The Gospels
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Introduction to MARK
The opening verse about good news in Mark (Mark 1:1) serves as a title for the
entire book. The action begins with the appearance of John the Baptist, a
messenger of God attested by scripture. But John points to a mightier one,
Jesus, at whose baptism God speaks from heaven, declaring Jesus his Son. The
Spirit descends upon Jesus, who eventually, it is promised, will baptize "with
the holy Spirit." This presentation of who Jesus really is (Mark 1:1-13) is
rounded out with a brief reference to the temptation of Jesus and how Satan's
attack fails. Jesus as Son of God will be victorious, a point to be remembered
as one reads of Jesus' death and the enigmatic ending to Mark's Gospel.
The key verses at Mar 1:14-15, which are programmatic, summarize what Jesus
proclaims as gospel: fulfilment, the nearness of the kingdom, and therefore the
need for repentance and for faith. After the call of the first four disciples,
all fishermen (Mark 1:16-20), we see Jesus engaged in teaching (Mark
1:21,22,27), preaching (Mark 1:38,39), and healing (Mark 1:29-31,34,40-45), and
exorcising demons (1, 22-27.34.39). The content of Jesus' teaching is only
rarely stated, and then chiefly in parables (Mark 4) about the kingdom. His
cures, especially on the sabbath (Mark 3:1-5); his claim, like God, to forgive
sins (Mark 2:3-12); his table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners (Mark
2:14-17); and the statement that his followers need not now fast but should
rejoice while Jesus is present (Mark 2:18-22), all stir up opposition that will
lead to Jesus' death (Mark 3:6).
In Mark, Jesus is portrayed as immensely popular with the people in Galilee
during his ministry (Mark 2:2; 3:7; 4:1). He appoints twelve disciples to help
preach and drive out demons, just as he does (Mark 3:13-19). He continues to
work many miracles; the blocks Mark 4:35-6:44 and Mark 6:45-7:10 are cycles of
stories about healings, miracles at the Sea of Galilee, and marvelous feedings
of the crowds. Jesus' teaching in Mark 7 exalts the word of God over "the
tradition of the elders" and sees defilement as a matter of the heart, not of
unclean foods. Yet opposition mounts. Scribes charge that Jesus is possessed by
Beelzebul (Mark 3:22). His relatives think him "out of his mind" (Mark3:21).
Jesus' kinship is with those who do the will of God, in a new eschatological
family, not even with mother, brothers, or sisters by blood ties (Mark 3:31-35;
Mark 6:1-6). But all too often his own disciples do not understand Jesus (Mark
4:13,40; 6:52; 8:17-21). The fate of John the Baptist (Mark 6:17-29) hints
ominously at Jesus' own passion (Mark 9:13; Mark 8:31).
A breakthrough seemingly comes with, Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ
(Messiah; Mark 8:27-30). But Jesus himself emphasizes his passion (Mark 8:31;
9:31; 10:33-34), not glory in the kingdom (Mark 10:35-45). Momentarily he is
glimpsed in his true identity when he is transfigured before three of the
disciples (Mark 9:2-8), but by and large Jesus is depicted in Mark as moving
obediently along the way to his cross in Jerusalem. Occasionally there are
miracles (Mark 9:17-27; 10:46-52; 11:12-14,20-21, the only such account in
Jerusalem), sometimes teachings (Mark 10:2-11,23-31), but the greatest concern
is with discipleship (Mark 8:34-9:1; 9:33-50). For the disciples do not grasp
the mystery being revealed (Mark 9:32; 10:32,38). One of them will betray him,
Judas (Mark 14:10-11,43-45); one will deny him, Peter (Mark 14:27,31,54,66-72);
all eleven men will desert Jesus (Mark 14:27,50).
The passion account, with its condemnation of Jesus by the Sanhedrin (Mark
14:53,55-65; 15:1a) and sentencing by Pilate (Mark 15:1b-15), is prefaced with
the entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-11), ministry and controversies there (Mark
11:15-12:44), Jesus' Last Supper with the disciples (Mar 14:1-26), and his
arrest at Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-52). A chapter of apocalyptic tone about the
destruction of the temple (Mark 13:1-2,14-23) and the coming of the Son of Man
(Mark 13:24-27), a discourse filled with promises (Mark 13:11,31) and
admonitions to be watchful (Mark13:2,23,37), is significant for Mark's Gospel,
for it helps one see that God, in Jesus, will be victorious after the cross and
at the end of history.
The Gospel of Mark ends in the most ancient manuscripts with an abrupt scene at
Jesus' tomb, which the women find empty (Mark 16:1-8). His own prophecy of Mark
14:28 is reiterated, that Jesus goes before the disciples into Galilee; "there
you will see him." These words may imply resurrection appearances there, or
Jesus' parousia there, or the start of Christian mission, or a return to the
roots depicted in Mark 1:9,14-15 in Galilee. Other hands have attached
additional endings after Mar 16:8; see the note on Mark 16:9-20.
The framework of Mark's Gospel is partly geographical: Galilee (Mark 1L14-9:49),
through the area "across the Jordan" (Mark 10:1) and through Jericho (Mark
10:46-52), to Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-16:8). Only rarely does Jesus go into Gentile
territory (Mark 5:1-20; 7:24-37), but those who acknowledge him there and the
centurion who confesses Jesus at the cross (Mark 15:39) presage the gospel's
expansion into the world beyond Palestine.
Mark's Gospel is even more oriented to christology. Jesus is the Son of God (Mar
1:11; 9:7; 15:39; cf Mar 1:1; 14:61). He is the Messiah, the anointed king of
Davidic descent (Mark 12:35; 15:32), the Greek for which, Christos, has, by the
time Mark wrote, become in effect a proper name (MAr 1:1; 9:41). Jesus is also
seen as Son of Man, a term used in Mark not simply as a substitute for "I" or
for humanity in general (cf Mark 2:10,27-28; 14:21) or with reference to a
mighty figure who is to come (Mark 13:26; 14:62), but also in connection with
Jesus' predestined, necessary path of suffering and vindication (Mark 8:31;
10:45).
The unfolding of Mark's story about Jesus is sometimes viewed by interpreters as
centered around the term "mystery." The word is employed just once, at Mark
4:11, in the singular, and its content there is the kingdom, the open secret
that God's reign is now breaking into human life with its reversal of human
values. There is a related sense in which Jesus' real identity remained a secret
during his lifetime, according to Mark, although demons and demoniacs knew it
(Mark 1:24; 3:11; 5:7); Jesus warned against telling of his mighty deeds and
revealing his identity (Mark 1:44; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26,30), an injunction
sometimes broken (Mark 1:45; cf Mar 5:19-20). Further, Jesus teaches by
parables, according to Mark, in such a way that those "outside" the kingdom do
not understand, but only those to whom the mystery has been granted by God.
Mark thus shares with Paul, as well as with other parts of the New Testament, an
emphasis on election (Mark 13:20,22) and upon the gospel as Christ and his cross
( 1Co 1:23). Yet in Mark the person of Jesus is also depicted with an unaffected
naturalness. He reacts to events with authentic human emotion: pity (Mark 1:44),
anger (Mark 3:5), triumph (Mark 4:40), sympathy (Mark 5:36; 6:34), surprise (Mar
6:9), admiration (Mark 7:29; 10:21), sadness (Mark 14:33-34), and indignation
(Mark 14:48-49).
Although the book is anonymous, apart from the ancient heading "According to
Mark" in manuscripts, it has traditionally been assigned to John Mark, in whose
mother's house (at Jerusalem) Christians assembled (Act 12:12). This Mark was a
cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10) and accompanied Barnabas and Paul on a missionary
journey (Act 12:25; 13:3; 15:36- 39). He appears in Pauline letters (2Ti 4:11;
Phl 1:24) and with Peter (1Pe 5:13). Papias (ca. A.D. 135) described Mark as
Peter's "interpreter," a view found in other patristic writers. Petrine
influence should not, however, be exaggerated. The evangelist has put together
various oral and possibly written sources--miracle stories, parables, sayings,
stories of controversies, and the passion--so as to speak of the crucified
Messiah for Mark's own day.
Traditionally, the gospel is said to have been written shortly before A.D. 70 in
Rome, at a time of impending persecution and when destruction loomed over
Jerusalem. Its audience seems to have been Gentile, unfamiliar with Jewish
customs (hence Mark 7:3-4,11). The book aimed to equip such Christians to stand
faithful in the face of persecution (Mark 13:9-13), while going on with the
proclamation of the gospel begun in Galilee (Mark13:10; 14:9). Modern research
often proposes as the author an unknown Hellenistic Jewish Christian, possibly
in Syria, and perhaps shortly after the year 70.
The principal divisions of the Gospel according to Mark are the following:
I. The Preparation for the Public Ministry of Jesus (Mar 1:1-13)
II. The Mystery of Jesus (Mar 1:14-8:26)
III. The Mystery Begins to Be Revealed (Mar 8:27-9:32)
IV. The Full Revelation of the Mystery (Mar 9:33-16:8)
The Longer Ending (Mar 16:9-20)
The Shorter Ending
The Freer Logion (in the note on Mar 16:9-20)
From: the New American Bible
2. The Jews of Jesus’ day, long oppressed by foreign rulers, yearned for a
new king—one whom God himself would anoint and use to establish his own rule of
justice and peace, not only over Israel, but over all the earth. Imagine the
excitement then as John the Baptist came announcing the coming of the Lord as
king and as Jesus himself announced, "The time has come. The kingdom of God is
near." Yet as Jesus continued his ministry he met a growing wave of opposition.
Not everyone was pleased with the kind of kingdom he seemed to be announcing or
with who he proclaimed himself to be. The religious rulers especially opposed
him, but the common people heard him gladly.
New Testament scholars, with few exceptions, agree that Mark’s Gospel is the
earliest written account of Jesus’ life and ministry. Composed between a.d. 60
and 70, it likely served as the basis for the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Mark
himself, though not one of the Twelve, was probably an early convert (Acts
12:12) and a companion to both Peter (1 Pet 5:13) and Paul. Though Mark had an
early falling out with Paul (Acts 15:36–41), the two were clearly reconciled
later on (Col 4:10; 2 Tim 4:11; Philem 24). Thus Mark is linked to two of the
most prominent apostles.
More and more, scholars are coming to believe that Mark was not just a collector
of stories about Jesus but that he gave form and shape to these stories to
counteract some dangerous distortions of the gospel message.1 Apparently some
Christians so focused on Jesus’ deity and glorious resurrection that they began
to ignore his humanity and suffering. As a result they expected to be spared
suffering in this life and to quickly join Jesus in the glories of heaven. You
can well imagine how their faith may have been shaken when Nero took to using
some of them as torches!
Mark, theologically and pastorally, sets out to retell the story of Jesus,
showing that the kingdom in its glory comes at the end of the path of suffering
and service. While Matthew focuses on Jesus as the teacher from whom we should
learn (Mt 11:29; 28:20) and John focuses on him as the Son of God in whom we
should believe (Jn 20:31), Mark portrays Jesus principally as the servant-king
whom we should follow (Mk 1:17). Thus, if we are to enjoy the glories of the
kingdom, we too must follow the road of suffering and service.
This Bible Study offers you the opportunity to learn through the eyes of Mark
more about Jesus and the life he calls each of us to. The Lessons have been
divided into two parts, ten in the first and twelve in the second, so that the
whole Gospel can easily be studied The last study in each part is a review
to help summarize and tie together major themes from that portion of the Gospel.
May the Lord himself increase your understanding of who he is and the life to
which he has called you.