Form and Function

“Studying the Synoptic Gospels” – Sanders and

Form Criticism

• K. L. Schmidt, Martin Dibelius, Rudolph Buttmann, Vincent Taylor
• goal – to get behind the gospels as we know them
• Jesus <- Intermediate Church <- Gospels
• several decades where the church is expanding thru preaching Jesus as Lord
• theory – gospel writers had pieces to put together the gospels
• folk literature – Schmidt describes it as “stringing pearls”
• Schmidt – look at traditions, see what it reveals about the Intermediate Church, see what it reveals about the historical Jesus
• over time, realized that this tool would not lead to the actual words of Jesus as precisely as they wanted

• other writings of Greco-Roman and/or Jewish contexts are similar
• story that leads to a short and memorable saying
• gospel sketches the scene, culminates in a saying by Jesus
• pointed saying of Jesus
• miracle story – person comes, problem described, Jesus heals, people amazed
• historical story – describes Jesus, sometimes includes the miraculous
• parables
• goal – find pattern/tendencies, contributions from the church and/or gospel writers,
• Buttmann – stories become more complex over time as things added,
• Taylor – the opposite, like a stone smoothed over time, simple

Genre

• every culture has ways of telling stories (i.e. “once upon a time” – fable)
• social role - impact stories
• miracle stories – were they used to prove divinity? is that how the people would hear/read these stories?

Passages - Miracles:

Form

• Template

1. Introduction – Jesus is doing something else (differences in gospels based on audience, evangelist flavor)
2. Problem presented
3. Request for help / ‘faith’ – dialog
4. Healing – touch, manipulation, word – sometimes transliterated (prayer?)
5. Demonstration of healing
6. Response –

• injunction to silence
• person tells
• crowd is amazed
• people want to plot to kill him
• other forms – similar to the rabbi miracle accounts
• focus – Jesus, people respond to Jesus

Mark 2:1-12

Verse	Form Step	Action
2:1	Introduction – Jesus is doing something	Jesus went into Capernaum
2:2 - 2:3	Problem	Paralytic,
4b-5a	Request for help	Lowered mat
10b –11	Healing	get up
12a	Demonstration of healing	He got up, took his mat
12b	Response	This amazed everyone they praised God

Distinctive – intrusion into the form 2:5b – 10a

If the reader expected a standard healing story then there is a form

Frustration of the form – “Son, your sins are forgiven”

eiV o qeoV – similar to the shama (v. 7)

blasphemy – assaulting God’s uniqueness (oneness) – here and Mark 14:62 (high priests)

foreshadowing of accusations

ambiguous as to who is forgiving sins – Jesus or God?

Mark leaves it ambiguous

Wagner – narratives are scripture not the events behind them, the portrait of Jesus is the scripture, if it is on TV then it is clear (Rodney King video?)

v. 10 – the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins. who is the Son of Man?

Side audience?

• ina + subjunction could be read as the imperative
• others say that Mark is turning to the reader and making a point
• Wag-daddy – makes more sense for Jesus to be speaking to the audience in the story

Son of Man

• mortal
• Ezekial – God addresses him as Son of Man to point out his mortality
• Psalm 8 – mortality
• humble way of speaking about oneself
• well-recognized title of the Messiah (Daniel 7 – one like the Son of Man)
• difficult to find a Son of Man figure who Jesus identifies himself with
• Mark usage – different schools
• future figure – coming in the clouds
• suffering figure - passion predictions
• Jesus speaking about himself
• Mark’s use in 2:10 and 2:28
• 2:10 – Son of Man has authority
• theme of early miracle stories
• exousian
• 2:28 – plucking grain
• Sabbath made for human not humans for the Sabbath
• Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath
• kurioV

• does not come back until later
• Mark hinges at chapter 8 – Peter’s confession
• 8,9,10 – prediction to death
• Son of Man usage is concentrated in 8,9,10

Conclusions

• disruption of form – significance
• Son of Man – authority and Lord
• overall, function of telling the story of Jesus – relation to one God of Israel, his authority, not recognized as Son of Man but condemned as a pretender

Conflict Stories

• another type
• 2:1 – 3:6

Matt 9:27-31

Mark 1:29

Mark 1:40-45

Mark 5:21-43 (2 stories)

Mark 7:32-37

Mark 8:22-26

• two stage healing - only one like this
• because this is out of the ordinary, then people have asked if there is something unique about this
• two stage removal of the disciples’ blindness
• Caesarea Philipi – Jesus is the Messiah, Peter’s profession, however he still thinks on a human level as evidenced by ‘get behind me satan’
• Transfiguration (Mark 9)

Mark 10:46-52

Luke 7:11-17