179 THE VULNERABLE AUTHORITY AUTHOR OF THE saved by God. That is the only guarantee that should and could make them decide to follow Jesus. Therefore, according to Mark, the Christological dimension is an indispensably intrinsic part of the paradoxes. What Jan Lambrecht writes regarding 9,35-37, is true for all paradoxes: “Clearly, this is an interpersonal, horizontal task. It is, however, motivated vertically. By serving our neighbor we serve Christ and God Himself!” And so we could conclude: He who wants to be great in the eyes of God, must be the slave of all. This article is entitled “The vulnerable authority of the author of Mark ”. It has been said many times before: the narrator of the Gospel according to Mark has an Olympic perspective on the events and characters of his story. He is the one who knows everything and who chooses to tell what he likes in the way he wishes to tell it. He is the master of his story. The consequence of this statement is enormous, since through this perspective the narrator can influence the reading process in order to orientate the thoughts and the actions of the reader. There is nothing special or surprising about this position. The reason for this is that the kind of “proclaiming” or “ missionary ” literature that the gospels represent demands an author who manifests some authority in order to be convincing. The power and the authority he has as an omniscient writer becomes apparent when the reader discovers the rhetoric of the narrator. This “dis- covery ” by the reader of the rhetoric strategies and their manifold techniques does not make the authority of the author weaker, as if the exposure of his artistry would undermine the value of his work. On the contrary, one could compare the attentive reading of a text to the fascination of someone who is viewing a piece of art. A better understanding of the techniques and the nuances used by the artist does not lead to a demystification of the masterpiece. It rather leads to a deeper appreciation and admiration of what they want to express. Better insight into the creation and the formation of a text or piece of art can help one to see the values, the ideas, the perspective or the message that the author or artist wants to bring forward. The reader — to leave the comparison with other art behind us and to limit ourselves to the text of the gospels — who has a better insight into the techniques used by the author, will be better prepared to accept (or to refuse) the evidence brought forward by the narrator. Rhetoric artistry helps to construct the authority of the narrator. But, the narrator also has a message he wants to transmit. And there Mark finds himself in the same paradoxical situation as