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Understanding something of the structure can reveal far more than we expect, and teach us much about the ebb and flow of life.
This week we will begin to explore Mark's gospel in depth. But first let us complete our journey to the start of Mark's gospel. First we will start with Jesus and his life and teaching. How did we eventually end up with Mark's gospel?
The Church teaches us there are three stages to the writing of the gospels. We will examine these points in relationship with Mark's gospel.
THE THREE STAGES OF GOSPEL TRANSMISSION
The Catholic Catechism clearly summaries these three stages.
| "1. The life and teaching of Jesus. The Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, "whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation, until the day when he was taken up."99 | The gospels really pass on what Jesus did and taught, and that it is the honest truth about Jesus. |
| 2. The oral tradition. "For, after the ascension of the Lord, the apostles handed on to their hearers what he had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they, instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of truth, now enjoyed." | Peter reflected on what had happened and would have told the stories of Jesus, over and over to people. As time went on he would have gained fresh insights into the person and work of Jesus. |
| 3. The written Gospels. "The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form; others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, the while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus."101 " (CCC 126) | Mark a disciple of Peter wrote down the stories he heard from Peter and would have organised them into his gospel. |
Scholars who have studied Mark's gospel and compared it to the other gospels have developed some interesting facts about it.
- Jewish language, culture is explained.
- Roman terms and customs are presumed and Roman values for money are used.
- A connection to the Church in Rome is mentioned (Rufus was known to the Roman Christians).
- Special detail about events that only Peter, James and John were present at.
What might these 3 terms tell us about the gospel?
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When we examine the rest of the New Testament we find Mark's mother was Mary whose house was used for the breaking of bread (Acts 12:12)
Mark's cousin was Barnabas (Col 4:10)
St. Peter refers to Mark as 'my son' (1 Peter 5:13)
We also have a record of Early Church writers who affirm that Mark was a disciple of St. Peter.
As we read Mark's gospel we can 'hear' St. Peter proclaiming the stories. Read through Mark chapter 1 and count how many times the word 'immediately' occurs.
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The word 'immediately' actually occurs nearly fourty times in teh whole gospel of Mark compared to Luke's seven and John's four. Peter was an impetuous fellow. You can imagine Peter proclaiming this gospel with his vibrant spontaneous personality. Mark captures that for us, but Mark also goes on to weave these stories together in such a way as to add more meaning and depth. Ancient writers write differently to today's writers. Todays novels are long stories. Mark's gospel is only 17 pages in length in my Bible. While it is short, it is full of literary techniques that through careful reading become clear and express fresh layers of meaning.
We are now ready to explore the first sentence of Mark's gospel which sets the trjectory for the whole gospel.
Please read Mark 1:1
How do you understand 'Son of God' and 'Christ'?
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Christ means Messiah, the saviour. The word 'Christ' comes from the Greek word 'Christos' which means saviour. The word 'Messiah' comes from the Jewish word for Saviour. But what exactly is a Saviour?
Please list the world's problems as you see them.
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How do you think these problems will be fixed? Who is going to fix them?
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Imagine someone is drowning and is about to die. If someone dives in and saves that person's life, we would call that person a 'saviour'. The person who would come along and fix all of the world's problems would indeed be a mighty saviour. How could someone fix all of those problems?
Have a look at your list of problems and cross off the ones which would be due to greed, lust, jealousy, anger... that would be due to sin or a result of sin.
Is there anything in your list left?
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Now how could sin be dealt with? Imagine if everyone in the world were to go to confession and say sorry for all the wrongs they have done and then start to do the right thing. No more prisons, no more war, no more environmental pollution... a world of love, peace and happiness! But how can the human heart be changed?
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Sin is real. When we sin, our soul is affected and we become less capable of doing the good and more inclined to do the wrong. By ourselves we cannot change. Only God can forgive sin and change our hearts. Thank God he does. When we try to change, God helps us with His grace to change us. But we need so much of it. As we go through Mark's gospel we will learn about Jesus' saving plan. That he does forgive sin. That infact he has taken upon himself the sin of the world so that we can be forgiven. He freely wants us to receive his mercy. And so the first cry we will hear in the gospel is to 'Repent! and believe in the good news'.
What is this 'good news'?
The good news that Jesus is the saviour, the one to set us free, to give us victory over sin and live in the full plan of God which is for us to be totally happy, totally fulfilled and living a life of love from conception to death and beyond - for ever!
God prepared the Jews for Jesus by promising a saviour. The saviour would be a king like David. The saviour would be a prophet like Moses. There are many other prophecies about the saviour. Each of the gospels in their own way confirm Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament messanic expectations. By the time of Jesus there were particular groups with particular expectations. We will now explore each group and their expectations. It is these expectations that shape so much of the gospel and even lead to Jesus' death.
The Pharisees: The Pharisees were a group of devout Jews who lived out the Jewish Law to the letter. The Jewish Law is contained in the first five books of the Bible and is called the Torah (Jewish for 'law') We call the first five books the 'Pentateuch' - it's just the name for the first five books. The Pharisees wanted everyone to live the law. They looked down on those who did not live up to it's expectations. What kind of Messiah do you think the Pharisees were expecting?
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The Zealots: The zealots were a resistance group to the Romans and sought to overthrow Roman rule in Palestine. They wanted to have a good Jewish king to rule over Israel again so Israel can again achieve it's former glory. What kind of Messiah do you think the zealots were expecting?
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The Scribes: The scribes were the educated group, who could read, write and interpret the law and other ancient writings. Like the Pharisees they wanted people to follow the law. What kind of Messiah do you think the zealots were expecting?
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The Sadducees: The Sadducees were a rich group of people who enjoyed the pleasures of life at the time. They were not so concerned about the law and rejected some of the beliefs of the Pharisees. There were interested in enjoying the here and now. What kind of Messiah do you think the Sadducees were expecting?
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The Romans: The Romans were in control of Israel. By maintaining control they were able to tax the people, but in return they kept law and order and build good roads and would protect Israel if it was attacked. Romans had many gods and caesar their leader was also considered a god. Generally they had a strong ethical code and believed in a universal justice. What kind of Messiah do you think the Romans were expecting?
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The whole gospel deals with this question: Who is Jesus? What kind of Messiah is Jesus?
Straight out, at the very start, we are told that Jesus is the Messiah the son of God. These two points set the basic structure for the gospel. You, the reader, are told that Jesus is the Messiah and son of God, but the characters in the gospel don't know that. The first time a human being realises that Jesus is the Messiah is Peter in the middle of the gospel. The first time a human asserts Jesus is the son of God is a Centurian after Jesus dies on the cross. These two assertions represent the ends of the trajectory started in Mark 1:1.
The gospel is highly organised and has very clear structures within it that add a lot of meaning to the events themselves. It is a kind of 'subtext'. We need to learn to read the subtext, just as much as the text itself. To help gain an appreciation of the structure, a handout is provided to help discover some patterns in the gospel which we will explore.
There is a handout on 'The Structure of Mark'. Use this to explore the structure of Mark. To decide what each of the passages are about and to start to gain a sense of the ebb and flow of Mark's gospel. We will use this to create an overview of the whole of Mark's gospel
For this week we will start to look at specific passages. Each day this week, you are invited to read each of the following passages. Start by calling to mind and heart God's presence. Pray the Our Father. Read the passage and reflect on it yourself. Write your reflections in the space provided. Then answer the other questions about the passage. Finish with thanking God for some positive thing you have reflected on. There may have been something you have become aware of that you think you should do. Make a decision about whether to do this or not. If you have decided to do it write it down as well.
Day 1. The Beginning of the Gospel Mk:1:1-6
What are your intitial reflections?
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What do you think a prophet is?
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A Prophet
In biblical terms a prophet is not all about telling the future, but about being God's spokesperson. They speak for God. God calls the prophet to be his messanger. God chose lots of different people to be his prophets throughout the time of the Old Testament. Essentially they called back the people to God, to follow in God's ways. Sometimes they gave warnings to the people. Isaiah is one of the great prophets who warned the people to keep following God. But the people did not listen. At the time the greatest country in the area was the Babylonians. They came and destroyed Israel and the temple in 587BC. They took most of the Israelites captive back to Babylon. This was a crushing defeat for them and they reflected deeply on what went wrong. It was at this time that most of the Old Testament took it's final shape. They realised they had sinned and this was the reason for their defeat.
After 50 years a new nation had conquered the Babylonians, the Persians. King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Israelites to return to Israel and Jerusalem. Just like the journey of freedom from Egypt to Isreal, from slavery to freedom which Moses led. So too did the Israelites go from Babylon to Jerusalem, from captivity to freedom. Isaiah refers to this journey to prepare for, "Prepare the way of the Lord.", This is what he was refering to as author of this passage. But God as author of scripture was also using it to refer to Jesus as the Lord, and as John as the person preparing for it.
How do you think you can better prepare for God to work in your life?
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Day 2 : Malachi 3: 1-12
This passage starts with the verse that Mark 1:2 starts with. Mark 1:3 is indeed from Isaiah, but Mk 1:2 is from Malachi. Some manuscripts have verse 2 stating the prophets, and not specifically Isaiah. It is imposible to be certain about which one is the original. But both sources, Malachi and Isaiah have something to say.
Once you have read Malachi 3:1-12, what are your initial thoughts on the passage?
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What does it say about God?
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God does not change. If we take a small step to God, he will take a big step to us - this passage promises us that. We are to be honest, and care for the 'widow, the orphan and the migrant'. Through our prayers and way of life God can even bless us with good weather.
Is there someone you need to take better care of?
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Day 3 Isaiah 40:1-11
What are your initial thoughts on this passage?
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These verses come from a beautiful part of Isaiah which speaks of God's mercy and love. Again, Isaiah is speaking of the return from exile. But God as author is speaking also of Jesus the good shepherd. This is part of the mystery of the prophets. Because they are inspired, there can be so many levels of meaning in what they write.
How do you understand Jesus as the shepherd?
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Day 4 At the Jordan Mk:1:7-11
What are your initial thoughts on this passage?
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Has Jesus done anything yet? No. Yet the Father says, "You are my beloved son with whom I am well pleased." God, the Father loves Jesus. Jesus doesn't have to do anything to earn the Father's love. The Father just loves him and is pleased with him anyway. Just as he loves you and delights in you without you having to do anything to earn that love from the father. He gives it freely, all the time. He forgives all your sin and wants you to experience his love. Take a few moments to reflect on that.
How do we come to experience that love from the father?
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What other parallels are there regarding the water and spiritual parallels you can think of?
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Day 5 Read Mark 1: 9-11 again
What is a sacrament?
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Everytime we go to Church, we dip our hand in the water font, to remind us of our baptism. In a kind of way we are reliving it. Next time you dip your hand in, think of the incredible graces given at baptism and renew your pledge to follow Jesus.
Day 6 Read Mark 1: 9-11 again.
Who baptised Jesus in the Holy Spirit?
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Can you think of something simple you can do, which would have a big positive effect on another?
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Day 7 The Temptation Mk:1:12-13
What are your initial thoughts?
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When you are tempted, pray. Seek the help of others if need be.
- If the sharebook has a MSWord, PDF or Open Office version, then the respective icon will
appear and when clicked will take you strait to the document.
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Structure of Mark's Gospel - Formatted
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The Structure of Mark research exercise
