MacDonald believes Mark uses the young man to foreshadow
Jesus' death. The
Greek-speaking readers of his time would know the
traditional story of the
naked Elpenor's going off to Hades, so they would
connect the presence of the
naked young man with death--or the
foreshadowing of a death. At Jesus'
capture, Mark has this young man
appear out of nowhere, lose his clothes (his
soul sheds his body), and run
away. The young man symbolizes Jesus, and the
loss of his clothes
represents Jesus' death. After the foreshadowing of
Jesus' death by
the flight of the naked young man, Jesus is taken away and
killed, but
MacDonald says that Mark is not yet done with that young man; he
will
bring him back to his readers later, when he puts him in Jesus' empty
tomb. (Excerpted from "Odysseus and Jesus" at
http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/Odysseus_and_Jesus_Visit_Hades.html)
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Pickett response:
Well, I guess that's a possibility, but it sure seems to assume a lot on
the part of the audience. My interpretation is based more on internal evidence
regarding what appears to me to be a baptismal motif in Mark. I addition to
Mark's account of Jesus' baptism evoking associations with their own baptism,
the passion predictions in 8-10, which I take to be a catechetical
section (similar to Via, though he doesn't acknowledge the baptismal
theme), expound the values and conduct befitting those who would identify with
Jesus in death. The third passion prediction is followed by an explicit
reference to baptism (10:35-45) and the alternative notions of honor/power
which are presented as normative for the community.
As a number of responses have indicated, this enigmatic figure or symbol
can lead to endless speculation. But Mark's narrative is so tight, that in
order for an interpretation of any particulary pericope to be persuasive it
needs to relate somehow to how the narrative works as a whole. In that respect
I guess it is ultimately a matter of what we think about the rhetorical
strategy or use of this Gospel in its original setting.
Regards,
Ray Pickett
