Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness. Though the author does not directly identify himself, there is still strong evidence to attribute the Gospel to John Mark.

In addition to Markan composition, church fathers also state that Mark was the interpreter of Peter, which would give reason to believe that he wrote his Gospel under the guidance or assistance of the apostle. With only ten verses in the New Testament making mention of John Mark, it is surprising that there is still enough information to create a sufficient biographical sketch of him. Besides being the author of the second Gospel, he was the cousin of Barnabas Col 4: Some have even speculated that John Mark was the young man at the garden of Gethsemane during the betrayal of Jesus Mark After the Jerusalem Council, Barnabas and Paul were planning on making their second journey.

Barnabas wanted to take John Mark, but Paul opposed the idea because Mark had departed from them on the first Journey.


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After Barnabas gave his cousin a second chance, Paul was later able to call him a coworker Philem 24 ; cf. It is also evident that Mark shared a special relationship with Peter. Not only does Peter call him his son 1 Pet 5: The majority of scholarship places Mark's Gospel as the first to be composed. If Luke is considered to be the latest of the Gospels, then it is important to date his Gospel first. The dating of Luke first depends on the dating of Acts which succeeds Luke cf. Because the book of Acts has an abrupt ending with Paul waiting to go before Caesar, the best explanation is that Luke wrote it up to the events that had taken place.

This would place the composition of Acts in the early Sixties. With this in mind, Luke could be placed in the late Fifties to early Sixties, Matthew in the mid to late Fifties, and Mark in the early to mid Fifties. These dates are debatable and have a certain degree of elasticity to them, but for the stated reasons they seem the most likely to the present author. Unlike the date of the Gospel, there is considerable agreement even amongst the church fathers as to the location from which John Mark composed his Gospel. Rome is usually named as both the city from which Mark wrote his Gospel and the church to whom it was originally intended.

Many scholars also conclude that Mark's presence in "Babylon" suggests that he was in Rome with Peter 1 Pet 5: Papias plainly states that "Peter mentions Mark in his first Epistle, and that he composed this [Gospel] in Rome itself. Lastly, Mark also explains certain Aramaic words or phrases which the Romans would not have naturally been able to understand e. Mark's use of Peter while composing his Gospel has already been mentioned above. With this in mind, one of the purposes of Mark's Gospel may have actually been to present Peter's account of the life and sayings of Jesus as an instructional tool for early church practice.

Another reason why Mark would have constructed his Gospel may have been to encourage the Christians in Rome who would have been under persecution instigated by Caesar Nero. Mark does not emphasize the sayings of Jesus as much as the other Gospels do. He has left out large portions of discourse, which has resulted in the shortest and most action-packed Gospel. Concerning this, Robert Geulich pointed out that Mark "wrote a story, not a theology. One of the most predominant themes in Mark's Gospel is the messianic secret. In the second half of the Gospel, however, he acknowledges it to the disciples after Peter's confession, but commands them not to tell anybody 8: The demons realized who he was, but even they were commanded to stay silent 1: Some who were healed by Jesus also knew who he was, yet they too were commanded to keep it to themselves 1: The messianic secret reaches its pinnacle at the confession of the centurion who said that Jesus truly was the Son of God Besides the messianic secret and other areas of Christology, Mark also focused on the kingdom of God and discipleship.

His theology of the kingdom of God is less developed and less integral than that of Matthew's or Luke's. It is critical to note that Mark did not conceal the failures of the disciples. They had a hard time understanding many of Jesus' teachings 4: Mark is also quick to show the shortcomings of his own personal friend, Peter. First Mark reveals Jesus' rebuke of Peter 8: As stated above, Mark's Gospel is given in the form of a story.

Since it was the first of the Gospels to be written, it is the earliest of its specific genre. Related to the Gospel genre are many other pre-Markan canonical and extra-Biblical examples using a similar narrative technique. There is not much consensus on how to divide up Mark's Gospel. The first thirteen verses designate the beginnings of Jesus' ministry. Following that is Jesus' ministry in Galilee. Jesus then goes to Caesarea Philippi, after which he makes his way up to Jerusalem where the passion takes place.

The story ends with and the resurrection of Christ. Many have noted that Peter's confession in 8: After this point, Jesus puts an emphasis on things that pertain to his Messiahship. This would involve such things as Cole points out: The greatest textual issue in Mark's Gospel is the ending There are a couple manuscript deviations affecting the conclusion that have led to a plethora of literature on the subject. In short, the The former is found in a large amount of manuscripts, and even appears to have been known by Tatian ca.

Besides the manuscript evidence, many who hold to the second view also look to Mark's theology and writing style for support. The Man and His Message. Moody Press, pp. Introduction to the New Testament Nashville: Abingdon Press, English Translation of the 17th Edition, pp. Zondervan Publishing House, p. InterVarsity Press, p.

Matthew and Luke have their own points to make of course, and use the stories differently than Mark. We have no originals of any of the gospels.


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  • Introduction to Mark’s Gospel;
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  • We only have copies. Our earliest complete copy of any gospel is dated A. Ironically, the oldest fragment we have is of John.

    Introduction to the Gospel of Mark - Study Resources

    It is a scrap about 2. It has a few Greek words from John The words can barely be made out. There are many outlines of Mark out there. Some are very long and detailed, allowing the reader little organizational perspective on the whole. Some draw the lines in different places. For example, some outlines place 1: The value of an outline is the ability to see the sweep of the entire book. The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

    The beginning of the Good News: Forerunner John the Baptist 1: The beginning of the Galilean ministry 1: The Call of the Four 1: Exorcisms and Healings in Capernaum D. More Healing, and Conflict Stories 2: More Healing Miracles 5 and 7 G. Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi…. Gradual Revelation of Suffering Predictions: Pattern 3x Prediction Response Instructions C. Judgment in Action Judgment in Words The Little Apocalypse It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread.

    Jesus Prepares for His Departure Jesus Crucifixion and Burial For some, rather than an outline that attempts to identify the structure of the gospel, a list of the contents may be more helpful. I started with http: John the Baptist 1: Triumphal entry into Jerusalem Three Days Palm Passion Sunday: Mark 14 or 15 Maundy Thursday: Easter through Pentecost Easter Sunday: Advocate will bear witness to the truth.

    Time After Pentecost Trinity Sunday: Nicodemus Mark 4: John 8 All Saints November: My kingdom is not of this world. February 12, at 7: You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email.

    The missing verb clues us in that this is the real title of his gospel: Of the four canonical gospels, Mark casts the disciples in the least favorable light. They never get who Jesus is, even though they are closest to events. The word appears 11 times in chapter 1, and at least once in every chapter of Mark except 12 and This drives the energy and pace of the gospel.

    Mark uses Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic in his gospel. In Mark, Jesus is a carpenter 6: In Mark, the disciples can carry a staff and sandals. In Matthew and Luke they cannot. Jewish customs are explained for an apparently Gentile audience.

    The Gospel of Mark

    Jesus declares all foods clean 7: Is this a new teaching, with authority? The book must be read in its apocalyptic context: Is a much broader concept that sees the course of human events in this world as a manifestation of hidden forces, like the battle between good and evil, God and Satan.

    This apocalyptic mindset grew during the intertestamental period: His page book is written for a general audience. It brings to life the rich Judaism of the first century. Cheryl Paul February 12, at 7: Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Email Address never made public.

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