If I were a first-century reader of Mark, I would not say that Mark’s recount of Jesus’ life is an ancient biography. There is no information about his ancestry, birth, childhood and education. Knowing that these are the first two important aspects of writing a heroic biography in the Greco-Roman world, we can already tell that there is something perplexing about this particular character and his relationship with the Greco-Roman world. Jesus’ “heroism” does not match the expectations held for normal Greco-Roman hero biographies.

Two biographical topics that are present in Jesus’ story provided by Mark, however, are his words and deeds and his death. The opening of Mark 1 introduces Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, and goes straight into his baptism by John the Baptist. From then on, we see Jesus healing, teaching and providing miracles. Jesus heals people from paralysis, leprosy, deafness, blindness and demon-possession. He has a track-record for teaching through parables that perfectly relates to and parallels the lives of the people he was speaking to. Some of his teachings are more direct like his speeches on inner purity, divorce, and serving others. A few of his miracles include calming the storm by simply speaking, feeding thousands with minimal food, and walking on water.

Despite his words and deeds, his death requires some attention as well. Three times Jesus tells his disciples about his coming suffering, crucifixion and resurrection. All three times they are in disbelief and have a lack of understanding. However, all three predictions come true and the book of Mark ends with and Mary Magdalene and Salome fleeing an empty tomb.

I think that since these two biographical topics are so detailed and have full explanations they provide a persuasive understanding of Jesus’ significance. We can clearly see that there never was anyone like him. He stands out in a crowd. People follow him. He is highly sought after. Clearly, he is significant to the people who heard about him and were affected by either his healings, teachings, miracles, or even all three. In a world that is constantly surrounded by negativity including inequality, oppression, and violence, Jesus’ healings, teachings, and miracles do provide a source of hope for people in such a terrible situation in the Greco-Roman world.