1. The Essential Jesus as
Revealed in the Gospel of Mark

3. James 4:14
What is your life? For you are a mist
that appears for a little time and then
vanishes.

4. Hebrews 12:1
. . . let us run with endurance the race
that is set before us.
Hebrews 12:2
. . . fixing our eyes upon Jesus,
the author and perfecter of our faith.

5. Sharpening Our Focus on Christ!
Five passages each week to help us
“fix our eyes upon Jesus!”

6. The Essential Jesus as
Revealed in the Gospel of Mark

7. Gospel of Mark: Background
▪ The author - The earliest of church
tradition identifies “John Mark”
(mentioned 8 times in the NT) as the
author of the gospel and no evidence to
contradict this has ever surfaced.

8. Gospel of Mark: author
▪ a cousin of Barnabas
▪ accompanied Barnabas and the
Apostle Paul on Paul’s first Missionary
Journey, but Mark quit part way through
and returned home
▪ in a close relationship with the Apostle
Peter (1 Peter 5:13 – “my son”)

9. Gospel of Mark: author
▪ was eventually reconciled to the
Apostle Paul (In 2 Timothy 4:11 Paul
asked Timothy to bring Mark with him
for Mark was “useful to me for
ministry.”)

10. Gospel of Mark: Background
▪ The recipients – The vast majority of
scholars identify Gentiles in general,
and Romans specifically as the Mark’s
target audience for his gospel.

11. Gospel of Mark: recipients
▪ Mark translates Aramaic words.
▪ He often used Latin words instead of
their Greek equivalents.
▪ He reckoned time according to the
Roman system.

12. Gospel of Mark: recipients
▪ In referring to Jewish customs and
traditions Mark often did so with
explanatory notes.
▪ Finally, his gospel contains the fewest
references to the Old Testament of any
of the gospels.
Romans

13. Gospel of Mark: Background
▪ “Signature” word: Mark uses a certain
word 42 times in his gospel (a word used
only 7 times in Matthew and once in Luke)
- “eutheos” = immediately, straightway

14. Gospel of Mark: Signature
Word
Mark 1:10
And when he came up out of the water,
immediately he saw the heavens being
torn open and the Spirit descending on
him like a dove.

15. Gospel of Mark: Signature
Word
Mark 1:12
The Spirit immediately drove him out
into the wilderness.
Mark 1:18
And immediately they left their nets
and followed him.

16. Gospel of Mark: Signature
Word
Mark 1:21
And they went into Capernaum, and
immediately on the Sabbath he entered
the synagogue and was teaching.

17. Gospel of Mark: Signature
Word
Mark’s emphasis in his gospel account is
not so much on what Jesus taught as it is
on what Jesus did!
The Gospel of Mark contains :
- Only 18 of the 70 parables of Jesus
- Over half of the 35 miracles of Jesus

18. Gospel of Mark: Signature
Word
The Gospel of Mark is a fast-flowing
narrative. Among the gospels it is the
Gospel of Action!

19. Gospel of Mark: Gospel of
Action
In the first 12 verses of the Gospel of
Mark:
- Introduced to the gospel
- Introduced to John the Baptist
- Read Mark’s account of both the
baptism and the temptation of Jesus

20. Gospel of Mark: Gospel of
Action
In the gospels of Matthew and Luke –
we do not even get to the temptation
account until chapter four!
The temptation account in Matthew and
Luke are 11 and 13 verses respectively!

21. Gospel of Mark: Gospel of
Action
Mark 1:12-13 The Spirit immediately
drove him out into the wilderness. And
he was in the wilderness forty days,
being tempted by Satan. And he was
with the wild animals, and the angels
were ministering to him.

22. Gospel of Mark: Gospel of
Action
Why did Mark choose
to present his gospel
account in such a fast-
flowing, action-packed
narrative??

23. Gospel of Mark: Gospel of
Action
Who was his target audience?
Romans!

24. Gospel of Mark: Gospel of
Action
In Roman Emperor
Julius Caesar’s
account of the Gallic
(Celtic) Wars the
word “swiftly”
occurs over and over
Julius Ceasar again!

25. Gospel of Mark: Signature
Word
The Gospel of Mark is a fast-flowing
narrative. Among the gospels it is the
Gospel of Action!
The Gospel of Mark is also the
Gospel of Passion!

26. Michael Card

27. Gospel of Mark: The
Emotional Side of Jesus
References to the emotions of Jesus:
Matthew – 6 references
Luke – 7 references
John – 4 references
Mark – 16 references to Jesus’
emotions!

28. Gospel of Mark: The
Emotional Side of Jesus
Mark 1:41
And a leper came to him, imploring him,
and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you
can make me clean.” Moved with pity,
he stretched out his hand and touched
him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”

29. Gospel of Mark: The
Emotional Side of Jesus
Mark 3:5
And he looked around at them with
anger, grieved at their hardness of
heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out
your hand.” He stretched it out, and his
hand was restored.

30. Gospel of Mark: The
Emotional Side of Jesus
Mark 8:11-12
The Pharisees came and began to argue
with him, seeking from him a sign from
heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply
in his spirit and said, “Why does this
generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you,
no sign will be given to this generation.”

31. Gospel of Mark: The
Emotional Side of Jesus
If there is any doubt that this Jesus
portrayed in the gospel record is one
of us, one look at the passions of
Jesus that Mark describes for us
should drive that doubt far from our
hearts and minds!

32. Gospel of Mark: Signature
Word
The Gospel of Mark is the Gospel of
Action and the Gospel of Passion!

33. Gospel of Mark: Theme
Verse and Structure
Mark 10:45
“For even the Son of Man came not to be
served but to serve, and to give his life as
a ransom for many.”

34. Mark Mark Mark Mark
1:1-14 1:15-10:52 11:1-15:47 16:1-20
ACT 1 ACT 2
An “Even the and to give An
informative Son of Man His life a incredible
PROLOGUE did not ransom for PHINISH
come to be many.”
served, but (10:45)
to serve. . .
The The The The
Servant’s Servant’s Servant’s Servant’s
revelation serving sacrifice resurrection
to the world from the tomb

35. Gospel of Mark Timeline
Act 1: The Servant’s serving covers
3 ½ years.
Act 2: The Servant’s sacrifice covers
8 days!

36. Today’s Takeaways
1. The Gospel of Mark, as the gospel of
action and passion, is very relevant to
where we are culturally. Americans
tend to be pragmatic. We are a
country of doers. And, our passions
can run deep.

37. Today’s Takeaways
2. This Jesus, portrayed by Mark as the
God who became a servant, paid the
ultimate price of serving others, as he
gave up his life as a ransom for many
(you and me included!). Therefore,
this Jesus deserves “our utmost for his
highest!”

38. Today’s Takeaways
It is so easy, in the
busyness of life, to
forget the
magnitude of his
sacrifice, yes? Yes!