Mark

Original Reader:

The original readers of Mark would have been Roman Christians and believers living in Rome. The Roman Empire was fast paced and dominant. They would have wanted a gospel that was straight to the point; who is Jesus and what did he do? Words like “at once”, “instantly” and “immediately” are used often in describing the disciples response time to following Jesus, the authority Jesus has to heal which propels the fast paced book of Mark forward to captivate a Roman audience (Mark 1:18,42; 2:8). A clue into this is the lack of genealogy the other gospels contain; revealing that the original readers were gentiles and not of the old covenant.  So Jesus’ genealogy is simply “…Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.”(Mark 1:1) This would reveal the man Jesus; a relatable Savior.

Author:

Mark wrote the book, who served as a translator of Peter and most likely recorded the events as he heard them firsthand. In 1 Peter 5:13; Peter refers to Mark as his son, confirming their friendship. Peter was also the first disciple to be called by God as he depicts in his gospel; revealing his first hand experience of Jesus’ ministry and the addition of each disciple to their crew (Mark 1:16).

Main Theme:

“Almost 40% of this gospel is devoted to a detailed account of the last eight days of Jesus’ life, climaxing in His resurrection… Mark emphasizes the passion and resurrection as the gauge by which the whole of Jesus’ ministry may be measured” (Nelson’s Pg. 317). The majority of time and detailed put exclusively into the death of Christ shows a theme of the Savior Messiah coming and giving his life as the perfect sacrifice.  The story builds in Mark, revealed by Jesus hushing people and not wanting them to spread His name yet. So the pinnacle of understanding of Jesus is in His resurrection. God gives us a picture of what this is like in the story of the blind man in Bethsaida. “…spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, ‘Can you see anything now?’ The man looked around. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.’ Then, Jesus places his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly” (Mark 8:23-25). In this same way, the Messiah Jesus would be first unclear to people, but then it will be clear as day and they will see who he is.

Reason Written:

 Mark was written for the persecuted believers in The Roman Empire to encourage them to hold tight to Jesus and also to boldly proclaim the hope they had to other gentiles. When Jesus sets free the demon possessed man Jesus sent him away to proclaim the power of Jesus only to people in gentile places. This affirmed God’s love of the gentiles. Mark is the only gospel that says Jesus was “…out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him…”(Mark 1:13) This is included to show relation with those believers who were thrown into lions dens for death and would have encouraged them that Gods angels could also take care of them. “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45) In a time of domineering, fear invoking rulers this would have contrasted powerfully and caught their attention. God was more powerful than death itself; yet he was a servant. Jesus encourages us, and the original readers not to have fear or unbelief. He encourages us in a new way of seeing the world from Gods point of view, not merely from a human point of view (Mark 8:33). Even in persecution, suffering for Jesus is worth it. And Jesus understands persecution and suffering with us.

Character & Nature of God:

Jesus describes himself as “I AM” many times. He also is seen as a teacher (4:38, 5:35, 10:35, 10:17, 13:1, 12:14), Son of David (10:47), Prophet (8:30), obedient servant (10:45),  and compassionate (1:41, 6:34). These attributes all focus on the manhood of Jesus and make him relatable as a man. But he is also the son of God (1:1, 3:11), a healer (5:25). He is authoritative over Satan and unclean spirits (1:27; 3:19-30), sin (2:1), the Sabbath (2:27), nature (4:35, 6:45), disease (5:21), death (5:35), the Sabbath (2:27), legalistic tradition (7:1, 14-20), and the temple (11:15).

God’s Redemptive Plan:

Gods redemptive plan is seen in the foreshadowing of the Holy Spirit. “…say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11) Jesus tells of his resurrection before it happens when he will finish the plan. “I AM. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Application:

These gospels are so rich and brimming with incredible revelation of God’s heart and plan. I have a desire to understand them and study them; but with such limited time right now I know I need to rest in God trusting He will bring me back to these books in the right time to go deeper. A powerful picture for me is the women breaking her alabaster jar on Jesus’ feet, pouring out everything we she has that is value because of her revelation of Jesus’ worthiness. In my alabaster jar I poured out my purity to the Lord; something He has given me and restored in me so that I might have the faith and joy of little girl. My alabaster jar is full of this gift the Lord has given me that I want to serve him with and honor him with forever; my purity.

Point of Passion:

“Have faith in God. I tell you in truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen” (Mark 11:22-23). This is a beautiful call to live our lives in full faith to Jesus. This kind of faith has no room for being watered down; we must make God our only option; for he is truly the only real mountain mover. For oppressed women living with impossibilities around them having Jesus faith in Jesus is all they have. And the only certainty of hope to cling to.