JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING

From the very beginning, this Gospel makes its intention clear: “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1 NIV). The kingdom of God has come to the earth in the person of Jesus. Mark’s account reveals Jesus’ authority 1) as a teacher (1:21–22), 2) to forgive sins (2:5–12), and 3) over Sabbath (2:27–28), unclean spirits (3:20–27), creation (4:35–41, 6:45–52), the law (7:1–20), the temple (11:12–19, 27–33, 12:1–12), and the mystery of the kingdom (4:10–11).

Jesus did not shy away from getting His hands dirty. He wasn’t deterred by ritual defilement, physical contamination, the potential of contracting disease, or moral pollution. He sought and served all; He went to the lowest of low and raised them up. His loving touch, mighty power, and redemptive words displayed compassion, humility, and accessibility for all.

Jesus’ suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection are the center point of all of history and the lynchpin in God’s plan of salvation for mankind. Mark revealed the disciples’ initial inability to recognize Jesus as Messiah.

Jesus spoke openly of His suffering and death and warned His disciples that they’d also face persecution because of His name.

Jesus is the Savior of all who receive Him by faith. Mark’s Gospel focuses on Jesus’ ministry in Gentile regions, records Gentile confessions of faith (15:39), the sending of the first Gentile missionary (5:18–19), and calls the temple “a house of prayer for all nations” (11:17).

The narrative we now call the Gospel of Mark was written by the John Mark most likely somewhere between A.D. 50 and 68, with many pinpointing 64 as the year it was written. Based on this date, it is likely that Mark was the earliest Gospel account that was written.

John Mark and his mother were among the earliest followers of Jesus (1 Peter 5:13). In fact, his home was used as a meeting place for the apostles and early disciples, as is noted in Acts 12:12. He was cousins with Barnabas and even travelled with Paul for a season. He then served with the apostle Peter as his secretary up until Peter’s death in Rome in 68 AD. Thus, Mark’s Gospel is actually a record of what Peter said, saw, and taught.

The Gospel of Mark was written while Peter and John Mark were in Rome working with Roman Christians, and this was the original audience of the letter. Whereas the Gospel of Matthew was clearly written to a Jewish audience (as evidenced by the notations of fulfilled Old Testament prophecy), Mark was penned primarily to a Roman audience.

Mark is a historical narrative describing Jesus’ life, work, teaching, miracles, death, and resurrection with little background information. Starting with His baptism, it doesn’t record the events surrounding Jesus’ birth or early life at all or dive into deep theology. Think of Mark like a snap shot or a post card. It’s short, to the point, and powerful. It tells the simple story of Jesus and then ends with a challenge: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16 NIV).

Mark is a Gospel of action and reaction. Not interested in character or doctrinal development, more space is given to miracles in this Gospel than the others—18 of the 35 recorded miracles across the four Gospels are found in Mark. He also takes a lot of time to describe the reactions of people to Jesus. This 16-chapter account contains more than 20 references to people who were “amazed,” “astonished,” “puzzled,” or “hostile.”