The Fulfillment of Scriptures is a concept repeated in three of the Gospels, but only once in the Gospel of Mark.
The fulfillment of Scriptures is a concept of little or no interest to the Gentiles, such as the early Greek converts to Christianity. Mark's lack of interest in the concept probably reflects his own Roman background. Mark's only use of Scriptures was to quote how Jesus mentioned Scriptures in arguing against the Pharisees, who relied heavily on their interpretation of Scriptures while opposing Jesus.
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark mentions Scriptures only 3 times, and all 3 times were quotes of Jesus as he rebuked Jewish leaders (typically Pharisees):
- Mark 12:10 (ESV) Have you not read this Scripture: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
- Mark 12:24 (ESV) Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?
- Mark 14:49 (ESV) Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.”
A forgery at Mark 15:28 was inserted into later manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark to try to bolster its very few number of references to Scriptures, and this verse is not in the Codex Vaticanus or other early manuscripts. Nearly all modern English translations completely omit verse 28 or include it only in brackets: “And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors,” (KJV).
Analysis
Of the three authentic references above, the first two are expressly presented as responses by Jesus to his opponents, who would pretend to rely on Scriptures. That is the same as hoisting someone on his own petard, as Shakespeare famously said.
That leaves Mark 14:49 as the only outright embrace of a fulfillment of Scriptures in the Gospel of Mark, and it does not stand as a complete sentence as it is in the similar rendition in the Gospel of Matthew at Matthew 26:56 .
The Greek at Mark 14:49 is incomplete: πληρωθῶσιν αἱ γραφαί, which literally (and incompletely in grammar) means "fulfilled the writing." Every English translation of this phrase adds multiple words, as in "But let the scriptures be fulfilled."[1]
Some versions do not translate the word as "Scriptures", but as "prophecies" or "holy writings" or even as "Tanakh".[2]
The sentence is not clear as to whether it is a quote of Jesus or a commentary by Mark, which further raises issues as to whether it was inserted into the manuscript. But the Codex Sinaiticus, one of the earliest manuscripts, contains this phrase.
Five reasons to consider this phrase not to be authentic include:
- it's grammatically incomplete, as a terse insertion added later would be
- it's very similar to Mark 15:28 (KJV), which all modern translations recognize as a forged verse and exclude it
- it's unclear who said it, which is inconsistent of the style of Mark
- the phrase does not fit well in the context
- Mark, as a Roman or Gentile, was generally unconcerned about the fulfillment of Scripture