The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The ... - josephprestonkirk

388 QUMRAN AND THE DATINGOFTHEPARABLES OF ENOCH
that in the Gospel of Mark, the oldest of the four, Mark speaks of the Son
of Man as a well-known figure. He identifies Jesus with the Son of Man
without explaining just who that is. This means that Mark knew who it
was, and that he was addressing a group of readers that knew who he
was, as well. For Mark this identification of Jesus with the Son of Man is
so important that he places it at the very beginning of his book. Let us
reread Mark 2:1–12 which narrates the miracle of the paralytic, and especially
verses 9–11: “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic ‘Your sins are
forgiven’ or to say ‘Rise, take up your pallet and walk’? But that you may
know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…I say to
you, ‘rise, take up your pallet and go home.’” In order to explain his powers
and his authority, Jesus declares at least to have the same authority as
the Son of Man, if not actually to be the Son of Man. Therefore, in Jesus’
day the expression “Son of Man” must have been well known, just as the
words “prophet” and “messiah.” The only thing that he explains to his
listeners is that the Son of Man’s powers are valid on earth as well. The
structure of Mark’s discourse clearly assumes knowledge of the expression
“Son of Man” both on Mark’s part and on that of the listeners. 36
Some may object that Mark and his readers had the Son of Man of the
book of Daniel in mind, interpreted as an existing figure rather than a
metaphor. At any rate, whichever interpretation we choose Mark’s narration
clearly sees the Son of Man as judge and, therefore, with the power
to forgive, while in Daniel the Son of Man presents himself to the Ancient
of Days only after the judgment. This can be found only in BP. The Book
of Parable is an intermediate step between Daniel and Mark, or rather,
between Daniel and Jesus. For Mark, Daniel was the scriptural point of
reference for legitimizing the Son of Man. Mark puts the following words
in Jesus’ mouth when presenting himself to the High Priest: “You will see
the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with ‘the
clouds of heaven’” (Mark 14:62). The expression, “with the clouds of
heaven,” is a quote from Daniel 7:13. Even the very ease with which BP
was interpreted as a Christian text shows that Jesus/Son of Man is more
similar to the Son of Man in BP than to the one in Daniel. 37
36. Conviction that the concept of Son of Man was a wide-spread apocalyptic concept
can also be found in Norman Perrin, A Modern Pilgrimage in New Testament
Christology (Philadelphia, Fortress, 1974).
37. The text of Daniel 7:13–14 presents “one like a Son of Man coming with the
clouds of heaven…to the Ancient of Days” who gave him “dominion and glory and
kingship” over all peoples. The function of last judge can be derived from this powerful
figure, but this particular element is lacking in Daniel. There is, however, a far
from banal difference between the text of Daniel and that of Mark: Daniel says “one
like a Son of Man,” while Mark says “the Son of Man.” For Mark the Son of Man is