MARK'S SECRETIVE JESUS  - WHY?

Hugh Fogelman

 

 

According to the Hebrew bible, the Jewish Messiah will come when certain prophecies fall into place; never mind that the Jews have been waiting for this for about 7,000 years.  Supposedly once the messiah is here, there will be a universal knowledge of God ― Invisible Man in the Sky ― as told by Hebrew prophets:

 "And no longer shall one teach his neighbor or shall one teach his brother, saying: 'Know the Lord', for they shall all know Me, from their smallest to their greatest" (Jeremiah 31.33). In other words, at some unknown time in the future, the Hebrew God apparently wants people to "know" him. "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). This contradicts the Christian man-god, Jesus' teachings.

According to Mark, who by the way never met Jesus, had Jesus being very "secretive" about his identity.  Mark's Jesus insisted on hiding his identity, giving strict orders to Peter not to tell anyone about him: “And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.” (Mark 8:30 KJV).

Notice that Jesus never said that he was the Messiah; it was only Peter who said it.  In other times, Jesus gave the same order not to tell anyone, such as:

1.  When he cleansed a leper:

“And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man…” (Mark 1:43-44),

2.  When Jesus healed the multitudes:

“And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.” (Mark 3:12)  and

3.  When the disciples came down from the mountain after the "Transfiguration:"

“And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, …”  (Mark 9:9).

In Mark, Chapter 5, Peter says that Jesus raised Jairus's daughter from death. When Jesus told the dead girl to "get up," she did, and then Jesus gave strict orders "let no one hear about it" (Mark 4:42-43).  Clearly, such an act would have been impossible to hide, as the whole village would know that the girl died and then suddenly, here she was walking among them. And no one noticed? But Mark said, shhhh, don’t tell anyone and no one told. Does this sound logical? Would a whole village keep such a miracle a secret? The whole “Messianic Secret” thing was an obsession with Mark.

Jesus' constant demands seem very odd because you would think if he was the Messiah he would want the whole world to know, to fulfill the prophesy “"For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord… .”

Mark wants us to believe that Jesus told his disciples that he speaks in parables so the people will not understand the word of God, ― Invisible Man in the Sky. Jesus said to them; “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven" (Mark 4:11-12).

In other words, to you the insiders, the believers, the mystery of the Kingdom of God has been given; but to those who are on the outside, the non-believers, everything comes by way of parables so that the outsiders may look and see nothing ― they may hear but understand nothing. THINK! This makes absolutely no sense at all. The entire purpose of Jesus' ministry was to spread the word of God (himself, god incarnate) , not withhold it. The Hebrew God (Hashem, Adnonai etc) is said to have told Jeremiah; “And no longer shall one teach his neighbor or shall one teach his brother, saying: 'Know the Lord', for they shall all know Me, from their smallest to their greatest." (Jeremiah 31.33)

Jesus took dark sayings with hidden meanings and preached them to the multitudes, yet in Mark's gospel that the general populace was not supposed to understand his parables. If that is true, why did he waste his words? It doesn't make any sense!

The second point comes from Mark 4.11, where Jesus tells his disciples that to them it is given to know and to understand these mysteries.

“And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables”

From these words we learn that Jesus' chosen disciples were supposed to receive a gift of spiritual enlightenment. Yet throughout the gospel they remain without knowledge and cannot understand the meaning of the simplest parable.  So strange that again and again Jesus  rebuked them for their lack of knowledge.

"And he said unto them, know ye not this parable? How then will ye know all parables" (Mark 4:13).

What a colossal advantage for Mark. Here was his chance to become famous then and now, not to mention being made into a saint by the Catholics, just by writing a story about a man-god he never met [Jesus], putting his own thoughts, opinions and words into the mouth of this man-god and having no one around at the time he wrote to dispute it.

For Mark, the “Messianic Secret” (the secret of the kingdom of God) was that, unlike the Hebrew bible on which Christianity bases its story, the job of the Messiah was not to rule at first, but first to suffer and die before returning to rule sometime later. Seems as though Mark based his belief from:

And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. (Mark 14:62).  

The King James concordance alludes Mark's remarks from the apocalyptic vision in Daniel: "Behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven" (Daniel 7:13). Evidently Mark believed that Daniel's vision was going to come true in his, Mark's, own life time. Mark was so convinced of this that he told those who saw Jesus in the flesh would also see him come again as the Son of Man before they died;

"I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, 'til they have seen the Kingdom of god come with power" (Mark 9:1).  

In other words, the Second Coming would be in Mark’s, and other believers', lifetime.  Oops! What a disappointment!

The concept that the Jewish Messiah "must suffer, be rejected by the elders, be killed and after three days rise again" was so radical, that even Peter doubted Jesus (Mark 8:31-32).  Perhaps this is why, according to the author of Mark (Mark 3:19-21, 31), during the period when Jesus was preaching, his relatives, his mother and his brothers, believed that he was mentally ill. The author of the Gospel of John comments "neither did his brothers believe in him" (John 7:5).

Luke, who also never met Jesus, copied some of Marks writings and added:  

"Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said; To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that looking they may not perceive and listening they may not understand.”” (Luke 8:9-10)

The author of John, however, uses this same text in still a different sense than the original. He has Jesus quoting Isaiah as an indication that he understands that the people do not believe his teachings, but if they turn [to Jesus] he will heal them:

"And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said; He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not look with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn - and I (Jesus) will heal them" (John 12:39-40).

Why would the author of Mark and the other Gospel writers have Jesus withhold the word of the Invisible Man in the Sky from the people when the whole idea of Jesus' ministry was to get the holy message out to as many people as possible?

Mark's concept of the Messiah does not tie into the original Hebrew Messianic prophecies of identifying the Messiah, as told by Jeremiah and Isaiah. Seems as if Mark have a different "inspiration" from his Invisible Man in the Sky " than the Jewish prophets.

Secrecy perfectly fits with Mark's theme of the "secret of the kingdom of God" as Mark had his own vision of what the Messiah would be, regardless of what the Hebrew bible reported. Mark's Jesus, in effect; tells his disciples that he is deliberately withholding information from the people so that they cannot learn God's [Jesus, god incarnate] on word.

Does Mark’s story sound reasonable? Does any Invisible Man in the Sky sound reasonable? NO! They are all imaginary!

"Why is monotheistic faith better than polytheistic? I mean, either you believe ― if you believe in, like, a magic person who can do magic things, why is it different ― so different if it's Superman or the Fantastic Four." -Bill Maher

 

DISCLAIMER:

Citation of Hebrew scripture and sources in articles or analyses is not in any way an acceptance, approval or validation of the Jewish religion, its works or scriptures. The Hebrew bible, like the Christian New Testament, is fictitious; From a 6-day creation of the universe; a cunning, walking, talking snake; big fish tales; world flood and an "Invisible Man in the Sky" ― it is all fiction, a bold sham perpetrated on mankind.

 

 

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