What does Mark's Gospel say about Jesus?

Question

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A:

The author of Mark's Gospel portrays Jesus as the son of God and the Messiah, or Christ. However, this gospel was written at a time of great upheaval in the Jewish milieu and its author was careful to avoid any possibility that Jews could accuse Jesus of blasphemy because of his gospel.

Mark had only outsiders ever refer to Jesus as the Son of God. In 3:11-12, the demons fall down and call Jesus the Son of God, but Jesus is quick to instruct them to tell no one, thus no more than an implied admission. If the demons committed blasphemy, Mark could deny responsibility. Another outsider, the centurion present at the crucifixion, said that Jesus was surely the Son of God (15:39). Christians would believe God when he calls Jesus his beloved son at his baptism, but Jews could not criticise God. Verse 1:1 does have the author call Jesus the Son of God, but this is not present in some early manuscripts and it is possible that it was not original.

In verse 8:29, Peter calls Jesus the Messiah, or Christ, and again Jesus charged that he tell no one.

Wiki User · Answer

Mark presented Jesus as:

Racist. In chapter 7, he called Gentiles 'dogs' and only agreed to help a Gentile woman when she humbly accepted that description.
Less than divine. He had some extraordinary powers and God called him his son, but Mark did not believe him to be one with God. For example:

6:5: And he (Jesus) could there do no mighty work.

10:18 Why call me good. There is none good but God.

Irrational and quick to anger, as we see in the cursing of the fig tree for not bearing fruit out of season, and the story of his overturning the tables of the moneychangers.

Jesus told his followers to love their neighbours, an injunction taken from the Old Testament. In modern times, 'neighbours' is seen as having a broad scope because of Luke, but in Mark, as in the Hebrew Bible, it still had a narrow meaning.

ANSWER:

Mark presents Jesus as a Savior-King, who conquers demon, disease, and death.

Wiki User · Answer

A:

There is remarkably little told in Mark's Gospel about Jesus as a person. He comes across as humourless and without character. We are not told where he was born, nor in what circumstances. Although we learn that his mother was called Mary, we are not even told the name of his father. Mark 6:3 tells us only that Jesus was a carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon, and that he had sisters.

It was left to the later New Testament gospels to add human interest to the person of Jesus.

Wiki User · Answer

Mark's Gospel has John the Baptist explain the coming of Jesus, then introduces him personally with the baptism by John and immediately afterwards by the forty days in the desert. These introductions can be better understood by looking at the framework parallel structure of Mark's Gospel. This is a literary sequence in which an opening set of events is contrasted with another, parallel set of events that mirrors the first, using association to develop themes that would not otherwise be apparent. The baptism and the forty days in the wilderness are an allusion to Elijah and Moses, reflected by the Transfiguration of Jesus, which matches those events in the parallel structure of Mark. At the end of the gospel, just as John had explained the coming of Jesus, the young man explains the departure of Jesus.A . John explains the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:1-8)

B .The baptism of Jesus (1:9)

C . The voice of God from heaven, "Thou art my beloved son" (1:11)

D . The forty days in the wilderness as an allusion to Elijah and Moses (1:13)

E . The people were astonished at what Jesus taught (1:22)

F . Jesus casts out an unclean spirit (1:23-26)

G . Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus (3:6)

H . Demons, whenever they see Jesus, fall down and say that he is the Son of God.

-- Jesus commands that they tell no one of this (3:11-12)

I .. Jesus calls the 12 disciples (3:13-19)

J .. Jesus rejects his own family: he has a new family, his followers (3:31-35)

K . Jesus rebukes the wind (4:36-41)

L . The demoniac, wearing no clothes (5:15), cries out that Jesus not torment him and Jesus sends out the demons (5:1-20)

M . Jesus comes into his own country (6:1)
-- Where he was brought up

N . The people misunderstand Jesus and he can do no mighty work (6:2-6)

O . Jesus sends out the disciples and curses those who will not receive them (6:7-11)
-- in sending the disciples with authority and expecting all to receive them, Jesus is asserting his own authority

P . Herod thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead (6:14)

Q . Herodias and her daughter conspire to kill John the Baptist (6:16-29)

R . Feeding the thousands, and related miracles and discourses (6:33-8:21)

S . Who do people say that I am (8:27)

T . Peter affirms faith in Jesus as the Christ (8:29)

U . Whosoever shall be ashamed of me: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed (8:38)

V . The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes (8:31a)

W . Be killed and after three days rise again (8:31b)

X . Prophecy of second coming (9:1)- Jesus tells the disciples that some of them would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power.

B' .The Transfiguration of Jesus (9:2-3)

C' .The voice of God from heaven, "This is my beloved son" (9:7)

D' . Jesus talks to Elijah and Moses then to the disciples about Elijah (9:4-13)

E' .A great multitude was amazed at Jesus (9:15)

F' .Jesus cast out a dumb spirit (9:17-27)

G' .They shall kill the Son of man and he shall rise on the third day (9:31)

H' .Jesus clarifies his divine status, saying that he is not God: "Why call me good? There is none good but God" (10:18)

I' . Peter says the disciples have left all and followed Jesus (10:28)

J' . Those who have left their family for Jesus have a new family: all Jesus' followers (10:29-30)

K'. Jesus rebukes the 'sons of thunder', James and John (10:35-45 - cf 3:17)

L' .Blind Bartimaeus cries out for mercy and casts off his clothes, then Jesus heals him (10:46-52)

M' .Jesus comes into Jerusalem (11:1-10)
-- Where he will die

N' .Jesus misunderstands the fig tree that can provide no fruit (11:13-14)

O' .Jesus casts out them that sold and bought in the Temple and curses them for making the Temple a den of thieves (11:15-17)
-- Jesus is asserting his authority

P' .Jesus asks whether the baptism of John is from heaven or of men, and the priests, scribes and elders can not answer (11:30-33)

Q' .Parable of husbandmen who conspire to kill the vineyard owner's son (12:1-9)

X' .Prophecy of second coming (chapter 13)

-- on clouds of glory, within the lifetimes of some of those to whom he was speaking

R' .The Last Supper (14:17-25)

S' .Art thou the Christ, Son of God (14:61)

T' .Peter denies Jesus three times (14:66-72a)

U' .And when he thought thereon, Peter wept (14:72b)

V' .The chief priests, elders and scribes delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate (15:1)

-- Delivering Jesus is a similar concept to rejecting him.
-- Both parts of the pair involve chief priests, elders and scribes

W' .Jesus dies and on the third day rises again (15:37, 16:6)

A' .The young man explains the departure of Jesus(16:6-8)

The opening pair (A and A') define the beginning of the parallel structure, but then we find that B', C' and D' begin the second set in the same manner and sequence as B, C and D begin the first set.

In event D (Mark 1:13), the story of Jesus going into the wilderness, where he was ministered by angels, is an allusion to Elijah (1 Kings 19:5-7) who was ministered by an angel and in the wilderness forty days. There is no actual suggestion that Jesus fasted for this time, but those familiar with the story of Elijah are likely to have assumed he did do so, and this is made explicit in Matthew and Luke. This brings into play another allusion, to Moses when (Exodus 34:28) he fasted for 40 days while he wrote the words of the Ten Commandments on tablets. This then mirrors the Transfiguration in the second set, where Jesus is seen talking to Elijah and Moses.

Wiki User · Answer

Like all the gospels, Mark talks about the life and mission of Jesus. In fact, we now know that Mark's gospel was the original account on which the other New Testament gospels were based. So, it is not only like the other gospels in what it says about Jesus, it was the prototype for them. A good way to summarise what Mark says, and to understand the context of those sayings, is to look at the framework parallel structure of the gospel. This is a literary structure that Mark uses to create emphasis and develop themes not otherwise apparent. There are two sets of events in the mission of Jesus, with the second set mirroring the first:A . John explains the coming of Jesus(Mark 1:1-8)