Book Doc

…to build a better book.
September 17, 2011

Mark’s Mark: Jayzz

Take it from a book person — if we have a book, then someone thought about it, then someone wrote it, and someone (or more) edited it, and someone spread it around (published it). And each of these someones had a different reason for doing so.

The thinker saw an unanswered question.

The writer said — I can frame the question so that it has a clear answer.

The editor claimed to smoothe the rough spots so the story was consistent within itself, without making any judgments about whether any of the details were true or not (how was he to know, without any witnesses still alive).

The publisher said he could find the right target market for the message, and if that went well, perhaps broaden the audience.

The reader hopes to see her or his vague hopes and dreams put into words that make sense of her or his life. And if it doesn’t, then the book is tossed aside and forgotten.

In each step of this process, we get further from reality — life as it happens — and closer to a story, the way you tell your grandkids what your life was like when you were growing up — except you have to make sense out of your life even to yourself, so that it appears as if everything you did pointed to your current success. You do what the editor did: smoothe out the rough spots, glide over the iffy parts (we all have them), and turn years of indecision or stagnancy into a golden era with opportunities all around. Funny how memory works that way. Even the bad parts take on meaning, though you didn’t realize it at the time. Musta been God’s plan, right? Nah, you just forgot.

So, what did Mark and his gossip-writing buddies forget?

OK, let’s tear Mark apart, see what he’s up to.

First thing to set up his “story” is to trumpet something special that will come later. One secret of good story construction, the highly successful formula of detective fiction writing, is to write the ending first, and then fill in the steps leading up to it, so that it seems to unfold inevitably. We all know from our own lives that life doesn’t happen that way — only well-constructed fiction does.

So, how well did Mark succeed? His initial premise, the starting point which he will end with, is that Jayzz is/was God. He does not intend to go further than that. His community believes it, so how is he going to make the case? Otherwise, there’d be no point in his group of people hanging onto faint second- and third-hand memories of a guy long dead with an unfinished ministry, who some expected would save Israel from Rome but did not. In fact, just about that time that “Mark” was writing, the Maccabee rebellion was about to be crushed by Rome.

What did Jayzz do? He raised hopes among many, and fears among the powerful. He inspired a movement with the beginnings of a cooperative structure, but left it leaderless and in factions. He himself made no differentiation of ethnicity; all could be loved and be lovers. But then he wasn’t about building a church or a religion. The followers, however, had a big debate over whether they themselves were Jewish or something else that had no name.

The reason this debate confronted this community with such a wrenching decision is that being Jewish was the whole thrust of the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Writings — to establish a Jewish identity despite the checkered history of Jewish states, tribes, exile and return in Palestine and the Middle East. We know this spotty history as the Hebrew Testament. In fact, Jayzz ought to fit very well into the schema of Jewish prophets, who sometimes railed against immorality or the government or priesthood or the people — all of which he did. Ezekiel is still provided an empty chair at ceremonies, in case he descends back down from heaven some day.

So what made Jayzz different from Ezekiel? He was himself Jewish and never considered himself otherwise. The Eastern Roman Empire spoke Greek for business, government, or culture — that whole region had experienced the spread of Greek civic culture ever since Alexander the Great had swept through a few hundred years earlier. Did Jayzz speak Greek? Probably. As far as we know, he never wrote anything. His words in the gospels, those are witness words, what people remembering that someone reported that they thought they heard, not necessarily what he said.

So my question, as editor, is, why do we read these books in Greek? These are not translations from Hebrew, which the whole rest of the Hebrew Testament is written in. Were the actual witnesses Greek but listening in Hebrew? Did Jayzz throw in Greek quotable quips? (doubtful).

On the other side of the question, why wasn’t this gossip book and the others written in Hebrew? I’m going to go out on a limb here and speculate that, even though there continued to be Jewish members of Mark’s community, Jayzz was seen from a Jewish perspective as, at best, a minor prophet, a healer who died young and in disgrace. Since he didn’t write anything himself, it would be awkward to include him alongside Micah and Isaiah as promoting the Jewish covenant with God. That covenant was based on setting Jews apart from everyone else, as in some way special. Jayzz trashed that idea in favor of love regardless of who you are. So it would be pointless to write him up in Hebrew because that audience would be a tough sell. That, and, as Paul encountered it, the question of male circumcision for non-Jews would prove to be a non-starter for new recruits. The Greek/Roman culture of public nudity at public baths would make it obvious which males were circumcised and which were not.

So here’s this community holding onto the memory of a minor prophet who could not be accepted as such in his own culture. What to do, what to do?

Given this tangle of messages and rumors, stories and aspirations — Mark weaves together enough pieces to clothe one simple but powerful belief once expressed succinctly by Paul as a stark choice: If Jayzz did not rise from the dead, then there would be no life everlasting, no heaven to go to, he wouldn’t qualify as the son of God— therefore, as an article of faith (i.e., no proof at all), it must be so.

And that is what Mark, the first of the canonical gospel writers, set out to do — spread the gospel that Christ is risen (well, once he did rise, he says) and all will be well, despite what the real world may seem to be.

Like a lawyer preparing a difficult case, Mark marshalled his resources to begin.

“The good news” (to counteract the bad news that Jesus is dead) of Jayzz the Anointed (here is immediately introduced the deification, the claim of Christhood, whatever that is, if not Messiahhood) begins with…

Hmm, what could be nailed down as the true beginning of this fabulous tale? Oh, I could drag in something that Isaiah the prophet (presumably necessary to identify Isaiah for non-Jewish Christians who might not be conversant with enough Hebrew to read the Hebrew Testament of the Law, the Prophets and the Writings) wrote:

Here is my messenger…

Skip ahead about six hundred years to a minor ascetic enamored of pushing people underwater in the Jordan River (to absolve them, or rebirth them, or whatever) named John, known as the Dunker.

So, up to now we have Mark (or the writer) introducing Isaiah, who spoke of a voice in the wilderness (which wilderness would that be?) and which voice, we are to presume, he meant John. Coincidentally, one of those accepting John’s ritual of water cleansing is Jayzz.

[long aside]

Mark, or the person writing the gospel we call Mark, wrote in Greek, which was the koiné of the Eastern Mediterranian for commerce or schooling. Was he Jewish? One might assume that his heritage was Jewish. This period of early Christianity had expierienced a deep split between the “universal message” of Jesus and the offshoot of Judaistic followers. Both sides, of course, being monotheistic, had different ideas of the One God. Would he continue to be unpronounceable, or would God-talk be permitted? Was God’s covenant with his Chosen People broken when both sides claimed to have the only God?

Not only that, but this Jayzz claimed to have a personal relationship with God. That assertion could not stand. Or, wait, had God changed his mind and sent someone to meddle in human affairs? Someone not an angel, and yet…what would you call it? He could be Jayzz or he could be…what’s a new word that doesn’t belong to anyone else? A Christ. Not only that but The Christ, the only one that ever will be. A superhuman with mystical powers. Yeah, he could talk with Satan, he could walk on water, or turn water into wine (who wouldn’t like to have that power?). Not only that, he could come back from the dead. Not that he would stick around to say or do anything.

[another long aside]

The Hebrew Torah and writings (known today as the “Old” testament by Christians) had developed in stages as a nation-building document, and mythic history of people who became known as the Hebrews. From the covenant that Abraham made with God (Thou shalt have no other gods before me — and there were plenty of other gods to contend with), being a Jew meant being part of this covenant.

This contract bound together various hilltribes who accepted it into the idea of a nation, though historically Israel and Judea for most of their existence were not united, and sometimes one or the other or both were under the domination of larger empires.

The Hebrew Testament came to include the Babylonian Captivity and return, offshoots of central Judaism, such as the Samarians. The returning exiles had to reintegrate into the community of those who had stayed. The major group came to recognize the Temple in Jerusalem as the one centering piece for the One God, his habitation on Earth. But then even the Temple was destroyed. The Testament alone remained, and over time it has given rise to the rabbinic tradition, Talmud, commentaries, and much study.

The impetus of this body of work often results in subtle arguments and a legalistic approach to almost everything. In the time of Jayzz, the Pharisees multiplied the procedures by which almost anything was to be done — which naturally led later to friction with Jayzz and his followers.

After Jayzz was gone, the first major structural question for the Jayzzites was — were they still Jewish? Should outsiders be required to submit to circumcision? Was Jayzz the Messiah that the Jews had been waiting for, or should they continue to wait? And for what?

Jayzz himself was born a Jew and died a Jew, albeit an unorthodox Jew. He performed services for Romans as well as Jews. His message seemed to require a universality beyond Judaism, and some, such as Paul, took the message to many places within the Roman Empire. Where did Mark stand on this issue — whom was he writing for? Whom was he trying to recruit? Writing in Greek might be the first clue toward answering that question.

So it’s not clear that Jayzz was a follower of Old Jack Waterguy. He may have been drawn in by his reputation. It’s clear that Jack wasn’t a healer, in the sense of healing the lame or blind. No, his claim was more obscure. The dunking process, as Jayzz could see, may have been just what he was looking for — a ritualization by a simple physical action that led people to open their minds to the possibility of change in their lives.

The mechanism worked this way — the Jordan represented the main sustenance for the whole fertile valley — in the same obvious way, though less dramatically, that the Nile embodied a visible metaphor for the Egyptians. Like the sun, it was a primal force; it was also accessible most of the year.

In order to participate, people had to make the  journey to the Jordan River — and to Jack. By the time they arrived, especially if it were a considerable distance, they were psychologically primed to have an experience — to give themselves over to someone or something more powerful than they believed themselves to be.

Jack probably believed it himself, though that would not be necessary for the process to work for some people. And if it didn’t work — how many would admit not to having felt something while people all around them were praising God and Jack? “Maybe I held back in my heart.” “Maybe it takes longer than I expected.”

This encounter with Jack may not have been the only time Jayzz observed one of the healers. A number of them have been mentioned in histories of the time for this region, just as there are many who make the claim to have that power today. The Torah, the Writings, and the Prophets, especially the Prophets, cite a whole tradition of eccentrics who spoke out of school or had mystical experiences or performed public acts of ritual. Other reports show a young Jayzz as a prodigy at studies, even disagreeing with local elders. By this time, however, he had learned to keep his own counsel — that is, until provoked.

Back to Mark. He had snippets of the story but without any secure sense of the chronology. The next episode he relates is a solo sojourn in the desert (which means isolated place, not necessarily endless dunes and blazing sun). Did this happen before or after meeting Old Jack? The Jordan is by no means a desert. One easy surmise is that Jayzz was already wandering; from other evidence he’s in his early thirties and unremarkable to history. In other words, neither a criminal nor a saint.

The early thirties is often a period of serious reconsolidation of one’s past, in which an entirely original personality is linked to a previously unknown mission. Two examples from my own publishing experience are Walt Whitman and John Milton, Both of them full or promise but unable to find their way — until they gave up previous ambitions and conceptions of what their destiny would be, and struck a chord with the times, their unique talents, and a fresh idea. In Mark’s reading, this encounter with the Waterguy opened up possibilities for an itinerant nobody to cast a long shadow.

Only, he couldn’t just duplicate Jack’s gig, even if he wanted to (which he certainly didn’t). Mark might be right in posting the wilderness scene next in the sequence.

So, let’s reconnoiter. First we have Mark, or someone writing in the name of Mark, who in any case was not well-known outside his local community. One may surmise that the Mark community was urban, hence the text in Greek, that it was largely but not entirely Jewish, since the story is modeled on the theme of “the coming of” someone to rescue them — allowing the “them” to be expanded to followers, if not believers. Mark is not as insistent as Paul was on belief; even though he was writing an persuasive story, he did not see belief as the doorway. His bent was toward making sense of what he knew or thought he knew based on the stories he’d heard. You might say he was more of a journalist than a preacher. He didn’t pull out the stops to persuade, he was piecing together the puzzle.

First, we’re trusting “Mark,” an unknown (no other writings of this author are known), who quotes one or two really old-time guys who say someone special is coming (but who hadn’t arrived in over 600 years) — and this someone is a messenger, who will announce that someone else is coming. Problem: Jack’s ministry wasn’t about delivering a message, it was about refreshing people’s spirits.

What is Mark saying here? He wasn’t present. He didn’t know Jack, or Jayzz. The earliest event that he’d heard about was that Jayzz visited Old Jack at his business. Did he get dunked? Mark makes that assumption, and then fills in with a report that Jayzz had a revelation, and he learned that his real father, whom he presumably knew was not Joseph, was actually God himself. Greek stories relate several instances of gods mating with mortal women — why not his mother? So maybe he was special after all. But special in what way?

This “revelation” would resolve and combine two issues that had been troubling him for decades: who he was, and why he would never qualify for an ordinary life. Would this explain his abilities? People would call  him crazy — they might be right.

That, in my mind, is the point of the wilderness episode, which is wholly made up by Mark, since no one could have known what Jayzz did, said, or thought during a long time alone. The only evidence would be after the fact — had Jayzz changed, and how?

So Mark has set his story in motion, and he can string the rest out from stories, rumors, gossip, partisan talk, and then further patching up the holes with what Jayzz, the newly minted “holy” child of God, ought to have said and done.

And that would create the structure “Mark” had been intending from the very beginning — explaining why the Markan community and others continued to exist separately from the troubled Jewish peoples, who were fleeing or emigrating in the Great Diaspora, oblivious to Jayzz but holding onto the acknowledged old-time writings. Actually, over time, to be Jewish came to be defined as the community that didn’t accept Jayzz as divine, or even as one of the prophets. Which, in retrospect, is not surprising. Jayzz’ main opponents were the Jewish establishment, the Sticklers (known as Pharisees).

As far as we know, Jayzz didn’t write anything. All we know is hearsay. Scholars believe there may have been  a couple of documents closer to the time of Jayzz, quoted or referred to, by Mark and others — but no copies have been found. As it happens, the first use of paper leaves bound together — called the codex, and replacing the cumbersome scrolls — occurred about the same time period.

This new format looked more like the books we know than the scrolls that had been in common use. The codex form, with simple binding on one edge, no cover, was much easier to carry around and to store. Literacy was not uncommon, but schooling was not expected of everybody. Certainly in the trade or government or the priesthood, reading and writing were useful on a daily basis. Still, writing materials were not cheap, though any feather could dip into an ink bottle.

Paul’s “letters” were carefully prepared documents intended for specific audiences, akin to the round robin letters of the past century, useful to convey information to a number of people within the same community, but who were not in daily contact. At least for another 1500 years — until the refinement of the craft of printing, public letters and documents continued to carry cultural information from one place to another, and usually read by messengers and others at all points in between.

Was Mark’s “good news” a public letter of this sort? He could not claim it as a classic. His intention was to share this story, as he had come to know it, in as coherent a way as he was able to do. I see no evidence that he set out to refute some other version. He felt the authority and the liberty to approach this subject openly. Later writers indulged themselves with imaginative fantastical back stories made out of whole cloth. Mark is plausible; these others are fiction writers, in my editorial opinion.

Some set pieces appear to be formalizations of familiar stories, connected with sometimes abrupt, sometimes imaginative transitions. The writer or Mark does not appear to be oeffering opinions or interpretations, with scant use of the narrator’s voice (such as “It was told to me that…”). Nor does he comment on reports — “Most agree that…” Instead, he states boldly that this is what happened, this is what Jayzz said and did, this was the place and time. Others have pointed out errors in Mark’s placements, times, sequences — which leads me to apply similar standards to other parts of the narrative.

One element seems out of place, to me. Joseph of Arimethea appears to claim the body of Jayzz; the only persons eligible to do so, according to Roman law, were family members. This Joseph has been described as Mary’s “uncle,” and he offers up his own tomb in his own garden for the entombment; this decision is not an act of community-building, to bolster the followers of  Jayzz; instead, it is a private possessive act. I am led to wonder about the strong connection between this Joseph and Jayzz, and whether the fatherless Jayzz himself ever knew what that connection was. Mark is silent on this point; it is not part of the narrative he is weaving.

What did “Mark” know, what could he have known, what could he have not known? Was Mark uncritical in his own acceptance of the stories?

Let’s assume that Mark was telling stories that his group already knew, or believed. Mark seems like an honest fellow, without a lot of sophistry. He’s a believer, but a cautious one. And he is framing the stories in the best light possible to lead to the conclusion that he wants to believe, which is that God, or a representative of God, walked among us. I don’t think he set out to claim anything more. He must have heard the rumors of Paul and Peter and some others that “Christ has risen” and therefore so can we. Did he buy into that line of thinking? Mark gives no evidence that he expects a Christ to reappear in his lifetime. It happened once — maybe — which is a marvel enough. So what held together his community? Was he the leader or just a member?

His portrait is of a prophet, a solitary voice of compassion, who could thunder on occasion, as prophets always did. This prophet spoke of the future as he saw the possibility of it. He did not talk in political terms, but in insights of psychology, the human condition, not restricted to the Jewish covenant. Mark had a bit of a problem with that. Other Jewish prophets in the prophetic tradition had written their stories, or had competent scribes or biographers. There hadn’t been a new prophet added to the Prophets for about two hundred years, no one of the stature of Isaiah or Jeremiah. Why was Jayzz different? Or was he?

The one thing that smashed the idea that Jayzz was a prophet among Jewish prophets was his liberality. He wasn’t exhorting israel to cling to Jehovah and leave their wicked ways. Peace, love, kindness, forgiveness meant breaking down the social structures essential to the Jewish culture as it was. The kingdom of heaven of which he spoke would supplant all existing authority — no wonder that authorities saw him as a troublemaker and a threat.

So, if he wasn’t a Jewish prophet, what was he? The question asked of him repeatedly was, Are you the Christ? The Messiah? The Savior? If so, who will you rescue? Everybody? Only the Good? Only the believers? Only the Jews? How will you rescue them? Jayzz himself may not have had answers to those questions.

Mark was cautious about these issues. He knew something significant had happened, something worth writing about. He didn’t feel competent to toy around with well-known stories, yet he felt urged on to put the pieces together so that they made sense of this peculiar ministry that seemed unfinished yet might have been completed. That was Mark’s ministry, in my opinion, to “finish” the work.

Jayzz doesn’t talk much about himself. He makes proclamations, witty responses, stories, impromptu talks, sometimes he blows his top or lashes out. So what we have in written form are lots of other people talking about him, with their own ideas, hopes, expectations. None of them, as far as we can tell, ever met him or saw him. Three kings from the East? No such king ever spoke up.

The Epistle of James does not seem to be written by James, Jayzz’ brother. Peter? Definitely a partisan in the great debate about what to do about Jayzz. Paul reports visiting James and Peter, though they do not appear to have reconciled the issue of “Gentiles.” Paul continued on his own. The Christianity or Christ-centered Jayzz movement appears to have stemmed and spread from his journeys.

Paul’s influence actively discouraged leadership by women. He built his philosophy not on the living Jayzz but on Paul’s personal vision of the dead Jayzz — “transformed” in his mind into a supernatural being. Paul had his own breakthrough, a re-visioning of the world based on a single experience. The energetic Saul found his ideal vocation as the energetic Paul, a world-changer.

Where did Mark come up with his notions? — running counter to common wisdom, yet enduring among some people who agreed to agree mutually in small enclaves. The counter-intuitive vision of a world at peace seemed to be possible only in cults surviving amidst the everyday business of commerce, family, civic duties, and ceremonies.

Love your neighbor wasn’t to be found in the Ten Orders from Yahweh. In fact, loving your neighbor’s wive was expressly forbidden. The Tall Ten seemed to be about creating an orderly farming community, much like the modern grange movement. In fact the first few Rules weren’t about community at all — they were devoted to establishing a priestly class to ensure loyalty to Y. and consequently the ten rules set forth. Reminds me of my mother — I was to mind her “Because I said so!” without recourse to any other argument. Given the loyalty, the necessity for “caretakers” was obvious, and vitiated the need for kings (though kings would arise).

Kingdom of heaven is a recurring theme in Mark’s mind. The suggestion that one could actually live that way, as if the KOH already existed, could be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If Jayzz created the metaphor with that in mind, his proclamation would indeed be a clean break from the lamentations, exhortations, and prophecies of doom from most of the early Hebrew prophets.

Did he even see himself as a prophet? He made a career as a stand-up comedian, quick of wit and full of irony. He wove stories of rural life and nature into enigmatic open-ended puzzles. More than once, when asked to explain a story, he’d respond enigmatically, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Over time, according to Mark’s account, J. felt the need to step into the role he himself had created, and stand up for his own beliefs. In the process, he had merely begun the process of plumbing to the roots the ideas he espoused so easily in speeches.

Love — if one were to open oneself to love, then it must be unconditional. If unconditional, then love one’s neighbor. What more? Love everybody. Really? Love one’s enemy. How does one come to love one’s enemy? And what happens to the unique land of Y. and Jews? Not unique? Too restrictive?

This love theory must have led a number of Jews to question their own Jewhood. If they were special, but everyone was special — what did it mean to be Jewish? What was the point of it?

And if not Jewish — and many followers of J.s teachings were not of Jewish origin — what or who were they?

This basic contradiction created a break with the recurring effort of Hebrews to be Hebrews. The whole point of the Hebrew Testament was to establish nationhood, a sense of ethnic identity, with a history , a covenant with God, a mission, rituals, teachings.

Jayzz, though Jewish through and through, could not be part of that carefully crafted narrative. Minor prophet? But he wasn’t just speaking to Jews, he was not respecting the line drawn between Jew and Gentile. Even though this point was not his central message, it became the breaking point for his followers.

So here’s Mark (or whoever wrote the goespel of Mark), in years of great turmoil and change for Jewish people in the Roman Empire, wrestling with this quandary. Mark was not a prophet — nor were the later editors and compilers of J. stories. He did not set out to write another book of the Hebrew Testament; he did not have in mind any testament at all.

He may have started on a biography, weaving together hearsay, oral traditions, perhaps even written material — into a coherent narrative. Why did he care? What was his motivation in writing such a narrative? Who was his target audience?

Was he connected to Jayzz in some way? First of all, was Mark Jewish? His Greek has been called a rustic style, so he was probably not a “professional” or polished writer. He may have encountered some of the letters of Paul, who was an eloquent writer — sometimes poetic, other times forceful and persuasive. Mark was none of these.

In Mark’s writings, I sense an honest craftsman, sensible but also uncritical in his treatment of the few materials available to him. He did have the comon sense to omit obvious embroidery of the supernatural that later, more “sophisticated” writers employed to “sell” Jayzz.

Was he Jewish? I think that question had arisen in Mark’s mind, in fact it may have been the precipitating factor in Mark’s decision to write — to clarify his own mind on the issue. What did it mean to be Jewish and yet follow such a radical fellow as Jayzz?

Mark certainly gives an insider’s view of the Jewish community, the Pharisees, the High Priest, the Roman prefect. His viewpoint shifts from chronicling past events to presenting them as if actually prsent. This practice of re-creating or re-enacting historical events was a common Greek practice of Herodotus and Thucydides, creating speeches that one might imagine had been spoken, knowing what the outcome had been. Authors/editors in Mark’s day were not all schooled in the later Roman practice of quoting verbatim from previous authors, and correctly attributing the quotes to the original authors. Mark didn’t bother with such niceties. He was after a story, one that made sense of his own experience, and, presumably, that of his community or audience.

Was Mark happy with his production? Paul’s writings had been around for decades, in scattered letters — as well as pieces claimed to be Paul’s that are now considered of doubtful origin. The Pauline canon is post-Jayzz. That wasn’t enough for Mark; he didn’t want to take someone else’s word for it. He wanted to dig a little deeper, and he did. Mark let his manuscript out into the public arena, one among many writings stimulated by the ministry of Jayzz. Mark’s served a useful purpose, organizing elements into a plausible, though patchy, whole. In the end, Mark knew his own mind better. Good books tend to do that for authors, in my observation.

221 Comments to “Mark’s Mark: Jayzz”

Leave a Comment