• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Building Faith

Building Faith

A Ministry of Virginia Theological Seminary

  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • Who We Are
    • Our Writers
    • FAQs
    • Contact Us
    • Subscribe
  • ARTICLES
    • ARTICLES BY TOPIC
    • MOST RECENT ARTICLES
  • EN ESPAÑOL
  • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
    • Episcopal Teacher
    • Choosing Curriculum
    • Vacation Bible School
    • Signs of Life
    • Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John
    • 5 Marks of Love
    • Growing a Rule of Life
    • It’s Time To…
    • #AdventWord
  • SUPPORT US
  • Show Search
Hide Search
Home/Featured/Digging Deeper: The Gospel of Mark

Digging Deeper: The Gospel of Mark

 

In the three-year lectionary cycle, the gospel readings for Year B are drawn primarily from the Gospel According to Mark. This is the shortest of the four gospels and the earliest to be written. Mark is the inventor of what we call a gospel, that is, a consecutive narrative account of the ministry and death and resurrection of Jesus as the foundation and model of the Christian life.

The four written gospels were the final step in a three-stage process of gospel proclamation. First, the gospel was lived out in the events of Jesus’ life and teaching (stage 1). Then, after his death and resurrection, the disciples preached about Jesus to their hearers (stage 2). Finally, the evangelists wrote their gospels by working together traditional materials “in view of the situation of their churches, and preserving the form of proclamation but always in such a fashion that they told us the honest truth about Jesus” (stage 3).

Through our reading and reflection on Mark’s gospel, we can discover how he is shaping his gospel to proclaim who Christ is and to meet the special needs of his community.

Mark stresses that the key to understanding Jesus as the Christ or Messiah is his suffering, which extends back into his ministry. He is misunderstood by his family, rejected by certain religious people, and eventually abandoned by his disciples. Feeling abandoned even by God his Father, Jesus dies alone.

Mark’s gospel was most likely written between A.D. 65–70. For the first time in its history, much of the Christian Church was experiencing persecution. In Rome, Nero blamed Christians for the terrible fire in 65 A.D.

In Palestine, the Jews were carrying out a full scale rebellion against the Roman occupying forces. Christians no doubt feared that they would be included in any punishments since the Romans did not really differentiate Jews from Christians at this time.

This persecution was a time of challenge. Would Christians give up their faith or keep it despite persecution or the threat of death? Mark’s gospel is written to help answer these questions.

Mark emphasizes that a Christian disciple is one who can take up his or her cross and follow Jesus on the way of the cross. He shows that any other claim to discipleship, for example, family ties, being one of the 12 apostles, personal knowledge of Jesus, or religious tradition, will always end in failure. Every attempt to understand Jesus apart from his suffering ends in misunderstanding.

Although Mark offers Jesus as the model for Christians who are suffering and feel themselves abandoned by God, Mark offers no easy comfort. Jesus will not return miraculously to save us from our suffering. The only solution is to take up one’s cross as Jesus did. For only by living through the suffering and death does resurrection follow. Suffering is not the end but the door to a new existence with God, who never abandons us.

Mark’s invention of the gospel form was immediately recognized as exactly what the Christian community needed. He gave Christians a new identity by showing who Jesus was—the Christ who had to suffer—and who they were as his disciples—people who were called to take up their own cross and follow Jesus.

Since Mark’s gospel became the foundation for the gospels of Matthew and Luke, it is the best starting point for a systematic study of the gospels. It should be read through at one sitting to catch its action-packed urgency before it is examined in detail.

The scripture scholar C.F.D. Moule calls Mark “a little handbook for basic Christian instruction, simple, yet brilliantly dramatic—a stark, powerful presentation of the Christian facts: not a biography, but a portrait of Jesus as the one who not only proclaimed but somehow brought with him the kingdom of God.”


Living the Good News is a lectionary-based curriculum published by Morehouse Education Resources. 

Print PDF

November 20, 2011 By Living the Good News

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Bible, Christianity, Gospel of Mark, Jesus

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS

Subscribe to Building Faith

You’ll get new articles, plus free weekly updates in your inbox.

We respect your privacy. View our privacy policy here.

Search Our Site

Search by Topic

New Articles

Bible Study Ideas for the Easter Season and Pentecost

Easter is a wonderful time to dive into scriptures that inspire our deepest hopes, joys, and loves …

Continue Reading about Bible Study Ideas for the Easter Season and Pentecost

Meaningful Gifts for Various Occasions

Throughout the church year, many appropriate opportunities for gift-giving arise, including …

Continue Reading about Meaningful Gifts for Various Occasions

VBS and Summer Camp Curriculum Top Picks for 2023

Building Faith’s annual VBS curriculum review is here! If your community is gearing up for a summer …

Continue Reading about VBS and Summer Camp Curriculum Top Picks for 2023

Footer

Keep In touch

  • Email
  • Facebook

Upcoming Webinars

Eventbrite Registration

Building Faith

Lifelong Learning, Virginia Theological Seminary
3737 Seminary Rd.
Alexandria, VA 22304

Copyright © 2023 · Building Faith · A Ministry of Virginia Theological Seminary

Design by Blue+Pine Creative, Inc.

Subscribe to Building Faith

Get Articles and Resources by Email

Privacy Policy