Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS §12.4
been much elaborated in the course of retelling and reflect the circumstances of
the ongoing mission (notably Mark 13.9-13 pars.). 185 But it is still quite possible
that the discourse began with or as a collection of Jesus' own forebodings regarding
the future. 186 We shall see later the strong indications that he anticipated in
some way the destruction of the Temple (§15.3a). It is also possible that Paul
knew some early form of this collection. 187 Nor should we forget that Matthew
and Luke knew other overlapping apocalyptic material 188 — evidence once again
of concern to group remembrances of and traditions regarding Jesus. 189 And it is
easy to see how several of the strands of Jewish expectation noted above (§ 12.2c)
could have prompted such warnings, from Jesus as much as from his followers. 190
Notable in the Markan sequence are the evocation of the image of eschatological
birthpangs (Mark 13.8), the allusion to Dan. 12.1's anticipation of an unprecedented
period of suffering to be endured (Mark 13.19-20), and the expectation
of cosmic convulsions (13.24-25). The eschatological goal is clearly in
sight: 'The one who endures to the end (eis telos) will be saved' (13.13). 191 Matthew
retains all these elements in his own version of the 'little apocalypse' (Matt.
24.8, 13, 21-22, 29), but noticeably includes the last exhortation also in his mission
instructions (Matt. 10.22). The expectation of suffering is less prominent in
185. The Jesus Seminar (Funk, Five Gospels 107-15) and Lüdemann (Jesus 88-93) dismiss
the bulk of the material as reflecting the later situation of the early community and impossible
to trace back to Jesus, thus reflecting the dominant consensus in current scholarship.
Pesch, however, concludes that Mark 13 shows Mark to be, here as elsewhere, a 'conservator
redactor' (Markusevanglium 2.267). G. R. Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Last Days: The Interpretation
of the Olivet Discourse (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1993), a major review of the debate,
acknowledges Mark's hand throughout the discourse, but agrees with Pesch (363). Wright (Jesus
339-67) and McKnight (New Vision 135-37, 141-42, 145) are surprisingly uncritical in their
use of Mark 13.
186. The 'parables of crisis' (see below §12.4g) are generally accounted among the oldest
parts of the discourse.
187. Cf. Mark 13.5, 14 with 2 Thess. 2.3-4; Mark 13.6, 22 with 2 Thess. 2.9; Mark
13.26-27 with 1 Thess. 4.15-17 and 2 Thess. 2.1. The argument is pushed much further by
D. Wenham, The Rediscovery of Jesus' Eschatological Discourse (Gospel Perspectives 4; Sheffield:
JSOT, 1984).
188. Q? — Matt. 24.17-18, 27-28, 37-41/Luke 17.24-37.
189. 'It is beyond question that the theme of Luke 17.20-37 is a nucleus of the proclamation
of Jesus, whereas Mark 13 is a theme that belongs to the early church' (Jeremias, Proclamation
124).
190. Lars Hartman earlier argued that the heart of Mark 13 was an original 'midrash' on
Daniel which dealt with the great distress of the last days (Prophecy Interpreted: The Formation
of Some Jewish Apocalyptic Texts and of the Eschatological Discourse Mark 13 par.
[ConBNT 1; Lund: Gleerup, 1966] summary survey on 172-74); cf. Wright, Jesus 513-19.
191. The 'end' here presumably is eschatological, as in Daniel and 4 Ezra (see above
§12.3b).
418