The Gospel of Mark
What Does It Mean to be a
Disciple of Jesus?
Characteristic Emphases
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The realism of the humanity of Jesus
Emphasis on the messiahship of Jesus
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Son of Man
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“Messianic secret” motif
A “safer” term than “messiah”
Only 2 discourses (teaching material) 4; 13
Few parables
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Emphasis on miracles of Jesus
Emphasis on suffering & the cross (8:31-)
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Half of the gospel is leading to the cross
Book of action (“immediately”)
Strong emphasis on the struggle of the
disciples to understand Jesus’ ministry
Emphasis on discipleship and the struggles
of following Jesus
Authorship of Mark
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No reference made in the book itself
Papias – bishop of Hieropolis, Phrygia (near
Colossae/Laodicea) (d. 130)
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Mark wrote down what Peter had taught that Jesus
had said and done
Many others agreed with Papias:
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Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Jerome,
Muratorian Canon
In fact no one questioned Mark as the author until
modern times.
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Traditionally identified as John Mark, son
of Mary, in Acts12:12ff.
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Cousin of Barnabas, traveled with Paul &
Barnabas on 1st mission tour (left early)
Traveled with Barnabas on his 2nd tour
Identified by Peter as “my son” 1 P. 5:13.
Paul said Mark was useful to him in his
ministry 2 Tim. 4:11.
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Martin Hengel argues that it is unlikely
that the Gospels would have circulated for
up to 60 years with no titles and then
uniformly be given titles with no evidence
of any other traditions regarding
authorship.
So he claims the title must “go back to the
time of the final redaction and first
circulation of the Gospels themselves.”
(Studies in Mark, p. 82)
Date and Location of Mark
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Irenaeus (ca 115-202); associated with
Polycarp (disciple of John)
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Matthew published his Gospel among the
Hebrews in their own language, while Peter
and Paul were preaching and founding the
church in Rome. After their departure Mark,
the disciple and interpreter of Peter, also
transmitted to us in writing those things which
Peter had preached.
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Tradition located Mark in Rome soon after Peter’s
death
Tradition also indicated Peter (and Paul) was
executed in Nero’s persecution in the mid 60’s.
Some of the themes of Mark are consistent with such
a setting (see later).
Twice Mark uses Latin terms to explain Greek terms:
quadrans, 12:42 (currency); praetorium, 15:16
(Roman administrative term).
Consistent with Roman origin
Date
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Related to the relationships among
Matthew, Mark, and Luke
Mark may be the earliest, or even the latest
The tradition dates Mark around the mid to
late 60’s at the earliest.
Again, the themes of Mark support such a
date.
Possible Settings for Mark
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Rome – just before or during Nero’s
persecution of Christians after the fire that
destroyed much of Rome in AD 64.
Palestine – during the mid 60’s the Jews
were struggling with Roman occupation; in
66 a revolt broke out and war resulted in
severe defeat, destruction of Jerusalem
and the temple.
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Christians would have been caught in the
middle
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Jews would have accused them of being
traitors not joining the rebellion.
The Romans would have viewed them as
troublemakers as well
Back home they had been persecuted for the fire a
couple of years earlier).
 Viewed perhaps as a subgroup of the Jews.
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Another significant factor – second generation
Christianity
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It had been 35-40 years since Jesus’ death.
The level of commitment during the second
generation did not seem as strong as it was for the
first generation.
The struggles had worn many down – they were tired
of constant battle over faith.
Gentiles and Jews were both causing problems for
them.
Mark is writing to encourage them; Jesus experienced
a similar struggle with others.
Jesus is presented as the model servant/disciple.
Finding the Structure of Mark
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Different approaches to the structure:
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Focus on geographical movement
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Recognition of Jesus as the Messiah
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Movement from Galilee to Judea, Jerusalem, death
Focuses on two confessions – Peter’s (8:29) and the
Centurion’s (15:39)
Discipleship
Escalating conflict
Follows the outline of the early preaching as
presented in Acts (C. H. Dodd)
Structure of Mark
1st half:
1:1-15
Introduction
1:16-3:12 The work of Jesus & diverse
responses to it.
3:13-6:7a The tension between those
‘outside’ & those ‘with’ Jesus.
6:7b-8:26 The failure of the disciples to
understand.
2nd half:
8:27-10:52
Describes discipleship
 Centers around three passion predictions
11:1-16:8
Illustrates discipleship
 After describing what discipleship involves,
this section demonstrates that following
God sometimes involves the supreme
sacrifice.
Conflict in Mark
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Mark presents an escalation of conflict in
his presentation of Jesus’ ministry.
Conflict between
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Jesus and the authorities
Jesus and the evil spirits
Jesus’ own disciples
Jesus and the Authorities
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A series of conflicts in 2:1-3:6
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Jesus heals a paralytic
Jesus calls Levi & east with “sinners”
Question about fasting
Plucking grain on the Sabbath
Healing on the Sabbath
By the end of this section the “Pharisees went out
and immediately conspired with the Herodians
against him, how to destroy him.” (3:6)
The Conflict Escalates
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The authorities begin to plot his death.
They approach his disciples.
They slander Jesus (Beelzebub).
Leaders approach Jesus about his disciples not
washing their hands.
Pharisees challenge Jesus directly about tradition
and the law.
The authorities challenge Jesus about his own
authority (cleansing of the temple).
They take it to the Roman officials.
Three Passion Predictions
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8:31; 9:31; 10:33
Each time the disciples demonstrate they
do not understand.
Each prediction is accompanied by a call
to follow and a description of true
discipleship.
The Disciples’ Progression
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Imperceptions 1:1-8:26
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6:52 “They did not understand about the loaves,
but their hearts were hardened.”
7:18 “Are you without understanding?”
8:4 “How can one feed . . .?” (after the 5,000)
8:12-21 “Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes
do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?”
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Misconceptions of Jesus’ messiahship
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8:27-10:52
After each prediction of the passion, the disciples
misunderstand.
After two of the three predictions, the disciples are
concerned about power and position (9:32; 10:35ff).
They finally abandon and deny Jesus:
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14:10 Judas
14:37-41 the three sleep while Jesus prays
14:15 all flee
14:66-72 Peter denies Jesus
At the cross, only the women disciples “from a distance”
Mark’s Pastoral Concerns
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The struggles that the disciples had were
similar to those of Mark’s readers.
Struggling to understand Jesus in the midst
of negative reactions to their work. It was
getting dangerous to be a disciple of Jesus.
When things get this bad it is easy to be
distracted from one’s focus.
One’s focus easily becomes self
preservation and maintaining your honor.
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The parallel experiences of Mark’s readers and
Jesus’ disciples provided Mark an opportunity for
telling his story of Jesus and his own struggle to
be a servant to others.
Even in the midst of threats of persecution one
cannot afford to lose focus on service to others.
Mark illustrates from Jesus’ own life what
discipleship is all about.
He seeks to motivate his readers toward a
greater level of faithfulness.
Messianic Secret
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Several times Jesus tells people not to tell others
about what he had done, or to say that he was
the Messiah
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1:24-5, 34; 1:44; 3:1f.; 5:43; 7:36;8:29f; 9:9)
Wilhelm Wrede suggested that Mark adds this to
the tradition to explain why Jesus did not claim
to be the Messiah in his own lifetime.
Supposedly, only later did his followers realize
this and they wrote it back into the stories.
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Reasons Jesus told people not to say he
was the Messiah:
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The term was politically loaded.
The general concept of Messiah was military.
Jesus didn’t want people thinking incorrectly
about his mission.
There were enough barriers without this one.
Jesus preferred the term “Son of Man.”
The Ending of Mark
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In the manuscript tradition Mark has more
than one ending:
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16:9-20 (the longer ending); many of these
indicate in some way that these verses may
have been added (blank space, asterisk, etc.)
Some mss add material after v. 15.
16:8 the oldest mss end here.
One ms has the “shorter ending”
Some mss have both the shorter and longer
endings.
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16:9-20 does not “fit in” very well into the
context of Mk. 16.
It appears to be constructed from the
endings of the other gospels and Acts.
What do we do with all this?
Implications
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The original ending is probably lost.
Scribes realized this very early.
They tried to construct an ending that made
sense to them.
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Which ending should we use?
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The safest thing to do, in my opinion, is to
end with 16:8.
The most important parts of 9-20 are found
elsewhere in scripture; use those passages.
Recent scholars have tried to make sense
of Mark with 16:8 as the intended ending.
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This is certainly an awkward ending.
If it was the original ending, it presents some
interesting possibilities of reading the Gospel
of Mark.
New Understandings of How God Works
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Kingdom
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Not established with military force
Submission to God as king, to Jesus as the
leader of that Kingdom
Has to do with God being in control – not us.
Has to do with service – not (our) power.
Yet it does initiate conflict.
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With the authorities, powers of darkness, culture –
society, even his own disciples
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God does not work as traditionally thought.
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The authorities work from Jerusalem outward,
Jesus started at the outer fringes of society and
brought people into the Kingdom.
Jesus was establishing a new understanding of
God, power, temple, spirituality, purity
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8:33 – thinking the things of man rather than of
God
9:35 – first will be last – last will be first
10:45 – to serve rather than be served – there is
power in serving (not “Lording it over”) – control.
General Observations for
Studying the Gospels
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Respect their individuality.
Don’t try to harmonize everything.
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Cleansing the temple (2); Nazareth (2)
Allow the authors to be authors – their
thinking is important.
Learn as much as possible about the
cultural, political, religious and moral
challenges facing the early Christians.
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Look for over-arching themes that provide
a framework for large sections, perhaps
the entire gospel.
Find smaller themes within the larger
sections.
Use of Mark in the Early Church
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It was very popular for the first 3 – 4 centuries.
Referred to in all the early discussions of the
gospels and manuscripts.
Used in the churches.
Tatian used it in his Diatessaron.
The tradition was that Mark wrote what Peter
taught; Peter was very popular, so Mark was
widely used.
It spoke to those who were suffering.
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John Chrysostom (386-98)
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Mark reproduced the brevity of Peter;
Luke reproduced the abundance of Paul.
Augustine proposed a new idea.
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Said Mark had nothing in common with John
and little with Luke.
Mark is an abridgment of Matthew: “Mark
followed him like a slave and seems [to be]
his summarizer.”
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This contradicted the early theories that
Mark was Peter’s interpreter.
Thus far Mark had survived primarily on
Peter’s authority.
From then on, Mark was in Matthew’s
shadow; until the 19th cen.
With the proposal of the two document
hypothesis, Mark once again became widely
used (proposed to be the 1st gospel).