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Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross

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Gundry's Commentary on the Second Gospel is simply the most thoroughly researched and meticulously documented study in print! His thesis is relatively simple: The Second Gospel presents an apology for the circumstances surrounding Jesus' death.

All commentators on Mark end up dealing, in one way or another, with the fact that there exists two distinct types of literature within the narrative. The first kind, largely toward the beginning, consists of success stories in which Jesus works miracles, casts out demons, heals the sick, forecasts the future, draws large crowds to himself and so on. These characteristics were highly estimated in the first century Greco-Roman world. The second kind of literature, largely towards the end of the Gospel, consists of Jesus' passion in which he is betrayed, forsaken, denied, and ultimately crucified. Such characteristics would bring shame upon a person.

Gundry goes to painstaking detail to show how Mark appeals to the various success stories in Jesus' life to immerse a shameful death, a death by crucifixion, in a sea of glory. Jesus' death on a cross then turns out not to be a thing of shame, but instead, the opposite turns out to be the case. According to Gundry, the Gospel of Mark presents, however paradoxical, a cruciform shaped theology of glory.

Two concerns a potential buyer may have: 1.)This commentary assumes some knowledge of Greek and technical terminology in exegesis from the reader and, 2.) the author's Pre-Millenial interpretation of the Olivet Discourse may seem strained to those whose interests fall outside the well worn millennial arguments.

This is a substantial work that simply must be consulted for any academic study in the Second Gospel and which should also prove a valuable tool for most who are interested in a detailed understanding of Mark.