The Analysis of Marks Gospel - Annotated Bibliography Example

The gospel of Mark al Affiliation) Marks gospel is brought in the bible as the second book in the New Testament. The book is also among the canonical and synoptic gospels. The gospel was traditionally thought to be a summary of Mathew’s gospel. In the gospel, mark mainly talks about the ministry of Jesus from the Time of birth, through baptism until his death. The gospel brings out the characteristics of Christ from being a healer, miracle worker, heroic and a man of action. Jesus is the son of God but he does not reveal the secret but conceals this in his parables so that even his disciples were not able to understand1. All the actions that are described in the gospel reflect to actions in the environment. There is the keeping of track of the prophecy of coming of the messiah in the gospel. The gospel does not extend after resurrection of Messiah but ends after there is discovery that the tomb was empty. Pastoral importance of Mark’s gospel. In the gospel, it is brought out the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist to be an event that aimed mainly in preparing the way. Isaiah writes that there would be a messenger that was to be sent who was to prepare the way. John the Baptist goes in the wilderness preaching about preparing the way for the son of God and preaching about baptism as a way of repentance and forgiveness of sins. He baptized people in river Jordan where the Messiah also is baptized. As Jesus came out of water after baptism, the haven was open and a dove descended with a voice from heaven which said that he was the son of God with whom he is pleased. After baptism, john was put in prison but Jesus went to Galilee to proclaim the good news of the Lord telling people to repent and believe in the good news. Jesus spreads the gospel and calls His first disciples Simon and his brother Andrew when they were fishing. The gospel journey of Messiah continues in the gospel of Mark with varied healings and casting out of demons. The healings are done to anyone including one with leprosy who came begging on his knees for the will to be healed. Importance of the gospel of Mark The gospel was important in understanding the context in which Jesus lived. It is seen that in the gospel, geography of Palestine was not changed as it still contained both fertile and desert lands. The people at the time engaged mainly in farming and manual working through keeping of sheep and engaging in services such as carpentry and pottery. The area was occupied by many races that spoke different languages and had different cultures. In the gospel, Jesus was born a Jew and remained to be identified with the tribe and culture. Gospel of mark also brings about the key gospel groups. In the gospel, the key gospel groups are brought out to be Pharisees who were strict on the observation and commitment to the oral law. Jesus refers to them as hypocrites. Sadducees is also a group presented who are political influential group who only recognize the law of Torah and have authorities to keep the influence of the law, the Sanhedrin, Herodias, Zealots, tax collectors and Samaritans2. The lion is the sign that was used as a symbol in Marks gospel and represented strength and courage that was in the Christians and the disciples. The key reasons why Mark wrote his gospel was because the people who knew Jesus and well-remembered the stories were dying but the stories needed to be represented. Those Christians who were persecuted needed strength and encouragement from Jesus life. It was also much important to have a written record of events that occurred in Jesus life. In presenting the gospel, there are several reasons that bring the gospel to be written from a point that was not from non-Jewish leadership3. The reasons are together with the words being translated from Aramaic and strong emphasis that is made on Jesus and acceptance of suffering from parts of the disciples. The use of immediate language which is straight forward in his work has benefited the Roman audience who appreciates the style. Mark has somehow less of Jesus teaching as well as of fulfilling prophecy since these would not have been known by the Romans and would have required additional and at times lengthy explaining. In some sense the gospel of Mark mainly addresses non-Jewish and this makes the language that is used to be simple. Mark’s gospel does not make it clear that Jesus was God. This is due to him being low Christology in his work. There is recognitions that all sin was against the will of God as Jesus was acting as God. Jesus did not bother to pray to God to ask for forgiveness4. In the gospel, there are factors of the word that are brought out. Jesus evidently read the minds of those he interacted with mind they did not state this out loud. Jesus also stated that His performing of the miracle was that they might know that He had the authority to forgive sins in other words that He was the very person and what they thought He was claiming to be. Mark’s gospel brings Jesus being the son of God but he does not reveal the secret but conceals this in his parables so that even his disciples were not able to understand. All the actions that are described in the gospel reflect to actions in the environment. There is the keeping of track of the prophecy of coming of the messiah in the gospel5. The gospel does not extend after resurrection of Messiah but ends after there is discovery that the tomb was empty. The ending does not extend since the achievements and the gospel had been spread to Christians. Interpretation of Mark’s gospel Gospel of mark also brings about the key gospel groups. In the gospel, the key gospel groups are brought out to be Pharisees who were strict on the observation and commitment to the oral law. Interpretation has been done literally by other people who think every word in the Gospel is literally true. These are literalists. Fundamentalists believe that the gospel is the word of God and events that are presented in the gospel happened just as they are brought out with the view to show that Jesus was God. Mark’s gospel has also been interpreted by conservatives where the readers have considered carefully the context that the gospel is written and takes account of different miracles that occurred during the time6. Others have also interpreted the gospel in a flexible way as a factor of exploring the message of God. This makes them believe that the stories that are presented in the gospel represent the love of God for humankind through his son Jesus. Bibliography Healy, Mark, and Richard Hook. 1998. Warriors Of The Old Testament. London: Brockhampton Press Hooker, Morna Dorothy. 2001. A Commentary On The Gospel According To St. Mark. London: Continuum. Moloney, Francis J. 2002. The Gospel Of Mark. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers. Pawson, David. 1997. Jesus Baptises In One Holy Spirit. London: Hodder & Stoughton. Shively, Elizabeth E. 2012. Apocalyptic Imagination In The Gospel Of Mark. Berlin: De Gruyter. Read More