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There is much to say about the book of Mark. I'm not going to say everything there is to say; just these things.
By the way, Mark is only about sixteen pages long. You should read it.
The book can be divided into two parts. In the first part, Mark answers the question, "Who is Jesus?" He does this not by telling us who Jesus is. Rather, he shows us.
Mark shows us what Jesus does. Jesus heals people of all kinds of afflictions. He casts out demons. He casts out a legion of demons. He raises a little girl from the dead. He sends out disciples and empowers them to do the same things. He feeds thousands (which is hard to fake in the first century, out in the middle of nowhere, with no supply chain or delivery trucks, and with a limited budget). In case we're not paying attention, he does it twice. He commands the wind and the sea. He walks on water. He teaches by way of parables. He publicly debates the scribes & Pharisees and cleans their clock.
Mark shows us what others claim about him. John the Baptist declares that Jesus is mightier than he is. God the Father declares that Jesus is His beloved Son. A demon declares that he is the Holy One of God. Jesus himself declares that he is the Son of Man, the Physician, the Bridegroom, and the Lord of the Sabbath.
(Incidentally, "Son of Man" is a reference to Daniel chapter 7, in which a "son of man" receives from the Ancient of Days [a.k.a. God the Father] a kingdom comprised of all peoples, nations & languages. This kingdom lasts forever.)
Mark shows us people's reaction to Jesus. The disciples follow him. Occasionally they are terrified of him. The broader crowds of people are astonished at his teaching and his authority. They express amazement, glorify God, and say, "We never saw anything like this!" Crowds follow him out to desolate places to be healed by him. Some even listen to him.
Mark shows us the reaction of Jesus' enemies. Generally they snipe at him. Unable to deny Jesus' miracles, the scribes & Pharisees complain that he committed technical fouls such as healing on the Sabbath day, eating meals with sinners, and not having his disciples wash their hands. (If you can't get Al Capone on murder and racketeering, you can always try him on tax evasion.) The best explanation they could come up with to explain the miracles was that Jesus was possessed by "Beelzebul, the prince of demons." In chapter 3, Jesus publicly smacks down their faulty logic. Unable to deal with him otherwise, they decide to kill him.
Along the way, Mark poses two rhetorical questions. In chapter 2, Jesus heals a paralyzed man, telling him his sins are forgiven. The scribes respond, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Mark invites us to consider the question. Hmm.
In chapter 4, Jesus calms a storm. His own disciples respond, "Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" Who indeed. Hmm.
Finally, in chapter 8, Mark shows us the answer. Jesus draws it out of Peter, who proclaims (spoiler alert), "You are the Christ."
We often think of "Christ" as Jesus' last name, but it's actually his title. Christ is a Greek word meaning "Messiah." This is from the Old Testament — it means literally "the Anointed One." In other words, the descendant of David, the rightful heir to the throne of Israel, the King.
Now what does one expect of the King? That he would gather a great army (perhaps of angels), march on Jerusalem, defeat the Romans, seize the throne of Israel and establish his kingdom as foretold by the prophets. Surely this kingdom would be greater even than Solomon's, in which silver was as common in Jerusalem as stone (1 Kings 10:27).
However, before the disciples could even begin discussing who would be secretary of state and who would be dogcatcher in the new regime, Jesus makes emphatically clear that the kingdom would have to wait. Instead, he tells them several different times that he must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and after three days rise again. On the third occasion, Jesus affirms that the good news (a.k.a. the gospel) must be accomplished: "the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (10:45).
In the remainder of the book, Mark shows us these events in detail. As is typical, he does not keep restating the gospel. He shows us the gospel.
There are a couple pieces of information that Jesus commanded be kept secret. One, early on, was his ability to heal. We see it toward the end of chapter 1 when he heals a man with leprosy. Jesus tells the man (sternly!) not to tell anyone else. This may seem odd, but it's explained in the context.
Shortly before this, Jesus tells Peter and some others that he intends to preach in the towns throughout Galilee. However, after the former leper spreads the information around anyway, Jesus can no longer publicly enter a town and he's forced to stay in deserted places. By chapter 3, the cat's so much out of the bag that Jesus is at risk of being crushed. By chapter 4, Jesus adopts a simple crowd control device — he preaches from the Sea of Galilee in a boat a little ways out, to the crowd on the shore.
The other piece of information is Jesus' identity. He commands the demons not to divulge who he is (1:34; 3:12). Jesus also tells the disciples not to tell anyone that he is the Christ. Again, this seems odd. However, this information is revealed at a key moment by Jesus himself.
In chapter 14, Jesus is arrested and hauled before the chief priests, the elders and the scribes. The high priest puts it to him bluntly, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus does not mince words: "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." For this, the sentence is immediately pronounced — death.
As discussed above, Jesus several times predicted that his death was forthcoming. So it was not an accident; it was the plan. The issue rather was a matter of timing. To proclaim his identity to the religious authorities in Jerusalem was to trigger the events leading to his crucifixion. God's plan was that Jesus would be sacrificed in a specific place at a specific time, during the Passover. Not earlier. Not later. And nowhere else but in Jerusalem.
The demons apparently wanted to disrupt the plan. How much better would it be to accelerate Jesus' death, preventing him from further preaching & teaching. Meanwhile the disciples simply didn't know any better. Jesus controlled the information, and thus controlled the time & place of his own death.
However, when the time was right, like a lamp placed on a stand, the hidden things would come to light (4:21-23).
In chapter 4, Jesus gives the famous Parable of the Sower. In the parable, a sower casts seed onto various types of soils, with varying results. When Jesus explains the parable to the disciples, he gives them grief for not understanding it (4:10). This may seem unfair, as the symbolism is not obvious.
However, Jesus often used parables to comment on the situation around him. For example, in chapter 12, Jesus used the Parable of the Tenants to indict the chief priests, scribes & elders. Mark makes clear they understood Jesus was talking about them, and so were motivated to arrest him.
Likewise, in the Parable of the Sower it's likely the four soils correspond to the four categories of people that Jesus and his disciples were encountering in the prior chapter — the Pharisees & scribes, the crowds, Jesus' own family, and the disciples themselves. Jesus reasonably expects his disciples to make the connection, since they had a front row seat to Jesus preaching "the word" just as the sower sows seed. Here's a table:
| People | Soil | Result | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharisees & Scribes | Path | Birds devour | Satan takes word away |
| Crowds | Rocky | No root, sun scorches & withers | Persecution causes falling away |
| Jesus' Family | Thorny | Choked & yields nothing | Cares of the world choke the word |
| Disciples | Good | Yields much | Hear, accept & bear fruit |
At first blush, three of the four groups of people line up nicely with the parable. But Jesus' family is the thorny ground? Well, yes. At this time, there was tension between them and Jesus. They tried to seize him because they thought he was crazy (3:21). And he rhetorically disassociated himself from them (3:31-35).
Full disclosure: Jesus' entire list of things that choke the word is:
• cares of the world
• deceitfulness of riches
• desires for other things
Was his family afflicted by all these things? We aren't provided any more details, as Mark didn't see that it served any purpose to delve into it.
On a hopeful note, Jesus' family eventually shook off the thorns and bore fruit. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to James (1 Corinthians 15), and we presume he was greatly impacted. The book of Acts shows that James became a leader in the church, affirming the grace that God was giving to the Gentiles (chapter 15). James and Jude contributed letters to the New Testament, and it appears that Mary contributed information to Luke's book, things "treasured in her heart."
At the end of the book, Mary Magdalene and two other women visit the tomb and find it empty. They are confronted by an angel who explains that Jesus has risen from the dead. The women flee, trembling and astonished. For the time being, they tell no one out of fear.
In the earliest Greek manuscripts, that's it — the book ends after 16:8. Apparently someone in the second century said, "Wait, what?" and tacked on verses 9-20. Other manuscripts have different, more abbreviated endings tacked onto them.
But why did Mark originally, and so abruptly, end his book there?
Consider the particulars of the women's situation:
• They are at the tomb.
• They see evidence that something amazing has happened.
• They are told that something amazing has happened.
• They are confronted by a man who is seated and clothed.
• They are afraid.
• Jesus has departed, and they cannot be with him right now.
• They are told, "Go and tell."
Mark begins his book with a title: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Just as he posed the question in the first portion of his book, "Who is Jesus?," Mark now poses the question, "What will the women do with this good news (the gospel)?"
Incidentally, Mark has shown us this picture before. Back in chapter 5, he gives us an extended passage describing Jesus casting a legion of unclean spirits out of a man. The unclean spirits go into a herd of pigs, that immediately rush into the sea and drown. People come out to see what happened.
Consider the particulars of the situation:
• They are among the tombs.
• They see evidence that something amazing has happened.
• They are told that something amazing has happened.
• They are confronted by a man who is seated and clothed.
• They are afraid.
• Jesus is departing, and the healed man cannot be with him.
• The healed man is told, "Go and tell."
In this case, the man did go to a region called "the Decapolis," or Ten Cities, and proclaim the merciful things that Jesus did, to their amazement.
Back to the women, as we ponder their situation, it becomes apparent that we the readers are in the same boat. Jesus has departed from us as well, but we have the evidence. Having read the gospel according to Mark, what will we do?
Home Rules Play! Tactics Notes Contact
Written The Book Various & Sundry
Copyright 2023 Jim Swift