Mark’s Answer to the Ransom Question: Studies in Mark, Pt. 66
Recently, Doug Chaplin offered a response to a post I wrote on Mk. 14.7: Rethinking You Shall Always Have the Poor Among You . In his reply, he argued that the woman who anointed Jesus did so because she viewed Jesus’ impending death as ransom. My reply to Doug was that the “ransom theology” (that is, that Jesus, as “ransom” paid for the sins of the world) might fit in chapter 10 but it does not work in chapter 14. Even if the woman is a “slave woman” in chapter 14, as many scholars have suggested and even if she had knowledge of ransom practices, this pericope is not dealing with such matters. (Actually I don't even hold the view that the typical ransom theology works in chatper 10.) In the end, Doug acknowledged that I was correct and offered some more commentary on the same passage. Still, the whole ransom argument got me thinking. In particular, it got me thinking about the age-old question: To whom was Jesus’ ransom paid? Was it paid to (the) satan? Death? God? (Of course, ea...