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INTRODUCTION TO

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT MARK

Author The earliest manuscripts of the second Gospel are titled "According to Mark" (Gk. Kata Markon). This heading summarizes the Church's uniform tradition that Mark, a disciple of Simon Peter, wrote the second Gospel. Although Mark did not write as an eyewitness of Christ's public ministry, he was a channel of apostolic tradition through Peter, who was his primary source of information about the life of Jesus. His association with Peter is evident in both the NT and the testimony of the early Church. (1) Within the NT, Peter refers to his companionship with "my son Mark" in 1 Pet 5:13, and interpreters have noted that the general outline of Mark's Gospel is similar to Peter's presentation of the gospel in Acts 10:36-43. (2) Outside the NT, several Church Fathers insist that Peter's authority stands behind the second Gospel. Papias (A.D. 130) describes Mark as the "interpreter" of Peter, while Irenaeus (A.D. 180), Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 200), and Tertullian (A.D. 200) echo this tradition.

Few details exist about the life and character of Mark. He is known principally by his Roman name "Mark" (Lat. Marcus) but is sometimes called by his Jewish name "John" (Acts 12:25; 15:37). He is the cousin of the missionary Barnabas according to Col 4:10. More significantly, he was an associate of the Apostle Paul (Acts 12:25) and a welcome companion on Paul's first missionary journey (Acts 13:5). For reasons unstated, Mark withdrew prematurely from the mission (Acts 13:13), creating an awkward situation that later became a source of contention between him and Paul (Acts 15:36-41). At some point, however, Mark was reconciled with him and again became active in his ministry, since he is later present with Paul in Rome (Col 4:10; Philem 24), and, according to the apostle's estimation, "he [Mark] is very useful in serving me" (2 Tim 4:11). Tradition states that after the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, Mark was the first to establish churches in Alexandria in northern Egypt.

Date Two factors suggest that Mark completed his Gospel before A.D. 70, within one generation of the events he records. First, the Gospel itself points us in this direction. In Mk 13, Jesus prophesies the imminent destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. This was fulfilled in A.D. 70, when the Romans violently destroyed the Holy City. Mark, however, makes no mention of this as a past event, nor does he give detailed information about the catastrophe that would indicate he was writing after the fact. Second, prominent traditions in the early Church date Mark's Gospel in the 60s A.D., or even earlier. Both a second-century document, called the Anti-Marcionite Prologue, and Irenaeus (A.D. 180) state that Mark wrote soon after Peter's martyrdom (c. A.D. 67)—a tradition that still allows for a date in the late 60s. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 200), on the other hand, maintains that Mark wrote his Gospel before Peter's death. Still another witness, Eusebius (A.D. 340), fixes a date for Mark during the reign of the Emperor Claudius between A.D. 41 and 54. Although these varying traditions make it impossible for us to assign an exact date for the Gospel, they together suggest that Mark published his work sometime before A.D. 70. Many modern scholars likewise place the composition of Mark just before A.D. 70, though some put it just after this critical date.

Destination Mark wrote his Gospel primarily for Gentile believers in Imperial Rome. This is suggested by several considerations. (1) Mark regularly explains Jewish customs that would be unfamiliar to his readers (7:3-4; 14:12); (2) he translates Aramaic words and phrases (3:17; 5:41; 7:11, 34; 15:34); (3) he at times uses Latinized terms instead of their Greek equivalents (12:42; 15:16); (4) his story climaxes with a confession of faith by a Roman soldier (15:39). It is also possible that Mark's audience in Rome was the target of fierce persecution at the time of composition (the Neronian persecution ran from about A.D. 64 to 68). His Gospel, then, may have been written to remind Roman believers of the suffering endured by their Lord and to encourage them to remain faithful during their own time of trial.

Structure Mark's Gospel resists a neat and clear-cut outline. As the narrator, Mark remains tucked behind his story and imposes no artificial structure on the traditions he has received; he is content, rather, to present the events of Jesus' life as he learned them. For the sake of convenience, however, the Gospel may be divided into two major sections and two minor sections (see outline). The two major sections (1:16-8:30; 8:31-15:47) comprise most of Mark's narrative and consist of various events that gradually build in momentum toward a climactic confession of faith. In the first movement (1:16-8:30), the story culminates with Peter's testimony, "You are the Christ" (8:29), a confession that stands out amid the surrounding confusion about Jesus' identity (8:28). Similarly, the second movement (8:31-15:47) ascends gradually and peaks with the centurion's declaration, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" (15:39), which also stands in contrast to the surrounding taunts leveled at Jesus (15:29-32, 36). The Gospel's two minor sections (1:1-15; 16:1-20) are small in size but great in importance. The Prologue (1:115) sets the stage for Jesus, narrating the preparations leading up to his public ministry. The Epilogue (16:1-20) crowns Mark's story with the account of Jesus' Resurrection and Ascension, bringing to a climax "the gospel of Jesus Christ" anticipated since the beginning (1:1).

Themes Mark paints a portrait of Jesus that is vivid and dynamic, focusing most of his attention on Jesus' mighty works. Apart from two lengthy sermons (4:1-32; 13:1-37), Mark depicts Jesus as an active healer and exorcist continually on the move—a feature the evangelist accentuates by using the word "immediately" over forty times in his mere sixteen chapters! In addition, Mark's Gospel engages the Christian reader with a number of rhetorical questions and statements that punctuate the story: "What is this? A new teaching!" (1:27); "Why does this man speak like this? . . . Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (2:7); "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?" (4:41); "But who do you say that I am?" (8:29); "And what I say to you I say to all: Watch" (13:37). These statements address the attentive reader much as they address characters in the story. They invite every believer to look at Jesus with the eyes of faith, embrace him in hope, and imitate his heroic love.

The content of Mark's story revolves primarily around the identity of Jesus. Two aspects figure prominently: Jesus' secret and his divine Sonship. (1) Secret. In Mark, Jesus often attempts to conceal his identity as the Messiah because of the great possibility that his contemporaries will misunderstand his mission. During NT times, many in Israel expected the Messiah to liberate them from the oppressive rule of the Romans. For this reason they awaited an outstanding royal and military figure to subdue their enemies and reestablish the earthly kingdom of David in Jerusalem (11:10). Jesus distances himself from these popular, but mistaken, aspirations and instead works to conceal his messianic identity to avoid confusion about his ministry. When unclean spirits attempt to publicize his identity, Jesus silences them (1:25, 34; 3:12). When men try to announce Jesus as a miracle worker or Messiah, he orders them not to (5:43; 7:36; 8:26, 30; 9:9). Far from embracing the role of a political leader, Jesus labors to reconfigure messianic expectations through his example of servanthood and suffering. The true Messiah liberates God's people from the burdens of Satan, sickness, and sin—not the yoke of an earthly empire (1:27, 34, 41; 2:5, 17; 3:5, 10; 5:41; 7:37). (2) Sonship. The divine Sonship of Jesus is also a leading theme in Mark. It could be said, in fact, that recognizing Jesus as the divine Son of God is the goal of Mark's Gospel. Ironically, Jesus' Sonship and Incarnation are mysteries hidden from most of the Gospel's characters, despite repeated suggestions and hints pointing in this direction. As the narrator, Mark introduces Jesus from the outset as "the Son of God" (1:1). The demons are aware of it (3:11; 5:7), God the Father twice proclaims it in public (1:11; 9:7), and Jesus himself affirms it in no uncertain terms (14:61-62). Only at the Crucifixion is the Sonship of Jesus fully recognized as he surrenders his life with love to the Father. It is here that a single Gospel character (Roman centurion) confesses Jesus as "the Son of God" (15:39). Mark's Gospel proclaims this mystery of Christ's Sonship in story form and seeks both to inform and to challenge readers with this central truth of the gospel. «