Mark 4:2-23 | Mcn ~ Luke 8:8, 16-17 |
2 He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”
| 8 Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”
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10 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret[a] of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; 12 in order that
‘they may indeed look, but not perceive,
and may indeed listen, but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’”
13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. 20 And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
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21 He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23 Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”
| 16 “No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light.
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Here there would be evidence that Mark was based on
Mcn.
The Goal of Mark: Jesus should not reveal his identity (that he is the Son of YHWH) in conformity to Isaiah 6:9 :
And he said, “Go and say to this people:
‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
keep looking, but do not understand.’
But the Jesus of Marcion wishes that all people know the truth about the his identity (that he is
not the Son of YHWH).
Under the traditional hypothesis (Mark before
Mcn) there was no need for Marcion of removing the second “explanation” of the Parable of Sower: to say the parable
only one time is sufficient to interpret his point, for all the listeners (insiders or outsiders).
While, if your goal is making someway that parable as “esoteric” (so that only the insiders can interpret his point, and not the outsiders), then you have to insert a so-called “explanation” of the same parable for the only insiders.
Apparently (but only apparently) it seems simply absurd that Mark repeats twice the exclamation:
“Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”
...respectively in Mark 2:9 and Mark 2:23. What is the need of repeating it, if your point is to reveal the meaning of the parable
at least for the insiders ? By doing so, Mark wants only
to reiterate the theme of secrecy.
But by all this emphasis on secrecy Mark reveals only his dependence on
Mcn.
In other words, the entire point
and the only point behind a repetition of the parable (apparently only for the insiders-who-are-not-insiders) serves only in order to reiterate the fact that the meaning of the parable remains
hidden:
neither outsiders nor insiders know the identity of Jesus. Period. That is the entire point of the repetition of the parable.
In substance, by this operation, Mark converts the meaning of the exhortation:
“Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”.
It is not more a sincere invitation to listen Jesus, but becomes only a way to reinforce even more the enigma surrounding the true identity of Jesus, in conformity to Isaiah 6:9 .
The result is that the listeners in Mark become more sinners than in
Mcn. In Mark the listeners have to remain in ignorance so that their sins are not forgiven. This becomes anti-Jewish cruelty in order to make pass the idea that Jesus is
REALLY -
contra Marcionem - the Son of the cruel and just YHWH.
Insofar Jesus must hide his identity, the Jews have to become more and more blind (=more and more evil people).
Therefore the Jesus of Mark is more anti-Judaic than the Jesus of Marcion.
And this can only be as reaction against Marcion.
Moreover, a sign of editorial fatigue by Mark in his depending on Mcn, is the fact that in Mark the demons
break the Messianic Secret.While in
Mcn this doesn't happen. If Mark was coherent with himself, he would have hidden the identity of Jesus
ALSO AND ESPECIALLY FOR THE DEMONS, the first ones to be not forgiven in virtue of their blindness. But so it is not.
Therefore the entire Messianic Secret in Mark is mere anti-marcionite apology.
While there is no desire by Jesus of not revealing his identity in Marcion: it is only the people who are naturally blind and close to his invitation to recognize him as the Son of the Alien God.