Introducing the Gospel of Mark
http://www.rcdai.org.uk/articles/141/1/Introducing-the-Gospel-of-Mark/Page1.html
By Fr. William Maclean
Published on 16/01/2009
As we begin Year B, we look at the Gospel of Mark. Already, in the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and into the first week of Ordinary time, the evangelist takes no time about introducing us to his central character, Jesus Christ. Mark's style is immediate and vivid, and he wants us to meet and be challenged by Jesus as soon as possible.
It was thought, in the time of St. Augustine, that Mark was simply an abridged version of Matthew. Therefore, the value of Mark's Gospel was seen to be lower in the face of its longer and presumed earlier rival. Questions have been asked as to the identity of Mark. Who was he? Possibly he was a disciple of Peter, and because of this his Gospel has an authority it would not have had if that link was not there, and this may well have been why, out of the many gospels to be written, that it is one of only four to have been accepted by the Church.
Nowadays, the weight of scholarly evidence and opinion places Mark's gospel as the first to be written, and therefore through the lines of this work we can get closer to the person of Jesus than we can with any of the other Gospels.
By looking at Mark's gospel without reference to Matthew or Luke we can see the structure of the gospel and the purpose of the evangelist more clearly. a task which is not easy, and not complete. The gospel continuously surprises the reader with new insight, as it is a living thing, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. To deconstruct and play with the Gospel is not to deny its importance and is not to diminish the reverence due it; but it will allow the reader (hopefully) a closer look at the focal point of the Gospel: namely the person of Jesus Christ.
The key feature, and principal theme in the Gospel is to assess and uncover the identity of Jesus.
What is this Gospel about? This is mentioned very clearly in the very first verse. “The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God”. If this was a murder mystery, that first line would say, “The butler did it”.
However, to see into the Gospel, we need to look at it in three time frames:
the time of the story, Galilee and Judaea in about 33AD;
the time of the Community of Mark, probably Antioch in 68-70AD,
and finally our own time as the current reader.
I think it is vital to be able to see these three levels as we read through the Gospel.
Mark's Gospel is written as a story. His narrative is immediate and captivating, and despite being the shortest of the Gospels, his scene setting is the most vivid and some of his stories are much longer than the versions in the other Gospels. Mark is a storyteller, and he captures the imagination, telling people about Jesus.
Mark plays the role of a narrator who stands outside the story, and because he knows the ending, he is able to tell us anything he likes about the story, keeping the reader interested to find out what happens at the end. Because Mark is not in the story, merely a narrator, he can lead us through it, revealing aspects of the person of Jesus and his mission.
So many of us hear bits of it at Mass, but how often would we consider sitting down with it and reading it all the way through? It is only here that the characters come alive and the plot thickens. It is when we read the story that we see how it unfolds.
Mark gradually unfolds that story, as the story of the identity of Jesus. As we read through the Gospel, that theme is slowly unpeeled, from the element of the Messianic Secret, where Jesus warns the demonic spirits to be silent because they know who he is, through the misunderstanding by Peter and the other disciples as to who Jesus is, what it means to be a Messiah, why he must suffer, and how he manifests his glory in the resurrection, yet being the same person who died on Calvary three days earlier.
The first half of the Gospel consists of a gradual revelation of the identity of Jesus. Firstly, John the Baptist links him with the favour of God; the demons recognise him as the Holy one of God. Some people see him as a great prophet, and as he begins his mission he teaches about the Kingdom He heals, restores and feeds people, he shows himself to be great, but different to all the other teachers, and yet his true identity remains hidden.
When Peter acknowledges him as the Christ, this is the great moment of revelation in the middle of the story. Jesus shows both sides of his identity in the next two scenes: he tells the disciples that he must suffer, but then he takes Peter and James and John up the mountain for them to see his glory. They somehow have to accept that it is the same Jesus who will both suffer and be glorified.
The conflict between the way of God and the way of man deepens. Jesus predicts his suffering, death and resurrection three times, but the human mind cannot accept this or cope with its consequences. This reinforces the element of conflict, which will come to its culmination on Calvary, but it is clearly outlined that the characters must decide which side to be on. There is no longer any room for neutrality. The characters have to choose, and this is not easy. The disciples choose Jesus, and they follow him all the way to Jerusalem.
Jesus resolutely turns his face towards Jerusalem. Even his apostles do not see the significance of this. They suggest he should not go there because the Pharisees are seeking to destroy him. On the other hand, he has just declared himself to be the Messiah. What did that mean for them?
Again there is the contrast between what the characters might have expected, and the values of Jesus outlined by Mark. The disciples may have imagined the Messiah as one who would bring them peace as well as an end to Roman occupation; to renew the Kingdom of David; for God to look after the Chosen People as He had done in the past...
But, that is not what Jesus brings. He brings an unexpected set of values, he redefines the idea of greatness, asking the disciples to be like children; he tells the disciples that he has come as a servant, and that he must suffer and die, and shed his blood for the forgiveness of sins. That is a difficult teaching, and one that the disciples find hard to accept; so hard that he has to tell them (and the reader) three times.
Jesus chooses to show that his mission is for all people, and not just for Israel. We see how Jesus courts controversy by breaking boundaries of ritual purity, by not washing his hands before eating; by touching unclean people, by going outside the borders of Israel and healing the Syrophoenician woman's daughter, and many counts of breaking the Sabbath.
Skirmishes over interpretation of the Law and the Sabbath soon deepen into plots to have Jesus destroyed. The enemies of Jesus plot his downfall in a way that is irreversible. There was room for a change initially, but the rejection of Jesus starts early (3:6), “The Pharisees went and consulted with the Herodians on how to destroy him”.
One of the things Mark does in his Gospel is to contrast the values of God with those of humanity. He uses the disciples as characters who are struggling between these values. So, he contrasts faith with unbelief, courage with fear, service with greatness, healing with harming, love of neighbour with love of self, and so on. We see the reversal of the values of the outside world in the pages of the Gospel, in what we see as the attitude of Jesus.
This is a core value, and we see in so many ways, that the value system of Jesus comes into direct conflict with those around it, leading to challenges and ultimately the stark choice of whose value system to accept. This encompasses the idea of persecution, rejection and even death on account of the values of the Kingdom of God. As we read through the pages of this, the earliest Gospel, we see the development of these lines of thinking, the intensifying of the challenges up to a crisis moment for Jesus and his followers.
Whilst the identity of Jesus may be the central theme in the Gospel, the development of the roles of the disciples is a very strong sub-plot. The disciples are constantly portrayed as learning gradually to change from their old ways of behaving and thinking, to embrace the values of the Kingdom of God.
The disciples initially represent stupidity, lack of faith, misunderstanding, choosing not God's way but man's; they have hard hearts, they seek greatness, but ultimately they stick with him and found the church despite their weaknesses. They represent the forgiveness of God for the reader.
The disciples have hard lessons to learn about how to follow Jesus, that his way is not the way they expected., that the disciple must go the way of rejection and humiliation, i.e. the way of the Cross. This is linked to the contrasts between courage and fear, faith and unbelief that are threads throughout the Gospel. “if anyone wants to follow me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross...” (8:34), “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:40).
By depicting the struggles of the disciples, Mark's initial readers will have identified with them, and so will the modern reader. We are also on the road following Jesus. We also make mistakes and have to get ourselves back up again. We also need to see what happened to the disciples, so the we can accept that the road Jesus takes is a hard road, but it is not too hard for us if we show the necessary amount of dedication.
Mark's style is fast moving and direct. He tells a story with its main theme; the unfolding identity of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, the son of David, and the Son of God. He tells it in a dynamic and captivating way, with the secondary themes of discipleship and rejection, ultimately leading to a crisis point in Jerusalem during the Passover. Unquestionably, Jesus is the hero of the piece, but its aim is for the reader to be caught up in the story enough to place his or her faith in Him.
Yes, this is the greatest story ever told, and without wishing to diminish the theology in Mark's Gospel, his style is one of Mark's greatest assets. When we look at Matthew and Luke's Gospels we will see how their theology has developed to suit their needs, but at the expense of the excitement of the dynamism that is present in Mark's Gospel.
These pages provide some insights into the Gospel of Mark and are intended to lead to a deeper reading of the Gospel.
The Beginning of the Good News......
As we begin Year B, we look at the Gospel of Mark. Already, in the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and into the first week of Ordinary time, the evangelist takes no time about introducing us to his central character, Jesus Christ. Mark's style is immediate and vivid, and he wants us to meet and be challenged by Jesus as soon as possible.
It was thought, in the time of St. Augustine, that Mark was simply an abridged version of Matthew. Therefore, the value of Mark's Gospel was seen to be lower in the face of its longer and presumed earlier rival. Questions have been asked as to the identity of Mark. Who was he? Possibly he was a disciple of Peter, and because of this his Gospel has an authority it would not have had if that link was not there, and this may well have been why, out of the many gospels to be written, that it is one of only four to have been accepted by the Church.
Nowadays, the weight of scholarly evidence and opinion places Mark's gospel as the first to be written, and therefore through the lines of this work we can get closer to the person of Jesus than we can with any of the other Gospels.
By looking at Mark's gospel without reference to Matthew or Luke we can see the structure of the gospel and the purpose of the evangelist more clearly. a task which is not easy, and not complete. The gospel continuously surprises the reader with new insight, as it is a living thing, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. To deconstruct and play with the Gospel is not to deny its importance and is not to diminish the reverence due it; but it will allow the reader (hopefully) a closer look at the focal point of the Gospel: namely the person of Jesus Christ.
Mark's Purpose
The key feature, and principal theme in the Gospel is to assess and uncover the identity of Jesus.
What is this Gospel about? This is mentioned very clearly in the very first verse. “The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God”. If this was a murder mystery, that first line would say, “The butler did it”.
However, to see into the Gospel, we need to look at it in three time frames:
the time of the story, Galilee and Judaea in about 33AD;
the time of the Community of Mark, probably Antioch in 68-70AD,
and finally our own time as the current reader.
I think it is vital to be able to see these three levels as we read through the Gospel.
Mark's Gospel is written as a story. His narrative is immediate and captivating, and despite being the shortest of the Gospels, his scene setting is the most vivid and some of his stories are much longer than the versions in the other Gospels. Mark is a storyteller, and he captures the imagination, telling people about Jesus.
Mark plays the role of a narrator who stands outside the story, and because he knows the ending, he is able to tell us anything he likes about the story, keeping the reader interested to find out what happens at the end. Because Mark is not in the story, merely a narrator, he can lead us through it, revealing aspects of the person of Jesus and his mission.
So many of us hear bits of it at Mass, but how often would we consider sitting down with it and reading it all the way through? It is only here that the characters come alive and the plot thickens. It is when we read the story that we see how it unfolds.
Mark gradually unfolds that story, as the story of the identity of Jesus. As we read through the Gospel, that theme is slowly unpeeled, from the element of the Messianic Secret, where Jesus warns the demonic spirits to be silent because they know who he is, through the misunderstanding by Peter and the other disciples as to who Jesus is, what it means to be a Messiah, why he must suffer, and how he manifests his glory in the resurrection, yet being the same person who died on Calvary three days earlier.
The Choice
The first half of the Gospel consists of a gradual revelation of the identity of Jesus. Firstly, John the Baptist links him with the favour of God; the demons recognise him as the Holy one of God. Some people see him as a great prophet, and as he begins his mission he teaches about the Kingdom He heals, restores and feeds people, he shows himself to be great, but different to all the other teachers, and yet his true identity remains hidden.
When Peter acknowledges him as the Christ, this is the great moment of revelation in the middle of the story. Jesus shows both sides of his identity in the next two scenes: he tells the disciples that he must suffer, but then he takes Peter and James and John up the mountain for them to see his glory. They somehow have to accept that it is the same Jesus who will both suffer and be glorified.
The conflict between the way of God and the way of man deepens. Jesus predicts his suffering, death and resurrection three times, but the human mind cannot accept this or cope with its consequences. This reinforces the element of conflict, which will come to its culmination on Calvary, but it is clearly outlined that the characters must decide which side to be on. There is no longer any room for neutrality. The characters have to choose, and this is not easy. The disciples choose Jesus, and they follow him all the way to Jerusalem.
Jesus resolutely turns his face towards Jerusalem. Even his apostles do not see the significance of this. They suggest he should not go there because the Pharisees are seeking to destroy him. On the other hand, he has just declared himself to be the Messiah. What did that mean for them?
Again there is the contrast between what the characters might have expected, and the values of Jesus outlined by Mark. The disciples may have imagined the Messiah as one who would bring them peace as well as an end to Roman occupation; to renew the Kingdom of David; for God to look after the Chosen People as He had done in the past...
But, that is not what Jesus brings. He brings an unexpected set of values, he redefines the idea of greatness, asking the disciples to be like children; he tells the disciples that he has come as a servant, and that he must suffer and die, and shed his blood for the forgiveness of sins. That is a difficult teaching, and one that the disciples find hard to accept; so hard that he has to tell them (and the reader) three times.
Jesus chooses to show that his mission is for all people, and not just for Israel. We see how Jesus courts controversy by breaking boundaries of ritual purity, by not washing his hands before eating; by touching unclean people, by going outside the borders of Israel and healing the Syrophoenician woman's daughter, and many counts of breaking the Sabbath.
Skirmishes over interpretation of the Law and the Sabbath soon deepen into plots to have Jesus destroyed. The enemies of Jesus plot his downfall in a way that is irreversible. There was room for a change initially, but the rejection of Jesus starts early (3:6), “The Pharisees went and consulted with the Herodians on how to destroy him”.
The Meaning of Discipleship
One of the things Mark does in his Gospel is to contrast the values of God with those of humanity. He uses the disciples as characters who are struggling between these values. So, he contrasts faith with unbelief, courage with fear, service with greatness, healing with harming, love of neighbour with love of self, and so on. We see the reversal of the values of the outside world in the pages of the Gospel, in what we see as the attitude of Jesus.
This is a core value, and we see in so many ways, that the value system of Jesus comes into direct conflict with those around it, leading to challenges and ultimately the stark choice of whose value system to accept. This encompasses the idea of persecution, rejection and even death on account of the values of the Kingdom of God. As we read through the pages of this, the earliest Gospel, we see the development of these lines of thinking, the intensifying of the challenges up to a crisis moment for Jesus and his followers.
Whilst the identity of Jesus may be the central theme in the Gospel, the development of the roles of the disciples is a very strong sub-plot. The disciples are constantly portrayed as learning gradually to change from their old ways of behaving and thinking, to embrace the values of the Kingdom of God.
The disciples initially represent stupidity, lack of faith, misunderstanding, choosing not God's way but man's; they have hard hearts, they seek greatness, but ultimately they stick with him and found the church despite their weaknesses. They represent the forgiveness of God for the reader.
The disciples have hard lessons to learn about how to follow Jesus, that his way is not the way they expected., that the disciple must go the way of rejection and humiliation, i.e. the way of the Cross. This is linked to the contrasts between courage and fear, faith and unbelief that are threads throughout the Gospel. “if anyone wants to follow me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross...” (8:34), “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:40).
By depicting the struggles of the disciples, Mark's initial readers will have identified with them, and so will the modern reader. We are also on the road following Jesus. We also make mistakes and have to get ourselves back up again. We also need to see what happened to the disciples, so the we can accept that the road Jesus takes is a hard road, but it is not too hard for us if we show the necessary amount of dedication.
Mark's style is fast moving and direct. He tells a story with its main theme; the unfolding identity of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, the son of David, and the Son of God. He tells it in a dynamic and captivating way, with the secondary themes of discipleship and rejection, ultimately leading to a crisis point in Jerusalem during the Passover. Unquestionably, Jesus is the hero of the piece, but its aim is for the reader to be caught up in the story enough to place his or her faith in Him.
Yes, this is the greatest story ever told, and without wishing to diminish the theology in Mark's Gospel, his style is one of Mark's greatest assets. When we look at Matthew and Luke's Gospels we will see how their theology has developed to suit their needs, but at the expense of the excitement of the dynamism that is present in Mark's Gospel.