Gospel Of Mark Themes

The Gospel of Mark is a narrative of the life of Jesus Christ, leading up to his death. The Gospel of Mark starts off with the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. In the first couple of chapters, Mark

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 )

The gospel of Mark is a short recollection of Jesus life, it has many details but is missing pieces or additions to his life. The Gospel of mark was said to have lost pieces, and also the first account of Jesus life. Although it is not as detailed in some areas as it is in others, it tells many accounts of Jesus life on earth and what kind of a person he was, the life he lived, his struggles and his ending.

All of the Gospels describe the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but each author illustrates the stories differently. Scholars believe Mark is the first Gospel written and is symbolized by a lion to denote Christ as powerful and fast-paced. The Book of John, understood to be the last gospel composed, is perceived as an eagle because the story differs greatly and is often more developed than the other Gospels. Comparing John 2 to the Gospel of Mark will depict unique themes and characteristics of Jesus.

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 two major themes in the Gospel of Mark are Jesus, the Son of God and Jesus, the King. The book of Mark introduces Jesus is to an audience of Roman Christians in chapter one and verse one. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Then, Mark gives evidence for proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God in the next few verses by quoting the scripture from the book of Isaiah, the Prophet. It says,

After reading the Gospel of Mark, I was most surprised when Jesus wanted the people to keep some of His healings a secret. For example, in Mark 5:21-43, Jesus brings a girl back to life. This girl had just died minutes before Jesus arrived, but when He got there He said, “the child is not dead but asleep” (Mark 5:39). After she was revived, Jesus gave strict orders to the spectators to not let anyone know about this. Another example where Jesus keeps His healing a secret is in Mark 3:7. He had healed many people, but the crowd was getting larger and larger so He asked his disciples to get a boat for Him. The people who had been possessed by impure spirits fell on the ground before him and cried, “you are the Son of God.” Again,

The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the New Testament gospels, but it contains many important and prominent themes. These themes include: titles used for Jesus, the messianic secret, Jesus' mighty actions, healing of the sick, and the human actions of Jesus.

What does it take for one to go over the edge? “The Gospel According to Mark” is a short story written by Latin American author Jorge Luis Borges, first published in 1970. Borges short story, as suggested by the title, is focuses on ideas of the religion of Christianity, and it also critiques on humans and their overall nature. The plot of the “The Gospel…” can only be brought to its full potential due to the carefully written setting that allows for every other aspect to stand out. The plot of the story revolves around a man named Balthazar Espinosa who takes in a working family after a devastating storm floods the surrounding area, and nearly takes out the family’s roof.

The Bible consists of four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Gospel of Mark is considered to be the first gospel written, although some may disagree with that. Written between 50 AD and 67 AD and being originally drafted in Greek. It was addressed to the Gentile Christians and reached out to members of the community being persecuted, even to death for their beliefs and emphasised the humanity of Jesus. There is no known author of the Gospel of Mark, which is why many people believe it is written on opinion. There is a belief that the author of this Gospel may be John Mark. The gospel illustrates Jesus as a humanist and tells us how the Christian population believed Jesus was the Messiah. Mark is able to capture Jesus as not only a healer, but also a teacher throughout the gospel. We believe the Gospel is written to portray Jesus as the suffering servant and to help emphasise Jesus as a humanist.

For this assignment, I chose to read the gospel of Mark from the New International Version of the Bible. I chose to read from the NIV because I have always used this version when studying, and I wanted to read a text as close to the original documents as possible. I have never read a book in its entirety in one sitting, so this was a new experience for me. The book of Mark sounded appealing to me because I have always enjoyed reading from Mark and every time I read from it something new always sticks out to me and changes me.

Mark, Matthew, John, and Luke are the four gospel writers that describe Jesus in different perspectives. In the Gospel of Matthew, presents the Messiah (Jesus), as the promised Savior, the King of the Jews and talks of wise men and their expensive gifts, but not as shepherds. For Mark, sees Jesus as a perfect servant of god. Also in Mark sees Jesus as mysterious and intentionally keeps people from understanding who he really is by telling the people he performs miracles on a secret. Jesus seems to be a very secretive kind of figure in Mark's gospel.

Peter, one of original twelve apostles, navigated Mark through the life of Jesus. Mark wrote the gospel revolving around the main points of Jesus’ life and according to what Peter taught him. Now the exact date Mark composed the gospel is debated but scholars believe Mark wrote the gospel after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, “composed his work in or about the year 70 CE, after the failure of the First Jewish Revolt and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple… that destruction shapes how Mark tells his story” (Mellowes). Mark’s gospel is believed to be written around 67-73 CE since his stories were influenced by the destruction of the Temple. Mark’s gospel is significantly shorter than the other three gospels, Matthew, Luke, John however, when you compare the storytelling styles between each gospel, Mark’s style is the longest.

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

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).