The Gospel of Mark
Scratch Notes
This is the story of Jesus and His life.
Mark’s gospel highlights action over teaching, which leaves us with the impression of a dramatic story.
Mark’s favorite word is “straightway, or immediately.”
Again and again, Mark cuts to a different camera shot. Like a fast-paced movie, Mark keeps the interest of his readers.
Compared to the other gospels, Mark does not contain much teaching. Luke’s gospel includes twenty-five parables, Matthew has twenty parables, Mark has only seven. However, Mark’s accounts of events and teachings are vivid, and sometimes even more vivid than the other gospels.
Many of the details found in passages such as: Mark 6:30-34, 7:31-37, 8:22-26, 9:14-29 are not found in the other gospels even if the stories themselves are present. This leads me to think the book recounts what Peter remembered from the events. It has sort of an eye-witness feel.
Who wrote Mark?
A: Peter is the source. John Mark wrote it down.
The late first and early second century church leader Papias, who knew the disciples themselves, said that mark wrote down everything the apostle Peter told him about the sayings and deeds of Jesus. This is an idea the NT supports. John Mark first became associated with Peter when Peter was freed from prison and went to the home of Mark’s mother in Acts 12:12. Peter later mentioned that mark was with him in 1 Peter 5:13.
Many think that the fleeing figure in Mark 14:50-52 was actually the young John Mark and that this is kind of his signature in the book.
According to tradition, Mark wrote down Peter’s account near the end of Peter’s ministry in Rome.
STRUCTURE:
Mark contains the quickest beginning of any of the Gospels.
It begins by saying this is the good news.
Mark jumps right into the ministry of John the Baptist. By 1:16 Jesus is already calling his first disciples.
Chapters 1 – 8 provide a record of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, where he established himself as a teacher and miracle-worker
A turning point occurs in Chapter 8 when Peter confessed that Jesus is the Messiah. After this confession Jesus focused more intently on his closest followers. He warns of his coming death /resurrection, and taught them about the cost of following him. Chapter 8-10 continues this focus and teaching as they travel towards Jerusalem.
Chapters 11 – 13 contain Jesus’ teaching in Jerusalem over the last week of his life.
Chapter 14 contains the Last Supper, Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, and arraignment before the Sanhedrin.
Chapter 15 describes his appearance before Pilate, his conviction, his being mocked, as well as his crucifixion, death, and burial.
Chapter 16 then provides a brief account of Jesus’ resurrection.
Mark records honestly how people responded to Jesus
Mark 3:20-21 – Jesus’ own family wanted to have him committed. [no dressing up Jesus here to make him look better—his family thought he was crazy.]
1) Some believed he was the messiah
-The friends of the paralyzed man in 2:5
-The bleeding woman in 5:34
-Jairus in 5:23
-Syrophoenician Woman in 7:29
-Blind Bartimaues in 10:52
-The Roman centurion at the cross 15:39
2) Some were confused
-You would think the disciples would be among those who believed, but they are portrayed throughout the gospel as confused and slow to learn.
-Note Jesus’ responses to them in 4:13, 4:40, 6:37,52, 6:49-0, 7:18, 8:16-21.
-The disciples didn’t understand Jesus’ teaching about his death and resurrection in 9:10
-They were shocked by his teaching on wealth and heaven in 10:22-27
-They fought over their comparative importance in 10:35-45
-They rebuked people when they brought their children to Jesus in 10:14
-Mark is clear: the disciples were confused and slow to learn.
3) Some were antagonistic
-Some clearly understood what Jesus was saying, and they opposed him.
-The teachers of the law charged him with blasphemy in 2:7
-The Pharisees objected to his eating with sinners and his statements about the Sabbath (2:16,24)
-The Pharisees and Herodians began to plot to kill Jesus in 3:6
-Jesus’ family thought he was crazy in 3:21
-The teachers of the law said he was demon possessed in 3:22,30
-The Gerasenes asked him to leave their region in 5:15-17
-His hometown residents were offended by him 6:4-5
-Herod worried about him 6:16
-The Pharisees kept challenging him 7:5
-The chief priests and the teachers of the law joined the Pharisees and Herodians in the conspiracy to kill Jesus in 11:18
-They challenged him publicly in 11:23-33. His response exposed their intentions in 12:1-11
-The liberal Sadducees take their turn at him in 12:18-23
-The plotting continued in chapter 14:1-2
-When Judas decided to help these conspirators in 14:10-11, the whole story turns in a tragic direction.
-The opposition engulfed Pharisees, Sadducees, Jews, Gentiles, foes and even friends.
A note on the “messianic secret”
Throughout the first half of Mark’s gospel, Jesus occasionally attempted to hide his identity as the Messiah (1:25, 1:34, 1:44, 3:12, 4:11-12, 5:39, 5:43, 7:36, 8:26, 8:30). Why? I think it was a teaching method.
Possibly His purpose was to shield himself from the attention of the crowds long enough to teach the disciples what the Messiah had really come to do. He was reeducating them and pointing them to particular scriptures that taught about the Messiah but had gone unnoticed. We see in 9:30-31 that after his Transfiguration that he left with the disciples and didn’t want anyone to know where they were so he could teach them. Once the disciples were reeducated, the “messianic secret” evaporated. We see Jesus is teaching publicly who he is in chapter 12.
What was this secret that led first to confusion and then to opposition? It is the centerpiece of Mark’s Gospel: the truth about who Jesus is.
Jesus on Jesus
If you listen to Jesus’ own words in Mark’s Gospel, you will find he did teach about matters of morality. However, that is not mainly what he taught about. The main thing he taught about was himself.
Except for the name Jesus, the title “son of man” is the most frequent phrase used to refer to Jesus in Mark.
Jesus uses it to refer to himself in 10:45 for instance.
He uses it again in 2:10 and 14:62 as he teaches that he is more than a normal human and is the Messiah.
What did the “son of man” come to do?
A) Bear Authority
-He taught with authority (1:22)
-He casts out demons. Evil spirits obey him. (1:27, 3:15, 6:7)
-He has the authority to forgive sins (2:10)
-He has the authority to be the Lord of the Sabbath (2:28)
B) Suffer
-He taught he must suffer much and be rejected (Mark 9:12)
-At the Last Supper he tells the disciples what has been written about him must happen (14:21)
-He was to be betrayed into the hands of sinners (14:41)
-Mark 8:31
-Mark 9:31
C) Return to Judge
-Promises to rise from the dead (8:31, 9:9, 9:31, 10:34)
-Promises to return (8:38, 13:26, 14:62)
-Jesus knows who he is
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus knows who he is
1) He is David’s greater son [Uses Psalm 110 to teach about himself. CF with Mark 12:36, 14:62]
2) He is the suffering servant [Uses Isaiah 53 to teach about himself. CF specifically with 10:45 and above passages]
3) He is the one who will come again to bring judgment [Uses Daniel 7:13-14 to teach about himself. CF with 8:38,13:26,14:62)
This is Mark’s teaching about Jesus: God came in the flesh, was rejected, and will come again in judgment.
What about Jesus and You?
At the very beginning of the book Mark writes about the gospel, the good news. 1:1
What is the good news?
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45.
Referencing Isaiah 53, Jesus teaches that he was God come in the flesh both to be rejected by people and to give his life as a ransom for all those who would repent of their sins and believe in him.
What we can learn from Peter
Jesus laying down his life as a ransom was good news for Peter. Throughout the gospel we see that Peter leads the disciples in confusion, confession, cowardly denials, and bold promises. In chapter 14 we see Peter’s three-fold denial of Jesus, BUT, we also see Peter’s weeping (v. 72). In these tears we can see hope.
Repentance begins with realizing the weight of your sins and the greatness of your need. It can come like a thunderclap. Then it can cause showers of weeping. If it is godly sorrow, it brings change.
If you want to see Jesus for who He is, you must see yourself for who you are. And if you are seeing clearly, you will weep.
May god give us eyes to see the truth about ourselves, and then the truth about Jesus who came to lay down his life as a ransom for many as we teach this book. This was the good news for Peter, and it is the good news for us too.
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