Mark Gospel Review - An Overview of the Gospel According to Mark

Running head: MARK GOSPEL REVIEW 1
Mark Gospel review
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MARK GOSPEL REVIEW
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The Gospel according to Mark
The gospel of Mark is one of the four gospels in the Holy Bible. The author is not known
but according to the book of Acts, Peter calls him John Mark (Acts 12: 12). Mark gospel might
have been written in the 50 or 60 A.D. before the fall of Jerusalem. With 16 chapters; Mark is the
shortest of the four gospels written about Jesus Christ. Mark’s writing revolves around Jesus
Christ, the twelve disciples, John the Baptist, Jewish religious leaders, and Pilate. The book of
Mark gospel is a very important pillar in the faith of Christians through its teachings and lessons.
The thesis of this review is to show that Mark was able to show that Jesus is the prophesied
Messiah who was sent in order to rescue and restore mankind by giving His life for their sins.
Mark does not talk about the birth of Jesus as he begins by describing His adult life. The
NIV version says “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God”, (Mark 1:1). He
introduces John the Baptist as he prepares a way for the coming Messiah as prophesied in the
Old Testament. John calls people to repent and get baptized in the River Jordan. Mark goes
directly to introducing the adult life of Jesus. He does not talk about the birth of Jesus and His
childhood life. Mark narrates the baptism of Jesus and how His identity as a Son of God is
confirmed by Holy Spirit in form of a dove.
Jesus gets tempted in the wilderness for forty days by Satan. After the temptation, the
Galilean Ministry begins by Jesus selecting the twelve disciples. He sends them out so that they
could go and preach the gospel. He gave them the authority to drive out demons.

MARK GOSPEL REVIEW
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In chapters 2 up to 10, Jesus is seen working as a servant through His teachings, healings,
helping the poor, performing miracles, feeding the hungry and challenging the authorities. He
heals the man with a dreaded disease and this is His first miracle. Other miracles that He
performs are: healing a man with a paralyzed hand, a woman who was bleeding for 12 years is
healed after touching the cloak of Jesus. He raises Jarius daughter and this shows that He had
power over death. Jesus also heals a deaf-mute and a blind man at Bethsaida.
Mark also shows Jesus preaching through parables (Laura, 2013). The teachers of the law
from Jerusalem claimed that Jesus had Beelzebul in Him after casting out demons (Holland,
2017). Jesus called them and told them if it's possible for Satan to drive out Satan. Jesus uses the
parable of the strong man to show that a house divided by it cannot stand. Therefore, he proved
that He was not the chief of demons and He does not get power to drive demons out from Satan.
The theme of Mark gospel lies in his chapter 10. He shows that Jesus indeed was the Son
of God who came to serve human beings. He even gave His life in order to restore the life of
mankind. Jesus also teaches His disciples that if they want to be first in the kingdom of God, then
they shall be last. This teaches us that in order for us to enter the kingdom of God, we must die
for ourselves first and serve one another. He is seen as a suffering servant who was prophesied
by Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 53), (Ginsberg, 2013)