As part of the Course on the New Testament, Session 5 provides an overview of the writing of Mark - His Gospel on the life of Christ. (This is part of the New Testament Survey Course taught at Harare Theological College - 2016)

2. Questions :
1. Who was John Mark ?
2. How do we know he wrote this gospel ?
3. Who was the Source of his information ?
4. When and where was it written ?
5. To whom was it written ?
6. What style and language was it written in ?
7. Why did Mark write this Gospel ?
8. What role of Jesus did Mark focus on ?
9. What is the structure & direction of his gospel ?
10. What did Mark want to communicate ? (4 key issues)

3. Question 1.
Who was John Mark ?

4.  John Mark
 2 names (common at the time)
 John = Hebrew
 Mark (Marcus) = Latin
 Cousin of Barnabbus (Col.4:10)
 Lived in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12).
 Son of wealthy widow, where early
church members used to meet and pray
(Acts 12:12)
 Was not a disciple of Jesus during his
earthly ministry

5. Record of John Mark in Acts:
 Acts 12:12 - When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the
mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were
praying.
 Acts 12:25 - When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned
from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.
 Acts 13:5 - When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in
the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
 Acts 13:13 - From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in
Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.
 Acts 15:37-39 - Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them,
but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in
Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a
sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed
for Cyprus

6. Record of John Mark in the NT letters :
 After his missionary dropout on Paul’s first journey, Mark later
was a close fellow worker and missionary with the apostle Peter
and Paul through to Rome and his last days …
 Colossians 4:10 - My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his
greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received
instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.)
 Philemon 1:23-24 - Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus,
sends you greetings. (24) And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and
Luke, my fellow workers.
 2 Timothy 4:11 - Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with
you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.
 1 Peter 5:13 - She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you,
sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark.

7. John Mark
 Taken with Barnabbus & Paul back to Antioch (Acts 12:25)
 Dropped out of Paul’s 1st missionary journey (Acts 15:37)
 For 2nd missionary journey, Paul refused him (Acts 15:37)
 Disagreement & Barnabbus took him on mission to Cyprus
(Acts 15:39)
 11 years later …
 Co-worker in Paul’s missionary team in Rome (Phil.1:24,
Col.4:10)
 Joined as co-worker of Peter in Rome (1 Peter 5:13)
 Worked with Paul in his 2nd Roman imprisonment (2 tim.4:11)
 Paul was one of the few co-workers of both apostles Peter &
Paul

8. Question 2.
How do we know He
wrote this gospel ?

9. How do we know?
Issue . .
 Not recorded in the gospel we have that John Mark wrote it
Supporting Evidence . .
 ALL church fathers in first 100-200 years after Christ, Papias,
Irenaeus, Clement, Origen and Jerome state that John Mark
wrote this gospel
 3 centres of early Christianity – Asia, Rome and Alexandria –
affirm that John Mark was the author
 Ancient caption to this gospel = ‘kata Markon’ – ‘gospel
according to Mark’
 Logically – no reason gospel assigned to minor person of
Mark if he did not write it (as holds less validity)

10. Question 3.
But who was the
Source of Mark’s
information?

11. If Mark never met Jesus who was the source of his info ?
Apostle Peter
• Mark’s Gospel – is – Peter’s Gospel !
Supporting info . .
 Understanding of early churches & leaders -
• Mark was interpreter of Peter – writing down words & actions of
Christ as Peter had preached in Rome
• Outline of this gospel fits outline of Acts 10:34-43
• Gospel is recorded direct as if from oral message – no extra
elaborations / explanations
• Mark knew Peter well & fellow worker through to end of his life (Acts
12:12-17 & 1 Peter 5:13) - when Peter possibly wanted a record of Christ
before being executed
Nevertheless …
• Not all info from Peter – he was fully aware of preaching of all
apostles from living in Jerusalem in early days

12. Supporting arguments - for Peter as the Source to Mark’s Gospel

13. Question 4.
When and Where
was the gospel written ?

14. When ?
 Early church father, Ireneous stated – Mark wrote
gospel after death of Peter (from whom he recorded)
- killed by Emperor Nero’s persecutions in AD 63
 Therefore most likely written approx. AD 64-68
Where ?
 In Rome – where he worked with Apostle Peter before
being executed (1 Peter 5:13)
• Personally knew Cyrene & Rufus (a member of the church in
Rome – Rom.16:13)

15. Question 5.
To whom did John Mark write to ?
(who was the audience?)

16. Audience ?
Romans
 Citizens of the major city & capital of the Roman Empire
 One of the most advanced and powerful cities worldwide at that time
 Mostly Gentile (non-Jewish believers)
Supporting Evidence :
• Explained meaning of Jewish customs (would not know them)
• Translated Aramaic expressions for readers (would not understand
them)
• Explained Greek expressions in Latin wording
• Used a number of latin terms – instead of Greek or Hebrew

17. Question 6.
What was the style
and language
Mark wrote in?

18. Language
 Written in Greek
 Using Latin wordings & terms
 (Latin = official language of Rome & empire but often Greek used )

19. Style
Gospel of ACTION
 Reflecting (a) personality of his mentor & source – Peter
(b) the cultural and thinking of the Romans – action focussed
BRIEF – Shortest Gospel
 ABRUPT, Direct, Clear to the point.
 VIVID – 40x says things took place ‘immediately’ or ‘straightaway’
Written as HISTORICAL NARRATIVE - A historical story recording facts
of history. Focus on facts rather than themes or topics
NARRATIVE (HIS-STORY) - at same time written in active, vivid
language which draws the reader to follow the events
Focus on EVENTS & ACTIONS & MIRACLES of Christ - not the teachings
(Matthew) or deeper meaning (John) – more space given to
miracles than any other gospel
 Not unique – 93% material found in other 3 gospels

20. Question 7.
Why did Mark write this gospel ?
(what was his purpose?)

21. Purpose ?
1. To evangelise – share the good news of Jesus to the
people of Rome in order to call on them to follow
2. To present person of Jesus Christ in a way which
would fit their way of thinking – emphasising Christ’s
powerful actions & miracles to prove he was the Son
of God
 In response to a request by the Romans for a written
account of Jesus’ life and ministry following the oral
preaching – so they could have it in writing to read over
more times

22. Question 8.
What part of Jesus’ identity did
Mark focus on ?

23. Jesus as the Servant & Sacrifice of God
 Key verse: “the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
(Mark 10:45)
 The servant of God in action and power
 The sacrifice of God on the cross to give his life to save
humanity

24. Jesus Christ as the Son of God
 Mark 1:1 - “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of
God”
 Focus on the Son of God for all mankind (for Rome the capital of
the Roman empire – compared to Matthew’s focus on Messiah for
Jewish people)
 End of first half – Peter’s confession “You are the Christ” (8:29)
 Second half – Centurion’s confession – “Surely this man was the Son
of God” (15:39)

25. Question 9.
What is the structure of Mark’s Gospel ?
How do we follow the direction of Mark ?

26. Structure of Mark’s Gospel

27. Direction
of Mark’s
Gospel
Servant
Sacrifice
Saviour

28. 1st half – Servant & Son of God
 Focus >> Jesus’ deeds as the son of God and servant with
miraculous power - delivering many from sickness,
deformity, evil spirits and death. Power over nature – stilled
the storms, multiples food and walked on water.
 Public teaching to the multitudes
 Peter’s confession = “You are the Christ” (8:29)
2nd half – Sacrifice & Saviour of Humanity
 Focus >> Jesus suffering, death and resurrection as the
sacrifice and saviour.
 Private teaching to his disciples
 Centurion’s confession = “Surely this man was the Son of
God” (15:39)

29. Question 10.
What messages
did Mark
communicate ?

30. Focus of Mark
1. Christ’s Service in action and power
2. Christ’s Sacrifice through Crucifixion
3. Disciples called to Serve - as Christ served
4. Disciples called Sacrifice self for Christ &
gospel message

31. 1. Christ’s Service in Action and Power
 Jesus’ deeds as the son of God and servant
 Miraculous power - delivering many from sickness,
deformity, evil spirits and death.
 Power over nature – stilled the storms, multiples food and
walked on water.
 Despite this great power and authority Jesus did not come
to be served – but to SERVE and give his life as a sacrifice
for all (10:45)

32. 2. Christ’s Sacrifice through Crucifixion
 All gospels focus on crucifixion & resurrection.
 More than 1/3 of Mark’s gospel message covers Jesus’ last week

33. A Servant unto the Sacrifice of his life

34. 3. Disciples called to Serve
 A follower of Jesus must be a servant to all
 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that
those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over
them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it
shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great
among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first
among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came
not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom
for many."
(Mark 10:42-45)

35. 4. Disciples called to self-Sacrifice
 Jesus called for self-denial, setting aside self-interest as main
focus of life
 "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and
take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the
gospel's will save it.” (Mark 8:34-36)
 Context – under Roman rule, those to be crucified had to
carry the cross-beam to execution
 Meaning – ‘take up his cross’ = be ready at any time to suffer
and die fro Christ

36.  References: Books to Read …
 Benware, Paul (1990) Survey of the New Testament.
 Berding, Kenneth and Matt Williams (2008) What the New
Testament Authors Really Cared About.
 Tenney, Merrill C. (1997) New Testament Survey.

37. RECAP: Can you answer these 10 Questions :
1. Who was John Mark ?
2. How do we know he wrote this gospel ?
3. Who was the Source of his information ?
4. When and where was it written ?
5. To whom was it written ?
6. What style and language was it written in ?
7. Why did Mark write this Gospel ?
8. What role of Jesus did Mark focus on ?
9. What did Mark want to communicate ? (7 key issues)
10. What is the structure of his gospel ?

38. Summary points:
• Written by John Mark using info from Peter & the apostles
• Written in Rome to the Romans
• To evangelize the Romans, share the message via their culture
• Shortest Gospel - Abrupt & Direct & Factual
• Historical Narrative not Biography (no details of birth, just events)
• Gospel of Action - focus on actions & miracles - not teaching
• Presents Jesus as the servant & sacrifice of God - for all humanity
• Message –> Jesus came as the servant of God to give His life as a
sacrifice to bring all humanity to salvation