What did the Gospel of Mark mainly talk about?

Answer 1

A:Mark's Gospel does not contain any of the sayings material that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke obtained from the hypothetical 'Q' document. Scholars say that this indicates simply that Q was unknown to the author of Mark.

Matthew, Luke and John also contain, in each case, material that is unique to that gospel. Scholars do not know the sources of that material, but its omission from Mark was once again a matter of the material having been unknown to the author of the first gospel. This includes the nativity story of Matthew and the nativity story of Luke, and the two genealogies of Jesus, each demonstrating that Joseph was descended from King David and that Jesus was destined for greatness.

Mark originally ended at verse 16:8, with the young man telling the women that Jesus was risen and they fled in terror, telling no one. The original gospel left out the 'Long Ending' (16:9-20) that was added much later, telling of the appearances of the risen Jesus.

Answer 2

The Gospel of Mark mainly focuses on the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It emphasizes Jesus' teachings, miracles, and the fulfillment of prophecies about the Messiah. It is noted for its fast-paced narrative style and vivid portrayal of Jesus' actions.

Answer 3

Maurice Goguel (Jesus the Nazarene: Myth or History?, 1926) remarked that the Gospel According to St Mark is composed of an introduction and of four portions, of which the first may be subdivided into eight sections. It has a 3-part plan: psychological, since it rests upon the idea of the development of the Jewish opposition and the disciples' lack of intelligence; logical and chronological, since it shows in the events the reaction after the welcome given to Jesus; geographical, since it divides the history of Jesus into three periods: Galilean, itinerant, and then Jerusalem. However, in spite of his Gospel being called a well-planned book, Mark seems a poor writer, often writing ungrammatically and hardly knowing how to write a narrative.

Mark frequently stressed that Jesus instructed witnesses to his miracles to keep his true identity a secret. Dennis R MacDonald (The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark) argues persuasively that this was the result of Homeric influence, with Jesus a counterpart to Odysseus, who also had to keep his identity secret. A possible further reason could be that Mark needed to show why few people had ever heard of Jesus, who supposedly performed so many great wonders and miracles in the recent past.

Mark's Gospel has also been called a story of the death of Jesus with a long introduction. Far more than the later gospels (Matthew, Luke and John), Mark's Gospel is about the period leading up to and just after the death of Jesus.