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The Meaning of Discipleship
- 16-01-2009
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.
Comments (2)
#1
moira shaw
Said this on 02-03-2009 At 07:49 am
made me pick up the Bible and start reading Mark,s gospel, what more do I need to say!
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#2
Margaret McFarlane
Said this on 15-03-2009 At 02:00 pm
I am currently studying Mark's Gospel and find these articles very helpful . It would be great if the series could be continued. They are set at a very user friendly level and I am sure many people would benefit . Many thanks
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