The 'Gospel' Between Emperor and Temple in the Gospel of Mark

The 'Gospel' Between Emperor and Temple in the Gospel of Mark Synopsis

The Gospel of Mark pointedly opens with the statement, "the beginning of the gospel". This raises the question: What does 'the gospel' (?? ??????????) mean to Mark? Traditionally, an explanation has been found in the so-called 'religious use' of the notion of the 'messenger on the mountain' in Isa 40:9 and 52:7, paving the way for an understanding of Jesus's death as a sin sacrifice connected to Isa 53. Under the influence of recent postcolonial and/or anti-imperial reading strategies, however, Mark's gospel notion has rather been understood as tailored to counter a Roman dressing of the emperor as 'gospels' to the world. Morten Hørning Jensen re-investigates the entire concept of 'gospel' and concludes that Mark uses the concept to communicate the 'epoch-making victory' he finds to be the product of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.