Priestly Christology and the Gospel of Mark

Cheeseman, Mark (2009) Priestly Christology and the Gospel of Mark. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

The Christology of the Gospel of Mark incorporates a priestly dimension. This has often been neglected due to a bias against priests and a lack of appreciation of the
significance of priestly messianism in second temple Judaism. As an investigation into messianic expectations illustrates, there was a substantial ongoing tradition of messianic expectation on which to draw by the first century C.E. Jesus' cleansing of the leper and healing of the paralytic portray him functioning as a priestly figure, first taking the place of the priest in purifying the leper, then functioning as a priestly messianic agent in mediating divine forgiveness. Jesus' time in Jerusalem portrays him as appropriating the role of the existing
priesthood as national leaders and teachers. Subsequently, Jesus' appearance before the high priest portrays a stand-off between the existing high priest and Jesus, who claims
the high priest's authority.

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