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.
In Mark Jesus healed many people with various ailments such as evil spirit possession, hemorrhaging, healing the deaf, the blind and epilepsy. The healings that Jesus conducted in Mark show that God’s love and mercy is everlasting. Also the power of faith and will power that the people had who were in need of the healing was very visible. Sometimes we go through situations and forget that God never left our sides during tribulations and His son Christ is within us no matter what. Also displayed in Mark through the stories of Jesus healing is the fact that God always has the final say so or judgment. Since God has the final say we should not worry or be too sadden by obstacles that we face. I truly believe that God will not give us more then we can handle and through obstacles we find our strength and courage to keep fighting.
In addition in Mark 3:17, Jesus made it clear that his message was intended for sinners especially. While everybody needs the
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If I do become a theologian then my overall plan is to be in a space where I will be able to communicate freely with others about the love and the word of God. I noticed as I have been on an educational and professional pursuit that what lacks in my daily environment is being able to fully express my spirituality with others. Many people I encounter are curious about my faith background and even want to go into further discussions in my office about their beliefs also. There are several boundaries that prevent me currently from having that safe space to talk about
had great faith in Jesus and teaches us that we should do the same. In
Mark's Gospel, Christians, and Persecution In Mark's Gospel it shows that Jesus was persecuted in many forms; rejection, threats, mockery and being arrested, this ended up as death. Persecution still happens in the less developed world of today in countries like Egypt, China, Pakistan and parts of Indonesia. The main persecutions Jesus suffered in Mark's Gospel were; threats Jesus reacted by feeling angry but as soon as he looked around he changed his anger to sorrow. When he was being treated he carried on normally and ignored them.
It is possible to write on the life of Jesus in a topical manner. This paper will be divided into three parts. In the first part of the paper, I will discuss about the nature of a gospel, Johns views vs. the Synoptic, whether or not the writers of the gospels were eyewitnesses and how they used written sources and also about what is Q source and how Mathew and Luke were similar when it came to their sources; how the old testament stories (Moses, Samuel, Elijah) used to interpret Jesus and finally whether or not Sermon on the Mount happened. In the second part of my paper, I will talk about Jesses birth and childhood, the miracles, his resurrection and also the actions Jesus did relating to curing people, spirits and how they are these interpreted: prophet, magician, madman compare Saul and Elijah. In the final part of the paper, I will discuss about what Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God vs. the kingdom of the Romans and what he meant by the end of the world and also the reason behind the Romans executing him. My sources for this paper will be the New Jerusalem Bible (Gospels of John, Mark, Matthew and Luke) and lecture notes from Professor Trumbach.
He said to them " I have chosen you to be with me…I will also send you
A majority of Mark deals with Christ’s travels throughout the area around the Sea of Galilee and the various miracles he performed during that time. Most of these involved healing those with leprosy or other plagues, exorcising demons, or curing the blind/deaf/dumb. The stories of Christ feeding thousands with but a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish are also told, as is the story of Jesus walking on water. All of the miracles are described well, without getting too wordy. The style of writing also makes them believable.
In the short story of “The Gospel According to Mark”, Jorge Luis Borges introduces the readers to controversies to the works of missionaries faced by many civilizations around the world. Borges accomplishes this by accompanying the story with ironic symbols and substantial religious references which allow the readers to connect the story to relevant past events. In this short story, Borges ironically criticizes the effects which various missionaries had on different groups of indigenous people. Amongst these effects, a portion of the effects were positive, while a great majority of the effects was negatively impacting the indigenous groups which the missionaries came in contact with.
A recurring title for Jesus in the Gospel of Mark is the Son of God, which is evident in the centurion quote seen in Mark 15:39 “…when the centurion…saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’.” This scripture reference is subtitled as the Death of Jesus, which portrays Him as the Suffering Messiah for He died and came back to life. Through his pain and suffering, it was the centrepiece of God’s loving plan to save all people. The Son of God relates to Mark’s Gospel as it frequently shows the divinity and Messianic Suffering Jesus went through for the followers of the Kingdom of God.
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 first mark is the first miracle, when Jesus turns water into wine (John 2:1-11). This is a symbolic act of the task he came to fulfill. He changed a transparent liquid into a drink that is harvested, crushed, fermented and clarified. He came to save people from their colorless life, into a refined, filtered, rich life. The second mark, is the healing of the royal officials son. The Father was in despair. He heals the boy with the same breath that spoke the earth into existence. As Jesus said "he is sent to heal the broken hearted" ( Luke 4:18). The third mark of the Messiah is the healing of the paralyzed man at the pool found in (John 5:1-9).
The Gospel of John, the last of the four gospels in the Bible, is a radical departure from the simple style of the synoptic gospels. It is the only one that does not use parables as a way of showing how Jesus taught, and is the only account of several events, including the raising of Lazarus and Jesus turning water into wine. While essentially the gospel is written anonymously, many scholars believe that it was written by the apostle John sometime between the years 85 and 95 CE in Ephesus. The basic story is that of a testimonial of one of the Apostles and his version of Jesus' ministry. It begins by telling of the divine origins of the birth of Jesus, then goes on to prove that He is the Son of God because of the miracles he performs and finally describes Jesus' death and resurrection.
The last way that Jesus demonstrated His discipleship was in the way he took care of people’s spiritual needs. The first time we see this is in Mark 1:21-28. In these verses Jesus is i...
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
Mark’s portrait of Jesus as a servant originates from the middle of the first century, Mark wrote his gospel during this time of persecution because the people being oppressed lacked faith that God would provide for them. Mark gives them the model of Jesus as a man submissive to the Lord so that they can receive salvation if they remain faithful to the servant of God. Mark stresses that Jesus is a suffering Messiah with the passage concerning Jesus praying to God that “Abba(Father), all things are po...
Another common theme is that the gospel should be spoken to believers and non-believers alike. Luke’s gospel was written to heighten the faith of believers and to give answers to non-believers. There were Jewish and Gentile followers of Christ, and it was spoken that the faith of God is available to both. Matthew’s audience is primarily the Jew who is familiar with the Old Testament. At many points in Jesus’s ministry, he healed people who were outcasts, as well as the poor and the sick. He provided everyone an invitation to join Him since The Kingdom of God does not belong to one particular ethnic group, nation or
Jesus’ healing ministry constructed a profound theological statement to Israel, similar to his selection of the twelve apostles and his eating with sinners. God’s promise one day to establish his kingdom and renew his people visible and available in preview to any who witnessed his deeds of the teacher from Nazareth.