134 BElWEENTF.xrANDAR'I1FACI'I receivearenotsurprising.Thefirstobservationstudentscommonlymake
isthaIthePhariseesappeartobethedominantforceinthissocioeconomic
world.I askthemhowmanyPhariseestheythinklivedinGalileeatthe
timeofJesus,andtheydonothesitatetoanswerthatthePhariseesmust
havenumberedinthehundredsoreventhousands.TIleyappearonevery
corner,theywatchwhereJesuseats,theymeddleinthefields, andthey
observeJesusinalmosteverysettinginMark'sstory.This(mis)conception
oftheroleofthePhariseesintheearlyfirstcenturyinGalileeissomething
thaIisseeminglyeasytocounter.Il providesanopponunirytoexamine
the~storyworld"ornarrativeflowthatMarkusedinwritinghisGospel.It
allowstheprofessorquicklytopointouttheabilityoftheauthorofMark
tosetupan antagonistin thenarrativethatwoulddrivetheplotfrom
beginningtoend.MarkselectedthePhariseesastheantagonistsbecause
thiswasthegroupthatdidhavea competitiverolewithChristianityinthe
lastthirdofthefirstcentury,fortytofiftyyearsafterJesuslivedinGalilee.
Inlightofthis,Jcanpointthestudentstoa varietyofstudiesofthenarra-
tiveofMarkthatwellillustnHethejuxtapositionofJesusandthe"Jewish
authorities"inthestoryandexplainwhytheauthorofMarkandhisearly
Christiancommunitymighthavebeeninterestedinthisportrayalofthese
Jewishgroups.]
I alsoaskthestudentstostudythegeographyoftheGalileethrough
anexaminationofthetravelsofJesus:Wheredidhego,andhowlongdid
thetriptake,accordingtoMark?Thisis,ofcourse,anotherattempttohelp
studentsunderstandthe narrativecontext, in distinctionfromwhat we
know aboutthe actual geographyofthe Galilee andthesurrounding
regionsandwhatarchaeologyhastaughtusabouttheancientroadsys-
temsin thearea. Iamthen abletodrawtheiranention[Qtheworkof
severalscholarswhohaveshownhowMarkhasgivenusa tmvelnarrative
thatdoesnotnecessarilymakesenseasa historicalitinerary,althoughit
functionswellasa narrativetool.2
Turningtheiratlentiontothetextbook Ihaveassigned,thestudents
areprovidedwith littlepositiveanalysisofwhatitmightactuallyhave
beenliketoliveandtrJvelintheGalileeduringthefirstcentury.Thetext-
book'schapter on the "Historical SettingofJesus" focuses on a full] ForeKamples,seeDavidRhoads,JoannaDewey,andDonaldMichie,MarkAsStory:
AnIlltroductiolltotbeNarrativeoj(/Gospel(2ded.~Minneapolis:Fonress,t999),chs.5 and
6;andElizabethSlnuhersMallXln, IIItbeCompmlYojjesus:Cbamctr.:rsinMarksGospel
(Louisville:WestminsterJohnKnox,2000),ch.5.
2 TheargumentwasfirstelaboratedinKarll.udwigSchmidt,DcrRahmenderGescbicbte
jesll: LitemrkritischeUmer.;ucbullgenzlIrIiItestenjeslls/itx..>rliejenmg(Berlin:Trowit7..sch,
1919).Morerecently,seeSeanFreyne,Galilee,jeslls{IudtbeGospels:LitfffaryApproacbesalld
l-JiStOricallnvestigalioflS(Phil~delphia:Fortress,1988),33-68.