All in all, the death of Jesus is presented as mysteriously God-willed. Likewise, the scenario of failed discipleship together with the eventual nurturing of genuine discipleship out of the Passion is also presented as mysteriously incomprehensible to the disciples. Yet, the cosmic struggle between God/Jesus/the Spirit and Satan/the satanic forces including the antagonistic religious authorities, the death of Jesus together with the predicted death of his disciples, and the eventual overcoming of failed discipleship are portrayed in the Markan story as part and parcel of the in-coming of the Kingdom of God, that Jesus proclaimed and he himself acted it out. / In sum, the aim of the present thesis is to lay bare that the themes of death and discipleship are inextricably bound to one another in Mark's story-telling and unfolding of Jesus and discipleship. A new and more compassionate understanding of the intertwined themes of death and discipleship is offered to explain the failed discipleship as depicted in that story-telling. / The above revisit of the overall Markan story under the intertwined themes of death and discipleship will be rolled out progressively in three phases (or chapters). Namely, the Galilean ministry of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus on his way to Jerusalem regarding the Kingdom of God and its consequent implications and demands on discipleship, and lastly the trial and arrest of Jesus in Jerusalem. / This Thesis is a narrative-critical study or revisit of the Markan story in the light of the intertwined and interconnected themes of death and discipleship. It will be argued that discipleship in the Markan context is ultimately the imperative command on the disciples to die for and like Jesus. Alike Jesus who is presented as carrying out his earthly ministry in the setting of the cosmic struggle between the God/the Spirit and Satan, the disciples are to face the persecution and suffering and even death. The author of Mark has Jesus reveal that his Passion would be followed by the passion of the disciples. In Mark, genuine discipleship is attained primarily with the ability to overcome the fear of death. For it is only by doing so can the disciples really take up their crosses to die for and like Jesus. However, the reality is that all the disciples, as depicted early in the Markan narrative as fallible sinners, would and did all fail Jesus. Yet, failed discipleship, though being portrayed as inevitable, is not the dead end or cul de sac in the Markan story. In the Passion Narrative, the author of Mark does endeavor to illustrate that there is a way out. In this sense, genuine discipleship will be nurtured out of the Passion. It is under this understanding of discipleship vis-a-vis death that the failed discipleship in Mark should be evaluated and compassionately understood, as conveyed in the utterance of Jesus at Gethsemane, "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak". (Mk 14:38) / Wan, Siu Fai. / Adviser: K. C. Wong. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: 2079. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 246-259). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:cuhk.edu.hk/oai:cuhk-dr:cuhk_344345 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Contributors | Wan, Siu Fai., Chinese University of Hong Kong Graduate School. Division of Religious Studies. |
| Source Sets | The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| Language | English, Chinese |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, theses |
| Format | electronic resource, microform, microfiche, 1 online resource (259 leaves : ill.) |
| Rights | Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International” License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
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