My Approach To The Gospel Of Mark

 

(This chapter contains detailed and somewhat technical material on the structure of the Gospel of Mark. If you prefer you may read this now or later after reading and using the text of the book. For a more scholarly commentary on the structure of the gospels and especially of Luke’s please read the introductory chapter, “Aims, methods and explanations”, p. 10, According to Luke, by David Gooding, Inter-Varsity Press and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987)

 

Readers of this book may find my approach to these studies unusual. If a reader of this book finds the table of contents and outline useful then by all means use them. Some may have questions as to their validity.

 

I am indebted to David Gooding’s studies in Luke, According to Luke, especially the chapter, Aims, Methods and Explanations, p. 10,  which explains the approach used in his book on Luke and all quotes in this chapter will be from his book and this chapter in his book. I have tried to use a similar approach but because I was not trained in my formative years of schooling in this approach to literature nor do I have a background in the study of classical literature as he has, I do hope that in my studies in this book that they reflect at least to some degree the approach he explains in the chapter Aims, Methods and Explanations.

 

For me it is also a matter of faith my acceptance of the traditional view that the Gospel of Mark was written by Mark under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But I also struggle with a tension between seeing the gospel as simply or strictly a presentation of facts about the gospel of the Lord Jesus and the significance of those facts presented. Maybe the struggle has to do as well with the degree to which we search out that significance without wandering into pure imagination.

 

What I am suggesting in these studies is that the stories Mark selected are grouped together to emphasize certain topics and issues. The topics and issues I emphasize may not be what others see or at least desire to present if they were to write a book or series of studies. They might want to emphasize the geographical areas Jesus visited, or emphasize Jesus’ methodology in his training of the disciples, or the manner in which he dealt with opposition both human and demonic, or glean something from Jesus’ principles of leadership, or his work ethic, or even examine the emotions (joy, fear, amazement, etc.) involved in all that took place as recorded by Mark. They might want to follow the two fold study, dividing the gospel in two parts similar in length, of how Jesus led his disciples to an acknowledgement of who he was, the Messiah (Christ), and then how he communicated what he had come to do, die on the cross and rise again. All of these approaches are very valid and could be of enormous value. In my analysis which I have been pursuing on and off for over 30 years I am not sure I always made the connections correctly in every case, but as David Gooding writes, “…the writer takes comfort from the critical good sense of his readers. He does not suppose that he will convince them that Luke (in this work, Mark) intended all the meanings and all the connections of thought that the present writer will suggest.” (See p. 23)

 

One important emphasis of this gospel seems to be the work of the Messiah. When Jesus returned to heaven the apostles went out everywhere preaching, the Lord working with them or helping them. (16:20) This gospel opens with the prophets writing and preaching, in other words, working. It does not begin with genealogies, birth and incidents from Jesus’ boyhood, all elements of Matthew and Luke. It has also been noted by commentators that the word immediately and an aura of constant action are typical of Mark. The bodies of teaching in Mark are shorter than in the other gospels. More space is given to the work that Jesus did than to the teaching he did.

 

After a brief introduction of Jesus’ person in chapter 1:1-13, the author then moves on to Jesus’ preaching of the kingdom of God. Jesus also goes into action. He goes to work. The division comes to an end with the description of the kingdom of God in chapter 4 through the parables and their explanations, and specifically mentioned as descriptions in verses 26 and 30. Jesus describes the kingdom through parables which are actually stories which describe work, the sower who sows the seed, the watering of the seed and the growth of the seed in the various grounds. Is it too much to suggest that the author places side by side with those parables which describe the kingdom of God in agricultural terms, series of incidents from Jesus’ ministry which implicitly describe the kingdom as such, as a kingdom, as a priesthood, as a marriage and body and as a household, all images of the kingdom used as metaphors and similes in the New Testament epistles to explain the kingdom of God? If one of the overall emphases of Mark is the “Messiah at work” then is it too much to label the second division of Mark, which seems to implicitly offer 5 descriptions of the kingdom through the incidents of Jesus’ ministry, What is the Messiah’s Working Plan? Another title that might serve for this division could be lifted right from the text in Mark 4:30, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? NKJV  I prefer the title What is the Messiah’s Working Plan? I prefer it because it combines the overall emphasis on work with the descriptions of the kingdom in this division. However, this is my preference.

 

Was Mark actually thinking these connections between the stories as he wrote? I cannot give you either a yes or a no with 100% certainty because Mark does not state these connections explicitly but as suggested, implicitly. David Gooding makes a point of the fact that ancient writers did record incidents in connected series with some thread of a topic or issue running through them, instead of writing a lot of commentary on each incident. (See p. 13) The reader was then offered the opportunity to make that connection or connections, which brought out what the author intended for the reader to understand about the actual facts of the incidents written down, in other words, the significance of those incidents.

 

He also makes a point of the fact that in each series of connected incidents there could be more than one topic or issue being dealt with. (See pp. 12 and 13) In my studies in Mark I may have only noticed one connection between some of the incidents of Jesus’ ministry. Others may find other connections or connections at different levels and of varying degrees of importance. The Bible is rich in facts and their meanings so should we limit what we can learn from it, except where we are limited by the Bible itself? It has been said that the Bible is its own best commentary. It has been my long standing practice to compare Scripture with Scripture, Scriptures on topics throughout the whole of the Bible, throughout the particular book under study, within the apparent division or section of the book, and within the paragraph or story of each division.

 

Let’s consider just one set of four stories that seem to be connected. In Mark 3:7-35 we find four stories that make much mention of family and household. In the first story, verses 7 to 12, we find Jesus at the center of attention of a multitude representing people of different regions and cultural backgrounds, and I think we can conclude that there were both Jew and Gentile present. When the evil spirits saw him they cried out that he was the Son of God. So we have the first mention of a family relationship. In the next incident, verses 13 to 19, we find Jesus appointing the 12 from amongst his followers. Their names are listed as well as some of their family relationships and family terms both real as in “sons of Zebedee” or “his brother John” and figurative as in “Sons of Thunder”. In the third scene, verses 20 to 30, a discussion arose as to what spirit operated in Jesus. His own, or his family, said he was out of his mind while the Pharisees said he had the prince of demons, Beelzebub. Jesus then spoke to them about a kingdom or house divided against itself. Here Jesus links kingdom and house and we have mention of a term connected with family and households, the word house. When we come to the fourth scene we are overwhelmed with the reference to family terms. In verses 31 to 35 the words mother, brother or brothers are used 5 times. The word sister is used once. Some usage of these terms is material referring to Jesus’ earthly family and other usage is spiritual referring to those who do the will of God. While some of these references to family and household would be incidental if standing alone, when they are suddenly grouped together in four consecutive scenes, and not grouped in this concentrated way in any of the rest of this gospel, I would suggest we can safely say Mark is trying to get our attention on this issue of God’s kingdom being a family and household.

 

But this is not where this image ends. We also suggest that the first scene emphasizes the person of Jesus because he is at the center of the crowd and the demons call him the Son of God. In the next incident where Jesus appoints his apostles they are the focus. In the third scene the focus is on the Holy Spirit. In the final scene the focus would be on the average disciple or follower of Jesus who does the will of God.

 

The importance of these four groups of persons becomes even clearer when we turn to Ephesians 2:19-22 where Paul describes the house of God, Jesus Christ being the cornerstone, the apostles and prophets the rest of the foundation, the Holy Spirit the One who dwells in this spiritual house, in which the disciples in Ephesus are being built up. I believe we can even go further. Paul has been making a point in Ephesians 2 that God has brought down the wall that separated the Jew from the Gentile. In the first scene in verses 7 to 12 where Jesus is surrounded by an international audience we find that he attracts to himself people of all backgrounds and regions. We could go on to compare the Mark passage with Hebrews chapter 2 but we will leave that for the main text of this book.

 

While what we have just described could have been a coincidence, when we find connections similar to this throughout the whole of the Gospel of Mark, repeated again and again, we prefer to suggest that there is point and purpose to these connections.

 

There is another element in this approach which has been important for me. I have found symbolism in Mark which at first I did not know what to do with. Symbols and images can be a little tricky to deal with and care must be taken. But if a series of stories are consecutive or parallel and a related series of symbols are presented in some of those stories, symbols whose symbolism is quite clear both from the story and its context as well as from other Scriptures, then those symbols which are not so clear can be made clearer because of the focus of the rest of the symbols around that symbol. Do you remember the case of the youth who followed the Lord and the disciples “at a distance” when the crowd from the high priests came with Judas to arrest Jesus? He was only covered with a sheet. Those who arrested Jesus tried to grab him and he fled naked leaving the sheet in their hands. There are 4 scenes which are parallel to that incident and in each one there is a symbol which has to do with Jesus’ sacrifice. The first is the perfume of pure nard broken and poured on Jesus. The second is a symbol well known to us and celebrated often, the bread and cup which represent the New Covenant. The fourth was Barabbas, the murderer whose place Jesus took on the cross. The fifth was the veil in the temple which was torn top to bottom at Jesus’ death. We are told that Jesus’ body was the veil according to the letter to the Hebrews. Without going into more explanation about these symbols we begin to ask ourselves what the sheet might represent that covered the youth who fled. Many commentators identify the youth with Mark himself.

 

While it took me years, and I emphasize years, to “put 2 and 2 together” it finally dawned on me that the sheet and Christ were the two “objects” that were taken that night. We can identify the sheet with Christ at least in that basic way but is there not more to this connection? The first people to run and hide from God because they knew they were naked and were ashamed were Adam and Eve. They covered themselves but God made them coats to wear. Much later Isaiah speaks of the garments of salvation provided by the Lord, towards the end of his prophecy.  I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth [herself] with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10 AV/KJV  Paul writes about “putting on” Christ in Galatians 3:27, a term used for clothing one’s self. So again we can ask ourselves, was Mark just recording facts about a young man who was present the night Jesus was arrested, and who fled naked? Or is there more to it both for Mark, the author, and for us, as lessons about who covers our shame and about our running away from testimony more than once, as he did that night and later as a helper on Paul’s and Barnabas’ ministry team? (Acts 13:5ff)

 

If at some point the reader believes I have used a title or a series of titles in the table of contents, the charts or the outline which are somewhat “contrived”, I readily admit that I may have fallen into the danger of not having focused on the primary connection if indeed there is a connection between the stories. This is my first effort at writing a book of any kind and I am experiencing a significant learning curve!

 

So let’s look at Mark as I have “seen” it. Please keep in mind that I did not borrowed this table of contents (outline) from anyone else. It has been a joy and a challenge to work through this gospel division by division, section by section, story by story, phrase by phrase, and often word by word.

 

Patterns And Structure Of The Gospel Of Mark (An Outline)

 

(Corresponding PowerPoint© presentation: Mark INTRODUCTION To Mark's Gospel)

 

I.        GOOD NEWS - This is how the Gospel begins. What Good News? We have a Messiah and Lord who works with us, WHO HELPS US! Compare Matt.28:16-20 and Luke 24:50-53 with Mark 16:19, 20. He submitted himself to the effects of the curse of sin, and helps us in the midst of the confusion, hurts, setbacks, difficulties, dangers, trials and challenges we face.

 

II.       WHY THIS ENDING?

A.      The on going emphasis in this Gospel, 10:45?

B.       The author's own experience and ministry of helping? (See Appendices: The Author's “Ministry History”:  John Mark Becomes A Useful Minister)

 

III.     OTHER EVIDENCE TO A GOSPEL OF JESUS’ WORK, SERVICE, LABOR AND ACTION:

A.      The shortest gospel of only 16 chapters.

B.       The "action" gospel with more narrative and less formal teaching.

 

IV.     THE CONTENT OF MARK'S GOSPEL

A.      Two major emphases:

1.        Who?     1:1-8:30           Jesus brings his followers to a confession of who He is.

2.        What?     8:31-16:20      Jesus then must explain to them what he came to do, die and rise again. While seeing the Gospel in this light is helpful, it still leaves us with 2 large blocks of text, too large to study as one. But there is another option.

B.       The Structure and Pattern - 7 Major Divisions.

1.        Introduction.                    1:1-13  Jesus is introduced by John the Baptist.

2.        Narrative and teaching   1:14-13:37           Jesus’ ministry described in 4 divisions.

3.        Passover                            14:1-16:8             Jesus’ death and resurrection.

4.        Conclusion.                       16:9-20                Jesus’ followers take over his work.

 

HOW SHALL WE STUDY THIS GOSPEL? Each division of this gospel answers a key question about the Messiah and his work. The questions come full circle, back to the question "who?”  Each of Christ's disciples and each generation of disciples must consider these questions in order to fulfill his work as confident servants of his.

 

I.              WHO IS THIS "WORKING MESSIAH"?

II.            WHAT PLAN OF WORK DOES HE HAVE IN MIND?

III.           WHERE DOES HE WORK AND ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM?

IV.           WHY HAS HE COME AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?

V.            WHEN WILL THE MESSIAH ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM?

VI.           HOW WILL HE ESTABLISH HIS WORK AND KINGDOM?

VII.          WHO WILL CARRY ON HIS WORK?

 

By way of application each generation of Jesus’ followers would do well to ask themselves the same questions:

 

        Who is Jesus to me?

        What plan should I follow in my work for the Lord?

        Where shall I work for Him?

        Why should I work for Him?

        When should I work?

        How should I carry out the work?

        Who will take over from me?

 

These are huge questions for each person who wants to follow and serve the Lord. I am suggesting that our studies in this gospel will contribute to the answering of these questions.

 

Another way to look at these patterns and structures in Mark is to examine the "chronological" line. While we might not be absolutely certain all the events in Mark are chronological, they do follow, in general, a chronological sequence. Let’s look at that line now.

 

Please note that the slides, reduced in size, of the corresponding PowerPoint presentations are scattered throughout the text indicating at which points they should be shown.

  

Further Explanations Regarding The Structure Of Mark

 

I. A Well Organized Gospel

 

The Gospel of Mark is a gospel with a powerful message and orderly structure. We would like to suggest that it is not a loosely organized tract but a narrative carefully built around themes directly related to the Good News about Jesus.

 

II. The Structure Of This Gospel

 

First let’s look at a few things related to the structure:

 

1.   The Introduction, 1:1-13, is a brief series of activities where the person of Jesus is introduced.

2.   The first part of his ministry, 1:14-4:34, is a series of activities followed by teaching. The narrative portion covers 1:14 to 3:35, and the teaching, that is the parables of the sower and the seed, covers 4:1 to 4:34.

3.   The second part of his ministry, 4:35-7:23, is, again, a series of activities followed by teaching. The narrative portion covers 4:35 to 6:56, and the teaching from 7:1 to 7:23, in which Jesus taught abut the conditions of the human heart.

4.   The third part of his ministry, 7:24-9:50, is a series of activities followed by teaching. The narrative covers 7:24 to 9:29, and the teaching 9:30 to 9:50, and there Jesus taught his disciples in private about rewards and punishments.

5.   The fourth part of his ministry, 10:1-13:37, is, as in the first three parts, a series of activities followed by teaching. The narrative covers 10:1 to 13:2, and the teaching 13:3 to 13:37. There Jesus taught four of his disciples about the signs of the end.

6.   The Passover, 14:1-16:8, is a unique part of the gospel in which he is arrested, condemned, crucified, buried and risen again.

7.   The conclusion, 16:9-20, is a series of four scenes in which Jesus leaves behind his followers in charge of his work.

 

III. The Themes Of Each Division Of This Gospel

 

We can already see that there is some structure to this gospel but the organization of this gospel goes much further than this. Each division is organized around a theme. Each theme will be presented as a question. The theme of each division is added to the division before it creating an integrated and powerful message.

 

IV. The Seven Main Divisions Of The Gospel Organized Around Seven Questions In Table Format (Figure 1)

 

I      Division	II     Division	III    Division	IV    Division	V      Division	VI   Division	VII   Division
Introduc-tion	Ministry	Ministry	Ministry	Ministry	Passover	Conclusion
Activities	Activities/ Teaching	Activities/ Teaching	Activities/ Teaching	Activities/ Teaching	Unique Activities	Activities
Who Is This?	What Is His Plan?	Where Does He Work?	Why Did He Come?	When Will He Do His Work?	How Will He Do His Work?	Who Will Continue His Work?

 

Figure 1

The Chart Of Each Division (Figure 2)

 

Now we must add to our chart the organization of the stories within each division. The first consists of 4 scenes or parts that form a chart of 2 stories by 2 stories, or 2 columns and 2 rows.  The second division consists of 20 stories of 5 columns and 4 rows. The third consists of 9 stories of 3 rows and 3 columns. The fourth has 16 stories in 4 columns and 4 rows. The fifth has 25 stories organized in 5 columns and 5 rows. The sixth has 20 in 5 columns and 4 rows. The final has 4 stories organized in 2 columns and 2 rows.

 

 

Figure 2

 

Even when these charts seem somewhat complicated please don’t lose heart as all this forms the basis for many studies and messages. These messages bring out themes which are very important to the communication of the gospel, both to invite people to follow Jesus, as well as, to build up their faith in him.

 

As we move through this gospel we will see the theme of each division developing. We will see what each column and row deals with. In fact each column and each row are a message in themselves. If we think in terms of only the columns we have 26 messages. If we add the rows we have 24 more or 50 in all. All these messages are apart from messages developed on each story. This would provide many weeks of messages or studies for church meetings, Sunday school classes, youth meetings, home studies, and personal study.

 

In this book we will deal with the material found as we study the columns of stories, plus that of one of the rows. Rather than include all 50 messages it seems better to leave the material found in the rows for a second volume.