by Thomas Luke | Instructor of Theological Studies at Genesis University
Mark’s Gospel emphasizes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus announced the Kingdom of God, healed the sick and died as a ransom for sinners. Mark also features other groups of people such as the crowds, the disciples and the Pharisees [Jewish religious leaders] none of whom understood Jesus.
Introduction
When the time came for Jesus to be crucified the Pharisees had Jesus arrested and his disciples abandoned Him and the crowds that were at one time amazed by him, now cheered at His execution. The book is was written anonymously, tradition identifies John Mark (Acts 12:12) as the author. He may have based his Gospel on Peter’s preaching, writing in the 50s or 60s A.D. Faithlife Study Bible Introduction to Mark Mark’s conviction that Jesus’ messiahship cannot be understood apart from his passion, and thus discipleship itself cannot be properly lived until the confession “Jesus is the Christ” is stripped of its misunderstandings and seen in light of the passion. Jesus’ prohibits the demons, to those who are healed and to those who guess correctly concerning his identity reveal Jesus’ desire to guide the revelation of his own messiahship, to forestall premature declarations of his messiahship that will only be misunderstood before he faces the cross. There were, indeed, many models of messianic expectation in first century Judaism. A number of these focused on a divinely anointed military leader and king who would restore independent rule to Israel and raise his supporters to positions of power and influence. Even his inner circle of disciples were not immune to ambitions of this kind. Premature confessions that Jesus was the Messiah would be meaningless, for the term messiah would be filled with a content and set of expectations not corresponding to his mission. Thus following Jesus would be an error, for it would be for the wrong reasons, with the wrong hopes and with misguided expectations.
A careful definition of his own messiahship was essential for awakening true faith in human beings, delivering them from bondage to the world’s wisdom and raising up disciples who could be fully committed to walk “the way of the Lord.” In a modern context Mark might have to use this technique to show Christians that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not about having God’s help in achieving materialistic goals or a trouble-free, pain-free life. “An introduction to the New Testament” by David A. DeSilva Pg. 202 Jesus came to give Himself as a random for many, He did not come to be served, and instead He Humbled Himself and came to Earth as a Jewish peasant to serve humanity. (Matt. 20:20–28) The two “sons of Zebedee” (James and John; 4:21), their mother, and the rest of Jesus’ disciples were still, at this point in their discipleship, substantially under the influence of the unbelieving world’s system of values. They did not understand what Jesus had taught in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. Positions of leadership in God’s kingdom belong to those who have been so transformed by the grace of God that they are willing to be despised and even persecuted by the unbelieving world and are willing to lead by serving others rather than being served by them. Believers serve and forgive one another not to earn prestige or God’s favor for themselves, but because they have experienced God’s selfless love and forgiveness through their union with Christ Jesus. God’s compassionate character is clear in the Old Testament but appears preeminently in Jesus’ life, teachings, and ministry.
Mark’s Gospel starts off with global good news—the triumphant announcement of the arrival Of the kingdom of God: “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’” The long-awaited worldwide kingdom—in which all would be put right and justice would prevail when Jesus came into the world. Though injustice and evil still ravage this world, the King of creation, the rightful righteous ruler has landed! Evil’s defeat is certain and imminent. God’s cosmic, global restoration has begun—in the coming of Christ, in his life and death and resurrection. Immediately after announcing that the “kingdom of God is at hand,” Jesus calls his first disciples from among a group of fishermen (Mark 1:16–20). Here we see a pattern that has been reflected in Christianity around the world throughout history and down to the present.
It is not the social elites that Jesus calls to leave everything and follow him, but common people from every walk of life. The gospel is for all peoples, not limited to a select few who outwardly observe a list of rules. Jesus underscores the inclusion of people from every nation—by showing mercy to the Gentiles and by welcoming “whoever does the will of God” into his own family the
whole earth. This is Mark’s first report of Jesus telling a healed person not to tell anyone of his being healed and show yourself to the priest is commanded so that the healed person will be declared ceremonially clean (Lev. 14:2–31). (Mark 1:45) The people often miss the true purpose of Jesus’ ministry by focusing too much on his miracles.
The Gospel of Mark is brutal on the disciples; some scholars suggest that Mark is trying to express his theme that when one follows Christ, one must be prepared for the experiences of misunderstanding and even persecution. Mark’s model of discipleship includes the experiences of failure and doubt as part of the process of coming to understand the full meaning of Jesus.
For Mark, discipleship means debating, questioning, stumbling, and learning. It involves suffering, service to others, poverty, and faithfulness despite persecution. But Jesus did not want that man to go out and spread the news. Jesus wanted his identity as healer of the sick to remain secret. In verse 34, we read that Jesus would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
Similarly, in chapter 8, Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Christ.” Jesus responded by warning the disciples not to tell anyone about him. That is the very opposite of what we might have expected. We want everyone to know about Jesus. But Jesus did not want everyone to know about him. What’s going on? When people heard that Jesus was the Messiah, they were happy to receive the news. The problem lay in definitions and expectations. What the people expected Messiah to be and to do was quite different from what Jesus the Messiah came to be and to do. The people expected a king who would rally the people, and with the blessing of God, lead them to victory over their Roman conquerors and restore the kingdom of David in all its glory. They did not understand what Messiahship was all about. Their idea of Messiah was different from God’s idea of Messiah. When they heard the term, they misunderstood it, because they had been conditioned to expect something else. With this in mind, it becomes clearer why Jesus did not want his disciples or those he healed to spread the news about him, it was not the right time for the people to hear. The right time for the news to spread was after Jesus had been executed and raised from the dead. Only then could the real purpose of God in sending Messiah be understood for what it was.
The book of Mark is a Gospel that contains Narrative History, Sermons, Parables, and some Prophetic Oracles. This Gospel has somewhat of an emphasis in miracles (27 total) which is significantly more than any of the other Gospels. The key word in Mark is "Immediately" which is used 34 times causing the reader to move from one account to the next rapidly. Mark is the shortest of the synoptic gospels and was written about 64 A.D. The key personalities of this book are Jesus Christ, His Twelve Disciples, Jewish religious leaders, Pilate, and John the Baptist.
It was written by John Mark who was one of the missionaries who accompanied Paul and Barnabas On their mission trips. It is possible that Mark wrote this Gospel at the urging of Peter (his companion in Rome) since he had firsthand knowledge of the things that Mark wrote about.
The purpose of the Gospel of Mark is to show that the Lord Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God who was sent to suffer and to serve in order to rescue and restore mankind. The 16 chapters of the Gospel of Mark can be divided into two parts, 8 chapters each. In the first 8 chapters Jesus is essentially traveling north and preaching until chapter 8. In Chapter 8, Jesus is in the city of Caesarea Philippi where He asks His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (vs. 27). Peter replies, “You are the Christ”. Throughout the last 8 chapters, Jesus is traveling south, back to Jerusalem; all the way to Calvary’s Cross. In chapter 1, there is a quick introduction of John the Baptist and his preparation for the coming Messiah. It also includes the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan, and the temptation in the desert by Satan. The focus quickly changes to the message and ministry of Jesus. In chapters 2-10, Jesus selects His Disciples, “And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him, and that He could send them out to preach” (3:14). The rest of these passages almost completely refer to Jesus as a Servant. It presents Jesus either teaching, healing, helping, performing miracles, blessing, feeding, challenging authority, and feeling compassion (8:2). Chapters 11-16 are the final chapters that declare the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ again another example of servanthood. He is betrayed, dragged through a faulty trial, and then unmercifully beaten, humiliated and crucified; all for the purpose of serving sinners.
The final chapter is the miraculous resurrection of His physical body, numerous appearances, and command of the Great Commission, and finally His ascension to the right hand of God.
Bibliography
Desilva, David, Introduction To The New Testament, p. 202, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004
ESV Gospel Transformation Bible, Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014
ESV Global Study Bible, Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014
Faithlife Corporation (d.b.a. Logos Bible Software, Vyrso, Verbum, and Noet), Bellingham, WA 2010
Source: by Thomas Luke, MA in Theological Studies | Associate Professor at Genesis University
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Genesis University.