Friday, 13 September 2019

The Gospel of Mark- in Brief

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The Gospel of Mark

Who was Mark?
External and internal evidences
Papias, a church father was the first person to mention that Mark was the author of the book in 125 AD. According to him, Mark recorded from memory the words and deeds of the Lord as they were transmittd and interpreted in the teachings of Peter. Mark was the interpreter of Peter. He was a young Christian worker in the early Church and he was a relative of Barnabas.

Date
Mark is the first Gospel to be written (70AD)

Structure: Literary
A threefold division with Chapter 8 as the major dividing period.
      i.            Prologue 1:1-15
  ii.            Ministry of Jesus 1:16-8; 26
iii.            8:27-16 focusses on the events leading to the death of Jesus

Mark is the shortest gospel in terms of length. It is considered as the most simple gospel because of its linguistic features – simple and connective language. It is characterized by urgency.

Identities: son of man
Refers to
      i.            His humanity
  ii.            Circumlocation for using the pronoun “I”
iii.            Apocalyptic meaning
This term appears 14 times in the gospel. It is never conferred upon Jesus by others.
In the Gospel of Mark, the use of the phrase can be classified under 3 categories
      i.            Referring to his earthly ministry
  ii.            In sayings which refer to his passion, death and resurrection
iii.            In sayings which refer to his coming as judge and savior.

A careful analysis of the phrase reveals two meanings
      i.            A self-designation which employs as a Messianic title and also to express his Messianic role to his listeners. TW Manson expresses the view that by the use of this title, Jesus expresses his corporate personality where he identified himself with the whole human suffering as representations of all mankind.
  ii.            12 out of 14 occurrences centers around his passion. In Jesus’ conception of the son of man, suffering is an essential element which must preceed his glorification in his triumph.

Titles of Jesus
Messiah- Anointed one-Christos
It is t be noted that this title was never used by Jesus to refer to himself. But others did and he silently accepted this title. He was very silent about this because his role as the Christ/Messiah was quite contrasting to what his people has expected.

The suffering Messiah
Messianic secret – W. Wrede
Some of his teachings are barely understandable even to his own disciples
Whenever he heals people, he asks them not to reveal his identity to others

Son of God
8 times in Mark, 124 times in the NT. Kings and rulers were also referred to sons of God in the Hellenistic world. But only Jesus calls God as Abba, not rulers or kings.

Miracles
“Miracles are the kingdom of God in action and they were demonstrations of the rule of God. As such, the miracles that Jesus performed prove that he was from God.” – AM Hunter

Discipleship
Another motif in Mark’s gospel that begins with the calling of Peter, James and John. Throughout the gospel, there are pericopae… the gospel ends with reference to the disciples. In Mark, disciples consist of the 12 who are specially commissioned and a larger circle of followers. Nevertheless, they fail to understand Jesus’ teachings. They fail to understand who he really is.

The way motif
The sayings of John the Baptist are quotations from Isaiah 40:1-11. Israelites led by Yahweh through the wilderness. Jesus as Messiah expected to lead the people though the way again. Therefore, the ay motif is related with Messiah and discipleship.

Faith
Robert E. Guelich has noted that faith precedes the miracles which set off from their counterparts whare faith always follows the miracles. This is a unique presentation by Mark.

Prayer
Eden motif – Adam and Eve were tempted and they fell for it. Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus defeated his temptation.

Purity
The Pharisees’ attention to purity derived from God’s command for Israel to be holy people. Purity was important because impurity drives God’s presence from the midst of the people. Impurity belongs to the realm of death. It clings to a person and can be transferred to others – vessels, clothing and houses by coming in contact. Serious impurities occurring anywhere among the people pollutes the sanctuary where God dwells.

What the Pharisees considered sinful was choosing not to avail oneself of the opportunities to be cleansed of the impurity. The Pharisees also sought to promote obedience to God’s law, but they thought that true obedience means interpreting the law and enforcing it upon all Israel.


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Author: verified_user