Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§17.4 Crucifixus sub Pontio Pilato
Matt. 17.22-23
22 As they were
gathering in Galilee, Jesus
said to them. 'The Son of Man
is about to be handed over into
the hands of men. 23 and thev
will kill him, and
on the third day he will be
raised'.
Matt. 20.18-19
18 See. we are going up to
Jerusalem, and
the Son of
Man
will be handed over to the
chief priests and scribes, and
they will condemn him to death,
19 and will hand him over to
the Gentiles to be mocked and
flogged
and crucified; and on the
third day he will be raised.
Mark 9.31
31 for he was
teaching his disciples, saying to
them. 'The Son of Man is
to be handed over into the
hands of men, and thev will kill
him, and having been killed,
after three days he will rise
again'.
Mark 10.33-34
33 See. we are going up to
Jerusalem, and
the Son of
Man
will be handed over to the
chief priests and the scribes, and
they will condemn him to death,
and will hand him over to the
Gentiles; 34 thev will mock
him, and spit upon him, and
flog him,
and kill him; and after
three days he will rise again.
Luke 9.43b-44
... he said to his disciples,
44 'Let these words sink into
vour ears: The Son of Man is
about to be handed over into
the hands of men'.
Luke 18.31-33
31 See. we are going un to
Jerusalem, and everything that
is written about the Son of Man
by the prophets will be
accomplished.
32 For
he will be handed over to the
Gentiles; and he will be mocked
and insulted and spat upon; 33
and after they have flogged him,
they will kill him, and on the
third day he will rise again.
Clearly the tradition intends to recall that Jesus predicted his death, including
the 'handing over' and the attendant suffering. Equally clear are the indications of
(a) saying(s) much repeated and manifesting typical performance variations.
(1) Here is one of the instances (§ 16.4b) where Matthew's version shows
awareness of a self-referential bar ' e nasa (Matt. 16.21).
(2) More striking are the variations in the final clause: Mark consistently
says 'after three days', whereas Matthew and Luke say 'on the third day'; Mark
consistently puts the verb in active voice ('he will rise again' — anastenai,
anastesetai), while Matthew consistently prefers a passive form ('he will be
raised' — egerthenai, egerthesetai), and Luke uses both forms. It is hard to avoid
the obvious deduction, that in the version of Matthew/Luke the less precise 'after
three days' has been made more precise in the light of the resurrection tradition
('on the third day'). 185 And Matthew's 'he will be raised' may also reflect a more
theologically careful affirmation that Jesus was raised by God — reflecting the
regular confessional formula of the early years of expansion. 186
(3) The range of variation is extensive, from the brevity of Luke's version
185. See, e.g., Evans, 'Did Jesus Predict?' 85-86, 95, with further bibliography in 86
n. 9; see also below, §18.4b(5). The fact that Matt. 12.40 quotes Jonah 2.1 'three days and
nights' without qualification may suggest that the extension of 'the sign of Jonah' to the parallel
between Jonah's time in the whale with Jesus' time in the earth took place at an early stage in
the development of the sign of Jonah saying (§15.6b[5]).
186. See again my Theology of Paul 175 nn. 69 and 72.
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