The Gospel of Mark
Author
- Mark was probably a child or young teenager when Jesus was on his 3-year ministry.
- Mark was not an Apostle.
- The Last Supper was probably held at Mark's house. His mother, Mary, was most likely wealthy. (To read proof of the idea that the Last Supper was eaten in Mark's house, go here.)
- Mark was probably in the Garden when Jesus was arrested. (Mark 14:51, 52; this boy was probably Mark.)
- Mark knew and traveled with Paul and Peter.
- Mark was the secretary of Peter and wrote down what Peter remembered: this formed the Gospel of Mark.
- Later in life, Mark became the first Bishop of Alexandria (and the first bishop of Africa).
Place and Time of Writing
- Clement of Alexandria (150-215) wrote that Mark was written in Rome.
- Most scholars assign a date in the years 64-70. We will use the year 68.
Unique Characteristics
- Mark is one of the Synoptic Gospels, along with Matthew and Luke.
- Mark was not an apostle. He got his information from Peter, who was one of the original Apostles.
- Peter and Paul probably died during the persecution of the Christians by Nero after the fire in Rome in 64. Mark may have witness one or both deaths.
- Extra: From Eusebius, an early church historian who lived in the 300's: "And the presbyter [the Apostle John] used to say this, 'Mark became Peter's interpreter and wrote accurately all that he remembered, not indeed in order of the things said or done by the Lord. For he had not heard the Lord, nor had he followed him, but later on, as I said, followed Peter, who used to give teaching as necessity demanded but not making, as it were, an arrangement of the Lord's sayings, so that Mark did nothing wrong in writing down single points as he remembered them. For to one thing he gave attention, not to leave out anything he had heard and to make no false statements in them.'"
- Mark is the shortest of the 4 Gospels.
- Matthew: 28 chapters
- Mark: 16
- Luke: 24
- John: 21
- Many scholars believe that Mark was probably the first Gospel written.
- Why? Think about this example: Suppose you were given a very important letter and told to copy it. Would you leave anything out? No. But if you had additional information, would you add it? Possibly. Therefore, the theory is that, since Mark was the shortest, he wrote first, and then Matthew and Luke used Mark as an example and added information that they knew about. That would explain the connection between the three Gospels (similar stories and teachings) plus why Matthew and Luke are so much longer than Mark. Note: no one knows if this is what happened, but it is a good guess.
Audience
- Gentiles (non-Jews). Mark was probably in Rome and the church members were mainly Gentile.
Theme
- Mark describes the mission of Jesus as Servant and Redeemer.
- Servant
- Mark 10:45: "But even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many."
- Romans taught that people needed to serve and sacrifice to the gods. In return, the gods may or may not grant wishes.
- A short list of Roman gods: Jupiter/Zeus, Cupid, Mercury, Neptune/Poseidon, and Venus/Aphrodite.
- Mark showed that the true God is the opposite of this belief, instead God serves people who love him. Therefore Mark focused on showing Jesus serving people, for example, he included many miracles of Jesus (see below).
- Redeemer
- To "redeem" something means to "bring it back."
- Mark showed that Jesus came to earth to bring people back to God. According to the Garden of Eden story, people are separated from God and live lives of natural disobedience to God. Mark showed that God came to earth in the human form of Jesus in order to bring people back to God. Mark explained that it took someone who was totally innocent and perfect, Jesus, to bridge the gap between God and humanity. Jesus received the punishment that was meant for people because of their disobedience, and so died on the cross in their place. Therefore, Mark shows that by accepting Jesus’ sacrifice, people can renew their relationship to God and be brought back to God.
Details about the Gospel of Mark
1. Jesus seems to be in a hurry
- Mark does not begin with a birth narrative, which Matthew and Luke have, but begins with the baptism of Jesus.
- Mark showed that Jesus was a Servant on the move. One Greek word used frequently in this Gospel is "euthus," which means "immediately." It appears more often in Mark, 42 times, than in any other book of the NT. Jesus is constantly on the move in Mark
- Connect that idea to the time when the Gospel of Mark was written: 68, when Israel and the Roman Empire were at war. Plus, the fire in Rome occurred just a couple of years before in 64 when Christians were persecuted and killed in the area around Rome. Peter and Paul were probably killed in the mid-60s, right after the fire in Rome. Therefore, Mark, realizing that he was in a time of war and that Christians who remembered Jesus were dying, decided to write a short biography of Jesus. After all, during a time of war, haste is needed.
- This also answers the question of why the Gospels were not written earlier, since Jesus died in 30, but the first Gospel (Mark) was not written until 68. As long as people were alive who knew and saw Jesus, no one thought that a Gospel of Jesus needed to be written. But after many of those people died who had seen Jesus, the idea of a biography developed. For example, Mark traveled with Peter and Paul. Their deaths in the mid-60s might have caused him to realize that he needed to write a Gospel of Jesus soon.
2. Miracles are numerous in the Gospel of Mark
- The four Gospels describe Jesus performing a total of 28 healing miracles. (This does not mean that Jesus performed only 28 healing miracles, but only that the four Gospels only describe 28 healing miracles in detail. Jesus, no doubt, performed many, many more miracles than are recorded. ) A healing miracle is when Jesus healed someone, raised a person from the dead or cast out a demon; for example, walking on water was not a healing miracle.
- Mark describes 15 out of the 28 healing miracles that Jesus performed, which is a higher percentage per length than any other Gospel.
- The four Gospels have a total of 7 nature miracles. These are miracles Jesus did that involved nature but not healing. An example would be walking on water.
- Mark describes 4 out of the 7 nature miracles that Jesus performed, a higher percentage per chapter than any of the other Gospels.
- Extra: Can you name the 7 nature miracles? To see if you are right, go here.
- But why does Mark contain so many miracles?
- Answer: because Mark was writing to Gentiles. Remember that Matthew wrote to Jews. For Matthew, showing Jews that Jesus was from God meant linking Jesus to Old Testament verses and prophecies. That was what was important to Jews and that is what Matthew did.
- On the other hand, Gentiles did not care about the Old Testament prophecies. What interested Gentiles? To hear about Jesus performing lots of miracles. Remember that most Gentiles of that day worshipped Roman gods, and they believed that the Roman gods also performed miracles. But in order to get a Roman god to do a miracle for you, you had to worship, beg, and offer sacrifices. Instead, Mark wanted to show that God loves to help and serve people, and the best way to show that is to show Jesus performing frequent miracles just because he cared about people. Jesus did not force people to worship, beg, or offer sacrifices to be healed, Jesus healed because he loved people.
Outline of Mark (chapters)
- Discussion of John the Baptist, Jesus’ baptized and called his first Apostles, and Jesus performs miracles.
- Jesus performs a miracle and answers questions.
- The crowds who follow Jesus grow larger, Jesus appoints his 12 Apostles, Jesus answers questions, and Jesus confronts his family (who want him to stop).
- Jesus tells parables and performs a miracle.
- Jesus performs miracles.
- Jesus teaches, sends out the 12 Apostles, John the Baptist is beheaded, and Jesus performs miracles.
- Jesus answers questions and performs miracles.
- Jesus performs miracles, warns his Apostles, predicts his death, and Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ.
- The Transfiguration and Jesus performs a miracle and answers questions.
- Jesus discusses divorce, has little children come to him, and invites a rich young man to join him (he declined). Note: these are the same events found in Matthew 19, which helps to show that the Gospels shared information, i.e., are Synoptic Gospels. Jesus also has a conversation with his Apostles and performs a miracle.
- The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (which occurs one week before Jesus is crucified).
- 11-16: These chapters discuss the events and teachings of Jesus in the last week of his life. He remains in or close by Jerusalem. It ends as Matthew ends: with Jesus on a hilltop with his 11 Apostles and then he ascends out of sight.
Questions with answers
Timeline up to the Gospel of Mark
| Year | Event |
| 63 B.C. | Romans conquer Israel. |
| 27 B.C. | Pax Romana began and lasted until 180. |
| 4 B.C. | Jesus born. |
| All dates after this are A.D. ["c." means "about"] | |
| c.27 | Jesus baptized. |
| c.30 | Jesus crucified, buried, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven. |
| 64 | Fire in Rome and Christians persecuted by Emperor Nero; Peter crucified upside down and Paul beheaded. |
| c.67 | Gospel of Mark written. |
| 70 | Temple in Jerusalem destroyed by Romans (it has not been rebuilt). |
| c.80 | Gospel of Matthew written. |
| 95 | Persecution by Emperor Domitian; Apostle John exiled on island of Patmos where he wrote Revelation. |
| 96 | Emperor Domitian died; Apostle John probably moved to Ephesus. |
| c.100 | Apostle John died; he was the last Apostle to die. |
| 390s | NT canon "closed" at Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397). |
| 1200s | Chapters added to the NT. |
| 1500s | Verses added to the NT. |
©2012, 2018 Mark Nickens