This research assignment aims to analyse and interpret an influential part of the New Testament – Mark’s Gospel. An analysis of Mark and his community will be discussed as well as interpreting Jesus’ teachings and his significant theme of Discipleship as it was then and in present society.
A Gospel in general, is a textual document written in narrative form of the good news and teachings proclaimed by Jesus to announce the power of God. Mark’s Gospel is one of four others (Matthew, Luke and John), where each Gospel has its differences in structure, language and theological slants. Mark’s Gospel is divided into three main sections: The Ministry of Jesus, Jesus’ prologue of foretelling his Passion, and his Passion and Death. Mark set out
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Although the Roman society questioned Monotheism, the strength of Mark’s community to Jesus had overthrown their past beliefs, whereby their loyalties had met with the many hardships and dangers of Roman hierarchy – just as Jesus’ followers did.
The concept of ‘seeing’ the ways of Jesus and that He is the Messiah, is to truly understand the message being portrayed throughout the Gospel, and not the surface meaning that is being represented literally. This concept was very significant to Jesus and his followers as to interpret the meaning without being said, most parables being related to the Kingdom of God and Jesus’ miracle stories. Times were harsh and difficult to spread and teach the words of Jesus, as Mark’s community would face persecution. The disciples of Jesus could ‘see’ more than other believers could perceive, from being apart of Jesus’ life with close relationships, as they were taught the fundamentals from Jesus himself to understand his teachings in much more depth and fluency than others. There were many similarities among Jesus’ twelve disciples and Mark’s community, as both groups share the strong faith in Jesus and God’s power by spreading the good news to others as well as experiencing hardships caused by arrogant hierarchy and society. According to Mark, Jesus was known for his parables and
Longenecker’s The Lost Letters of Pergamum encapsulates the socio-historical, cultural, and political atmosphere of the first-century setting in which Mark’s Gospel would have been experienced. Understanding Jesus in context of this background alters the way I understand the Gospel of Mark. Specific passages in Mark can be reflected upon based on the socio-historical, cultural, and political aspects of the setting described in Longenecker’s book. In The Lost Letters of Pergamum, readers see Euphemos and Antipas admonishing Luke against associating himself with Christians for they worship and follow a different lord than the emperor as well as endorse an empire other than Rome.
The gospel according to mark is a prolific story which takes look at people's view of Jesus, and critiques of several aspects of religion, and a further critiques humanity and human nature. The story does this by making Espinosa imitate the role of Jesus Christ, as well as by making the Gutres his followers and making them a symbol of human nature as well. Finally paints a view of how humanity will continue to react to the unknown.
Mathew, Mark, Luke and John the four Gospels in the Bible all sharing a common view or significant stories except one. The Gospel of John is the most unique and distinct out the four. In difference, none of the parables are documented in John, and only seven of the miracles are highlighted. Alternately, John’s Gospel conveys the meaning of Jesus by giving the readers an extended insight and an extend understanding of him. In John it tells us that Jesus himself is the Jewish Messiah that was prophesized in the Old Testament, who was appointed to earth by God in human flesh, then allows his life to the cross and goes back to God. All with the perspective that we may believe in him and
Bible Scholar David Garland points to two possibilities as to why Mark’s Gospel is written in a narrative style or form. Garland believes the Gospel of Mark either came from an oral story circulating in the Jerusalem church or it came from a firsthand account of the Apostle Peter. Some bible scholars point to the idea that the Gospel of Mark was narrativized, so it could be heard rather than be read silently. Bible scholar Robert Tannehill believes the Gospel of Mark may even have been collected and delivered orally before it was ever written down. Michael Licona believes if a certain text appears in all three Synoptics, the Gospel of Mark is the most likely source for Matthew and Luke’s accounts. Licona notes that this rule should not be held hard and fast, since Mark may also have been using an oral story while Matthew and Luke choose another source or omitted material where it differs in each of their Gospel’s. The Apostle Peter seems to be the eyewitness account which Mark narrates into a single unified story, which centers around a single central figure Jesus and a group of His closest companions. If the author of Mark was using an oral story to write his gospel from, this would definitely explain its narrative style.
The Gospel of Mark and Luke Although Mark was not one of the 12, is believed he was Peter’s disciple. Mark’s goal in the gospel was to demonstrate that Jesus was the “representative of the Father on earth.” To demonstrate this he made Four emphasis in the gospel: Christology- all throughout the gospel Mark include the reassurance that Jesus is the Son of God through situations.
In this paper, I am writing about the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel of Mark is the shortest Gospel, but is a really cool one. It covers a lot of key events that happened during Jesus’ lifetime. After reading the chapters, we pointed out things that stood out to us, which we thought were strange or interesting. We also pointed out spiritual lessons that taught us about our faith. We also wrote down questions that we had about the material.
Mark begins and ends his gospel with schism. The division of the heavens when Jesus is baptized by John (Mark 1:10) and the final one, the tearing of the veil in the temple (Mark 15:38). These two schisms form the fundamentals of the Book of Mark. God splits the heavens, in order to establish His Son, and then He splits the veil of the temple, in atonement for His Son’s death. In between these boards of the book of Mark, in between the schisms, lies the vigorous, dynamic gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. If we view the schism of the heavens and the schism of the veil as a literary bracket which envelopes this shortest of the four gospels, then within these brackets, inside this shortest of gospels, inside is the good news of Jesus of
Mark wrote his gospel sometime during or soon after the Roman Jewish war in 66-74 CE. Roman oppression led to numerous Jewish uprisings, involving great bloodshed. Finally, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and burned the temple in 70 CE. This destruction traumatized Christians and Jews alike. Against this background, Mark writes his gospel.[1] One of the reasons for the composition was to reassure and instruct his readers in their faith. His main vehicle of instruction is the disciples. Mark presents the disciples in a harsher manner than the other three gospels. However, Mark's severe depiction of the disciples serves a powerful purpose: to teach the readers about true discipleship.
It is noted that the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Matthew tells various events in a different manner or perspective, and have an effect on how The Walking on the Water is retold. Concerning the complete Gospel of Mark, "The story is told with an unusual urgency" (Powell, p. 40), and "Emphasize Jesus 's deeds over his words" (Powell, p. 41). In terms of theology, this presents people in general in a neutral fashion, while presenting Jesus as a god, and less as a person.
The Gospel according to Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. The story explains how the Messiah, Jesus, was refused by Israel and finally sent the disciples to preach the gospel around the whole world. As Matthew wrote for his fellow Jews, he wrote his Gospel in the language Jesus spoke, Aramaic, which led early Church Fathers to believe Matthew’s was the first Gospel. On the other hand, the Gospel of Mark teaches that Jesus is the Son of God who assumed human nature. Mark wrote the gospel in Greek for a Gentile-Christian audience, which was undergoing persecution, perhaps in Rome. A central theme is that following Jesus often means that a Christian must suffer like Jesus did. Mark’s Gospel points out that Jesus accepted this important title, but that he was reluctant to let people know his identity. (Matthew 26:26-30 and Mark 14:22-26 )
Mark: The Gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus Christ’s life from when he was baptized by John the Baptist until the days of his death, and his resurrection. Mark was the second of four Gospels although some Scholars argue and insist Mark was the first Gospel written 1. Mark was written by John Mark in AD 65, with a target audience of Roman Christian beleivers 2. Mark was written in a unique manner in regards to literary genre, as it contains figures of speech, and portray life situations in a passionate story like setting that can make the reader feel as if he is there 3. The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, however it is written in a manner that emphasizes more so on Jesus’s works than Jesus’s words 4. The key theme in Mark is to portray the life of Jesus Christ as the son of God 5, and the purpose was to show the human qualities and emotions that Jesus displayed from anger (Mark 3:5), and compassion (Mark 1:41). Some of the key events of Jesus Christ’s life in the Gospel Mark include his miracles, his entrance into Jerusalem, the last supper, his arrest and trial, his crucifixion, his resurrection, and his ascension 6. The Gospel of Mark ends with his instruction to the eleven Apostles “And he said unto them “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:16), and his ascension into Heaven (Mark 16:19).
The Gospel of Mark creates a life history of Christ. The gospel presents Christ as a prophet, scribe, teacher, the Messiah, Son of God, Son of man, and the resurrected. It makes many references to the Old Testament, with the purpose to give it quality to the people it was planned for. With these references the writers combined well-known stories such as the Line of David,
One key feature of marks gospel that differs it from the other 3 main gospels is that it was one of the first to be written which makes it a short gospel compared to the other three. As it was one of the first, Mathew, Luke and John gospels used marks as a source for theirs.
For John Mark emphasizes the urgency in the ministry of Jesus and to reveal Jesus as as the Son of God and conquering servant.
When the Gospel of Mark was written, early Christians were facing persecution from the Romans, who saw them as no different from their Jewish enemy. These early Christians began to lose their faith in Jesus. The Gospel of Mark teaches them that suffering is guaranteed, and that if our Messiah suffered on the cross, then we will suffer as well.“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and follow in my steps” (Mark 8:34). Mark uses Jesus’ life and death to teach an example: one cannot know Christ without