An In-depth Review of the Gospel of Mark: Analysis and Insights

This essay provides a thorough review of the Gospel of Mark, one of the four gospels in the Bible, exploring its key themes, literary style, and significance within Christianity. The review examines the portrayal of Jesus Christ, focusing on his ministry, miracles, teachings, and ultimately, his death and resurrection. It highlights Mark's unique perspective, emphasizing Jesus as the prophesied Messiah who came to serve humanity and sacrifice his life for their sins. The essay delves into key events such as the baptism of Jesus, the selection of the twelve disciples, the Galilean ministry, and the events leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection. Furthermore, it analyzes the significance of the Gospel of Mark in shaping Christian faith, providing insights into its structure, literary techniques, and theological importance. The review references several scholarly works to support its analysis, providing a comprehensive understanding of this pivotal biblical text.

Running head: MARK GOSPEL REVIEW 1
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.

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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)

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In chapters 11 to 15, mark describes the sufferings and death of Jesus. He narrates about
how Jesus is betrayed by the same people He healed and fed. Judas betrays Him with a kiss even
though he was one of His disciples. the people who He taught the gospel demands the release of
Barnabas a criminal and demands for Jesus to be crucified instead. According to Mark, Christ
death takes place at three o’clock with a cry. He calls unto God because He thought that He had
been forsaken (Moyise, 2013). The curtains in the Temple were torn into two. The centurion was
the only one who believed He was the Son of God.
The final chapter of Mark is about the miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ. Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary together with Salome are the first to go to the tomb after the
Sabbath to anoint the body of Jesus but to their amazement, they find the stone rolled
(Brandt,2017). An angel tells them that they should not look for Jesus among the dead as He has
risen (Ketchum, 2018). They go to inform others that the Son of Man had risen as it was
prophesied.
Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and later to two others while they were travelling.
Later on, Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples and scolded them because they had no faith and
they were also too stubborn to believe that He had risen. He gave them the power to preach the
gospel to the whole world. After He talked with them, Jesus ascended to Heaven and He sits on
the right side of God. The disciples went to preach and the Lord worked with them and proved
their teachings to be true through miracles.

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As we have seen throughout the book, Mark is not the comic book or rather the reader’s
digest gospel as it might appear. To start with, his Greek language was not as skilled as with
some writers as it’s supposedly claimed to be the earliest gospel written. The gospel of Mark can
be seen structured into a three acts drama. The first act takes place in Jesus ministry in Galilee
followed by act two covering the journey to Jerusalem. The last act contains Jesus death and
resurrection (France, 2014).
Mark also seems to use a unique literary style. He is seen bringing together several stories
and wrapping them up as one story. This style is referred to as use of summaries. A good
example is in Mark 6:55-56 where Mark brings together the things that Jesus was doing. He
describes how Jesus went from village to village healing the sick.
The book of Mark, therefore, is characterized by fast movement of account of Jesus life.
This is seen through the use of the word "immediately". It is used repeatedly for at least 34 times
in the book. This shows that Christ's mission was urgent. It brings out the perfection of God's
servant by showing us how He served (Betsworth, 2015).

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Mark gospel has a great significance in Christianity. It presents a lot of facts and lessons
that help Christians build their faith and hope. First, the gospel shows that Jesus was the Messiah
who was prophesied in the Old Testament (Middleton, 2015). Secondly, Jesus is seen as the son
of God through the life He led, pure from sins and being able to overcome a lot of temptations
(De Villiers, 2016).
Above all the miracles that Jesus performed to show that He had power over nature and
death through calming the storm, walking on water and raising the dead, He Himself overcame
death through His resurrection. He proved that no power is greater than Him as a son of God.
In conclusion, Mark gospel is very brief and focuses mostly on the things that Jesus did
rather than the things that He said. This gospel also shows Jesus's authority as the Son of God
and compassion for people through His miracles and also by sacrificing His life to save mankind.

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References
Betsworth, S. (2015). Mockery and Secretism in the Social World of Mark’s Gospel,
written by Dietmar Neufeld, 2014; and The Theological Role of Paradox in the Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. By WitheringtonBenIII.
Brandt, P. L. (2017). Resurrection of Our Lord-1 Year Series.
De Villiers, P. G. (2016). Mystical holiness in Mark's Gospel. HTS Theological Studies,
72(4), 1-7.
France, R. (2014). The gospel of Mark. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company..
Ginsberg, H. (2013). The Oldest Interpretation of the Suffering
Servant.VetusTestamentum, 63(10), 25-28.
Holland, D. S. (2017). The Meaning of Ἐξέστη in Mark 3: 21. The Journal of Inductive
Biblical Studies, 4(1), 3.
Ketchum, M. J. (2018). Haunting Empty Tombs: Specters of the Emperor and Jesus in
the Gospel of Mark. Biblical Interpretation, 26(2), 219-243.
Laura C. Sweat, 2013. Biblical Interpretation, 23(3).doi: 10.1163/15685152-00233p10
Moyise, S. (2013).Introduction to Biblical studies. [London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark.
Middleton, P. (2015). Christology, vindication, and martyrdom in the Gospel of Mark
and the Apocalypse: Two New Testament views. T & T Clark.