Kyrios in the Gospel of Mark
Abstract
Against the common view that the title 魏蠉蟻喂o蟼 plays a relatively insignificant role in the Gospel of Mark, this article argues
that Mark uses 魏蠉蟻喂o蟼 to set out important aspects of Jesus鈥 identity. The first instance of 魏蠉蟻喂o蟼, which refers to both
God and Jesus (Mk 1.3), is seen as the key to Mark鈥檚 魏蠉蟻喂o蟼 Christology. The difficulty of determining whether 魏蠉蟻喂o蟼 refers
to God or Jesus in many of the following passages should be understood in light of this. Mark used 魏蠉蟻喂o蟼 ambiguously to link
both God and Jesus to the title. While the evangelist maintains that there is only one 魏蠉蟻喂o蟼, he also claims that Jesus shares
the identity of being 魏蠉蟻喂o蟼 with the God of Israel.