Gospel of Mark

Gospel Essay: Mark 8:34-37

The Gospel of Mark- Historical Content: 

Jesus the servant – Son of man – This gospel is packed full of action; it has signs, sayings, baptism, temptation, sufferings, and miracles.

Mark shows his readers how the son of God rejected by his own people achieved ultimate victory through apparent defeat (the death and resurrection of Christ).  The gospel of Mark was believed to have been written by John Mark.  Written between 50 and 60 AD, the book of Mark was probably written in Italy, and perhaps even Rome.  Audience – written primarily for an audience of Greek-speaking residents of the Roman Empire.   This book has 16 chapters and is the shortest book of the four gospels. However, the details of the events and miracles of Jesus in this book are consistent with the other three gospels; Matthew, Luke and John.  The ending – Mark 16:8 stops at the empty tomb without further explanation.  Some scholars say that the last twelve verses are missing from the oldest manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel.

Literary Content:

Following Christ – Understanding God’s will for us.  John Mark was trying to convey the importance of keeping the things of God in the forefront of our mind and not the things of man.  It is one thing to understand the ways of the world here and now, and it is another to understand the ways of Christ in the later or eternal realm.  8:34 then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:”If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  Jesus called unto the multitude despite efforts to seek privacy, so he addressed all the people.  The disciple must learn to say no to himself and the world (the cross a symbol of duty).  We must follow Jesus both as his teaching and example.  8:35 for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. Here we see two meanings of the word life, one temporary and one eternal.  8:36 what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  The question here provokes thought, what good is to gain things that are external and lose your soul, if it can never be regained.  8:37 or what can a man give in exchange his soul? There is no way to buy back your life.

 Grammar Content:

NIV Gospel 8:34-37

34) Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples – Greek (Mathetes – a learner – pupil) and said:”If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross – Greek (Stavros – from the base of a stake or post, self-denial- an instrument of capital punishment) and follow me.  35) For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.  36) What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  37) Or what can a man give in exchange – Greek (an equivalent or ransom) for his soul? 

Note: The words highlighted in red are word studies, as you can see the original word in parenthesis does not always translate as we would think. 

 Hermeneutical Interpretation: 

I believe the original meaning is that of truly knowing and serving Christ.  It is coming into relationship with Christ and knowing that you will have things of this world come against you.  I know that the closer the relationship with the Father the less we care about pleasing the world.  It explains that to love Christ is acting in self denial and following his ways.  We can’t gain the world without losing our soul (what a powerful statement).  In love and partnership with Him we find true happiness and trust his ways above ours.   Jesus died and rose again so that we have an eternal security and we can hold true to his work here trusting in his ways always.  Great Stuff!!

References:

NIV Study Bible, Strong’s Concordance, Nelson’s Compact Bible Handbook, Crosswalk commentaries.   http://biblestudy.crosswalk.com/references/DescriptionRead.aspx?refid=1321&l=3&section=Commentaries&type=Commentary&title    http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/gospel-of-mark.htm  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Mark  http://biblestudy.crosswalk.com/mybst/default.aspx?type=library&contentid=46285&categoREF