Overview of Mark

Today we start the gospel of Mark. We’re starting with Mark, as it’s likely the earliest of the four gospels. Tradition places it around 64-65 CE, but it could be as late as 75 CE. 

Together Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic gospels because they share much of the same material. Both Matthew and Luke clearly used Mark as the framework for their gospels, so it’s useful to read Mark first and then see how Matthew and Luke change up Mark’s content.

Christian tradition attributes this gospel to John Mark, who supported both Peter and Paul. The idea was that Mark gathered together Peter’s eye-witness accounts of Jesus.

Of the four gospels, Mark is the most action packed. There’s less teaching, and the pace moves very quickly. Mark was likely written to be read out, almost like a drama to be acted out for its listeners.

Mark 1-8 - Jesus’ ministry in Galilee

• Mark 1:1-13 - The prologue
• Mark 1:14-3:6 - Jesus’ early ministry
• Mark 3:7-8:26 - The call and training of the disciples

Mark 8-10 - Journey towards Jerusalem; Jesus’s teaching and predicts his death

Mark 11-16 - Jesus in Jerusalem

• Mark 11:1-13:37 - Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem
• Mark 14:1-42 - The last supper and garden of Gethsemane
• Mark 14:43-15:47 - Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion
• Mark 16:1-20 - Jesus’ resurrection

For Mark, Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament hope of a future king that brings about God’s kingdom. He’s also the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, but the tension of the book is Jesus’ disciples and the religious leaders can’t grasp this. They have a very different understanding of what they think the future king has come to do.

The book rotates around a revelation of who Jesus is in Mark 8. Peter recognises and acknowledges that Jesus is king, but when Jesus then explains that he has to die, Peter can’t understand it and rebukes Jesus. This then begins the procession of the rest of the book towards the cross.

Mark is also interesting because it has two endings. Many of the manuscripts we have end in Mark 16:8 with the women at Jesus’ grave being told that Jesus has been raised from the dead. They’re confused, scared, and run away. This ending in many ways fits with them theme of the book. The disciples are repeatedly confused by what Jesus actually came to do, and through their confusion we’re invited to wrestle with and ask, ‘what does this all mean?’

Then we have many manuscripts that continue on to Mark 16:20 with Jesus meeting with the disciples, giving them a form of the great commission, and then ascending into heaven. This ending was likely added by later (but still very early Christians) who felt that the shorter ending left too many unanswered questions and was confusing. Much of the language is similar to Luke’s gospel, which has caused some to speculate it was Luke or some of his followers who wrote this ending.

Mark 1-2

Mark lays out his message in the opening line. This is "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (Mark 1:1). Gospel just means good news. Christ comes from the Greek word ‘christos’, which was a translation of the Hebrew word ‘mashiah’ which is where we get the word messiah from.

If you remember from our time in the Old Testament, messiah meant anointed one, which was initially a reference to kings and priest as they were anointed into their roles. Overtime, this became the term used for the future king the people were hoping for.

So to paraphrase, this opening verse is saying "The beginning of the good news of King Jesus, the Son of God". Mark is setting out his stall with the claim that Jesus is both king and the Son of God.

Mark quotes the prophet Isaiah, but he actually quotes two passages; Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. In both passages, God is sending a messenger/prophet to prepare the way for him.

So Mark introduces this messenger/prophet to us. A man named John appears in the desert teaching repentance. He even looks like the prophets of old, wearing camel hair clothes and eating locusts and honey. John himself even says he is preparing the way for someone greater to come. And we see that person to come is Jesus.

This messenger/prophet who is preparing the way for the Lord is John preparing the way for Jesus. John baptises Jesus and as he comes out of the water, God declares that this is his son and the holy spirit rests upon him. Mark wants you to know from the beginning this man, Jesus, is more than a man. He is the son of God.

The spirit then drives Jesus into the desert where he is with the wild animals and tempted by Satan. The ancient Jews would have seen wild animals as symbolic of demons. In ancient times, new kings would often have to wage battles and defeat their enemies to assert their authority. In the same way, Jesus is launched straight into spiritual warfare.

Leaving the wilderness, Jesus begins his ministry, which is centred round 'the kingdom of God is at hand'. But what does it mean for the kingdom of God to be at hand? Well, after having Jesus pick his first disciples, Mark shows you.

Jesus is in the synagogue teaching from scripture and the people are amazed at how he teaches with authority. The kingdom of God is about teaching truth that is rooted in God's word. But while Jesus is teaching, a man with an unclean spirit (a demon) interrupts the show. Jesus immediately rebukes the demon and casts him out. The kingdom of God is power. Power over the spiritual forces of darkness. They have to obey him.

Next up, Jesus leaves the synagogue and finds Simon's mother-in-law sick in bed. He takes her by the hand and heals her. Then that evening he heals all the sick, no matter their disease. The kingdom of God is also power over the natural forces of sickness.

A little later, a leper comes to him. Lepers were seen as unclean because of their skin disease. Because a leper is unclean, you couldn't touch them, because you would then be unclean. But when the leper comes to him, Jesus immediately reaches and touches him, healing him. The kingdom of God makes unclean things clean.

But note, as Jesus tells the leper to go and tell no one what has happened, leper goes out and tells everyone. You're meant to see the irony here. This Jesus has authority over unclean spirits who are silenced when he tells them to be silent, and he has authority over sickness. But he doesn't have authority over humans being who often ignore what he tells them to do.

Another time Jesus is just at home when he is ambushed by crowds who want to see him. A group of four guys bring their paralytic friend to see Jesus, but the place is so full they have to break open the roof and lower him down. Seeing the man, the first statement Jesus makes is "your sins are forgiven".

This gets the religious leaders riled up, as they complain that only God can forgive sins. But Jesus is here to show them that he too has the authority to forgive sins, and so he turns to the paralytic man and tells him to walk. The man immediately gets up, picks up his mat, and leaves. The kingdom of God is the power and authority to forgive sins.

So we've established that the kingdom of God is one of authority and power. Now Mark is going to show us how it works completely opposite to how the people would think. Jesus could choose anyone to be his disciples. He could have gone to the well educated religious leaders and picked some of them.

Instead, he picks a man called Levi, a tax collector who would have been seen as a sinner and as betraying his fellow Jew by working for the Romans. The religious leaders wonder why he eats with sinners, and Jesus points out that he has come for those that need help. The kingdom of God is focused on those in need.

Then the pharisees complain to Jesus that his disciples don't fast. Jesus responds that this isn't the season to fast. The pharisees are stuck in their old way of thinking, but Jesus is doing a new thing. If they were to try to trap Jesus' new thing in their old way of thinking, it would ruin it. Much like if you tried to put new wine in an old wineskin, it would likely burst it, wasting the wine.

Then, on the Sabbath, the day dedicated to God each week, Jesus and his disciples are walking through a field of grain. The disciples begin to pluck some of the grain to eat, and the religious leaders complain. The law says that you're not allowed to work or farm on the Sabbath, so according to the letter of the law, the disciples are doing wrong.

But Jesus uses an example from the life of king David to show that the laws are there to serve people. In specific examples, those laws might actually be unhelpful, and so they have to be taken case by case. The kingdom of God is people focused, not law focused.

Psalm 79

This psalm is attributed to Asaph and falls into the category of lament psalm. It is set after the exile as a reflection on Israel’s enemies came, sacked Jerusalem and its temple, and carted off its people.

Psalm 79:1-5 - Complaint

Psalm 79:6-12 - Request

Psalm 79:13 - Declaration of trust

This psalmist starts with their complaint. Foreign nations have come, defiled the temple, destroyed Jerusalem. They killed God’s people and left their bodies to the wild animals. And now God’s people are captive and mocked by their enemies.

The psalmist asks that familiar question, how long, O Lord? How long will god be angry at his people for their disobedience? How long will he treat them like this? This leads the psalmist to their request, point that anger at the nations. These nations also don’t know God and honour him. They devour God’s people and destroy God’s land.

As God turns that anger towards his enemies, may he forgive his people. May he no longer hold their disobedience and rebelliousness against them. May he have compassion and save them, if for no other reason than for his own glory. That all the earth would know he is the God that saves his people. Avenge those that these nations have already killed and rescued those still held captive.

The psalmist then ends with trust. For all their flaws and failings, the people are still God’s flock. They will thank him for his goodness forever, for God will not allow them to be wiped out.

Implicit in this psalm is an appreciation of the failings of God’s people. How their own poor decision led them to this place. In the same way, we must be honest with ourselves and with God when we bring our complaints about how we’ve contributed to the issues we find ourselves in.