Many sources have been assimilated to project a tradition that the Church has believed through the centuries. We can stand on this tradition as the Church has.
1. The Life Situation (the occasion for writing)
The Gospel of Mark was the first Gospel written, this is known as Marcan Priority. It is placed in the era of the Emperor Nero’s reign.
Nero had, over time, become a tyrant. He had taxed the Romans very heavily, he confiscated the citizen’s property, he had all but done away with the Roman senate and had made life in Rome a terror to all. Because of all this, he had become very unpopular among the people.
Then in AD 64 Rome burned. There was a massive fire that most think Nero was responsible for starting. He wanted to reclaim the land for himself at a fraction of the price or for nothing. The fire raged for days and burned out of control. The City of Rome was at that time divided into 14 precincts and after the fire only 4 remained.
Word came out that the fire was officially ordered by Nero. An ancient Roman Historian, Suetonius declared that Nero was responsible. Others too, later came forward with the same account…it was Nero.
Nero needed to blame someone. As with most tyrants, he liked to pretend the people liked him…so Nero had to shift the blame. He fabricated a scapegoat, the Christians. So, the empire went on their witch hunt to round up and put to death all who claimed Christ as their Savior. Christians were thrown into the coliseum where they faced the wild animals. Christians were burned at the stake. Christians were hung up and lit on fire to illuminate Nero’s gardens.
As intense and as merciless as these horrors were, they were fairly short lived but they did introduce the Christian community to the reality of martyrdom.
The Gospel of Mark was written by Peter’s close associate John Mark.
1 Peter 5:12–14 (ESV)
12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
We notice a couple things here… Babylon is a code word for Rome and Peter considers Mark his son in the faith.
The Christians in Rome went underground and lived in secret in the catacombs of Rome.
God raises up Mark to record, for the Church, Peter’s account of Jesus Christ to help the Church endure persecution from the world. It was the Neronian persecution following the great fire of Rome (AD 64) that called forth the Gospel of Mark. God wanted His people to be prepared and to be able to make some theological sense out of the events they were facing. The Christians were exposed to persecution and death from Rome. Mark writes about Another who also suffered persecution and death from the Romans…our Lord Jesus. This would give them what they needed to persevere through this very intense time of trial.
Mark’s task was the projection of Christian faith in the context of suffering and martyrdom. The Gospel of Mark is a pastoral response to this very critical time for the Church. So, Mark is very intent on adding Jesus’ warnings about the persecution that was to come to His followers.
Mark 4:17 (ESV)
17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
Mark also highlights the great cost of discipleship…
One example is the account of the rich young man who was challenged to give up his wealth to be a follower (Mark 10:17ff). This was exactly what the Christians were facing. The cost was great, they were facing death and they were enduring great financial loss to be a follower of Christ.
2. The Gospel of Mark as the First Gospel Written (AD 64)
Mark introduced to the world to the Gospel of Jesus Christ the first time anything like this was ever written.
It was the first time the deeds of Jesus were seen in written form. Prior to this they were an oral tradition shared by the Apostles who were eyewitnesses. Now, the next generation needed these accounts written because the original apostles were beginning to die off. This is a witness document. Mark created the Gospel form of literature.
Mark’s Gospel has been credited to John Mark who was a close associate of the Apostle Peter. Peter closes his epistle and includes Mark’s greeting to the Church.
Many Church fathers credit the Gospel to Mark. They also go on to declare that Mark’s Gospel is a collection of Peter’s Sermons and teachings. Mark collected his notes of Peter’s many sermons preached and he and Peter edited and produced an authoritative account of the Lord Jesus. This is a witness document and it is also a proclamation document.
One Church father (Papias) tells us, the Gospel of Mark is based upon proclamation and catechesis, (Preaching and Teaching) and that its authority is apostolic since Peter was both an apostle and an eyewitness to the events of which he spoke.
So, Mark is a written account of Peter’s eyewitness experiences with Jesus. It is the first Gospel and it was written around 64 AD.
3. Mark’s Structure and Literature
Mark’s Gospel is a pastoral Gospel which declares right at the very beginning what it means to be a Christian. Here’s what we must believe…
Mark 1:1 (ESV)
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Literally, the original goes like this, The beginning of the preaching of the joyful tidings
Mark’s ultimate purpose is to bear witness to the Word of revelation that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. As we consider this opening verse the rest of the Book will be oriented around this proclamation of the Person of Jesus.
Being an ancient writing, Mark follows the accepted structure of a hero biography. The Hero is Jesus Christ. The Hero will go through various crisis events and be victorious. His structure is that of a military Hero who will ultimately overcome all His enemies. This victory is Good News for all His followers.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God will have ultimate victory as He is put to death. This death event is Jesus’ purpose. He came for this reason and He fulfilled His purpose absolutely perfectly. It’s not something that is beyond His control. In other words, the Romans are not the superpower here, God is.
The final point of the ancient Hero structure is that the Hero is to be imitated by His followers. The Gospel of Mark is a Hero narrative and the hero who overcomes all opponents and His victory costs His life. Jesus’ followers are to imitate Him.
We are to obey Him. We are to persevere through trials like Jesus did. We are to be committed to the Father’s will, like Jesus is. We will also experience victory as we imitate our Hero, Jesus Christ.
Jesus’ followers, beginning with the ancient Church under Nero’s persecution and extending to us and also to the future Church are to imitate our Lord.
We are to imitate His moral values and virtues, His dedication to the Father and love for His people.
Mark presents Jesus as God’s authoritative Teacher and Master with great powers. He also shows how Jesus is severely tested to the point of death. Mark does this and presents it in such a way that causes his readers to also come to their own crises…will you believe and side with Jesus even though He is not the Victor you would expect or will you side with Satan and Jesus’ opponents?
He begins with the opening verse to set the standard as to what it means to be one of His followers.
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark’s point right at the very beginning is, what I’m writing to you is the authoritative proclamation that Jesus is the OT promised Messiah that all the prophets wrote about and waited for. He is God’s very Son which means He too is divine and the second Person of the Trinity. This is who Jesus is…do you believe? His Kingdom is not what you’d expect, His teaching goes against the world’s values. Do you believe even though His victory is not the victory you would expect.
To answer yes is to be placed as a follower. To answer no is to place yourself on the losing side of Satan and this world system. No matter the appearance of things. Mark shows us that while it looks like Jesus lost and that His death is the final blow when in reality His death is the actual victory and God proves it by raising Jesus from the grave, something else unexpected. It looks like Satan and this world is winning as Nero calls the shots and has all the power when really God is in charge.
Who do you side with? Mark would say side with God’s Word and not how things may appear.
This brings us to the structure and layout of Mark.
We look to verse one again presenting the absolute truth of who Jesus is. Then, Mark takes off on a series of crisis events that may challenge this statement but ultimately will prove the statement true. Along the way we are challenged and we enter a crisis of belief.
The first half of the Book of Mark has as its pinnacle, Peter’s confession…
Mark 8:27–30 (ESV)
27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
You see, we too are brought to this pinnacle through the various trials of Jesus, the Hero. We too must make our confession. It’s as if Jesus turns to us and asks us personally, who do you say that I am?
All of Mark, up until now has been leading to this declaration of faith from Peter. As Peter witnessed Jesus healing others, cast out demons, calm the sea, walk on water and declare that He is Lord of the Sabbath, Peter began to understand who Jesus really is. He really is what Mark proclaims at the beginning.
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
So, Peter’s response is the right response and it is the same one we are to have. Mark tells us who Jesus is then shows us who Jesus is and then we too are brought to a crisis of belief. Do you believe?
You might say well Peter had a great advantage. He was with Jesus all the time and saw all Jesus did, sure Peter can believe. He’s a Jew and understood all the prophecies and all Jesus did and taught. However, I’m a gentile and don’t know all Peter did how can I believe?
After Peter’s profession that Jesus is the Christ, our Lord sets His sights on Jerusalem and the cross.
The second half of the Gospel begins and has as its pinnacle the declaration, not by a Jewish person with all the advantages like Peter but a Gentile also reaches the same conclusion…
Mark 15:33–39 (ESV)
33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
So, two confessions: one by a representative of Israel and the other by a Gentile. Jesus truly is the Savior of the world.
One example that Mark uses to bring comfort to the persecuted Christians is by showing them that Jesus was also out in the wilderness as they are. They were driven from their homes and in many cases had lost their possessions but nothing was happening to them that Jesus had not experienced.
Even if they were led away to the Roman Coliseum to be cast into the arena with wild beasts, Jesus too was led to the wilderness…
Mark 1:12–13 (ESV)
12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
Mark alone adds a small but meaningful phrase…And he was with the wild animals.
So, we have a basic introduction to the Gospel of Mark.
I’d like us to pray and ask God to use this Gospel to bring us to the crisis of believe that we need. To secure faith… Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Leave a Reply