Losing Life for Others in the Face of Death

Mark's Standards of Judgment

Abstract

This article ferrets out the Markan standards of judgment to lay bare the moral backbone of this gospel. The analysis of Mark’s foundational beliefs and values makes explicit the norms that undergird the narrator’s description and evaluation of characters and events in his story of Jesus. By means of these distinctive standards of judgment, Mark draws the audience to embrace his perspective on life. Interpreting the entire Gospel through this lens will illuminate many episodes.