The Gospel According to St. Mark serves to narrate Jesus’ life from beginning to end. Through the various encounters involving Jesus and his disciples, the reader is presented a portrait of both. Given the characterizations used to depict both Jesus and his disciples, they serve to suggest a concerning and ambiguous relationship between God and humanity, in which God only holds so much pity for humanity to “repent” before his judgement is enforced. Throughout the narrative, Mark makes every effort to portray Jesus as the “one more powerful” who is possessed by the spirit of God. There are various stories told within the text that suggest Jesus’ immense “power”. For one, his power is exemplified by his word’s capacity to cast out the demons …show more content…
Jesus’ rebellious nature against Jewish law is revealed due to his willingness to put himself in the place of God in order to forgive the paralytic. Even more, he rebukes the Scribes when they proclaim his act as “blasphemy” (2.7) by refuting, “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (2.10). Consequently, it is evident that Jesus will become involved in many ongoing conflicts due to his authoritative, confrontational, and radical nature. One of the most significant conflicts in Mark’s narrative is formed by the developing disconnect between Jesus and his disciples. In particular, this division is driven by the disciples’ lack of faith in Jesus’ willingness to use his power on their behalf. Jesus even refers to his disciple Simon as “Peter”, which is translated to “petros” in the Greek, meaning “rocky”, which indicates that Simon is “less than dependable”. Because of this, Jesus is very conscious of his disciples’ inability to grasp the underlying meaning of his teachings, and they continue to become more fearful of his power. This is evident when Jesus warns the disciples of the “yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod”, who are plotting …show more content…
This is exemplified when Jesus foretells his death and resurrection to the disciples a second time. Mark reveals the disciples’ disconnect from Jesus by claiming, “But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him” (9.30). In particular, the relationship between Jesus and his disciples parallels with the relationship between God and humans in contemporary life today. Nonetheless, there is also a sense of compassion and concern for the well-being of humanity that is portrayed through the actions of Jesus out of his own pity. One example of this is when he walks on the water in order to save the disciples from the harsh winds, while they are alone in the boat (6.45-49). Jesus then explains, “‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased” (6.50-51). This signals God’s compassion and hope for humans to “repent” and take heed to the “good news” before their judgement is fulfilled. Therefore, the developing portraits included can be interpreted as signs of the understanding, yet uncompromising nature of God in
“Recovering the Scandal of the Cross,” (Green, Baker) presents an alternative means of thinking for Christians theologically. The author’s task of interpreting culture and communicating within a culture is incredibly difficult. Much of the biblical teaching of God is rooted into communicating to a specific group of people and a certain culture. Yet God has chosen the Bible as the method of communicating himself to the world. Green and Baker begin to lay the groundwork of historical influence of atonement from Anselm and Irenaeus. They later introduce ideas from Charles Hodge and penal substitution. There are four major models of explanations of the atonement: Christus Victor, penal substitution, satisfaction and moral influence. Although others are mentioned in the book, this sets the stage of the historic dilemma from which they can view atonement in their discussion of tradition.
Mark's Gospel and Nature of Discipleship In Mark's Gospel, there are many accounts of Jesus' disciples and Apostles which are helpful to Christians as examples of the nature of discipleship. In this part of my coursework essay I hope to address questions involving what Mark's Gospel tells us about Jesus' disciples and Apostles, as well as defining the principle of what being a disciple entails, and defining also who the apostles were. This is because by learning about past disciples and the Apostles, a modern disciple of the Church can learn about the nature of discipleship. A disciple is somebody who is inspired enough by somebody to learn about them, listen to their ideas and follow them and their way of life.
An example of the author portraying Jesus as more holy, or God like, occurs in Matthew 17.22. It says, “As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men, 17.23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.’ And they were greatly distressed. On the other hand, Mark mentions in the verses 9.30-9.32 that Jesus is speaking specifically to his disciples. It also states that they were afraid to ask him, and didn’t understand what was saying about his death. Matthew makes the first change to show that Jesus wants other people to know of his death. Most likely they were other believers and followers of Jesus. It almost like saying that Jesus was not selfish in just telling his disciples of his death, and that he wanted to share it with people who believed in him.
The beginning and ending of the Gospel of Mark really support the four main themes present within the Gospel. The four main themes in the Gospel are: Jesus as being enigmatic, Jesus as a sufferer, Low Christology and Apocalypticism present within the Gospel. The beginning and ending of this Gospel support Jesus as being misunderstood because in the beginning, there is no birth story of Jesus or any background information presented, Jesus is just there. This makes one question where did he come from and who was he born to? In the end of the Gospel, the tomb is described as empty and the last sentences of the Gospel in Mark 16: 8 says: “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (1743). This ending of the Gospel is enigmatic because there is no mention of Jesus’ resurrection or whether anyone ever found out that Jesus had ascended to Heaven. The beginning and ending, not to mention the entire Gospel, leaves one wondering many things about Jesus, because his whole existence in Mark is very mys...
... asked how the crowed would be feed, one response was to go into the market to buy the food that was needed. But noticing that there were two problems one, having to deal with lack of food, and the other lack of finance left, the disciples in a state of dumbfounds. Instead of looking to the one who was and is a problem solver. This signifies Jesus power over food.
The Bible shows God constantly pursuing His people and man rejecting him over and over again. This passage displays this ongoing struggle by showing all Jesus did for us and how the people still shunned and rejected him. However, this passage also gives reassurance that it is never too late to repent and accept the Lord. This passage displays some important themes of the Bible: man’s redemption, God’s forgiveness and grace, and the blessing of a relationship with God. This passage is essentially the message of the Bible in one small
"We cannot indeed overestimate the importance of the fact that Jesus' redeeming influence on the world-all that has induced men to call Him Lord and Savior-owes to His humanity at once its individual and its social power, and is complete with the com...
The Gospel of Matthew is an eyewitness story written for an audience of believers, under great stress, and persecution. Matthew develops a theological plot incorporating genealogy, speeches, parables, inter and intra textual references, common vocabulary, and fulfillment quotations, with a tension that builds as we are invited into the story. The crucifixion and resurrection bring us to a Christological climax that symbolically points beyond its conclusion to God’s Kingdom, bringing atonement, salvation and the ushering in the Eschaton. The extraordinary events surrounding the crucifixion act as commentary, adding important details concerning the death of Jesus.1
One of the main characteristics of the gospel of Mark is it’s length. Mark is much shorter than Matthew and Luke, but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. The author of Mark does not slow down the gospel story and makes sure that only important and relevant details are included. When Mark is compared with Matthew and Luke, it becomes obvious to see what Mark has eliminated. The author’s omission of Jesus’ birth, lineage, resurrection, and ascension denote careful planning and purpose in the gospel of Mark.
The book consists of three parts. The first part has five chapters of which focuses on explaining what the key questions are and why we find them difficult to answer. The second part has nine chapters explaining in detail what N.T. Wright considers Jesus’ public career and the approach he had in first century Palestine. The third part of the book, the last chapter, challenges readers to wrestle with the questions of Jesus’ life and ministry.
Jesus Christ lived a very full, if short, life. He did and accomplished more in his thirty years than many men do in twice that. The gospels each tell their versions of his life. Of the four, I found the gospel of Mark to be the most interesting. I enjoy the style of writing in this gospel more than the others. I feel it gives a better summary of the events in Christ’s life. Whereas the other gospels tend to get bogged down with parables or spend too much time on specific events, the gospel of Mark moves along at a good pace and adequately gets the message across.
God’s written law is something that is and should be continuously turned, to not only when Christians find themselves in need, but also throughout in one’s daily life. The four gospels tell to story of Jesus’ life and his teachings he gave while on the earth making it possible for there to be a true example of Christ-like faith. The proposition that there are differences in the story of Jesus and in his teachings seems to question the basis upon which the Christian faith is found upon. Rather than proclaiming the gospels as falsehoods because on the differences they possess, by analyzing the differences in the context of the particular gospel it can be understood that the differences are not made by mistake, rather as a literary device. While
The gospels explain Jesus’ life and death including His identity but also his activities, works, leadership and his suffering. Jesus is seen as a manifestation of God’s relationship with humans. An important fact about Jesus is the humility and modesty associated with his birth, upbringing and death. The fact that such a person ...
In the gospels of Mark and John, both showed a vivid portrait of Jesus in their writing. Mark’s gospel describes much more of Jesus' life, miracles, and parables as suffering servant. However, John’s gospel was written to convince people to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Nonetheless, both John and Mark present many of the crucial events of Jesus' life, including his trial, crucifixion, and resurrection.
Many important themes arose while I was reading the Gospel of Mark. In my week 2 group discussion posts, the themes I listed were faith, power of prayer, forgiveness, repentance, optimism, gratitude and mercy. However there are more that I found in the chapter and I read through it again such as the healing power of God and standing for righteousness.