214 MARK JENNINGS The elements of any common tradition appear in an altered ex- pression, based largely on a different approach to eschatology. a) The Glory of the Son of Man 19 The Markan discourse contains a parousial eschatology. Everything said assumes that these events will occur after Jesus’ imminent death, in the time leading up to the Second Coming. The Parousia will end the present age and usher in the Kingdom of God. Mark also links glory to the end-time. Jesus suffers the humiliation and anguish of the cross, but at the end of the age he will return as the glorious Son of Man. This represents an interpretation of the Hebrew apocalyptic tradition, in which God acts to intervene to bring about the end of the present evil age 20. This action is to be completed at the point of Jesus’ return. In contrast, John represents a realised eschatology. John’s focus is on the “already” rather than the “not yet”. The Johannine Jesus, know- ing that Judas’ departure has sealed his fate, states that he is glorified now — it has begun 21. John commences this discourse by showing that Jesus’ glorification is taking place in the unfolding events of suf- fering, death, resurrection and return to the Father. Further, John por- trays Jesus’ humiliation, death and resurrection as one sweeping movement of glory. God’s action of revealing salvation and judgment through the Son is completed not in a future coming, but at the point on the cross where Jesus states “It is finished” (19,30) 22. The focus is not, as in Mark, on a future vision of the Son of Man coming with the clouds, because the glorification is happening now. “The noun ‘glory’ is used repeatedly in the Synoptics in connection 19 with the title Son of Man, although in these cases the context is the coming of this eschatological figure at the end of time. It appears, then, that the al- legedly “Johannine” formula at John 13,31-32 in fact resonates with a number of features in the broader Jesus tradition” (J. BEUTLER, “Synoptic Jesus Tra- dition in the Johannine Farewell Discourse”, Jesus in the Johannine Tradition [eds. R.T. FORTNA – T. THATCHER] [Louisville, KY 2001] 165-173). As Moloney indicates, the apocalyptic imagery in Mark is not literal, but 20 should be read as a concrete prophecy of the end of the world as we know it (F.J. MOLONEY, The Gospel of Mark. A Commentary [Peabody, MA 2002] 266). This is paralleled in Mark 14,41, where the Markan Jesus states “The 21 hour has come” in reference to his betrayal by Judas (BEUTLER, Synoptic Jesus, 171). MOLONEY, Son of Man, 196. 22 © Gregorian Biblical Press 2013 - Tutti i diritti riservati