Mark's Gospel Notes
- Believed to have been the first Gospel to be written.
- Mark came from a Jewish-Christian background and believed to be a disciple of
Peter. He worked with a non-Jewish (or Gentile) Christian community who lived
in Rome sometime between 60-70 AD.
- During this time the Roman Empire was persecuting Christians. It became
illegal to be Christian and many were being arrested and killed for their faith. It
was very dangerous to even be associated with Christianity at all.
- Mark and many Christians believed that Kingdom of God (End of the world) was
near and that Jesus would soon return to Earth. Many knew that life would be
very hard for Christians since they faced such persecution, but that it is important
to stay faithful because in the end God would bring justice.
- One of Mark's themes is the idea of the Messianic Secret - the true identity of
Jesus. The information about who Jesus really was could be considered
"dangerous" in a sense, because often when people heard this about Jesus, they
would reject him and persecute him. This idea relates to the reality that Mark's
community faced since the belief in Jesus and the acceptance of Christian
teachings could also cause a person to be persecuted.
- Throughout Mark's Gospel there are instances where Jesus withholds his true
from the people since he knows that he was not the type of Savior that many of
people expected or desired.
- Mark distinguishes between being an admirer of Jesus and being a disciple true follower of Jesus. He was skeptical that people would abandon their faith
when they were faced with challenges and suffering. Mark wanted to warn his
disciples to have strong faith so that they would not abandon it and run away
when faced with many challenges.
Mark's Major Themes
(We will explore the questions for each theme as we study Mark’s Gospel)
- Theme of Discipleship. What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? Why is
this difficult to do?
- Theme of Faith. What does it mean to have faith? How can faith be helpful for
people in their lives?
- Theme of Jesus as a Suffering Servant. Jesus was vulnerable like the rest of
us and his ministry causes him to experience great suffering. What kind of a
Messiah was Jesus? What suffering did he experience because of his ministry?
Mark's Gospel Messages
- Mark shows that Jesus was a Suffering Messiah (Savior) and not what most
people expected. He sets the example and embraced his suffering, showing
that to be a truly good and loving person, one needs to be able to give oneself
over to others and make sacrifices which are often hard (Mark 8:34-35). Love
often makes life more difficult but more fulfilling. Selfishness leads to
emptiness.
- Discipleship: In Mark, the disciples are often pictured as being confused and
misunderstanding Jesus. They don't know why he accepts the cross - the
suffering, pain and rejection that is a consequence of love and working for
justice. Discipleship means following in Jesus' example and continuing to live for
love and goodness despite the many challenges that comes with this.
- Christians are called to challenge injustice in the world and work for
social
justice, the fair treatment of all people.