Arrogance of the Pharisees in the Gospel of Mark

In this extra blog post, I would like to again explore the idea of arrogance in the Ancient World. Ever since this idea came up in class while comparing Antigone and A Few Good Men, the topic has intrigued me. This is in part because I feel that arrogance is a large part of today’s culture. This generation is a lot less humble than the previous generations, and we have a lot less things to be arrogant about. In this particular post, I want to look at the arrogance of the Pharisees in the Gospel of Mark. It is my belief that the arrogance of the Pharisees is what lead to the persecution of Jesus Christ and through this persecution the Christian scriptures were fulfilled as Christ had predicted.

Many people claim that the Pharisees decided to kill Jesus because his power base threatened their own, and I would have to agree with that. The Pharisees were losing a large portion of their believers to Jesus. However, when they decided to kill Jesus, they showed arrogance in thinking that putting Him to death would end the tide of believers flocking to Jesus. They apparently did not know the rules of martyrdom. As any trial attorney knows, when a person brings a large amount of attention to an issue close to their heart and they make some form of sacrifice, they become a martyr. A recent episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit featured a woman who helped people commit suicide. When she was taken to court and charged with second-degree murder for helping a woman kill herself, she attempted to turn herself into a martyr. She refused to accept a plea bargain from the District Attorney’s office because she wanted to raise awareness and support for the right of one to take their own life. When she threatened to kill herself during the trial, the DA and the Judge ordered her to go to a psychiatric ward so that she would not be able to actually kill herself and turn herself into a martyr for her followers who also supported the right of one to take their own life.

In this way, the Pharisees should have acted similarly. By killing Jesus, they turned their enemy into a martyr. His followers were then able to preach that by dying on the cross Jesus saved the entire world and made eternal life possible. It is my personal belief that the Pharisees were arrogant enough to believe that once Jesus was officially gone, people would return to their normal faith. I am also fairly certain than many of them did return to their faith. However, seeing that Christianity is one of the largest religions in the world, it is apparent that many of Jesus’s followers did indeed remain with the faith and helped others see the faith. This continual passing on of the teachings of Jesus is the fulfillment of the scriptures. Time and time again, Jesus said that the Temple of Jerusalem would be destroyed and rebuilt in three days. The day Jesus was crucified the Christian faith was temporarily shattered. Many people fell for the trap that Jesus could not be the Son of God if he couldn’t save himself from persecution. However, as Jesus’s closest followers began to fully understand His teachings and they realized that He died on the cross to forgive the sins of the world. Even at the time of His arrest, Jesus says, “Day after day I was with you teaching in the temple area, yet you did not arrest me; but that the scriptures be fulfilled.” (Mark 14:49).

(Jesus carrying his cross to his crucifixion. This image is from the movie The Passion, directed by Mel Gibson.)