Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark (Greek: κατὰ Μᾶρκον εὐαγγέλιον, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Μᾶρκον, to euangelion kata Markon), commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second gospel in the Bible. However, most contemporary scholars now regard it as the earliest of the canonical gospels[1] (c 70).[2]
The Gospel of Mark narrates the Ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to his death and resurrection. It focuses particularly on the last week of his life (chapters 11–16) in Jerusalem. Its swift narrative portrays Jesus as a heroic man of action,[2] an exorcist, healer and miracle worker. An important theme of Mark is the Messianic Secret.[3] Jesus silences the demoniacs he heals, tries unsuccessfully to keep his messianic identity secret, and conceals his message with parables.[3] Meanwhile, the disciples fail to understand both the implication of the miracles of Jesus[2] and the meaning of the things he predicts about his arrest, death and resurrection.
According to tradition and some early church writers, the author is Mark the Evangelist, the companion of the apostle Peter.[4] The gospel, however, appears to rely on several underlying sources, varying in form and in theology, and which tells against the tradition that the gospel was based on Peter's preaching.[5] Of course, the autograph does not base its content on Paul's preaching alone but on a compilation of eye witness accounts, known apostolic preachings, and pre-existing written records that do not exist today verifiable from 2nd century commentators and an understanding of 1st century Greco-Roman culture regarding oral tradition.[6] Various elements within the gospel, including the importance of the authority of Peter and the breadth of its basic theology, suggest that the author wrote in Syria or Palestine for a non-Jewish Christian community which had earlier absorbed the influence of pre-Pauline beliefs and then developed them further independent of Paul.[7]
Quotes·Quotations by Gospel of Mark
¶ Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you. To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. [Mark 4,24-25 | Advice]
¶ This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come. [Mark 4,26-29 | Advice]
¶ It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade. [Mark 4,31-32 | Mustard Seed | Advice]
¶ He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. [Mark 6,8-9 | Journey]
The Tradition of the Elders
¶ Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. [Mark (7,15)]
¶ When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable.
He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile,
since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
“But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles.
From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.” [Mark (7,17-23)]
Another Exorcist
¶ For whoever is not against us is for us. [Mark 9,40]
Notes
[1]^ a b Brown, Raymond E. (1997). Introduction to the New Testament. New York: Anchor Bible. pp. 164. ISBN 0-385-24767-2.
[2]^ a b c d Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.
[3]^ a b "Messianic Secret." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
[4]^ Jens Schroter, Gospel of Mark, in Aune, David E., (ed) "The Blackwell companion to the New Testament" (Blackwell Publishing, 2010), p.277-8
[5]^ a b c d Theissen, Gerd and Annette Merz. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press. 1998. translated from German (1996 edition). p. 24-27.
[6]^ Mark Roberts, Can We Trust the Gospels, in 2007, p.68
[7]^ Jens Schroter, Gospel of Mark, in Aune, p.278
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