A Retrospective on ‘House’ in the Gospel of Mark: A Reflection

My original article on Mk 2.15 was published in 1993 as ‘Mark 2.15: The Home of Jesus or Levi?’ in NTS 39: 147–49. This essay is a reflection on that short article and a sketch of the original factors that contributed to its creation. The 1993 article and other works highlight how the role of ‘house’ and household language in Mark’s Gospel provide both a social and narrative setting for (1) the subversion of first-century social institutions, (2) the reorientation of social values, especially related to kinship, and (3) the illustration of Jesus’s honor as a reputational legitimate authority.