Gospel Of Mark

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Throughout the Gospel of Mark, the word “follow” is used twenty-one times. The word is either spoken by Jesus himself, frequently used in the phrase “Follow Me,” or is used in the third person perspective to describe people physically following Jesus. The usage of the word “follow” is not to be interpreted in the same way each time, however. There are two different meanings for the word within the Gospel of Mark. Each of these meanings also hold variances within themselves; different “shades” of meaning for the same stylistic variant of the word. The first (and most obvious) meaning for the word “follow” is the common definition; to go after or behind someone or something. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) In Mark, this meaning is usually used in the third person perspective to describe people following Jesus. For example, Mark 3:7 says “Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him…” This meaning is used in the following …show more content…

This stylistic variant is spoken by Jesus himself, often signaled by the phrase "follow me.” All who wished to follow Christ were confronted by his absolute authority. To “follow” meant to submit to his personal lordship. This is practiced in Mark 1:17; “And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’”
One shade of meaning for this style of the word “follow” is expressed in Mark 9:38. It is written, “John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’” In this verse, John expressed his unsettlement over the fact that the man was not one of the “followers” of Jesus. By this, John is not accusing the man of being an unbeliever; he was pointing out that this man was not part of their crowd. He was a follower of Jesus, but not in the same assembly as the disciples; and thus we have another “shade” of this

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