The Cryptology of Parables in St. Mark's Gospel

Abstract

According to St. Mark's fundamental doctrine, the Messiahship of Jesus is a fact, yet a fact which may not be openly proclaimed to the world until the Son of Man has risen again from the dead. It is evidently for this reason that the demons are enjoined to silence, since they with their powers of supernatural insight are able to perceive the truth which is veiled from mortal eyes. And it is for the same reason, as we learn from iv Io ff., that Jesus addresses the multitude in parables. For in the evangelist's interpretation (and contrary to normal expectations) the parables of Jesus are not meant to make plain the essential content of the message of salvation, but to obscure it; they are a means of guarding the mystery or secret of the kingdom of God. Such is the most natural meaning of the text as it stands in iv Io ff., and the various attempts which have been made to obtain a different interpretation arise from a failure to appreciate the evangelist's doctrinal point of view. One may conjecture that behind the present text there is a saying of Jesus which had a different import and which was worked over by the evangelist for theological reasons; but of the meaning of the passage as it now exists there can be no reasonable doubt, and it is with the significance of the gospel as it is, not as he thinks it ought to be, that the exegete is primarily concerned. Apart from the eschatological discourse in xiii 3-37, the section in which St. Mark expounds his theory of the function of the parables (iv 1-34) is the longest section in the gospel that is entirely concerned with the Lord's teaching. The three parables it contains the sower (vv. 3-8), the seed growing secretly (vv. 26-29) and the mustard seed (vv. 30-32) are not intended to give an exhaustive account of the teaching, but are presented as particular illustrations of its general character; vv. 2 and 33 imply that the evangelist has selected them from a larger collection. All three deal with the phenomenon of growth in nature and suggest that the great spiritual