The gospel of Mark is both the earliest and shortest of the four gospels of the New Testament. Attributed to a follower of the Jesus Movement named Mark, the gospel focuses on the events and stories of Jesus’ life that highlight His heroism, divinity, and oneness with God. Mark’s writings, while historical, are not free… Continue reading →
As an ancient biography, Jesus’ story accurately portrays the life of a heroic individual who is highlighted by his ancestry, birth, deeds, death and afterlife. When beginning to look at his life, the stories that are absent seem to be in his childhood. There is a gap from birth to adulthood where we do not… Continue reading →
Mark’s “bookends” are both instances of Jesus healing the blind. In the first instance, Mark 8:22-26, Jesus heals the blind man by putting saliva on his eyes. In the second instance, Mark 10:46-52, Jesus restores a blind mans sight purely through words, saying, “Go; your faith has made you well” (Mark 10:52). These bookends reveal… Continue reading →
Unlike the other gospels and ancient Greco-Roman biographies, Mark does not include the ancestry, birth, childhood or education of Jesus. Topically, the gospel of Mark places a strong focus on the healing nature of Jesus by spending a majority of the 17 chapters focusing on his miracles. Mark portrays Jesus as a great teacher not only… Continue reading →
Jesus, in the Gospel of Mark is portrayed as more than a man. Mark, throughout the Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus was of flesh and skin but also tells us what attributes he had that set him apart from the other humans. In the chapter of Mark 1:7, Mark quotes what John the… Continue reading →
Within the context of what biographies were in the ancient Greco-Roman world, I would consider the Gospel of Mark to be included in those ancient biographies. While Mark’s Gospel fails to provide basic information, such as Jesus’ birth and early life, to his readers, I would argue that what Mark does inform his readers on is… Continue reading →
For the first eight chapters of Mark Jesus was shown as a messiah, who proved his messiah-ship by wandering healings and preachings. In the course of his healings he was shown as the acting agent over a passive agent, “but Jesus rebuked him, saying ‘be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit…came… Continue reading →
In Mark an understanding of Jesus begins to unfold which includes that Jesus is a divine man and also the true Son of God. This idea of Jesus as the Messiah is depicted in Mark 8:29 when Jesus ask his disciples, “But who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, “You are the… Continue reading →
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… Continue reading →
Discussion Question 1: In Mark 8:26-10:45, a new understanding of Jesus begins to emerge. In chapter 8 verse 29, Jesus asks the disciples who they believe he is, to which they reply, “The Messiah.” Jesus then begins to teach them exactly what the purpose of the Messiah is. Many up until this point believed that… Continue reading →
