Mark's Gospel Theme

In the Gospel of Mark, God wrestles with believing in; and getting his followers, to believe in individual morals vs. societal morals. The movie, “Selma” is an inspirational movie about the bravery of one man, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; who fought for social equality and equal rights among all people in a time when segregation was at its peak. Jesus; in the Gospel of Mark, believed in individual morals rather than societal morals just as Martin Luther King Jr. did while trying to fight for equality and voting rights in the Selma, Alabama.

The purpose of these teachings is to present the views of Jesus on how to live a good life and assert the audience's faith. The parables presented by Mark are particularly convincing as they are mostly related to items that are part of everyone's life such as figs and fruits. This helps audiences understand the message of God more easily and therefore is likely to be more successful as a form of

Mark’s gospel begins with Jesus’ ministry, leads up to, and ends with His crucifixion. The gospel stresses the importance of Jesus’ divinity and discipleship. There are different examples throughout the gospel of this. Discipleship is shown on Mark’s gospel when Jesus first calls his disciples to repent and believe. In chapter two verses twelve to seventeen Jesus calls sinners to repentance when he has supper with tax collectors. This calls the sinners to follow Him. The best example of discipleship is in chapter eight verse thirty-four when Jesus says take up your cross and follow me. He is asking people to live as He does and commit their whole lives to Him even if it means dying in order to deliver God’s message. He says whoever loses their

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 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.

Jesus would use parables to deliver His point to the people of the land. "He taught them many things by parables..." (Mark 4:2 NIV) The definition of parable is: a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. Jesus would use these simple teachings to show others the way to live without calling someone specific out on their actions. Jesus talks about how the common people will get everything they need from a parable, but He gives the disciples more, so that they can have a better understanding, and have the ability to be closer with Him. "With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when He was alone with His own disciples, He explained everything." (Mark 4:33-34

The Gospel of According to Mark is written in the year of between 50 and 60. It is believed that Matthew and Luke used the Gospel of Mark to write their text. In this Gospel no one real knows who wrote it because the author makes it anonymous. However, there is some scholars that believe that the author could be John Mark. Gospel of Mark is considered to be using the narrative view of Peter. Looking at the language of the scripture, the author might have been influenced by the Romans. He uses the Romans system instead of the traditional Jewish terms. The intended of audience of this gospel is Roman Christians. At this many Romans were being killed due to their religion. It was a way to encourage the Roman Christians to stay during persecution and not give up on

In the Men of the Word video L4.1 (2013) Rick Yohn broke down the Gospels, with Matthew representing Jesus as King of the Jews or the Son of David, in Mark as a servant, in Luke as the Son of Man, and in John as God (CCU CAGS). In Matthew, the idea of Jesus as the King of the Jews was to establish His royal lineage and let the Jews know that He is the Messiah who will occupy David’s throne. The style of Mark focused more on Jesus’ deeds to represent His servant-like attitude to live out His Father’s will. Gundry (2012) mentioned how His miracles demonstrated the power over nature, the demonic world, and death (p. 162), possibly to reiterate to the Romans His authority. The use of parables in Luke offered a literary means for people to better understand Jesus’ role as a human, in that He could relate to everyone. Gundry (2012) illustrated this by stating, “Luke thus portrays Jesus as a cosmopolitan Savior with broad sympathies, one who mingles with all sorts of people…” (p. 239). As for John, he aimed to show the omnipotence of Jesus, For He was the eternal God. His Gospel right away established Jesus’ connection to God when it stated, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1, NKJV). Jesus’ different roles were indicative of the different characters of God, and gave just a glimpse at who our Heavenly Father

There are many titles used for Jesus throughout the Gospel of Mark. The gospel begins by giving Jesus Christ the title, "the Son of God" (1:1). This assertion in the very first line of the gospel is a strong acknowledgement that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God. The repetition of the title of "the Son of God" by the voice from the heavens (1:11), the voice from the cloud (9:7), the unclean spirits (3:11, 5:7), and the centurion (15:39) further cement the fact that 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.

In Mark’s gospel, God speaks to us and tells us “this is my son”. Many people believed that the messiah that was sent was the son of god. By God saying this to us, he presents Jesus as the Messiah. Yet, many people still didn’t believe he was who he was said to be. Through Mark’s gospel, we are able to see how Jesus was sent to help the christian religion and people of Christianity as not only the Messiah but the suffering servant.

The Jesus that is portrayed in the Gospel of Mark has the lowest Christology out of the three books being analyzed. The Gospel of Mark has a low Christology because of the human nature that it applies to Jesus’ character(class notes).

Christ is His official title (Bere128). The name Christ shows Jesus as a prophet, priest, and a king. (Bere 128) He also called Himself the Son of God. This name indicates Jesus’ position in the trinity. It also emphasizes His deity. The Gospel of John clarifies that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. (Bere 129) Son of Man is another name given to Jesus. He used this name when He was talking about Himself. Because He was born to a man, He was fully a man. Luke uses this name for Jesus many time in his Gospel. The Son of Man emphasizes the humiliation Christ suffered while living on the earth, and ultimately dying. To show His position as the Master and King, another name of Jesus is LORD. This name depicts that Jesus should be given utmost respect and obedience. It is equal to the Old Testament name “God”. It means “Savior” or “Salvation”. (Bere 129) Other names given to Jesus were Emmanuel, Prince of Peace, Lamb of God, the Word, the Way, the Truth, the Life. All of these names reflect the power, sovereignty, and sacrifice of Jesus

The direct teachings of Jesus give instructions of how to live as Christians and the Parables were used in the Gospel to immediately confront us with a truth and evoke a change. (Fee & Stuart,2003, p. 152). The five major discourses of Matthew’s Gospel are centred around five lengthy Sermons using parables to make a point and call the people to make a change.

Mark 4: 10-12 is one of the main passages that explains why Jesus taught in parables. There have been a number of