The question of Mark 13 as an apocalypse

Abstract

Background: Many researchers accept that the Gospel of Mark is apocalyptic, which necessitates the need to determine whether Mark 13’s eschatological discourse represents an apocalypse. Setting: The question of whether the early church utilised an apocalyptic worldview is widely discussed in scholarly circles. Methods: The article utilises a form-critical and syntactical analysis of the text of Mark 13. Results: Mark 13 is deliberately written in a mode displaying several apocalyptic features. The text engages the present crisis situation when Roman authorities quelled Roman resistance by destroying parts of Jerusalem, including the Temple, in response to the question of whether the present crisis indicates the end of the present aeon and the introduction of a new world. Conclusion: The Markan Jesus emphasises that the current situation introduces further suffering and persecution for believers but that does not indicate the end in itself. The time of the end is unknown, even to him. The discourse hence serves anti-apocalypse to discourage believers from overheated end-time expectations of an imminent end. Christians do not know when the end is coming, but they know who they expect to return. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The research findings contribute to Old and New Testament studies into apocalypticism.

Keywords

• apocalypse
• apocalyptic
• eschatology
• parousia
• overheated end-time expectations
• imminent end