Values Based on Verses of Mark
Verses 12 through 19 of the 11th chapter of Mark tell two short stores; one of Jesus cursing a fig tree and the other of Jesus clearing out the temple. These two stories give insight as to the values and priorities held by Jesus.
The first story to be examined is the cursing of the fig tree. As Jesus and His disciples were leaving Bethany, it is told that Jesus became hungry. He found a fig tree but discovered it was barren. Jesus then curses the tree, saying, “May no one eve eat fruit from you again.” Despite the brevity of the story, it gives insight to Jesus’ character. Based on the scripture, it would seem that Jesus became frustrated or upset with the lack of fruit on the tree. His curse shows a bit more of His human side; frustration that turns into anger. It appears that Mark makes an attempt to show that it is uncharacteristic of Jesus to become mad at such a seemingly trivial thing by mentioning, “…his disciples heard him say it.” This story appears to simply prove that Jesus is actually human. Later in the chapter, though, Jesus refers back to the fig tree, and uses its example to teach His disciples a lesson on faith. Jesus more than likely planned this when He first cursed the tree.
The second story tells of Jesus’ return to the temple in Jerusalem. Upon His arrival, Jesus found merchants buying and selling inside the temple. He became enraged, and “…overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.” This display of rage shows the thing that Jesus is most adamant about: keeping separated the things that are God’s and the things of the world. Jesus saw the worldly merchants defiling the temple, and cleansed it in order to keep the temple holy. Jesus risks being seen in a fit of rage and sacrifices his image of being above most emotions in order to fix the problem. However, instead of staying angry, Jesus sits down with the people and begins to teach them. This shows that Jesus’ second priority was spreading His message wherever He went.
Through the parable, Jesus wanted to notify the Greco-Roman world what he thought of the Pharisees, lawyers, tax collectors, and rich men. Jesus was straight forward and purposeful with his symbols in the parable. Jesus wanted the Greco-Roman world to know the Pharisees were self-righteous, thus unholy, and the tax collectors and elites were sinners, thus unholy as well. Jesus wanted this parable to reach all the families in Israel and Rome. Jesus wanted this parable to teach them that the only holy figure in this story is the father who represents an all-loving and all-merciful divine figure. Jesus didn’t intend for his parable to have relevance in the 21st century, although it does. There is a new younger son and older son today, big business and politicians. Although Jesus did not, the third character would always be the same, God the
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.
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the origin of nearly everything the Christian Church teaches about Jesus. The Gospels, in turn, serve as the scale or test of truth and authenticity of everything the church teaches about Jesus. It is said that the Gospels are the link between Jesus of Nazareth and the people of every age throughout history who have claimed to be his followers. Although the Gospels teach us about Jesus’ life they may not provide concrete evidence that what they speak of is true there are several other sources.
· Mark 10: 17-22 (The Rich Man), In which a rich man runs up to Jesus
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.
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.
Mark’s gospel and John’s gospel contain many differences from the beginning, but both end with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The gospels of John and Mark represent Jesus as two different people. The disparity is that Mark represents Jesus as a servant while John portrays Jesus as a divine being. However, one must realize the two texts are meant to read by different audiences during different time periods. Each description presents a particular aspect of the life of Historical Jesus.
Jesus however, has much different beliefs. He believes there is a certain way to live in order to achieve the greater things in the after life. For doing the right thing for god is the way we all need to live. At times in the story “Sermon on the mount,” it can sound very radical. Saying things such as "Whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery," and "If you say, 'You fool, ' you will be liable to the hell of
As we read John, we see that the stories center around the concept of belief. In the second chapter of John, we are told of the miracle that Jesus did at a wedding: turning water into wine. This miracle was told so that we may believe. “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11). Through these miracles we are able to see signs of Jesus’s power and glory and how God’s presence is in him, leading many to believe in him. After this, Jesus went to Capernum, then Jerusalem to the temple, where he found people selling things
France, R.T. The Gospel of Mark: New International Commentary on the Greek Testament (New International Greek Testament Commentary). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002.
The Gospel of Mark is an extremely influential and important chapter for the Christian religion. Mark chapter 14 begins two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This is when the Chief Priests and scribes are making their plans to trap Jesus and kill him. They will do this before the festival because they do not want to provoke the large crowds and cause a riot. There was a dinner in the suburbs, and a woman anoints Jesus with a very expensive ointment which angers some people, because they believe it to be a waste. Jesus then defends the women for what she did, because he believed it to be kind. Meanwhile, Judas sneaks away and agrees to betray Jesus to the chief of priests, who promise him money in return for his
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.
It is about a son who abandons his family to “squander his wealth in wild living” (New International Version, Luke.15.13). After losing all his wealth he recognizes the importance of family and returns home. His father lovingly welcomes him because he will always love his son, regardless of the incident. God loves all His children; even the ones that abandon Him. All He asks of us is to repent from our sins and seek Him with all our hearts. This parable motivates believers to always repent because God is the most merciful and forgiving. Besides teaching about the good news, Jesus also performed miracles that caused many people to believe in his
The book of Matthew in the bible tells of the many lesion that were taught to Jesus disciples. These lesson where then passed on to the followers of Jesus Christ, they were taught many lessons for daily living. Jesus gives basic rules to follow one that sticks with me is “11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 11-12, King James Version). This lesson sticks with me because knowing even if people mistreat me, or talk about me, I can keep my head held high because my father in heaven will comfort me with his love and grace. The lessons in the book of Luke (15-31, King James Version) Jesus uses stories to explain how people may stray away, but how we as Christians should either bring or welcome them back. Today’s society forgets these lessons and sees their fellow men as nuisances as back then. Therefore Jesus had to perform miracles for people to see what he said was real.