Undressing Jesus in the Gospel of Mark: A Narrative-Critical Analysis of the Clothing of the Character of Jesus

Though combing through years worth of biblical commentaries, monographs, and journal articles on Mark‘s gospel does reveal some valid insights and analyses by scholars on clothing in general, none of these has ever isolated all of the mentions of Jesus‘ clothing in Mark and elaborated this occurrence into a further and more in-depth study. The following thesis attempts to fill this void and engages the clothing of Jesus in Mark‘s gospel from a narrative-critical lens. The clothing which Jesus wears or does not wear is mentioned in several instances throughout, but these do not serve one singular purpose in Mark‘s narrative. A common design or feature among all of the mentions is not immediately clear nor does it seem likely that Mark intends a singular purpose for Jesus‘ garments. Rather, the clothing of Jesus serves as different and unique literary devices in each episode in which they are mentioned. Though there is no clear singular purpose for the clothing of Jesus, in each case they are at work in symbolic, ironic, or foreshadowing ways within the overall Markan narrative. The mention of Jesus‘ clothing at various instances makes it clear that these are important elements of the story and that they are an integral part of the characterization of the protagonist