Bible
Study
close
Article

The Gospel of Mark – Introduction

"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ... Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed." (Mk. 1:1, 35)

The first words of the evangelist Mark are extraordinarily peculiar. While Mark's main theme is the servant and prophet Jesus, he introduces the Gospel he has written about the Lord Jesus with words that refer to Him as the Son of God. This shows that God makes sure that we do not think less of Jesus at any point. It is true: He is the servant who got up early in the morning to pray to His Father in heaven—a clear indication of his humanity and dependence on God. But if God presents His Christ as the lowly servant, then He does not allow us to have false ideas about Jesus.

He is the Lord of lords, the eternal Son of God. He voluntarily became man and humbled Himself so much that He even lived as a servant on this earth. This is one of the many inner glories of our Lord.

Incidentally, the Gospel also ends with a look at the sovereign and almighty Lord and God, Jesus Christ. "So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God" (Mk. 16:19). In no other Gospel do we read that the Lord Jesus seated Himself in this place of honor. A servant is normally assigned a place - and certainly not such a place of honor as a rule. But the Lord Jesus is not just a servant; He is God Himself. That is why He was able to take this place by virtue of His fullness of power, which was also given to Him by God if we take other biblical passages into account.

Jesus Christ - the Servant

 The main theme of Mark's Gospel is, therefore, Jesus Christ, the Servant. Many details support this view.

  • A servant is characterized by his obedience. He simply does what he is told to do - and does it faithfully. But that is all that will be reported about him. This is why Mark is the shortest gospel in the New Testament.
  • External circumstances, which, for example, form the framework for the image of a king, play no role here. A servant is not normally the center of attention - although, of course, the Lord Jesus is an exception in this respect. God has made sure that we accept this perfect servant into our hearts. After all, an entire Gospel is dedicated to Him in this character, too!
  • Nor do we find a gender register in Mark because a servant does not have to prove his origin. He must prove his good qualities as a servant through deeds.
  • That is why we find in this Gospel above all the deeds of Jesus. He is constantly at work, from early in the morning until late at night; He tirelessly serves others.
  • There are also some characteristic words that Mark uses again and again. The word "immediately" occurs over 40 times. This is because a servant must "immediately" do what he is told to do. And this is exactly what we find with the Lord Jesus. He fulfilled God's orders "immediately" because it was His food to carry out the will of the Father.
  • His constant commitment to others is also underlined by the word "and" occurring more than 1100 times. One deed followed another, "and" there was no time for Him to rest.
  • It is, therefore, no coincidence that even in this Gospel, which reports a wealth of details from His life, we find only one occasion on which He is reported to have slept: When He was on the ship with His disciples and the great storm arose. We get the impression that our Master and servant were otherwise constantly on duty.
  • The fact that only in the Gospel of Mark is the life of the Lord outlined strictly in its historical order [1] is also quite fitting for this description of the restlessly active servant of God. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the events are arranged much more according to internal correspondences.
  • A servant does not want his deeds and - as with the Lord Jesus - miracles to become known. Mark tells us that Jesus repeatedly wants to avoid His deeds becoming known. He says nine times: "And He commanded them earnestly that they should tell no one about him" (Mk. 8:30).

In passing, I would like to point out that in each Gospel, we see not only the Lord Jesus from a particular perspective but also His disciples. Here, in the Gospel of Mark, the characterization of the disciples is more in line with that of the Lord than in the other Gospels. For they, too, are shown here as servants - but as servants who still have much to learn from their great Master in order to serve God truly and with the right attitude [2].

Jesus Christ - the Prophet

However, the Lord Jesus is also shown in the Gospel of Mark as the Prophet. He had already been announced as such by Moses: “The Lord your God will raise for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear… What they have spoken is good. I will raise for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him” (Deut. 18:15, 17, 18).

And God put the message of the gospel in His mouth. The Lord Jesus Himself speaks of this at one point: "Let us go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also; for to this end I went out. And He preached in their synagogues throughout Galilee and cast out demons" (Mk. 1:38, 39). As befits a prophet, we see that Jesus' deeds were not intended to glorify Himself but to glorify God. Thus, Jesus' deeds were not carried out as an end in themselves, but in conjunction with His words, they were intended to bring the conscience of those concerned into the light of God in order to lead to repentance.

Jesus Christ - and His "scribe" Mark

When the Lord Jesus is portrayed in this capacity as a servant and prophet, it is, of course, extremely interesting to know who was allowed to "paint this picture." The writer of the Gospel is Mark. Elsewhere, he is called John Mark. At a young age, he had witnessed the assembly in Jerusalem meeting in his mother's house (Acts 12:12) - we read nothing about his father. He thus became an "eyewitness," so to speak, to the miracle of Peter's release from prison.

Later, as a servant, he wanted to support Paul and his uncle Barnabas on a missionary journey. As Mark was probably a Levite (his uncle is said to be one, Acts 4:36) and the Levites were especially employed as "servants" for the people of Israel (cf. Numbers 4), he may have regarded such a task as "natural." But for reasons not mentioned in the biblical text, he broke off this service and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). The whole description leaves the impression that the ministry became too much or too difficult for him. His task probably consisted in particular of activities such as "carrying suitcases" - i.e., providing assistance for the two servants of the Lord whom he accompanied. Was this too little for him?

Later, we find him restored, and in fellowship with Paul, who expressly says that he was "useful to him for service" (e.g., 2 Tim. 4:11). Presumably, Peter also played a special role in his life because Peter affectionately calls Mark his son (1 Pet. 5:13).

So God used this unfaithful servant after his restoration to write about the faithful and perfect servant. Was the preoccupation with the perfect servant perhaps the reason for his restoration?

Jesus Christ and His portrayal in the Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark comprises "only" 16 chapters. It is shorter than the other three gospels. In the first five chapters, we read about the personal ministry of our Lord. However, neither the Lord's ministry nor His preaching is accepted by the people. Rather, the Perfect Servant is rejected. Therefore, from chapter 6 to chapter 10:45, we find an account of the ministry of a rejected servant. The "Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mk. 10:45).

This is why Jesus' ministry also culminates in His sacrifice on the cross of Golgotha. [3] In the final chapter, we then read about the resurrection and the completion of Jesus' ministry. It is very beautiful to see that the ministry of the Perfect Servant does not end with His return to Heaven. This Gospel ends with the remark: "... with the Lord working and confirming the word by the signs that followed" (16:20).

Now, someone has calculated that 93% of the events reported by Mark can also be found in the other gospels. That is more than in any other gospel. It is, therefore, all the more interesting to look at the 7% that is not found elsewhere. These include two miracles (the deaf-mute in Decapolis and the blind man in Bethsaida) and two parables (of the growing seed and the call to watchfulness). Let's take a closer look at these four points in conclusion.

  • The deaf-mute in Decapolis (Mk. 7:31-37)

Jesus comes to Decapolis for the second time (cf. ch. 5:20). Here, He heals a man who is deaf and has difficulty speaking. This miracle is characteristic of Jesus' ministry, and its moral characteristics should also be exemplary for us who follow the Lord as servants. The deaf man is a representative of a man who has fallen into sin. He is not able to hear the words of God - nor does he want to. Therefore, he cannot serve God and tell others about God's grace. But the Perfect Servant does not abandon such a person. He makes an effort for him. To do this, He must take him "away from the crowd to Himself alone." Even today, it is only individuals who allow themselves to be saved. And salvation also means separation from the world.

The healing does not leave the Lord Jesus "uninvolved." Moreover, the Lord Jesus sighs and looks up to heaven. On the one hand, He puts His fingers in the sick man's ears and touches his tongue; on the other hand, it is Jesus' saliva that brings about the healing. Thus, the Lord Jesus gives something of Himself to heal this person. In order to really bring about salvation, the Lord Jesus had to give Himself completely. To give Himself to heal others and give them real life. It was a work of love but also of the deepest suffering on the cross of Golgotha. But only the Lord Jesus has life in Himself so that He can give eternal life to others. And this gift moves heaven, so to speak, from which the Savior came to become man.

The result of Jesus' action was immediately visible. The man was healed and was now able to speak rationally. But - as befits a servant: The Lord Jesus didn’t want to be the center of attention. He, therefore, commanded that this miracle not be made public. And yet the deed was made public because the salvation of the Lord cannot remain hidden - not even today.

  • The healing of the blind man in Bethsaida (Mk. 8: 22-26)

In this second miracle, which only Mark reports, we find not so much the inner power that is at work in the individual through the miraculous work of Christ but how the unique work of Christ gradually has an effect on the life of the convert. Our own experience is not that we see all spiritual things "clearly" immediately after our conversion. It is often the case for us too - especially as young believers - that we see, as it were, walking trees, "for I see them as trees moving about" (verse 24). Of course, this man also knew that no trees were wandering around. But he could not distinguish the clear contours of these people. Only when the Lord laid His hands on him a second time was he fully restored? So we, too, need time and spiritual growth in order to see things as they really are.

 Incidentally, it is also on this occasion that Jesus "took the man by the hand and led him out of the village." The servant will be active not only in large events but also in personal conversations for the good of the individual. When the Lord takes care of a person, He usually does so in secret.

 In the Gospel of Mark, this passage has further instructions for servants. For ultimately, the Lord Jesus shows the disciples who revealed in the previous passage that they did not understand the Lord's work, even though they possessed new life and were disciples of the Lord, that they were people who only saw "trees" and not clearly. Is this not also a justified word to us, who perhaps sometimes consider ourselves to be very wise but, in reality, see anything but clearly?

  • The parable of the self-growing seed (Mk. 4:26-29)

In the context of the parables summarized in Matthew 13 as the parables of the kingdom of heaven, the Lord Jesus apparently added this brief comparison. It deals with the hidden work of God in the growing seed, i.e., the preaching of the gospel and the resulting growth in the people who come to faith through the preaching. The sower can do nothing for the actual growth from the first germination of the seed to full fruition.

The Lord uses this parable to make it clear that the believer bears witness during the time of the Lord's absence. The Lord personally sowed the seed at His First Coming. At the end of the age, when the judgment of this world will be ripe, He will come again in person. Although He is active in grace for His people, He does not intervene publicly and directly in events today. However, the seed that the Lord has sown grows and bears fruit. It is His sovereignty that brings this about, not our actions. So this parable does not show us the side of our responsibility to preach the word and work for the Lord Jesus, but His hidden work, in which - in this sense - we have no part.

  • The call to watchfulness (Mk. 13:32-37)

The Lord Jesus says the astonishing words here with regard to His return to this earth: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (verse 32). Of course, the Lord Jesus, as the eternal God, knows this moment, for He has established it in His sovereignty. But He shows here that He, as the servant of Jesus, is simply waiting for the instruction to come. What condescension and humility! Jesus follows these words with an appeal to watch. A parable is used here that we know from Matthew 25 and Luke 19 as the parable of the talents or pounds. While the other Gospels are about gifts of grace or faithfulness, the Lord Jesus emphasizes here in Mark's Gospel that we should watch and simply "each do his work." We have no freedom in what we do because we are servants and simply have to carry out what we are told to do. An important part of the work is to keep watch, for we do not know when the Lord Jesus will come - in the evening, or at midnight, or cockcrow, or early in the morning.

 Today, when we are already living in the time of "early morning," shortly before dawn, we know that He will only come in this phase. For the new day - the completion of the kingdom of the Son of Man - will begin with Him and His return. "But what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!"

Questions for personal study

  • Who is the writer of this gospel? Why did God choose him?
  • From which perspective is the Lord Jesus mainly shown in this Gospel? Look for examples of this!
  • In each Gospel, the Lord Jesus is not seen from just one perspective. Where in Mark's Gospel can we see Him as the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Messiah?
  • What "structure" does this Gospel have? Why does it have to be like this?
  • The "sacrificial death" of the Lord Jesus and the sacrifices in Genesis 1-5 have some similarities. Which ones stand out in particular?
  • The Gospels in the New Testament each have a more or less direct connection to individual other books/letters in the New Testament. Which books are particularly based on the Gospel of Mark?
  • There are not very many words, verses, or events that are found exclusively in the Gospel of Mark. What special significance do they have for this Gospel?
  • In every Gospel, the Lord's disciples are also seen from a special perspective. Which one is in the Gospel of Mark? What can we learn from this?
  • Why did the Lord Jesus actually have to serve for three and a half years before He went to His death?
  • We are to keep watch (Mk. 13:33-37). What does that actually mean?
  • Where the Perfect Servant appears, the adversary of God, the devil, is immediately on hand to hinder the service. This gospel reports more confrontations with Satan and expulsions of demons than the other gospels. Look for such incidents.

Footnotes:

[1] Probably the only exception is Mark 5:22 ff (cf. the "while" in Matt. 9:18 in the same incident).

[2] Cf: Mark 4,36-40;6,13.30.52;8,14-21.32;9,19.29.38;10,13.24.32.35.41;16,14.

[3] We will not go into further detail here on the fact that there are similarities between the four bloody sacrifices in the Old Testament (especially Gen. 1-5) and the depictions of our Lord Jesus in the Gospels. The Gospel, according to Mark, shows us the death of our Master, especially in the character of the sin offering.

Get in contact
Subscribe to the biblestudy newsletter
Bible
Study
© 2024 thebiblestudy.site