The Crucified Messiah

The inability of men to recognize Jesus as the Son of God until after his crucifixion is a key theme of Mark , and the first man who identified him as such was the Roman centurion on duty during his execution. The self-identification of Jesus as the “ Son of Man ” who suffers for his people made him repugnant to unregenerate men and unrecognizable to Israel (“ His own received him not ”).

The literary unit in chapters 1 and 2 of the Gospel of Mark includes five stories that highlight the authority of Jesus as the “ Son of Man ,” and shows the growing conflicts between him and the religious authorities from Jerusalem, especially over issues of ritual purity and Sabbath regulations. There are parallels between the present story and the preceding one about the cleansing of the leper.

In the  Gospel of Mark , we see Jesus “ on the way ” to Jerusalem and his death. This theme occurs se veral times in Mark's account, beginning with the Baptist who was sent to “ prepare THE WAY before the Lord .” The Nazarene would complete his mission as the ‘ Suffering Servant ’ portrayed centuries earlier in  Isaiah . He would be tried by the priestly leaders from the Temp le, and face death outside the walls of the City of David at the hands of Rome.

Jesus defeated Satan in the wilderness, and the effects of his victory were demonstrated as he exercised authority over demonic forces upon his arrival in Galilee where he began to proclaim the Good News – “ Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near! ” For, in Jesus of Nazareth, “ The people that sat in darkness Saw a great light. And to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, to them did light spring up .” With the appearance of the “ Son of Man ,” the era of salvation had commenced.

In the three synoptic gospels, the term “ Son of Man ” is the self-designation found most often on the lips of Jesus. It is derived from Daniel’s vision of the one “ like a Son of Man ” who received the “ dominion and kingdom ” from the “ Ancient of Days .” According to Jesus, “ All the tribes of the Earth ” will mourn when “ they see the Son of man coming on the clouds of Heaven .”

The Son of Man is revealed and comprehended in his sufferings and self-sacrificial death for others, including his enemies .  This theme is found several times in the  Gospel of Mark , namely, the inability of men to recognize Jesus as the Son of God until  AFTER  his crucifixion and resurrection, and most paradoxically, the first man to identify him as the “ Son of God ” was the Roman centurion on duty at his execution. His self-identification as the suffering “ Son of Man ” made him unrecognizable and distasteful to unregenerate men. He was the kind of Messiah no one expected or wanted.