Jesus' Commands to Silence in Mark's Gospel

Abstract

Since 1901 William Wrede published his classic study on what is usually known as the 'Messianic Secret', the motif of Jesus' commands to silence has been the subject of much scholarly debate. This chapter briefly discusses Wrede's theory of the 'Messianic Secret' and some of its problems, before proceeding with the author's analysis of the motif of Jesus' commands to silence in Mark's Gospel. It argues that Mark introduced this motif to sustain his view that Jesus had no ambition to assume political power, and no intention of mobilizing the masses in preparation for a revolt. Wrede argued that the phenomenon of these injunctions to silence was related to another non-historical element in Mark's Gospel, the so-called 'parable theory' propounded in Mk 4:10-11 and 33-34. Wrede's theory of 1901 gained increasing acceptance during the following decades, especially among German form-critics. Keywords: German form-critics; Jesus' Commands; Mark's Gospel; Messianic Secret; parable theory; silence; William Wrede's theory