Jesus: A Life to Serve
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The Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark
When you think about the Gospel of Mark what do you think of?
The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of all the Gospels and has some great characteristics in it.
Luke has 1151 verses, Matthew 1071, John 879 and Mark only 661
Out of 661 verses all but 31 are quoted in the other gospels
And if you are a decent reader you can read the Gospel in just over an hour
This morning will do an introduction to Gospel of Mark and I suggest add this Gospel to your Bible reading, start reading chapter 1 for we will be there for the next few weeks.
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
So this is the beginning, but even in chapter one Mark does not hesitate to get into the gospel of Jesus Christ right from the get go.
As the shortest gospel as mentioned, it is also to believed to be the first one written but many overlook the Gospel of Mark for it is often overshadowed by the teachings in Matthew and the history in Luke.
In introduction to Mark in Believer’s Bible Commentary it notes that because of its brevity it is an ideal introduction to the Christian faith.
So who is Mark, what makes this gospel unique.
Author / Date of Gospel
Author / Date of Gospel
You can find John Mark noted in Act12:12 to get an idea of his heritage
12 And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.
So John Mark was the son of Mary who had a home large enough to gather many together. So they may have been well off for the standard then.
You may draw a conclusion Mark was a naked young man at one time (Mk14:51-52)
51 A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him. 52 But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.
We can know he was the cousin of Barnabas (Act4:36-37; Col4:10)
5 When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.
36 Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), 37 and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
13 Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas’s cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him);
5 When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.
He travelled with Paul and Barnabas, but he turned back, causing some issues between Paul and Barnabas (Act13:13, 15:36-41)
13 Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
13 Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also.
Act15:38-39
38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.
40 But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Act15:
Don’t worry later he because a comfort to Paul (Col4:10-11)
10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas’s cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him); 11 and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me.
He became useful to Paul too (2Tim4:11)
11 Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.
He was not only with Paul, he was with Peter too (1Pt5:13)
13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark.
There are some traditions found outside the Bible that Mark did only pen the gospel that was given to him by Peter, and that he was Peter’s scribe
In the writing of Papias (130AD) - Mark was said to be the interpreter for Peter
Justin Martyr (150AD) states Mark composed his gospel mostly from Peter’s memoirs
History also shows that Mark died in Alexandria Egypt in 64AD
It is believed it was written between 56-63, most commentators show it to be 57-59, for sure making Mark the earliest Gospel
It is a very evangelistic gospel starting with
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The beginning of the Gospel, and ends with the charge.
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Purpose and Outline of the Gospel
Purpose and Outline of the Gospel
It is believed to be written to Gentiles for several reasons
Jewish customs are explained (Mk7:3-4)
3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.)
Aramaic expressions are translated into Greek (Mk3:17, 5:41)
17 and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”);
41 Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”).
Roman time reckoning vs. Jewish is used (Mk6:48)
48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.
Very few Old Testament quotations are used
Theme or the focus of the Gospel
Mark emphasis is on the deeds, the miracles, of Jesus vs. the words of Jesus.
He lists 19 miracles and only 4 parables
45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Here is the theme verse if you had to pick. The theme being Jesus: servant to man.
Here is a simple outline
The preparation for the ministry of Jesus (Mk1:2-13)
His ministry in Galilee (Mk1:14-9:40)
His journey to Jerusalem (Mk10:1-42)
His ministry in Jerusalem (Mk11:1-13:38)
His suffering and death (Mk14:1-15:47)
His resurrection and appearances (Mk16:1-13)
His great commission (Mk16:14-20)
Jesus a man on a mission from heaven to serve man, then from earth to serve man in heaven
Some more interesting facts, thoughts
Some more interesting facts, thoughts
As I think I mentioned before due to the date it is more than likely the earliest Gospel. Some critics put Matthew as the earliest in the 40’s but the majority go with Mark being the earliest
Mark: 57-59AD
Many believe that with Mark being the earliest that Matthew and Luke based their gospels on the writings of Mark
Matthew
The gospel is the shortest, it is concise not going into the details that the other gospels go into.
Luke:
John:
It is a fast paced gospel you will notice the word “immediately” or in some versions “straightaway” used some 40 times
Often it is written in the present tense and when the transcribers added chapters and verses that 2/3 of the verses in Mark start with “and”
Commentator Hendrickson says “Mark presents lively little touches not found in the other gospels”
In commentary by Erdman it says “he wrote with all the graphic distinctiveness and vividness of an eyewitness”
In conclusion
Gospel of Mark is impacting and significant for
It leaves a good record of the gospel as preached by Peter
It emphasized the things Jesus did, more than what He said
36 “The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)— 37 you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.
38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 “We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.
Act10:38-39
It shows the servitude of Jesus as the Son of Man
45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
What can we learn, gain from studying the Gospel of Mark?
Even when there is a rocky start, you can, like Mark, bee proved to be useful for the ministry
May we learn from Gospel how we can be useful for the Master, prepared for every good work
21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
Next week - Mk1:1-8) - The ministry work of John the Baptist