“Whatever You Ask” for the Missionary Purposes of the Eschatological Temple: Quotation and Typology in Mark 11–12

Bibliographic information:

Piotrowski, Nicholas. “‘Whatever You Ask'” for the Missionary Purposes of the Eschatological Temple: Quotation and Typology in Mark 11–12.” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 21.1 (2017): 97–121.

Description:

Description:
Once Jesus reaches Jerusalem in Mark 11 all of his actions and words in the rest of the gospel bear directly on the temple. The goal of this article is to demonstrate how the discourse of Mark 11–12, and specific Old Testament quotations therein, elucidates typological correspondences with Israel’s historic temple. The current temple is judged and a new temple is erected: the temple of the community of Jesus-followers. They will fulfill the eschatological purposes for the temple by extending God’s reign from Jerusalem to all the nations. To see this specific attention is given to the typological function of the temple in the Old Testament vis-à-vis the narrative discourse and quotations in Mark 11–12. In so doing, a Markan crux interpretum comes into clarity: 11:24’s “whatever you ask in prayer” is meant specifically in reference to the ministrations of the temple now fulfilled in Jesus’ followers. The church is, therefore, Jesus’ eschatological temple—rebuilt three days after Jesus’ destruction—that can now ask for “whatever” to accomplish its mission to the nations. In short, the events of Mark 11–12 comprise an extended temple antitype.

Publisher:

Southern Baptist Journal of Theology (website: http://equip.sbts.edu/category/publications/journals/journal-of-theology/publications/journal-of-theology/)

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