I’d like to first focus on one simple element of the story to demonstrate that this is a fictional story, crafted by the author with the intent that readers use the literary allusions to understand the story. In the Gospel called Mark, John the Baptist represents Elijah. Knowing this is important for understanding the story. How are readers supposed to know that John the Baptist represents Elijah in the story? Readers are told this at the very beginning of the story through the use of literary allusion. In fact, readers are clued in to the fact that the story will parallel much of 1 and 2 Kings right from the beginning.
The author uses an implicit reference to the Hebrew scriptures when the author describes the character of John the Baptist.
Mark 1:
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.
Mark 1:6 refers to 2 Kings 1:8, which provides a description of Elijah.
2 Kings 1:
8 They replied, “He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist.” The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”
This description of John the Baptist as a man “clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist” is the only way that the reader can figure out that John the Baptist is Elijah. In order to figure that out, the reader has to recognize this literary allusion and know that it describes Elijah. To an audience of Jews who grew up listening to stories about Elijah, this probably wouldn’t have been difficult. But what is important is that it’s clear that the reader is supposed to be aware of the literary allusion, because the author makes use of information from it later in the story.
Not only this, but Mark 1:2 is a reference to Malachi 3. The book of Malachi concludes in Malachi 4 by saying that the Lord will send Elijah before the day of his wrath:
Mark 1:
1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.
2 As it is written in the prophets,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way;
3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”‘,
This refers to Malachi 3:1:
Malachi 3:
1 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
Malachi 4:
5 Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
As is typical throughout Mark, we see hidden meaning in the narrative through the use of literary allusion. If you just take the narrative at face value, the opening scene of Mark appears quite innocent and nice. However, when you look at the literary allusions, you see that the story is about condemnation of the Jews and the destruction of Israel that occurred during the First Jewish-Roman War. The coming of Jesus is not a good thing; it is a harbinger of destruction, which is actually alluded to multiple times in the story.
So by looking at the literary allusions in the opening scene of Mark, we see very complex foreshadowing and messaging. We are told in Mark 1:2 that a messenger is preparing the way for the Lord. We are told via the book of Malachi that the Lord will come to the temple, which foreshadows the temple cleansing scene in Mark 11. We are also told via the referenced passage in Malachi that the events unfolding are part of the coming judgment of God against Israel, which will result in destruction and punishment of the Jews, which will be preceded by the coming of Elijah. We then see John the Baptist identified as the messenger Elijah in Mark 1:6.
In Mark 6, we are told of the killing of John the Baptist by Herod at the urging of his wife, Herodias, in a scenario reminiscent of Jezebel’s plot to kill Elijah from 1 Kings.
After the Transfiguration scene in Mark 9, the disciples ask Jesus about Elijah.
Mark 9:
9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. 11 Then they asked him, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ 12 He said to them, ‘Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.’
It is here that the literary allusions from Mark 1:2–6 become important, because one has to realize from the literary allusion to 2 Kings 1:8 that John the Baptist is Elijah in order for this scene to make any sense. In addition, the question asked by the disciples refers to the passage in Malachi that talks about Elijah coming before “the great and terrible day of the Lord.”
And again in the Crucifixion scene, the author makes reference to Elijah:
Mark 15:
36 And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’ 37 Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
Of course Elijah does not come to take him down, because he has been killed by Herod.
All of this is just one example of how the author crafted an intricate, multilayered narrative through the use of literary allusions, which it is clear that the author intended his audience to be able to decipher. This type of complex writing makes it clear that the author is crafting a story; the author is not merely chronicling events or recording random anecdotes that he heard from other people. We see this all throughout the Gospel called Mark. The author makes copious use of symbolism, foreshadowing, irony, and literary allusion, including foreshadowing through literary allusion. These are all hallmarks which indicate that the author invented this story from whole cloth himself. The narrative of the story we call the Gospel of Mark is clearly crafted with symbolic purpose and intent by the author, as we shall more fully explore.
