Throughout history two terms, Messiah and Son of God, have been used by different people to indicate differing expectations as to who the savior of Israel was going to be. The term messiah is from the Hebrew word mashiach, meaning anointed. In the Greek, the word cristos translates into Christ, and it too means anointed. By identifying Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God, Mark is conveying to his first-century audience that Jesus was a suffering Messiah and the Son of God who encompassed the characteristics of history’s diverse expectations. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Messiah was described as being three different types of people: kings, prophets, and priests. Each of these three different types of people were thought to be the
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At this time, it was still most common that the messiah was going to be a king who was heavenly and royal. Other Israelites believed that no messiah was coming to save them at all. Rabbi Akiva believed that the messiah was Bar Kohkba, differing greatly from most of the other beliefs. (TJ, Ta'an. 4:8; Lam. R. 2:2, no. 4) Lastly, the selection from the Dead Sea Scrolls indicates that the Qumran community believed there to be two messiahs, Aaron and Israel, and one prophet during the end times. (Rule of the Community IX, 9-11) According to the Encyclopedia Judaica (112), the Messiah was always human and an agent of God, but never a savior in the Christian meaning. Largely, the beliefs of the Israelites at this time were still strongly rooted in the belief that the messiah was going to be either a king, prophet, or priest who had to prove his worthiness through his deeds. In Mark, messiah is interpreted in two distinct ways among Peter and Mark himself. Peter identifies Jesus as the messiah in Mark 8:29 and in the following versus indicates what kind of Messiah Jesus is. Peter disagrees with Jesus and believes the messiah to be an all powerful king sitting upon a throne and disagrees with Mark’s expectation. This is revealed in Mark 8:32, “He(Jesus) said all of this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” On the other hand, Mark is trying to identify Jesus as a suffering …show more content…
First of all, God mentions that Jesus is the Son of God in Mark 1:1 and in Mark 9:2-8. Mark is conveying that God of the universe knows that Jesus is the Son of God. There are two characters in particular that know Jesus is the Son of God in Mark. The first too identify Jesus as Son of God are the demons who state, “Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’” (Mark 3:11) The second character is the centurion who was the only human to identify Jesus as the Son of God. Mark 15:39 it states, “Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” Similarly, Jesus does not claim to be the Son of God until he is being persecuted by the high priest before his crucifixion. Mark 14:61-62 states, “But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’ Jesus said, ‘I am…’” Largely, Mark identifies Jesus as the Son of God in both of these instances to reiterate his point that the Son of God is revealed to be Jesus at the end of his life, after the suffering has been
At this time, it was still most common that the messiah was going to be a king who was heavenly and royal. Other Israelites believed that no messiah was coming to save them at all. Rabbi Akiva believed that the messiah was Bar Kohkba, differing greatly from most of the other beliefs. (TJ, Ta'an. 4:8; Lam. R. 2:2, no. 4) Lastly, the selection from the Dead Sea Scrolls indicates that the Qumran community believed there to be two messiahs, Aaron and Israel, and one prophet during the end times. (Rule of the Community IX, 9-11) According to the Encyclopedia Judaica (112), the Messiah was always human and an agent of God, but never a savior in the Christian meaning. Largely, the beliefs of the Israelites at this time were still strongly rooted in the belief that the messiah was going to be either a king, prophet, or priest who had to prove his worthiness through his deeds. In Mark, messiah is interpreted in two distinct ways among Peter and Mark himself. Peter identifies Jesus as the messiah in Mark 8:29 and in the following versus indicates what kind of Messiah Jesus is. Peter disagrees with Jesus and believes the messiah to be an all powerful king sitting upon a throne and disagrees with Mark’s expectation. This is revealed in Mark 8:32, “He(Jesus) said all of this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” On the other hand, Mark is trying to identify Jesus as a suffering …show more content…
First of all, God mentions that Jesus is the Son of God in Mark 1:1 and in Mark 9:2-8. Mark is conveying that God of the universe knows that Jesus is the Son of God. There are two characters in particular that know Jesus is the Son of God in Mark. The first too identify Jesus as Son of God are the demons who state, “Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’” (Mark 3:11) The second character is the centurion who was the only human to identify Jesus as the Son of God. Mark 15:39 it states, “Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” Similarly, Jesus does not claim to be the Son of God until he is being persecuted by the high priest before his crucifixion. Mark 14:61-62 states, “But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’ Jesus said, ‘I am…’” Largely, Mark identifies Jesus as the Son of God in both of these instances to reiterate his point that the Son of God is revealed to be Jesus at the end of his life, after the suffering has been