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Authority and Servanthood in the Gospel of Mark, Part I

Most scholars agree that the purpose of the gospel of Mark is in the two broad areas of Christology and discipleship. Mark presents Jesus as Lord and Master and calls his readers to follow Jesus appropriately. One important aspect of this presentation involves the two seemingly contradictory motifs of authority and servanthood. In the gospel, Jesus is presented both as the Authoritative One and as the Suffering Servant. At the same time, he grants his disciples a measure of authority while commanding them with dramatic and extreme imagery to serve others and forsake the pursuit of power and prominence.

Over the next few weeks, I want us to examine these two motifs of authority and servanthood in the Gospel of Mark and see how these themes contribute to our understanding of Christology and discipleship. Today we’ll start with a brief look at the historical background of the gospel. What were the power structures of the first century Palestinian world? In the Israel of Jesus’ day, the distribution of power and authority is best pictured as a pyramid in which the majority of the power is concentrated on a relatively small class of people at the pinnacle. (This information is gleaned from a book by Herman C. Waetjen, A Reordering of Power, 1989).

At the top in the agricultural society of Israel is the ruling class: those who controlled the state and determined ownership of the land and distribution of the surpluss. In the gospel, this class would include Herod Antipas, Pilate, and to some extent the high priest as a willing collaborator with Rome. 

Next is the retainer class; those who were employed in some sense by the ruling class. This group enjoyed a standard of living above that of the lower classes and identified with the ruling class and its interests. It is this class who receives much grief from Jesus in the gospel: the scribes, Pharisees, Herodians, chief preists, and high council. Instead of using their position to serve the lower classes, they are for the most part concerned with retaining their own personal benefits.

The largest class is the peasantry: the farmers, fishermen, artisans, and craftsmen. This group worked the land and paid exorbitant rent and taxes. The disciples and many of Jesus’ followers belong to this group.

The bottom two classes are the unclean and degraded (unskilled laborers involved in offensive or ritually unclean work, e.g. tanners, shepherds, prostitutes) and the "expendables" (non-productive or unemployed individuals of society, e.g. beggars, lepers, the sick, handicapped, vagrants and thieves). This last group was a deprived and dehumanized one holding little power and living without hope.   

Stay tuned for part two! Next time, we’ll trace through the gospel looking for our two themes (authority and servanthood) and observing how Jesus interacted with and responded to these different groups.

4 Comments

  • Heather A. Goodman

    Thank you for this survey of
    Thank you for this survey of the class structure during Jesus’ time. Of course, we don’t have anything defined quite like this in the States, but we have attitudes like this (in the culture at large as well as in the church). As I enter into this story, I find Christ’s diatribes to the Pharisees convicting: Am I, like the Pharisees, more concerned with retaining my power and benefits? Am I willing to befriend the "bottom classes," perhaps those less educated or with lifestyles different than myself? Am I as friendly with the janitor as I am with the pastor? With those who live in trailers as with those who live in suburbs?

  • Terri Moore

    Exactly Heather! I hope that
    Exactly Heather! I hope that over the next couple of weeks, we can explore our deep seated prejudices and discover what Jesus has to say to us as his present day disciples about how to be a true servant to others….

  • Sharifa Stevens

    Oh, this is going to be so

    Oh, this is going to be so great, Terri! I can’t wait to glean from what you have to share with us about the book of Mark. We are reading through the book together currently – and are struck with the irony and reversals. I can’t help but think that my default is to either think like or want to be like the "retainer" set – because there’s so much perceived security and insulation there. There’s too much at stake on the fringes; reputation, cleanliness, wealth, power. And then, at the same time, I feel like a fringe person sometimes because of where society and/or Christendom places me on the social totem pole.

    Jesus lives on the fringes. Radical.

    • Heather A. Goodman

      This is why Rudolph the
      This is why Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer is my hero. Like Jesus, he knows rejection. He was pushed to the fringe, but he also pulls the misfits back into society, healing, loving, and redeeming them.