The Gospel of Mark: Jesus is Messiah

     The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, and the most abrupt presentation of the ministry and passion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark presents Jesus as the long–awaited Messiah (“Christ”) who was to come and die for sinners and return to establish His kingdom through a fast–paced narrative of Jesus’ public ministry and passion. Unlike the other two Synoptics, Mark does not include any information about Jesus prior to the beginning of His ministry. The Gospel begins with the title: “The beginning of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Throughout the Gospel, Mark sets out to prove that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of God, and what it means to be His follower.

The Witnesses
In order to fulfill his purpose, Mark recorded many testimonies of those who affirmed the deity of Jesus. The first of these was John the Baptist. Mark clearly identified John as the prophesied forerunner of the Messiah and recorded John’s message concerning Jesus. (1:2–8). This short testimony is brought to a close at Jesus’ baptism, when a second witness appears. This second witness is actually a dual witness of the Holy Spirit and the Father. (1:9–12). The Father audibly identified Jesus as the Son of God here, and again testified of this fact at the transfiguration of Jesus (9:7). A third testimony which appears twice in the Gospel is from an unlikely source: two demons whom Jesus cast out. On both occasions these demons identified Him as the Son of God (3:11; 5:7). A fourth testimony that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, was Peter’s confession. When Jesus asked the disciples who they thought He was, Peter immediately identified Him as “the Christ” (8:29). Jesus Himself claimed these titles for Himself when questioned both by the Jewish leaders and by Pontius Pilate (14:61–62; 15:2). The centurion who witnessed Jesus breath His last exclaimed, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (15:39). Finally, the angel who greeted the women at the empty tomb indirectly testified to the true identity of Jesus, affirming the fact that He had indeed risen from the dead.


The Words
Woven throughout Mark’s presentation of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, is the message which He proclaimed. This message was an announcement of how one enters the kingdom of God, which is, essentially, to become a disciple of Jesus. Whenever Jesus would call someone to follow Him in the Gospel of Mark, He used the phrase, “follow me” (1:17, 20; 2:14; 8:34; 9:21; 10:21). From the very beginning of His ministry, He called people to “repent and believe in the gospel” (1:15). Jesus’ radical message was that only those who were willing to confess their sin and turn to Him in faith would be worthy of entrance into the kingdom (2:17). No amount of good works could earn one’s way into heaven (10:19). Jesus’ call was for men to humble themselves as little children and to deny themselves, giving up their own lives to follow Him. This would cost them, for not only would they be giving up their own lives, but they would then be identified with Christ, sharing in His reproach and sufferings (8:34–38; 10:15, 29–31).

The Works
Mark presents Jesus as having divine and messianic authority in several different ways. People observed from the outset of His ministry that He taught “as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Jesus’ teaching was unlike others,’ for He did not merely sermonize about Old Testament texts, He correctly interpreted and applied them, and added His own revelatory message. Jesus is also shown to have authority to forgive sin, which is clearly something only ascribed to God (2:5, 10–11). Jesus demonstrated His authority over the Sabbath (2:23–28; 3:1–5). As already

noted indirectly above, Jesus is shown to have authority over demons, casting them out by His word (1:23–28; 32–34, 39; 3:11; 5:1–13; 7:29–30; 9:25–26). Jesus also displayed His authority over the temple when He cleansed it of the Jewish leaders’ wicked practices (11:15–17). Jesus’ power over nature is shown in His ability to control the weather, to walk on water, and to multiply physical matter in the feeding of the five thousand as well as the four thousand (4:39–41; 6:38–44, 48–52; 8:1–9; 11:12–14, 20). Jesus displayed His authority by delegating His power to His disciples to cast out demons and perform miracles in His name (3:13–19; 6:7, 13). But the most extensive witness to Jesus’ authority, which stands in a category of its own is the many miracles of Jesus. Some of these miracles have already been mentioned above, but Mark presents the focus of Jesus’ miracles as restorative. Jesus healed all sorts of diseases and ailments in countless people (1:29–34; 40–41; 2:5; 3:1–5, 10; 5:27–29; 6:5, 56; 7:31–37; 8:22–25; 10:51–52). Jesus is shown to have power even over death, as He raised a girl from the dead (5:41–42). Of course, Jesus’ own resurrection is the ultimate testimony to His authority and reveals His own personal power over death (16). The climax of the Gospel of Mark is the passion of Christ, and His atoning work upon the cross on behalf of sinners. Only through His death and resurrection could He not only show Himself to be the only one qualified to save men from their sins, but actually accomplish this by becoming their propitiation. This theme is built up subtly and dramatically throughout the latter half of the Gospel with Jesus’ repeated disclosure of the near future events to His disciples (8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34, 45), and then finally realized in at the end (14–16). 
     Thus, the Gospel of Mark concludes with Jesus fulfilling His role as the Christ, the Son of God in becoming “a ransom for many” (10:45), and then rising again to someday return as the reigning King.