The Focus of Mark 13:24-27: The Parousia, or the Destruction of the Temple? -- By: Thomas R. Hatina
Journal: Bulletin for Biblical Research
Volume: BBR 06:1 (NA 1996)
Article: The Focus of Mark 13:24-27: The Parousia, or the Destruction of the Temple?
Author: Thomas R. Hatina
BBR 6:1 (1996) p. 43
The Focus of Mark 13:24-27:
The Parousia, or
the Destruction of the Temple?
Roehampton Institute London
Southlands College
Mark 13:24-27 is often interpreted as a prediction of the parousia at the consummation of history. In this article the author proposes that these verses, derived entirely from OT texts, metaphorically refer to the destruction of the Temple in 70 ce. The first part of the article provides the narrative context by focusing on the genre and structure of Mark 13 along with the chapter’s narrative proximity to Jesus’ criticism of the Temple hierarchy in chapters 11- 12. The second part of the article explores the function of cosmic portents, the coming of the Son of Man and the gathering of the elect as they appear in the OT and subsequent exegetical traditions. The temporal function of this language provides an important precedent for its function in Mark.
Key Words: parousia, Temple, cosmic portents, judgment, Son of Man
The prophecies of cosmic catastrophes, the coming of the Son of Man and the gathering of the elect in Mark 13:24-27 are often interpreted as references to a final eschatological event when history reaches its consummation in the last coming of Christ.1 In this study I respond to this prevailing view by arguing that the implied audience of the Gospel
BBR 6:1 (1996) p. 44
would have understood these prophecies, composed of a series of references to the OT (Isa 13:10; 34:4; Dan 7:13; Deut 30:4; Zech 2:6), as pointing directly to the destruction of the Temple in 70 ce and not to a future parousia or cataclysmic event that marks the end of the world. I approach this text from a literary-historical perspective; that is, I read the Gospel as a self-contained narrative within the literary conventions of its own day.2 This means that certain historical questions such as those raised by source and form critics in the attempt to arrive at a theory of the provenance of the Gospel or its component parts remain secondary.3 The same can be said about the dating of Mark 13. Whether the fina...
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