Author
The title “according to Mark” was added to this Gospel by scribes who produced the earliest copies of the Gospel. According to early church tradition, Mark recorded and arranged the “memories” of Peter, thereby producing a Gospel based on apostolic witness. Although Mark was a common Roman name, the gospel writer is probably John Mark. Mark became an important assistant for both Paul and Peter, preaching the good news to Gentiles and preserving the gospel message for later Christians.
Readers
Mark wrote his Gospel for Gentile Christians. He explains Jewish customs in detail for the benefit of readers unfamiliar with Judaism (7:3-4; 12:18). Mark translated several Aramaic expressions for a Greek-speaking audience (5:41; 7:11, 34; 15:22). Gentiles would have especially appreciated Mark’s interpretation of the saying of Jesus which declared all foods clean (7:19; compare with Matt. 15:17-20). Mark’s Gentile audience may explain his omission of the genealogy of Jesus. Perhaps these Gentile readers were Roman Christians. Mark’s Gospel contains many terms borrowed from Latin and written in Greek, consider “taking counsel” (3:6), “Legion” (5:9), “tribute” (12:14), “scourged” (15:15).
Early Christian tradition placed Mark in Rome preserving the words of Peter for Roman Christians shortly before the apostle’s death (see 1 Pet. 5:13). According to tradition, Peter was martyred in Rome during the Neronian persecution, which would place the date of Mark’s Gospel about A.D. 64 to 68. Such a hostile environment motivated Mark to couch his account of the life of Jesus in terms that would comfort Christians suffering for their faith. The theme of persecution dominates the Gospel of Mark (see Mark 10:30; compare Matt. 19:29; Luke 18:29). Jesus’ messianic suffering is emphasized to inspire Christians to follow the same path of servanthood (10:42-45). Roman Christians would be encouraged knowing that Jesus anticipated that “everyone shall be salted with fire” (9:49; see 13:9-13). Dying for the gospel would be equivalent to dying for Jesus (8:35; Matt. 16:25; Luke 9:24).
Style
Mark has been called the “gospel of action.” One of his favorite words in telling the story of Jesus is “immediately.” Jesus is constantly on the move. In one day, according to Mark, Jesus instructed the multitudes by the sea, traveled across the sea of Galilee and calmed the storm, healed the Gerasene demoniac, crossed the sea again, healed the woman with a hemorrhage, and raised a little girl from the dead (4:1-6:1). Mark apparently had more interest in the work of Jesus than in the words of Jesus. Thus he omitted the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus taught as He moved from region to region, using the circumstances of His travel as valuable lessons for His disciples (8:14-21). Geographical references serve only to trace the expansive parameters of His ministry. According to Mark’s “motion” picture, Jesus moved quickly—as if He were a man whose days were numbered.
Good storytellers captivate audiences by using everyday language which provokes strong imagery. Mark’s language is simple, direct, and common. His sometimes rough and unrefined Greek grammar facilitates his ability to communicate the gospel message by using familiar patterns of speech. When Mark told a story, he possessed a flair for the dramatic and an eye for detail. His description of events was replete with vivid images which evoke a variety of emotions in just one story (see 5:1-20; compare Matt. 8:28-34). In the graphic account of Jesus’ encounter with the demoniac boy, only Mark recorded the child’s convulsion which caused him to fall on the ground, and roll “around, foaming at the mouth” (9:20, 26 NIV). Furthermore, Mark preserved Jesus’ interrogation of the father as to the severity of the boy’s condition and the depth of his own faith (9:21-24). Finally, only Mark recorded the actual words of Jesus’ rebuke as well as the reaction of the crowd to the boy’s lifeless body: “He’s dead!” (9:25-26, NIV).
Mark’s concern for detail, sometimes to the point of redundancy (see Mark 6:49-50 NIV, “when they saw Him ... because they all saw Him ... “He spoke to them and said”), demonstrates his reliance upon eyewitness testimony. Mark was careful to relate not only the words of Jesus, but also His gestures, attitudes, and emotions (3:5; 6:34; 7:34; 8:12; 11:16). In the same fashion, Mark recorded the reaction of the crowds, facial expressions of conversationalists, conclusions drawn by the disciples, and private remarks made by opponents (5:40; 10:22, 32, 41; 11:31; 14:40). Only an observant insider would relate stories with such pertinent information. Furthermore, the prominent role of Peter in the narrative (Peter remembered, 11:21; see also 1:36; 14:37; 16:7) confirms early Christian tradition that Mark relied upon the recollections of the apostle when he produced “the gospel of Jesus Christ” (1:1).
Form
Upon first reading, the Gospel of Mark appears to be an arbitrary collection of stories about Jesus. After the Baptist fulfilled his role as the forerunner to the Messiah (in a very brief appearance), Jesus began His public ministry in Galilee by preaching the “gospel of God” and collecting a few disciples collecting a few disciples (1:14-20). With these necessary introductions completed, Mark presented the life of Jesus by following a simple geographical scheme: from Galilee to Judea. The popular Galilean ministry of Jesus is recorded in chapters 1-9. The brief Judean ministry (10:1-31) serves primarily as a prelude to the approaching passion of Jesus. Over one-third of Mark’s Gospel is devoted to describing the events of the last week in the life of Jesus (10:32-15:47). The story ends as abruptly as it began; Mark finished his Gospel account with the angelic announcement of the resurrection of Jesus the Nazarene (the earliest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament end Mark’s Gospel at 16:8). Mark’s chronology of Jesus leaves the reader with the impression that his only purpose in writing a Gospel was to preserve the oral tradition in written form. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent to the observant reader that Mark arranged the material in a more sophisticated fashion to convey truth on a higher level.
The stories of the cleansing of the Temple and the cursing of the fig tree appear as isolated incidents in Matthew’s Gospel, connected by chronological sequence (Matt. 21:12-22). In the Gospel of Mark, on the other hand, these two stories are interwoven to aid the reader in interpreting the parabolic activity of Jesus. Along the way to Jerusalem Jesus indicated to His disciples that He was hungry and approached a fig tree to harvest its fruit. The tree was full of leaves, giving every indication of life; but it possessed no fruit. Mark recorded that Jesus “answered” the tree and announced, May “no man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever” (11:14). The disciples, who “heard him,” must have been puzzled by Jesus’ actions, for Mark recorded that “it was not the season for figs” (11:13, NIV). Without explanation, Jesus led His disciples into Jerusalem where he cleansed the Temple. From a distance the daily activity of the Temple gave every indication of spiritual life, but upon closer inspection Jesus found no spiritual fruit. Israel, the fig tree, was supposed to provide a “house of prayer for all the nations” (11:17, NIV). Instead, the religious leaders turned the devotion of worshipers into financial profit (11:15, 17). In essence, when Jesus “answered” the fig tree, he pronounced a curse on the Jewish religious leadership and demonstrated His divine displeasure by cleansing the Temple. In word and deed, Jesus prophesied that God would not longer use Israel as the vehicle of salvation for humanity. It should have come as no surprise, then, for Peter and the disciples, during their return trip, to find the cursed fig tree dead (11:21). By purifying the Temple, Jesus marked the death of Judaism, caused His own death (11:18), and gave birth to a religion for all people. The Gentile readers of Mark’s Gospel would have especially appreciated the significant arrangement of these two stories.
Mark’s Gospel is not just a collection of stories about Jesus; his book tells the story of Jesus as a whole. Mark developed the unifying “plot” of the gospel story by unveiling the hidden identity of Jesus. The messianic secret is part of the mystery of the kingdom of God, understood only by insiders—“to them that are without all these things are done in parables” (4:11, 33-34). Throughout Mark’s Gospel, Jesus made every attempt to conceal His true identity. Jesus silenced demonic profession because they knew Him (1:34). He ordered those who witnessed miracles not to tell anyone what they saw, although silence was only a remote possibility (7:36). Even after the climactic profession of faith, when the disciples revealed that they had learned the secret (“Thou art the Christ”!), Jesus swore His followers to secrecy (8:29-30). Mark used the messianic secret to organize his story around the progressive revelation of Christ and the faith pilgrimage of His disciples. Even Gentiles demonstrated that they belonged to the community of faith when they understood Jesus’ parables and recognized Him as the Christ.
The literary form of Mark’s Gospel is no accident. The arrangement of the gospel material gives every indication that a skilled literary craftsman has been at work. For example, Mark found irony in pairing the story of the disciples questioning the identity of Jesus after the stilling of the storm, “What manner of man is this?” (4:41) with the account of the demons who are quick to shout, “Jesus, thou son of the most high God” (5:7). When the disciples finally offered their superlative confession of faith at Caesarea Philippi (8:27-30), they failed to understand the full implications of Jesus’ messiahship (8:31-38). Mark depicted their partial spiritual vision by recording the unique miracle of Jesus healing the blind man in two stages (8:22-25). Although the disciples saw the messianic secret, their vision was not be focused until the resurrection.
Beyond doubt, Mark’s portrait of Jesus is a “painting” which can be appreciated both up close (style) and from a distance (form).
Message
Jesus’ favorite self-designation, especially in Mark, was “Son of Man.” In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is identified with humanity in title and in kind. Mark portrayed Jesus as a Man possessing every human emotion. Moved by compassion, anger, frustration, mercy, and sorrow (1:41; 3:5; 8:17; 14:6, 33), Jesus ministered among His own kind. Mark offered the full humanity of Jesus without reservation (see 3:21; 4:38; 6:3-6; 13:32); from the beginning of His earthly ministry (2:20), Jesus lived in the ominous shadow of the cross until the agony of Gethsemane almost overwhelmed Him (14:34). However, Mark penned a Gospel which was also designed to evoke faith in the deity of Jesus: the divine voice announced it from heaven, demons screamed it in agony, Peter professed it boldly, even a Roman soldier acknowledged, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (15:39).
Rodney Reeves
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