Engagement,Disengagement and Obstruction: Jesus’ Defense Strategies in Mark’s Trial and Execution Scenes (14.53-64;15.1-39)

Abstract

This culturally cued literary study of Mark’s trial and execution scenes (14.53-64; 15.1-39) argues that Jesus does not passively acquiesce in the injustice that is perpetrated against him, as is the usual view of commentators on these narratives. Instead, Jesus alternately engages in and resists the judicial proceedings in which he becomes embroiled. Initially, he welcomes and participates in the proceedings before the Jewish council and, subsequently, before Pilate. He disengages, however, when the prosecution dissolves into a series of false allegations established by perjured testimony. Once the verdict is rendered, Jesus actively obstructs the discharge of the sentence by refusing to carry his cross as required and balking at being paraded to Golgotha.