The Message For Original Audience

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” becomes very effective for the intended audience when knowledge of the customs and traditions that shape the impacted audience

Jesus then goes from speaking to His disciples specifically, to calling out to the whole crowd, in which He goes from speaking plainly to once again speaking in metaphors and riddles. Within this passage Mark uses the words of Jesus to reveal the true cost of discipleship. He tells the crowd that if anyone chooses to come after Him then the condition of that decision is that they must take up their cross and follow Him. So one must ask: What does it mean to deny yourself? What does it mean to take up your cross? And when you follow Him where are you going? So then one must put this into context by looking at what has not yet happened in Mark. When Jesus denies Himself, He is essentially denying the human instinct to self preserve through a fight or flight response. When Jesus picked up His cross, He was deciding to be rejected, tortured, mocked and falsely accused on His way to Calvary where He died for the sins of all. Therefore, if you want to go after Jesus, you must be willing to commit to sharing the gospel with others at all costs, you must be willing to tortured, mocked, and falsely accused and you must also be willing to die, not necessarily for anything that you have done, but so that others can reach salvation. Historically, during this time period, the cross was a well known style of execution in Rome, and so although one reading this might see this as simply a metaphor, it is actually a foreshadowing of reality, which can be seen in the fact that all the

Mark 5:21-43 is a story within a story, which begins and ends with a man named Jairus and his dying daughter while the middle illustrates a story of a hemorrhaging woman. Jesus entered a town and was approached by Jairus, a leader of the synagogue who begged Jesus to heal his dying daughter to which Jesus agreed and followed. The passage is then interrupted by the story of the hemorrhaging woman. Jesus was pursued by a large crowd including a woman who suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years. The woman said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” (Mark 5:28 NRSV) After this statement and her contact with Jesus’ clothes, she was healed. Jesus noticed the power leave his body and asked

The young man said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He was risen; he is not here.” (MK 16: 6) so where is the resurrection of Jesus? Mark abrupt termination of his story, it makes people look forward to meeting with the resurrection of Jesus. It is a common description approaches in the Mark. Of course, Mark was convinced that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. However, in the entire of the Mark, he keeps telling us that, there are a lot of people do not know Jesus and many people refused to believe him. Mark's description approaches are likely wanting people to believe Jesus by their personal faith, not by the story. The purpose of the Mark ending is not only want people to accept the truth of the gospel, but also invite people to go encounter with the risen

After reading Mark, chapters one through five, several things stood out to me. First, when Jesus heals the paralytic that is lowered from the roof in Mk. 2:11, the healed man doesn’t even thank Jesus! He just walked out of the building and back to his house. This stood out to me because most of the time,

Matthew and Mark have the most similar writings in regards to this miraculous act, besides a few minor things. Matthew writes that Jesus feels pity for them and cures the sick but Mark on the other hand does write that Jesus feels pity, but does not mention healing the sick. In Matthew, the people heard the ship

The concept of ‘seeing’ the ways of Jesus and that He is the Messiah, is to truly understand the message being portrayed throughout the Gospel, and not the surface meaning that is being represented literally. This concept was very significant to Jesus and his followers as to interpret the meaning without being said, most parables being related to the Kingdom of God and Jesus’ miracle stories. Times were harsh and difficult to spread and teach the words of Jesus, as Mark’s community would face persecution. The disciples of Jesus could ‘see’ more than other believers could perceive, from being apart of Jesus’ life with close relationships, as they were taught the fundamentals from Jesus himself to understand his teachings in much more depth and fluency than others. There were many similarities among Jesus’ twelve disciples and Mark’s community, as both groups share the strong faith in Jesus and God’s power by spreading the good news to others as well as experiencing hardships caused by arrogant hierarchy and society. According to Mark, Jesus was known for his parables and

Mark: The Gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus Christ’s life from when he was baptized by John the Baptist until the days of his death, and his resurrection. Mark was the second of four Gospels although some Scholars argue and insist Mark was the first Gospel written 1. Mark was written by John Mark in AD 65, with a target audience of Roman Christian beleivers 2. Mark was written in a unique manner in regards to literary genre, as it contains figures of speech, and portray life situations in a passionate story like setting that can make the reader feel as if he is there 3. The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, however it is written in a manner that emphasizes more so on Jesus’s works than Jesus’s words 4. The key theme in Mark is to portray the life of Jesus Christ as the son of God 5, and the purpose was to show the human qualities and emotions that Jesus displayed from anger (Mark 3:5), and compassion (Mark 1:41). Some of the key events of Jesus Christ’s life in the Gospel Mark include his miracles, his entrance into Jerusalem, the last supper, his arrest and trial, his crucifixion, his resurrection, and his ascension 6. The Gospel of Mark ends with his instruction to the eleven Apostles “And he said unto them “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:16), and his ascension into Heaven (Mark 16:19).

Mark describes the Son of Man in three ways, as being the earthly Son of Man, the suffering Son of Man and the Eschatological Son of Man. As the earthly Son of Man, He is capable of forgiving sin, and He reigns over the Sabbath Day, while He teaches with authority and “claims the right to wield immense religious power”, as well as change Jewish laws and customs (Harris, 2014, pp. 147-148). As the suffering Son of Man, Jesus is portrayed in Mark as a servant “who embraces suffering” (Harris, 2014, p. 147). Jesus the Eschatological Son of Man maintained the ability to judge the souls of all humankind, based on the direction and teachings He had provided, both while on earth and through His word. Mark also represents that Jesus “comes in the

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ divinity and humanity are thoroughly expressed through miracles and suffering. The “Son of God” is a title given to Jesus as he is believed to bring faith and hope to persecuted humans. The Son of God is told to be powerful, and capable of performing miracles of healing and forgiving those with sins. In Mark 1:1, John the baptist talks about the “Son of God” and how he is “The beginning of the good news.” This is important as it displays the message of hope for persecuted Christians. The main themes in Mark’s Gospel is suffering, service and sacrifice. The title “Son of Man” is often used by Jesus as it shows his humanity. In the Gospel of Mark, the humanity of Jesus is displayed through his suffering in the events leading to his crucifixion. Jesus’ suffering proves to us that he is

Which, Mark uses this to almost juxtapose how he has to divide out the demons and how his family is divided over him. To me this is very purposeful by Mark and very thought provoking. Than Jesus’s family calls out to him saying “Your mother and his brothers are outside, seeking you.” Jesus responds to them by saying “Who are my mother and my brothers?” and goes on to say, “Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and

The book of Mark is the second book of the New Testament and the second book of the Gospels. The second gospel conveys Jesus’s ministry from the time Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist to the time Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected from the dead. The Book of Mark includes many short parables and miracle stories. In Scriptures in the World Religions, Coward states that the Gospel of Mark represents a divine transaction whose import involves heaven and earth, and even the scenes of the Passion are recounted with a corresponding austerity (Coward 40). Most Christians believe that the Gospel of Mark is not a recollection of the past; however, they view the Gospel of Mark as restoration of God’s actions in the world. The writer for

Jesus decides to heal the blind man in two stages rather than just one in order to reveal to the disciples their own spiritual blindness. Even though up to this point they have seen Jesus perform various miracles, the disciples continuously struggle to see Jesus as the Messiah. They are blinded by their own pre-conceived notions their culture has fed them with. Mark elects to include this story in his Gospel because he feels it also applies to his audience. He wants to warn them against their own spiritual blindness. Since it is believed Mark was writing to a persecuted Christian group, Mark is encouraging the readers to wait for God to fulfill his promises in due time. He does not want his audience to lose hope. Jesus may not heal or fulfill his promises it in our timing, but regardless Jesus will do what needs to be done.

More than a few explanations have been given. First of all, scholars have contemplated the idea that there is a possibility that there were two men in each occasion and that Mark has left one demoniac out of the picture. Since Mark, is said by scholars to have written at least two decades before any of the evangelicals. While this might be understood in Mark 10:46, when he mentions by name one of the blind men or perhaps only one of them continued to followed Jesus, this is more of a problem in this passage. What would have been the reason for the author of Mark to leave one person out? In the case of the two demoniacs is it not more frightening and more dangerous and therefore a more significant of a miracle to be challenged by two demonized men than one? It is difficult to understand why the two Mark and Luke, who of course may have never read Matthew, would be so consistently different without any reason or hidden agendas. Secondly, some experts have disputed that it is merely the nature of miracle stories to grow in the telling. This elucidation is totally unsophisticated and simplistic. Moreover, if the stories were overstated, why the number would always be two? Why would it not some of the stories have had two or four, perhaps seven or six? The probabilities for this to accord are minor, however, that the doubling is simply due to such a

Mark presents Jesus as a compassionate savior who through his acts of service and acts of suffering summons unbelievers to become disciples and so that believers would understand what it means to be committed followers of Jesus. In Mark's account of the Passion of Jesus Christ, Jesus dies alone.Jesus only speaks once from the cross stating "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" and dies. Mark acknowledges that after Jesus' crucifixtion that people believed in Jesus being the true Messiah, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" (15:39).