Mark, Gospel Of

MARK, GOSPEL OF [smith]

1. By whom written. --The author of this Gospel has been universally believed to be Mark or Marcus, designated in (Acts 12:12,25; 15:37) as John Mark, and in ch. 5,13 as John.
2. When is was written. --Upon this point nothing absolutely certain can be affirmed, and the Gospel itself affords us no information. The most direct testimony is that of Irenaeus, who says it was after the death of the apostles Peter and Paul. We may conclude, therefore, that this Gospel was not written before A.D. 63. Again we may as certainly conclude that it was not written after the destruction of Jerusalem, for it is not likely that he would have omitted to record so remarkable a fulfillment of our Lord?s predictions. Hence A.D. 63-70 becomes our limit, but nearer than this we cannot go. --Farrar.
3. Where it was written . --As to the place, the weight of testimony is uniformly in favor of the belief that the Gospel was written and published at Rome. In this Clement, Eusebius, Jerome, Epiphanius, all agree. Chrysostom, indeed, asserts that it was published at Alexandria; but his statement receives no confirmation, as otherwise it could not fail to have done, from any Alexandrine writer. --Farrar.
4. In what language. --As to the language in which it was written, there never has been any reasonable doubt that it was written in Greek.
5. Sources of information . --Mark was not one of the twelve; and there is no reason to believe that he was an eye and ear witness of the events which he has recorded but an almost unanimous testimony of the early fathers indicates Peter as the source of his information. The most important of these testimonies is that of Papias, who says, "He, the Presbyter (John), said, Mark, being the Interpreter of Peter, wrote exactly whatever he remembered but he did not write in order the things which were spoken or done by Christ. For he was neither a hearer nor a follower of the Lord, but, as I said, afterward followed Peter, who made his discourses to suit what was required, without the view of giving a connected digest of the discourses of our Lord. Mark, therefore, made no mistakes when he wrote down circumstances as he recollected them; for he was very careful of one thing, to omit nothing of what he heard, and to say nothing false in what he related." Thus Papias writes of Mark. This testimony is confirmed by other witnesses. --Abbott.
6. For whom it was written. --The traditional statement is that it was intended primarily for Gentiles, and especially for those at Rome. A review of the Gospel itself confirms this view.
7. Characteristics . -- (1) Mark?s Gospel is occupied almost entirely with the ministry in Galilee and the events of the passion week. It is the shortest of the four Gospels, and contains almost no incident or teaching which is not contained in one of the other two synoptists; but (2) it is by far the most vivid and dramatic in its narratives, and their pictorial character indicates not only that they were derived from an eye and ear witness, but also from one who possessed the observation and the graphic artistic power of a natural orator such as Peter emphatically was. (3) One peculiarity strikes us the moment we open it, --the absence of any genealogy of our Lord. This is the key to much that follows. It is not the design of the evangelist to present our Lord to us, like St. Matthew as the Messiah, "the son of David and Abraham," ch. 1:1, or, like St. Luke, as the universal Redeemer, "the son of Adam, which was the son of God." ch. 3:38. (4) His design is to present him to us as the incarnate and wonder-working Son of God, living and acting among men; to portray him in the fullness of his living energy. --Cambridge Bible for Schools.

MARK, GOSPEL OF [bridgeway]

John Mark, the writer of Mark’s Gospel, was the young man who set out with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey (Acts 12:25; 13:5). Later he worked closely with Peter, so closely in fact that Peter called Mark his son (1 Peter 5:13; see MARK). There is good evidence that Peter and Mark visited Rome about AD 60 (just before Paul arrived in Rome as a prisoner; Acts 28:16) and taught the church there for a time. Over the next few years Mark spent some time in Rome, while Peter revisited churches elsewhere. The Roman Christians asked Mark to preserve Peter’s teaching for them, and the result was Mark’s Gospel.

Mark, Peter and the Romans

Many features of Mark’s Gospel reflect the interests and character of Peter. Apart from the events in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection, most of Jesus’ ministry recorded in Mark took place in Galilee in the north. Peter’s home town of Capernaum seems to have been Jesus’ base (Mark 1:21,29; 2:1; 9:33).

The account in Mark shows the characteristic haste of Peter in the way it rushes on from one story to the next. On the whole the language is more clearcut than in the parallels of the other Gospels, and reported statements are more direct. There is vivid detail, particularly in the record of Jesus’ actions and emotions (Mark 1:41; 3:5; 4:38; 6:6; 10:14,16,21,32). Peter’s genuineness is seen in that his mistakes are recorded (Mark 9:5-6; 14:66-72), whereas incidents that might be to his credit are omitted (cf. Matt 14:29; 16:17).

During the decade of the sixties, the Roman persecution of Christians increased, particularly after Nero blamed Christians for the great fire of Rome in AD 64. Just before this, Peter had written from Rome (code-named Babylon; 1 Peter 5:13) to encourage Christians who were being persecuted (1 Peter 1:6; 2:20-23; 3:14-17; 4:12-16). Not long after this he himself was executed (2 Peter 1:14; cf. John 21:18-19). Mark’s Gospel reminded the Roman Christians (by quoting from Peter’s experience of the life and teaching of Jesus) that they would need strength and patience to endure misunderstandings, persecution, false accusations and even betrayal (Mark 3:21,30; 4:17; 8:34-38; 10:30; 13:9,13; 14:41,72; 15:19,32).

Since the story of Jesus was set in Palestine, the Gentiles in Rome needed explanations of some matters. Mark therefore helped them by translating Hebrew or Aramaic expressions (Mark 3:17; 5:41; 7:11,34; 15:22,34) and explaining Jewish beliefs and practices (Mark 7:3-4; 12:18,42; 14:12; 15:42).

Mark’s view of Jesus

Mark’s Gospel records more action than the other Gospels, but less of Jesus’ teaching. Nevertheless, the book has a basic teaching purpose. Though Mark wrote in different circumstances from John and for different people, his basic purpose was the same, namely, to show that Jesus was the Son of God (cf. John 20:31). Mark makes this clear in his opening statement (Mark 1:1).

According to Mark, the ministry of Jesus from beginning to end showed that he was a divine person in human form, the God-sent Messiah. At Jesus’ baptism, the starting point for his public ministry, a statement from God showed what this unique ministry would involve. The statement, combining Old Testament quotations concerning the Davidic Messiah and the Servant of Yahweh, showed that Jesus’ way to kingly glory was to be that of the suffering servant (Mark 1:11; cf. Ps 2:7; Isa 42:1; see MESSIAH). The heavenly Son of man, to whom God promised a worldwide and everlasting kingdom (Dan 7:13-14), would receive that kingdom only by way of crucifixion (Mark 8:29-31,38; 9:31; 10:45; see SON OF MAN).

The death of Jesus is therefore the climax of Mark’s Gospel. That death came about through Jesus’ open confession to Caiaphas that he was both messianic Son of God and heavenly Son of man, and he was on the way to his kingly and heavenly glory (Mark 14:61-64). Demons knew Jesus to be the Son of God (Mark 3:11; 5:7), his disciples recognized it (Mark 8:29), his Father confirmed it on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:7), Jesus declared it to disciples and enemies (Mark 13:32; 14:61-62) and even a Roman centurion at the cross was forced to admit it (Mark 15:39).

Summary of contents

An introductory section deals with Jesus’ baptism and his subsequent temptation by Satan (1:1-13). The story then quickly moves on to deal with Jesus’ ministry in Galilee and other northern regions.

After gathering together his first few disciples (1:14-20), Jesus carried out a variety of healings (1:21-2:12) and added Matthew (Levi) to his group of disciples (2:13-17). Through several incidents he showed that the true religion he proclaimed was not concerned simply with the legal requirements of the Jewish law (2:18-3:6).

From Galilee Jesus appointed twelve apostles whom he could send out to spread the message of his kingdom (3:7-19). He illustrated the nature of that kingdom by dealing with critics (3:20-35), telling parables (4:1-34), overcoming storms, evil spirits, sickness, hunger and death (4:35-6:56), demanding moral rather than ceremonial cleanliness (7:1-23), and demonstrating by teachings and miracles the importance of faith (7:24-8:26).

The record of this part of Jesus’ ministry concludes with Peter’s acknowledgment of his messiahship (8:27-33), Jesus’ reminder of the cost of discipleship (8:34-9:1), the Father’s declaration at Jesus’ transfiguration (9:2-8), the disciples’ inability to heal a demon-possessed boy (9:9-29), and Jesus’ teaching on the necessity for humble submission in his kingdom (9:30-50).

Jesus’ ministry from his departure from Galilee to his arrival in Jerusalem dealt with such matters as divorce (10:1-12), children (10:13-16), wealth (10:17-31) and ambition (10:32-45). Near Jericho he healed a blind man (10:46-52).

On the Sunday before his crucifixion, Jesus entered Jerusalem as Israel’s God-sent Messiah (11:1-11). In the days that followed, he cleansed the temple and warned of the terrible judgment that was to fall on the Jewish nation because of its rejection of the Messiah (11:12-12:12). On many occasions the Jews disputed with him publicly (12:13-44), but privately he told his disciples of coming judgments and warned them to keep alert (13:1-37).

After his anointing at Bethany (14:1-11), Jesus prepared for the Passover, instituted the Lord’s Supper, then went and prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (14:12-42). He was arrested (14:43-52), taken to the high priest’s house (14:53-72), brought before Pilate (15:1-20), taken away and crucified (15:21-47). On the third day he rose from the dead (16:1-8), after which he appeared a number of times to his disciples and gave them final teaching (16:9-20). (These last twelve verses are not in the oldest and best manuscripts.)