August 11, 2016
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Things to notice when reading the Gospel of Mark
Things to notice when reading the Gospel of Mark.
Mark is thought to have been the very first of the four Gospels, and Matthew and Luke used it as part of their source material for their Gospels. This is not to say that the Holy Spirit was not involved in guiding the work of the evangelists. “Mark” was the John Mark that we read about in the book of Acts, and may have been the “young man” in Mark 14:51-52. Mark learned from his cousin Barnabas, ran away from Paul on the first missionary trip, and was associated with Peter later. He was not among the first disciples, but he had good mentors.
As you read the Gospel of Mark, notice how many of his sentences begin with the word “and.” “And” occurs over and over again in the Gospel of Mark. It’s Mark’s default for a new sentence, and may or may not indicate continuity with what went before; context must be your guide in that.
Also notice the “speed” of the flow of the story. When Jesus was baptized, “immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.” (Mk. 1:10) and then “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” (Mk. 1:12) “Immediately” is 35 times in Mark alone! The pace of Mark is fast, and the story moves fast.
Mark is simple in its language, it has been called “The Gospel for Dummies.” The theology, while solid, is not as complex as that of the other Gospels. Matthew was written for a Jewish audience that knew the Temple and the Old Testament, Luke was written for an educated Gentile audience and the Greek is more complex. John is also simple, deceptively so because it uses a lot of double meanings and subtleties.
Read it over and over to get the shades of meaning. Use a parallel Bible to see what the other Gospels say about the same story.
Happy reading of the Gospel of Mark!