Gustavo Martin’s excellent (though rather technical) Biblica essay on ‘Procedural Register in the Olivet Discourse’ has prompted me to look again at the place of the ‘Son of man’ section in Jesus’ prediction of future events in Mark 13.

Martin’s main argument is that there is a pronounced shift of ‘register’ (that is, a ‘functional variety of language’) between 5b-23 and 24-27 which he takes as evidence that the time frame is dislocated at this juncture. The first part of the discourse can be shown on functional-grammatical grounds to be Jesus’ direct response to the disciples’ question in 13:4 about when the temple will be destroyed: ‘This unusual register, a combination of paraenesis and procedural styles, is used by the Markan Jesus to discuss road signs in the near future of his audience, together with the required reaction to these signs’ (464). In other words, Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples what to do when they see certain things happening in the build up to the desecration and destruction of the temple.

I mentioned this passage in the comment on Luke 13:22-24, but it is worth considering in its own right.

First, as modern liberal interpreters we usually understand Jesus to be saying that the Galileans who died were not greater sinners than all other Galileans or that those who were crushed by the tower were not greater ‘debtors’ than everyone else in the city; or that these tragic events should not be taken to mean that these unfortunates were being punished for their sins. In fact, Jesus is saying exactly the opposite – not that the dead are innocent but that all Israel is guilty. His main point is found in verses 3 and 5: unless the Jews who listen to his teaching repent, they will all likewise perish.

Jesus is asked by a man in the street whether it is true that only a few will be saved. The question highlights the centrality of the theme of judgment on Israel in Jesus’ teaching, as it is found in statements such as: ‘I came to cast fire upon the land’ and ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the land’ (Luke 12:49, 51). It further presupposes Old Testament texts such as Isaiah 1:9 and 10:22-23, which speak of the few that will survive the devastation of the country by the Assyrians or the remnant that will turn back to the mighty God. Paul quotes these passages in Romans 9:27-29 to underline his argument that Israel now faces a similar disaster from which only a few will be saved. Isaiah 10:18-19 speaks of Israel as a forest which the Lord will destroy: ‘The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.’ Less directly relevant are apocalyptic texts such as 4 Ezra 7:47; 8:1-3; 9;15.