The Bible Series Mark
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The gospels are NOT biographies. They do tell about the life of Jesus Christ, but they are written each with a specific purpose, to an intended audience, and deliver similar but particular specific subject matter. The gospel of Mark is no different regarding this. To help us better understand Mark’s approach… let us better understand the man first…
According to Mark…
According to Mark…
Mark was NOT one of the 12 apostles. He was very close to them and knew Peter very well.
He is also known as John Mark
Possibly wealthy, church met in his home, last supper may have been at his home
He traveled with Paul and Barnabas (his relative)
Paul dismissed Mark on the second missionary journey, Barnabas took him
Paul later commends Mark and finds him useful and beneficial to the ministry
History and the Bible show us he spent a great deal of time with Peter… his gospel has a peter touch:
The gospel cover Peter’s report to Jerusalem Acts 10:34-43
The gospel almost begins with Peter’s call from Jesus in Mark 1:16-17
As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
There are more facts given about Peter in this gospel than any others… some positive ones omitted
There are also other outside sources that point to Peter being the one that information comes from…
This would give the gospel the authority of coming from an apostle and it was strongly accepted in the first century church.
Why would this man Mark, not an apostle write a record of the Good News… why this account?
Burden of Mark…
Burden of Mark…
The Roman culture and city of Rome itself was most likely the first audience:
In Rome the slave to free ration was 3:1
In the empire it was 15% to 20% slaves
Caesar was ruler and considered deity
The culture indulged in gratifying self, elevating self…
status was everything
self was made priority
sin ran rampant
Mark has a burden for these people… they need God, they need Jesus!
Mark is BRIEF, very to the point, he writes in RAPID succession and addresses his gentile audience’s greatest need...
Mark interprets several Aramaic words used by Jesus (Like at the cross) for his audience who were more accustom to Latin and he uses several Latin terms
Mark uses the smallest amount of prophecy (Isaiah is used the most… presenting Christ as the suffering servant)
The stark contrast made of Jesus would shock his audience & their culture… Mark 10:43-45
“But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Jesus is the Son of God (deity)
Jesus is a servant
Jesus is a King
Jesus is THE Sacrifice!!!
Let us look together briefly at this good news Mark conveys… Mark 1:1
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark Overview
Mark Overview
This record marks only the BEGINNING!!! there is so much more folks…
Right out the gates Mark lets us know God sent His Son...
God declares it at the baptism 1:11
God declares it again at the transfiguration 9:7
… And in a powerful statement it is a ROMAN Soldier who declares watching Jesus die… Mark 15:39
When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
IMMEDIATELY
IMMEDIATELY
There is an urgency felt in reading this gospel… the word immediately is used 42 times from Jesus BAPTISM to PILATE!!!
We see Jesus here in service, doing the will of the Father without hesitation
There is a forward movement
One is urged to understand and move toward the sacrifice
Mark strives to get his readers to the cross and recognize their GREATEST NEED… A SAVIOR!!!
MARK’S MESSAGE
MARK’S MESSAGE
In rapid presentation Jesus is presented as One who comes to serve mankind… YET, He reveals His POWER and His AUTHORITY
We see Jesus have power over demons
We see more miracles in Mark than other gospels (18 miracles)
We see Jesus prove His deity… HEALING and FORGIVE sin… Mark 2:5-12
And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
We see Jesus reach out to the outcast and hurting
We quickly get to the last 8 DAYS of Jesus life in this gospel… 40% of his gospel entails this period
The clear message of Jesus is given
The preparation for His followers is recorded
The Clear rejection is seen and our last IMMEDIATELY Mark 15:1-2
Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.”
It climaxes for us at the cross with the centurion's bold statement that this “WAS” the Son of God...
Jesus IS the Son of God… He came to SERVE man’s greatest NEED, a SACRIFICE… a SAVIOR form our SIN!!!
His willingness to bear our sin is the epitome of servanthood!!!
It is Mark who records for us the morning of the tomb… the women come to the tomb to find it empty and listen to the angels message… Mark 16:1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ” They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
I love that Mark records for us that Peter was to be told too! Jesus WAS RISEN… “GO” tell them… even those who have regrets!
The Ending???
The Ending???
Mark starts his gospel with “the beginning of the good news”… How Mark ends his gospel is intriguing.
In your bibles there has been great diligence and careful examining of text to bring us the scriptures… You will notice after Verse 8 that there may be brackets, or a not with a footnote, or some other form of information that sets verses 9-20 apart.
The reason is that in two of our oldest manuscripts verses 9-20 do not appear
BUT… we find in many if not most of the manuscripts after these verses 9-20 are present
These would have been around even while the apostle John would have been around still
There are multiple possibilities… we do notice in the Greek that it does appear to be a different style than Mark wrote with and different wording use.
It is possible Mark did not get to finish
It is possible that someone else wrote the last portion
There are other possibilities…
Both endings have been approved over the years and the scribes over the ages did not want to take away from God’s Word
Rather than omit the words they made a note of it for us to consider.
I would always caution on developing any unique theology from portions like this
I appreciate the openness of those who interpreted the scriptures into English.
Either way, I personally think Mark ended at verse 8 and later someone added the other verses that we now have.
Both endings have a powerful application for you and I…
VERSE 8 Jesus LIVES now take action… go tell… don’t be afraid
VERSE 20 Go tell… listen to the good news preached… don’t be afraid
Either ending we see…JESUS, as WORTHY, we see Him HOLY, we see THE SON OF GOD!… who SERVED our NEED for a SAVIOR!