The Gospel of Mark background and preaching outline

The Gospel of Mark background and preaching outline for the entire book 8/30/21

Back Ground

The Gospel of Mark is one of four Gospels in the New Testament that give account of Jesus’ life and ministry. Each Gospel has its own emphasis and audience, Matthew was written to Jews to give evidence that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah (King of the Jews), Luke was written to a universal audience and focuses on Jesus’ perfect manhood, The Gospel of John was written after the destruction of Jerusalem and focused on Jesus’ being God born in flesh. The Gospel of Mark is a biography focusing on the ministry of Jesus portraying Him to a Roman audience as the suffering servant who is Lord of all. It can be said that this Gospel is written in a style similar to Greek Tragedy which was popular during this time in Rome however it has a happy ending, Jesus is alive!

It is believed that Mark was written in Rome during the great persecution of Nero as his mentor Peter was in prison. Many claim that Mark is Peter’s Gospel penned by Mark but I believe Mark himself knew Jesus and may have recalled much of what Peter taught/told him about Jesus. In Rome servants made up over half the population therefore the story of the servant king would appeal to Roman culture. Jesus was the ultimate servant dying a ransom for the many. For these reason the Gospel of Mark is unique in its purposes, (1) proving/proclaiming Jesus as savior of even the gentiles, (2) reconfirming the believing gentiles in Rome that Christ is Lord as they withstand suffering and great persecution by Nero, (3) to bring comfort to those gentile believers who were being persecuted..

Mark begins rather quickly getting right to the point, he doesn’t bother to tell his audience Jesus’ genealogy as Matthew and Luke does. In Roman Culture the lineage of a servant was not important all that mattered was what that servant could do. Matthew wrote to Jews and he traced Jesus’ linage through his legal father back to Abraham the patriarch of the Jews, Luke wrote about the universal Christ and traced Jesus through His mother all the way to Adam the first man, even John writes of Jesus’ origin as he traces Jesus’ existence before the beginning of creation as He was eternally with the Father. All Mark tells his audience is Jesus “the Son of God.”

Since Mark writes to Romans whose culture focuses on what a servant can do he is quick to the point showing Jesus in action. Mark gives evidence of many miracles but only one discourse (ch. 13). Romans were not interested in what a servant taught but what he wrought. In this Gospel Mark moves quickly and moves Jesus quickly, he uses the word immediately or straightway forty times which is more than it use it the rest of the New Testament. Other important words in the Gospel of Mark are authority (ten times) and Spirit (twenty-three times) these are used to show Jesus as servant to mankind and the Christ sent from God the Father. With these things said it is important to remember that the Roman audience would have asked why should they accept Jesus if the Jews (His own people) rejected Him as their Messiah? With this question in mind, we conclude that the theme of Mark is Christ the servant of the Lord who offers forgiveness of sin through His sacrifice.

The key verse of Mark’s Gospel is, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Gospel Outline (Wiersbe)

Theme: Jesus Christ the servent

Key Verse: Mark 10:45

The presentation of the servant 1:1-13

The servant’s ministry in Galilee 1:14-9:40

Period of popularity 1:14-6:29

Period of withdrawal 6:30-9:32

Period of completion 9:33-50

The servant’s journey to Jerusalem 10

The servant’s ministry in Jerusalem11-16

Public teaching and controversy 11:1-12:44

Private teaching and ministry13:1-14:31

Arrest, trial, and crucifixion 14:32-15:47

Resurrection and assertion 16

Sermon Outlines (With the aid of Vines and Wiersbe)

The Credentials of Jesus Mark 1:1-13

Intro: A blonde woman walks into a bank in NYC before going on vacation and asks for a $5,000 loan. The banker asks, "Okay, miss, is there anything you would like to use as collateral?" The woman says, "Yes, of course. I'll use my Rolls Royce." The banker, stunned, asks, "A $250,000 Rolls Royce? Really?" The woman is completely positive. She hands over the keys, as the bankers and loan officers laugh at her. They check her credentials, make sure she is the title owner. Everything checks out. They park it in their underground garage for two weeks. When she comes back, she pays off the $5,000 loan as well as the $15.41 interest. The loan officer says, "Miss, we are very appreciative of your business with us, but I have one question. We looked you up and found out that you are a multi-millionaire. Why would you want to borrow $5,000?" The woman replies, "Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return?"

Credentials are important, you can’t do much of anything without showing proof of who you are. You can’t get a loan, you shouldn’t be able to votes, you can get or renew your drives license. I recently made Balen an appointment to et his drives license, I was amazed at what all we had to do and bring in order to prove he was who we say he is.

In the opening verses of the Gospel of Mark we see Jesus’ credentials as Mark writes to a Gentile audience proclaiming Him to be the Servant/Savior of the world.

CPS: Jesus is the Christ sent forth by God the Father to save us from our sin and to bring eternal life to those who by r]grace through faith believe!

Jesus was Announced the Christ by the Prophets 1-8

Prophetic Prediction

Malachi 3:1 (450 years earlier)

Isaiah 40:3 (800 years earlier)

Historic Proclamation

Jesus was Anointed the Christ by the Father 9-11

Human Identification

Heavenly Consecration

Jesus was Approved the Christ in the wilderness 12-13

Spiritual compulsion

Satanic Persuasion

Satan’s plan was to get Jesus to break His unity with the Father by trying to get Him to act independently of the Father

Personal temptation (Hungry)

National Temptation (Show His Glory)

Universal Temptation (Receive the Kingdoms of the World)

In this passage Jesus, endowed with the Spirit, enters into conflict with Satan and defeats him; in the rest of the Gospel Jesus drives out demons and heals the sick, is opposed by Satan’s religious and political agents, and ultimately overcomes Satan’s opposition by the resurrection. This passage promises that Jesus endows his followers with this same Spirit for the same conflict they must face in proclaiming God’s kingdom.

Conclusion: There is a story told of a great English actor Macready. One day an eminent preacher said to him: “I wish you would explain to me something.” “Well, what is it? I don’t know that I can explain anything to a preacher.” “What is the reason for the difference between you and me? You are appearing before crowds night after night with fiction, and the crowds come wherever you go. I am preaching the essential and unchangeable truth, and I am not getting any crowd at all.” Macready’s answer was this: “This is quite simple. I can tell you the difference between us. I present my fiction as though it were truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction.”

Today I present to you the facts of Jesus’ credentials as the Christ as recorded in the truth of God’s all inspired, infallible, inerrant word, the question I ask today is… do you believe that Jesus is the Christ sent forth from God the father to save us from our sin and bring to us eternal life? The opening verse’s of Mark’s Gospel proves that Jesus is the Christ because He was announced by the prophets as the Christ, anointed by God to be the Christ, and approved in the wilderness as He defeated Satan to be the Christ.