The Drama of Calvary

© 2011 by MICHAEL BRYANT. All rights reserved.

All biblical texts have been translated by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 09/20/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4567-8382-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-8383-9 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

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Contents

Acknowledgment

Foreword

PART ONE

I Mark’s Chronology

II The Arrest of Jesus

III Possibilities and Probabilities

IV Commentary on some details of the Passion Narrative

V A Possible Reconstruction

VI Reactions to the

Death of Jesus

VII The Formation of a

Passion Liturgy

VIII Simon called Peter

IX Development of the Passion Narrative

PART TWO

X Clues to the Original

Passion Narrative

XI The Historical Context

XII Elements of a Drama

XIII An Author of the

Passion Drama?

XIV Resurrection or Return?

XV The Limits of the Liturgy

Final Observations

Acknowledgment

The author acknowledges with heartfelt gratitude the help, advice and encouragement he has received from several friends who have read the manuscript of this book. Special thanks are due to Suzanne Coombs and Bridget Rees, and, for technical help, to Peter Bryant.

Foreword

COMMENTATORS on the Gospels usually admit that the texts contain anomalies, which make the significance of the text obscure. Some of the arguments intended to resolve perceived anomalies are convoluted, and therefore unconvincing. Sometimes anomalies are simply glossed over, and some are not even recognised.

This study of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus is intended to provide an honest identification of the anomalies, a review of previously proposed resolutions, and a presentation of less complex and more cogent proposals. Although many of these proposals hinge on the fine details of language, it is not assumed that the reader is familiar with ancient languages.

In this commentary, when an anomaly is revealed more than one solution may be proposed. Where the anomaly has been identified by a known author, the name of that author is provided; where no name is provided, the proposed solution is original to this commentary. Anomalies connected with Jewish law have been pointed out by Geza Vermes, in his book, The Passion, and this study acknowledges dependence on his work.

Some readers may not be accustomed to questioning the historical accuracy of the biblical narrative. In this study the gospels of the New Testament are treated as ancient documents, which themselves have a history. It is certain that their authors did not believe they were writing Holy Scripture, in the sense that their books might be added to the Jewish Scriptures as of right, if at all.

The Gospels are treated as a reliable record, not of what Jesus said and did, but of what some of his followers believed about him, in particular about his nature and status. The Passion Narrative, at least Mark’s¹ form of it, contains almost no statements about the nature and status of Jesus: in fact, only one, the centurion‘s declaration when Jesus died, but even this is not uniform in all four narratives. The absence of doctrinal interpretation indicates either that the Passion Narrative derives from an early period, before the growth of Christology, or that the Narrative originated in an environment where doctrine was of no consequence, or, intriguingly, both.

This study is an attempt to unravel, if only a little, the tangled complexity of the documents. As a result, the history of the Passion, and the history of the biblical narrative, will become clearer.

This study is not, however, a simple quest for historical and biographical fact about Jesus. Despite the attempts of many eminent scholars in the last two hundred years, it is now generally accepted that such a quest is pointless or impossible. This means that historical certainty is ultimately unattainable, but the quest, rather than the discovery, brings to light many matters of importance. The Christian religion still claims an historical foundation; the veracity of this claim must, therefore, still be examined.

Evidence exists for sources earlier than Paul and Mark. It is generally agreed that a record existed of some of the sayings of Jesus, traces of which can be found by literary analysis of the Gospels. The document is known as Q. which stands for the German Quelle, meaning source. Oral sources for the Passion Narrative may be assumed: it would be strange indeed if the followers of Jesus never told the story until 70 AD, and equally strange if its form did not vary, from time to time, and from place to place. This study will search for traces of more ancient sources of a Passion and Resurrection narrative, which can be detected in the documents available to us now.

PART ONE

I Mark’s Chronology

THE last three chapters of Mark constitute a Passion and Resurrection Narrative. Mark is generally considered the most ancient form surviving: the compilation of the entire Gospel is usually dated to about 71 AD, that is, after the fall of Jerusalem. The style of the Narrative indicates that it was compiled independently of the preceding chapters. For example, it contains almost no theological interpretation of Jesus, as do the preceding chapters: it is a narrative. And it contains several statements of precise chronology, while the preceding chapters give no indication of when events took place. The chronology of the Passion Narrative is a suitable entry-point into the quest for historical fact.

The chronology of the narrative is perplexing: how could everything recorded take place within a mere twenty hours? The narrative moves inexorably from one scene to another, as if it had been stage-managed. High Priests, soldiers, the Governor himself, were all on hand to play their part. Most notably, Jesus takes only six hours to die (three according to John). Death by crucifixion took days, rather than hours, if it was carried out in the manner implied in the Gospels: even Pontius Pilate is portrayed as doubting whether Jesus had indeed died.

Although a crucified man might die within hours, it was a rare occurrence. On a scale of probability, it is well below the halfway mark. If we are searching for historical fact, probability must be a criterion.

The account of an amazingly rapid death has spawned many theories, according to which Jesus did not die, but was taken down alive from the cross and revived. None of the claims explains satisfactorily how such a deceit could have been achieved². It is impossible that such a fraud would go undetected. Jesus truly died, and this must be seen as non-negotiable historical fact.

The chronological indications are:

Two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Mk 14.1ff – ‘Wednesday’³—chief priests plot arrest; Jesus anointed at Bethany; Judas with chief priests).

The first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb (Mk 14.12ff – ‘Thursday’ – Jesus and disciples to Upper Room).

When it was evening (Mk 14.17ff—Last Supper; Jesus and disciples to Gethsemane; Jesus arrested; Jesus interrogated by Council; Peter‘s denial).

As soon as morning came (Mk 15.1ff – ‘Friday 6 a.m.’ – Council reconvenes; Jesus handed over to Pilate; Pilate interrogates Jesus and addresses the crowd; Jesus mocked by soldiers; Jesus led out to be crucified; Simon of Cyrene forced to carry cross).

The third hour (Mk 15.25ff – ‘Friday 9 a.m.’ – Jesus crucified, mocked by passers-by, chief priests, crucified thieves).

The sixth hour (Mk 15.33 – noon—darkness over the whole land until 3 p.m.).

The ninth hour (Mk 15.34ff – ‘Friday 3 p.m.’—Jesus dies.)

When evening came, as it was Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath (Mk 15.42ff – ‘Friday 5 p.m.’ – Joseph of Arimathea visits Pilate; lays Jesus in tomb).

When the Sabbath was past (Mk 16.1 – ‘Saturday 6 p.m.’ onwards – women buy spices).

Very early on the first day of the week, at sunrise, (Mk 16.2ff – ‘Sunday 6 a.m.’ – women visit tomb).

(Luke inserts a further