The Gospel of Mark - Introduction

Gospel of Mark

Oct 12

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Today it is often stated that Mark was the first gospel to be written. It was not written by an Apostle, but as we will see, it was most likely the result of the influence and direction of Peter. Mark is a short and concise book which seeks to portray Jesus as a prophet, the Messiah, and as a teacher. It gives a close personal view of Jesus and His Disciples, while also showing us the great works and miracles that Jesus performed. In this way it helps us grow in our faith and knowledge of Jesus.

Author

The question of authorship of the book of Mark is often debated. There are several views which we will look at here. Joel Marcus sees the author as Mark, possibly John Mark, not connected to Peter but instead the John Mark that abandoned Paul (Acts 13:13, 15:38) (Marcus 2008, 24). Robert H. Stein agrees with Markian authorship (John Mark), adding that it was written in Rome, thus connecting it to Peter. He also expresses support for John Mark being a Christian Jew (Stein 2008, 4-5). Adela Yarbro Collins and Harold W. Attridge hold that Mark (that is, John Mark) was a Christian Jew, the cousin of Barnabus, and sees a connection to both Peter and Paul (Collins and Attridge 2007, 4-6).

From these we can paint a picture of the author of the book of Mark. Firstly, His name was probably John Mark, a Christian Jew who journeyed with Paul early in his ministry. However, possibly because of a disagreement, he abandoned Paul (Acts 13:13). Later, when Mark sought to return Paul refused. This led to a split between Paul and Barnabus (the cousin of John Mark) (Colossians 4:10, Acts 15:37-40). Mark eventually found his way to Rome where he worked with Peter (1 Peter 5:13), writing down his stories about Jesus to eventually produce the Gospel of Mark.

Date

As R. T. France explains the church tradition was that Mark wrote the Gospel with input from Peter while he was living in Rome (R. T. France 2002, 38).

“The tradition of the early church then affirms consistently that this gospel was written by Mark in Rome as a record of Peter’s teaching, most probably while Peter was still alive and therefore not later than the early sixties of the first century.”

This helps us narrow down the timeframe, and we have a couple of different views we will consider. Robert H. Stein holds a date range of 65-70 AD (Stein 2008, 2), Joel Marcus argues for a date of 69-75 AD (Marcus 2008, 39), Adela Yarbro Collins and Harold W. Attridge call for a 66-69 AD date range (Collins and Attridge 2007, 14). The major question here of date is whether Mark was written before or after the destruction of the temple. Either way, we have a date range of 65-75 AD.

Genre

The genre of Mark has been long debated over the years and many dissimilar theories have been put forth, often with disparate views and evidence. Some argue that Mark is a dramatization (Marcus 2008, 69), while others argue for a narrative genre (Collins and Attridge 2007, 43), however, the most compelling argumentation I have seen suggests that it is a biography (Witherington III 2001, 6-7). This quote from Ben explains it best:

“A variety of external and internal features of Mark’s Gospel point us toward it being a biography of some sort. Firstly, it is the right length, and in fact is clearly much shorter than Luke or Matthew (Mark has 11,242 words, Luke 19,428, Matthew 18,305).17 Matthew and Luke are actually at the upper limits for a biography (Luke being at the upper limits for what a single scroll could contain), but Mark is closely similar to the average length of one of Plutarch’s Lives. Secondly, even at a glance the work is clearly a continuous prose narrative, which places it in the category of history, biography, or romance. It is clearly not a moral tract, a speech (encomium), or a play. It has a basic chronological and even geographical progression—from a largely northern ministry to a final visit to Jerusalem, from Galilee to Jerusalem. Thirdly, notice how rarely Jesus is not the center of attention of any given narrative in Mark’s Gospel (the exception would be Mark 6 in the story about Herod, but even there Jesus is discussed at 6:14–16). Jesus or his teaching is the subject of over 44 percent of the verbs in Mark’s Gospel,18 and in almost any given narrative he is either the center of attention or of discussion, or not far from the spotlight. This book is the good news about Jesus, and it seldom strays any distance or length of time from its main subject.
Fourthly, Mark follows the ancient biographical convention of using indirect portraiture to reveal his central figure. By this I mean, Mark largely lets Jesus’ words and deeds speak for themselves. He does not intrude into his story with a great deal of authorial commentary, nor do we find much first-person commentary by Jesus about himself (unlike John’s Gospel).19 Fifthly, Mark is characterized by short anecdotal stories that focus on a word or deed of Jesus, and whether we call these pronouncement stories or, more appropriately, chreiae (see below), the stringing together of such short condensed narratives was indeed characteristic of ancient biographies.
Sixthly, the normal subjects for an ancient biography were public figures such as emperors or generals, or literary figures such as rhetoricians or poets, or finally sages or philosophers. As Bryan suggests, it appears likely that an outsider reading Mark, but even more so Matthew, would assume the work was a biography about some sage.20 It was not unexpected that sages would be misunderstood and would suffer at the hands of society, being treated as the nonconformist outcasts they often managed to be (see Lucian, Demon. 11.65). Finally, in regard to Mark’s somewhat rough Greek style, bear in mind that bioi in the first century A.D. were by their very nature popular literature. They did not need to be considered in the same league as, say, Vergil’s Aeneid or Homer’s Odyssey, or even as precise as a careful work of history like Thucydides’ History. The goal was to create a lasting impression through the impact of the whole bios.”

The gospels as biographies also help clear up the supposed contradictions and “mistakes”. We know from ancient biographies that an author would arrange the life of the subject in order to make points about his character. In other words, the acts of Jesus described in the Gospels are true, but are arranged in order to make a particular point about who He was. The ordering of events in the Gospels are different for this reason. The Gospels do not try to portray an order of events, but instead portray the truth of the person of Jesus Christ! In my opinion, although the factual order of the life of Jesus is a curiosity, it would be a mistake to try to construct such an order from the different Gospels because that is not the truth that the writers were trying to convey. Indeed, if we do this we are making something from the Gospels that the writers never intended or wanted. Thus, in this work on the Gospels we will not seek to create such an order, but instead, will seek to examine His life moment by moment, action by action, and work by work.

Instead of looking at the history of Jesus we will look at the person of Jesus. This does not mean that we lack a historical reality for Jesus. We know He was a real man who lived as a Jew and was crucified by the Romans. As Christians, we believe that He resurrected and ascended to heaven. We believe in Jesus, not because we know the order of His life, but because we know the substance of His life. Jesus comes to us as a historical person, but more than that, as a personal God who we can worship, know and love.

Summary

In summary, Mark was a Christian Jew named John Mark, who was the cousin of Barnabus. Early in ministry he traveled with Paul, but left him. Later he worked with Peter in Rome where he wrote this great work. He did this right before or right after the destruction of the temple, a given date ranging from 65-75 AD (I prefer the earlier dates). He wrote his work as a biography, to show Jesus as a prophet, teacher, and most importantly, the Messiah. He gave us a close view of the life and work of Jesus, especially of His miracles, teachings, and great works. This encourages us to come to know Jesus as a person, whom we can believe and trust in. Mark helps us grow in our faith and belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. With this we will now progress into Mark, looking at the events of Jesus’ life, examining His teachings, and believing in His miracles.

References-

Joel Marcus, Mark 1–8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 27, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 24.
Robert H. Stein, Mark, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 4–5.
Adela Yarbro Collins and Harold W. Attridge, Mark: A Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007), 4-6.
R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 38.
Robert H. Stein, Mark, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 2.
Joel Marcus, Mark 1–8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 27, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 39.
Adela Yarbro Collins and Harold W. Attridge, Mark: A Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007), 14.
Joel Marcus, Mark 1–8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 27, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 69.
Adela Yarbro Collins and Harold W. Attridge, Mark: A Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007), 43.