause seems to refer to cases where no valid marriage has occurred in the first place. The Church interprets Jesus’ prohibition as absolute, and in faithfulness to his teaching has constantly upheld the indissolubility of marriage (see Catechism, 2382–86; Code of Canon Law, canon 1141).
3. Moloney, Mark, 196.
4. See John Paul II, Men and Women He Created Them: A Theology of the Body, trans. Michael Waldstein (Boston: Pauline, 2006). For a brief introduction, see Mary Healy, Men and Women Are from Eden: A Study Guide to John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (Cincinnati: Servant, 2005).
a. St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations, trans. John Clarke (Washington: ICS, 1977), 138–39.
5. Origen, Commentarii in Romanos 5.9; Augustine, On Genesis Literally Interpreted, 10.23.39.
6. Against Heresies 2.22.4.
7. This is not to deny that, in the most profound sense of righteousness, “none is righteous, no, not one” (Rom 3:10 RSV; see Ps 14:3; 53:3).
8. See McDermott, “Didn’t Jesus Know?” 319.
9. Matt 20:1–15; 25:14–29; Luke 16:1–12; 19:12–27; John 4:36.
10. Peter’s claim does not necessarily imply that he has sold all his possessions and donated the proceeds to the poor (see 1:29; John 21:3). But he has nevertheless given up the lifestyle in which he freely enjoyed them in order to travel on mission with Jesus.
On the Way of Discipleship III Mark 10:32–52
1. See Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, April 13, 2006.
2. Elsewhere the New Testament affirms Jesus’ literal descent from the line of David (Matt 1:1; Acts 3:20, 34; Rom 1:3; 2 Tim 2:8), which for the early Church was an extremely important part of the credentials of the gospel.
The Lord Comes to His Temple Mark 11:1–26
1. See 2:28; 5:19–20; 12:35–37; 13:35. Mark attributes the title to him in 1:3; 16:19–20.
2. Many interpreters regard “vessel” (skeuos) as referring specifically to the implements needed for sacrifices and offerings. If so, Jesus is not only disrupting business traffic but (temporarily) bringing the normal liturgical activities of the temple to a halt. However, there is no direct mention of a disruption of the sacrificial cult, which surely would have been brought up at Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin. In the absence of confirming evidence, a more plausible interpretation is that Jesus’ target was the improper and corrupt commercial activity in the temple precincts.
3. The Greek word ethnē can be translated “peoples,” “nations,” or “Gentiles.”
a. From The Lenten Triodion, trans. Mother Mary and Kallistos Ware (London: Faber and Faber, 1978), 341.
4. See Mark 2:5; 4:40; 5:34–36; 9:23–24; 10:52.
5. See Moloney, Mark, 227–28.
6. The NAB, like most translations, does not include v. 26 because it is not found in the most reliable ancient manuscripts.
7. Evagrius Ponticus, De oratione 34; see Catechism, 2737.
The Authority of the Son Mark 11:27–12:44
1. The vineyard is a common biblical image for Israel: see Ps 80:9–17; Isa 27:2–6; Jer 2:21; 12:10; Ezek 19:10–14; Hosea 10:1.
2. “Servants” (douloi, in the Septuagint translation) is often used in the Old Testament to refer to the prophets: see 2 Kings 9:7; Ezra 9:11; Amos 3:7; Zech 1:6.
3. See the apocryphal Ascension of Isaiah 5.1–14; see also Heb 11:37.
4. See Gen 22:2; Jer 6:26; Amos 8:10; Zech 12:10. The feminine form is used this way for an only daughter who is destined to die: Judg 11:34; see also Tob 3:10.
5. See Lane, Mark, 418–19.
a. Bede, Exposition on the Gospel of Mark 2.22, in Oden and Hall, Mark, 165.
a. See Ps 40:7–9; Prov 21:3; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:21–24; Mic 6:6–8.
6. The NAB makes the question sound more like an implicit denial by translating the Greek verb legō as “claim” (compare RSV, NIV “say”; JB, NJB “maintain”). The question could be rendered: “What do the scribes mean when they say that the Messiah is the son of David?”
7. The Hebrew text says YHWH; out of reverence for God’s holy name a Jew praying the psalm would substitute Adonai (the LORD).
8. See Mark 14:62; 16:19; Acts 2:34–35; Rom 8:34; 1 Cor 15:25; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12.
9. See the Talmud, b. Qiddushin 33a.
10. France, Mark, 491–92.
11. See the Mishnah, Sheqalim 6.5.
12. The NAB adds the word “wealth,” but the context suggests that Jesus is not speaking only of the wealthy, but of “all” the contributors other than the poor widow.
The Beginning of the End Mark 13:1–37
1. Although the term eschata does not appear in Mark 13, there are references to the “end” (telos) in vv. 7 and 13.
2. See Timothy C. Gray, The Temple in the Gospel of Mark: A Study in Its Narrative Role (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008), 100–102.
3. The Jews’ return from exile in Babylon, for example, is a new exodus (Isa 41:17–20; 43:16–17); the Messiah would be a new David (Isa 9:5–6); God would make a new covenant (Jer 31:31). The prophets continually present God’s past salvific deeds as the prototype and pattern for his future acts.
4. Some scholars hold that this is a prophecy after the fact (ex eventu), which the early Christians projected back onto the lips of Jesus. But there is no solid evidence to support this theory. Even for those skeptical of prophecy, Jesus’ word stands within the long tradition of biblical warnings of future calamities, including the destruction of the temple. Moreover, the discourse lacks details about the actual event, such as the demolition by fire, which the early Christians could easily have included.
5. See Dan 2:36–45; 9:26; 11:40; and the extrabiblical 4 Ezra 13.31–32. Similar prophecies occur in Isa 19:2; Jer 51:45–47.
6. Brant Pitre, Jesus, the Tribulation, and the End of the Exile (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 231.
7. The NAB does not capitalize “holy,” presumably to indicate that Holy Spirit was not yet a fixed title for the Third Person of the Trinity.
a. Tacitus, Annals 15.44, trans. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb (New York: Random House, 1942).
8. Lane, Mark, 464.
9. Nijolė Sadūnaitė, A Radiance in the Gulag, trans. Casimir Pugevicius and Marian Skabeikis (Manassas, VA: Trinity Communications, 1987), 58–60.
10. Daniel’s oracle cannot be fully explained in reference to the sacrilege of 167 BC, because it refers to the total destruction of the temple and city, which did not occur at that time.
11. It is not known precisely to which first-century event the desolating abomination could refer. Scholars have proposed the following: (1) The Emperor Caligula’s attempt to erect a massive statue of himself in the temple in AD 40; however, his orders were never carried out. (2) The Zealots’ takeover of the temple as their military headquarters and the appointment of their own high priest in AD 67, leading to numerous murders among Jewish factions within the temple. (3) The Roman general Titus’s entry into the ruined temple amid idolatrous acclamations in AD 70; however, this occurred too late for people to carry out Jesus’ warning to flee. The second possibility seems to be the most plausible.
12. Compare RSV, NRSV, JB, NJB, “set up where it ought not to be.” The NAB correctly translates the masculine participle using “he.”
13. Other commentators hold that this phrase is Mark’s aside to readers of his Gospel. For arguments for the reference to Daniel, see Pitre, Jesus, the Tribulation, and the End of the Exile, 309–13.
14. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.5.3.
15. See also Josephus, Antiquities 17.261–85; 20.167–72.
16. See Isa 13:9–13; Ezek 32:7; Joel 2:10–11; 3:3–4; Amos 8:9.
17. The symbolic language does not preclude the possibility of literal cosmic portents, which the ancients interpreted as signs of a cataclysmic event in human history. Josephus describes a number of such portents preceding the fall of Jerusalem (Jewish War 6.288–300).
18. Peter’s Pentecost speech (Acts 2:17–21) apparently interprets this imagery in the same way, that is, in reference to Jesus’ passion and the turn of the ages that it brings about.
19. Summer (theros) is the time of harvest (therismos) in Palestine. The harvest is a common biblical image for eschatological judgment (see Isa 34:4–5; Joel 4:13–18; Matt 13:30, 39; Rev 14:15).
20. The Church is often referred to as a house or household in the New Testament: Gal 6:10; Eph 2:19; 1 Tim 3:15; 2 Tim 2:20–21; 1 Pet 4:17.
The Hour of Decision Mark 14:1–31
1. The NAB translates the same Greek term nardos as “spikenard” here but simply “nard” in Song 1:12; 4:14; John 12:3.
2. Gray, Temple, 100.
3. Mark refers to these events as taking place on the same day (perhaps for the benefit of his Gentile readers), although in Jewish reckoning the Passover meal was technically the day after the lambs were slaughtered (see Lev 23:5–6), since the day begins at sunset.
a. Homilies on First Corinthians 24.2, cited in John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 23.
b. Sermon 272.
4. Harrington, Mark, 218.
Betrayal and Condemnation Mark 14:32–72
1. See Moloney, Mark, 299–300.
2. France, Mark, 598.
3. The same charge reappears at the trial of Stephen (Acts 6:14).
4. In Matthew (26:64) and Luke (22:70), Jesus answers more enigmatically: “You have said so” or “You say that I am.” Of Jesus’ claims in the Gospel of John, 10:34–36 is indirect and 5:17 and 10:30 are implicit. John 8:58 is a claim of divinity not referring to sonship; John 17:5 is in the form of a prayer.
5. He apparently ignores the law that forbids a high priest to rend his garments (Lev 21:10).
a. See Cahill, First Commentary on Mark, 112.
a. From Tradition, Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers, ed. John E. Rotelle (Villanova, PA: Augustinian Press, 1994), 240.
6. Martin, Mark, 412.
The Crucifixion Mark 15:1–47
1. Josephus, Antiquities 18.1.1; 3.2.
2. Jewish War 2.21.5; 6.5.3.
3. Lane, Mark, 566.
4. The NAB omits v. 28 because it is not found in the most reliable manuscripts.
5. Lev 26:12; see Gen 17:7; Exod 6:7; Ps 89:27; Jer 7:23.
6. To affirm that Jesus fully experienced this abandonment, according to Mark’s account, is not to imply that God actually abandoned his Son. Jesus would have been aware that in many Old Testament passages God promises unconditionally never to abandon his people: Gen 28:15; Deut 4:31; 31:6–8; Josh 1:5; 1 Chron 28:20; Neh 9:17; Ps 9:11; Isa 42:16; 49:14–15; Hosea 11:9.
7. See Lorraine Caza, Mon Dieu, pourquoi m’as-tu abandonné? Recherches Nouvelle Série 24 (Paris: Cerf, 1989), especially 327–35, 408–23.
a. Sermon on the Adoration of the Cross, PG 99:691.
8. It is not implausible that “my God” (Elohi in Aramaic, Eli in Hebrew) could be confused with “Elijah” (Eliyah in Aramaic, Eliyahu in Hebrew), especially by nonnatives.
9. Historically, there was an overlap of forty years (a “generation,” 13:30) between the beginning of the new temple and the passing away of the old, during which time Jewish Christians continued to participate in the temple worship of Israel (Acts 2:46; 3:1; 21:26).
a. Epiphanius of Salamis, homily, from the Office of Readings for Holy Saturday, Liturgy of the Hours (New York: Catholic Book Publishing, 1976), 2:496–97.
10. Moloney, Mark, 334.
The Resurrection Mark 16:1–20
a. Sermon 82, in Oden and Hall, Mark, 229–30.
1. See Gen 15:5; 22:13; Josh 5:13; Job 35:5; Zech 5:5.
2. See 2 Macc 3:26, 33; Tob 5:4–5; Acts 1:10; 10:30 for similar portrayals of angels.
3. See Moloney, Mark, 345–46.
4. Easter Troparion, a liturgical hymn sung in the Eastern churches.
5. See Midrash Rosh Ha-Shanah 1.8; Josephus, Antiquities 4.8.15.
6. See 8:31; 9:31; 10:32–34; 12:10–11; 14:17–21, 27–31.
7. A few ancient and medieval manuscripts of Mark insert other brief endings, which the Church does not accept as canonical.
8. See Acts 14:3; Rom 15:19; 1 Cor 2:4–5; 2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:4.
9. See Acts 3:1–10; 5:15–16; 8:7; 9:33–34; 14:8–10; 20:9–12; 28:8–9.
10. John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte, 40.