The Gospel Of Mark Essay

The book of Mark is one of the four Gospels of Jesus found in the Bible. The Gospel of Mark is the second book followed right after the Gospel of John. The author of this book was been debatably between scholars for the past centuries. It is indicated like the other three gospels like Mark, the author are anonymous. Guelich, R. A. (1989) states in his commentary, “the identity of the author is more a historical curiosity than an exegetical necessity” (p. 29). However, many of them have found new evidence that suggests there have been more than one author involved in writing the book. The World Biblical Commentary explains that the gospel may have not come from the pen of a writer or an author but is the gospel message from God promised by Isaiah and expressed in the teachings of and stories about Jesus Messiah (Guelich, 1989, p.25). Furthermore, this indicates that the writer was writing down messages from God and not his own writings. However, the book also indicated that Mark is

identified as Peter’s interpreter. Therefore, Mark wrote down what Paul stated from the Lord said and did based on his notations of Peter’s preaching which Peter had adapted (Guelich, 1989, p.25). For this reason, is it indicated that Mark was an interpreter and a translator of Paul’s preaching to other.
Since the Gospel of Mark was written anonymously, it is difficult to understand when the gospel was written. According to Evans, “…J.A.T. Robinson (relating the New Testament) all of the New Testament writings were composed prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.” (2001, p.62). The author explains that no New Testament writer could have passed over in silence such a significant event. Furthermore, the author goes into detail and argued that Matthew was written ca. 40, Mark ca. 45, and Luke sometime in the 50s. One of the author arguments is the idea that Acts ends with Paul’s house imprisonment, which is to be dated ca. 62 and then backtracks to the earlier Gospel of Luke, then to Mark, and then finally to Matthew, which he believes to be the oldest of the Synoptics (Evans, 2001, p.62).
Many scholars are unsure of who the original intended audience was for this Gospel. However, according to Guelich, the original readers of the Gospel of Mark was for those who live following to and distant from the events narrated. Not only is this seen by the explanations made for the readers, but in 13:14 the narrator specially warns the readers to take notes of what had been promised and was now naturally expected. The author explains that the original authors lived in the time fame of 13:10 when the gospel is preached to all nations. The narrator itself by contrast, takes place in an earlier time period beginning with the appearance of the Baptist and concluding with the women’s discovery of Jesus’ empty tomb (1989, p.32).
The circumstance and event that caused the authors to write the Gospel has been thoroughly analyzed and interpreted by many scholars. It was indicated that Mark wrote the gospel pastorally to address a community under distress. In addition, the author explains that the distress had given rise to questions about who Jesus was and the nature of the kingdom he had come to inaugurate (Guelich, 1998, p.43). Mark points back to the good news concerning Jesus messiah, son of God, to remind them of who Jesus was and what he had come to do as well as what he would do. According to the purpose of this gospel was, “…to offer a renewed basis for their faith, made clear the dangers and pitfalls along the way and offer the hope of the kingdom future, the day of harvest, the mustard tree, the resurrection, and the ultimate consummation of God’s rule (Guelich, 1998, p.43).
There are a variety of literary sources within the structure of the Gospel.

Mark provided the early church with a distinctive literary genre, the gospel (Guelich, 1998, p.19). Therefore, it is indicated that his work most likely served as a pattern for Matthew and Luke and contributed to the eventual use of gospel as a literary designation in the early church. According to Guelich, “numerous early Christian writings are called gospels and many attempts have been made to identify more precisely the literary genre of the gospels in general and mark’s gospel in particular and the variety of recent suggestions includes an apocalypse, a drama, a Hellenistic aretalogy and a biography” (Guelich, 1998, p.19). Another genre for mark is narrative which is about telling a story. According to Guelich, “”Mark [is] read as a narrative” (1998, p.22).For example, in the beginning of Mark is narratives about Jesus with the baptism of John the Baptist and the ending on a notes about the

resurrection.
There are many major theme and emphasis of the Gospel of Mark. It is indicated that Mark’s theme and emphasis is focused on Jesus’s ministry. The emphasis of Mark revolves around significant events in the life of Christ, such as his crucifixion and suffering, Jesus as teacher, and His followers as disciples. The scripture that I prefer to study more fully is Mark 8:27-34 because I found it interesting to understand why Jesus did not want anyone at that current moment to know who He is and what His plans were for the future. However, I enjoyed reading both scriptures which were Mark 6:1-6 and Mark 8:27-34. I believe each scriptures was interesting and unique because it explained that Jesus had to different plans and ideas than the others. I found the Gospel of Mark to be interesting because it explains about the life of Jesus and His ministry here on earth. The passage of Mark 6:1-6 is a story about getting rejected by His people of His hometown because they do not understand Him. The passage Mark 8:27-34 is about Peter’s confession of Christ and also the understanding why Jesus did not want to reveal the truth of his crucifixion. I believe it will be exciting and also curious to understand the perspective about Jesus’ life and His ministry on earth.