Discussion Questions #1

Michelle Papp

Jesus was named the Son of God. In the book A Brief Introduction of the New Testament by Bart D. Ehrman states the Roman audience seemed to have understood the meaning of “Son of God” is a “divinely inspired teachers or rulers whose miraculous deeds benefited the human race.” The Jewish audience saw it as “thought to be special persons endowed with divine power to do miracles and to deliver inspired teachings.” Both groups have a similar definition of the “Son of God” where Jesus was a teacher who taught inspiration and who performed miracles.

Mark is portraying Jesus as a miracle worker, who goes out and preforms healings to the ill and diseased. Mark claims Jesus does not oppose or say he is against Judaism. Mark shows Jesus to be a teacher who is great with interacting and communicating with the people.

Nonmembers of the Jesus movement such as the Romans feel Jesus is a threat or as an outsider who is trying to take away their people and their belief systems. There is a sense of fear of the unknown with Jesus and how he is the chosen one from God, and sent to be on this Earth. With that sense of fear people either chose to follow to learn about the unknown or let fear overcome them and fled away from his teachings. To follow Jesus you have to put aside your doubts and follow blindly. You have to believe without seeing and even with witnessing Jesus’s miracles those who wanted proof still didn’t believe and kept the Roman way.

Jesus preforms many miracles of healing not only to his followers but non-followers too, from illness, disease, and those who have an uncleansed spirit filled with demons. Throughout the Chapter of Mark, there are several stories of healing and miracles Jesus preforms, such as in Mark 3:1-6. Jesus heals a man’s hurt hand on the day of Sabbath, which upsets the Pharisees. His followers and watchers were silent when Jesus spoke to them saying, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” This shows that Jesus’s non-followers hesitated to believe in his miracles. Jesus preforms many more miracles in Mark 2:1-12. He heals a paralyzed man and even those who witnessed this miracle had doubt in their hearts. Jesus knew they were questioning him and called them out saying, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts?” He then tells the man to stand up and when the man does, the people are amazed and glorify God and say “We have never seen anything like this!” This shows that even the non-believers began to believe and follow Jesus. Mark’s writings do try to persuade his audience to adopt Jesus’s teachings. Jesus’s teaching and healings show how he is the messiah, the Son of God. That only Jesus can perform these miracles.