Experiencing the Gospel of Mark

The Relevant Gospel of Mark

People all over the world ask the same fundamental questions of life. "Who am I?" "Where did I come from?" "Where am I going?" "Is this all there is?" People ask questions about identity, purpose, meaning, love and life. Jesus answered these fundamental questions but often his answers are lost in religious or academic doublespeak.

Many Bible studies present academic facts and theological explanations that never address the fundamental questions of life. This study gives you the deepest understanding of the life of Jesus while remaining relevant to your life and beliefs.

Experiencing What You Read

This Bible study is different in another way. This study puts you in the first century, walking the dusty roads with Jesus. You don't just read explanations, you experience the texts. You will sit in a boat on a stormy sea, shoulder to shoulder with the disciples, and watch what they do, hear what they say, and see their reactions. You will stand in a darkened room and watch Jesus raise a little girl from the dead and see the reactions of her parents and the disciples. Once you read this book, you will never see Jesus, the disciples, the religious leaders or religion the same way. This book puts you in the first century to experience walking with Jesus and discovering the answers to these fundamental questions of life.

The About Page has the same header material but the following content.

About Experiencing the Gospel of Mark

The teachings in this book are profound Christianity. There is nothing in this book that contradicts the fundamental teachings of Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, and anyone who considers themselves “mainstream Christians.” However, there are topics discussed in this book that have caused denominational divisions in the church. Rather than take sides, this book presents summaries of the arguments by saying, “some Christians believe this, and some Christians believe that.” Enough background is given to understand the various arguments, but I try to stay as neutral as possible. This book is not about persuading you to one denomination or another. This book is about understanding what really happened between the Jewish religious leaders, the Romans, the twelve disciples, and Jesus. Understanding what really happened will allow you to experience the Gospel of Mark and believe greater.

In this book, you will walk the dusty roads of the first century with Jesus. You will hear what he really said. You can experience the life of Christ on this level if you understand the historical information enough to create context. Sit shoulder to shoulder with the disciples in a boat on a stormy lake. Experience the story with them. Stand in a dark room with adobe walls. Hear the crying of grieving parents. Watch Jesus bring a dead girl back to life. Look into His eyes after he gives the girl back to her parents and he looks at you with a question on his face. This book gives you the background of what the twelve were thinking – their preconceived ideas – so you can see their struggle with faith. In that, you may see your own struggle with faith and know it is okay. You are not alone.

After reading this book, you will know Jesus far better. You will believe more than you believe now. Growing in your belief will transform you and move you closer to God. Believing is an inescapable psychological process that transforms the believer. That is why God tells us, “Just believe.”

About the Author

I became a Christian at age 17. My parents were not particularly religious but always believed that Jesus is the Son of God. During High School, I got a crush on girl in my chemistry class. It took three weeks for me to get up the courage to ask her on a date. Finally, I walked up to her and nervously said, "Would you like to go to a movie with me Saturday night?" She thought about it a moment - a very long moment - and said, "I will go out with you on Saturday night if you go to church with me Sunday morning." To a scared, nervous young man, that sounded like two dates in one. I said yes. Church was as interesting to me as it was foreign. The fist time I picked up a Bible, I said, "Hey, look. There are a bunch of smaller books in here." God works in mysterious ways.

I ended up in seminary and learned all I could about Jesus and the Bible.

For the last 30 years, I have taught the Gospel of Mark to all kinds of groups. Each time, I learned more and more. Each time, I worked hard to keep the messages relevant to the lives of the people in the group. The insights gained over 30 years are in this book.

The Blogs page has the same header information but the follwoing links to blogs.

Blogs about Experiencing the Gospel of Mark

Why Did the Mother of Jesus Think He was Out of His Mind?

Why Did the Disciples Drop Everything?

Why Should We Believe Mark?

Why Did the Mother of Jesus Think He was Out of His Mind?

Mark 3:20-21

He came into a house. The multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him: for they said, “He is insane.”

The New International Version of the Bible says, “when his family heard about it, they went to take charge of him for they said, ‘he is out of his mind.’" Family seems to be the better translation. The editors of the World English Bible could not understand how the family of Jesus could think he was insane, so they opted for a less-accurate translation because of their preconceived ideas.

Mark tells us that Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the brothers of Jesus came to seize him or take charge of him because they thought he lost his mind. Imagine that for a moment. Mary spoke with an angel. Her husband, Joseph, received a dream vision. It was explained to Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God and he would save Israel. So, why would Mary think Jesus had lost his mind?

It is clear that Mary had a concept of who the Son of God would be and Jesus was not living up to her concept. Jesus was acting so differently than her concept that she felt compelled to go get him. Perhaps she feared for his life.

The answer to this question is the same answer to the questions of why the disciples dropped everything to follow Jesus and why Jesus would not let the leper tell anyone who he was. Why Mary thought Jesus was out of his mind is explained in Chapter 6 of the book.

Why Did the Disciples Drop Everything?

Mark 1:16-20

Passing along by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you into fishers for men.” Immediately they left their nets, and followed him. Going on a little further from there, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him.

Imagine you are on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and see the men fishing with nets. Jesus walks along the shore and says to the men, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Would that sound like a strange offer to you? Would you be surprised when the men left their nets and their catch of the day and just walked off with Jesus? What would cause responsible men to leave their boats, their businesses, their families and walk off into the wilderness with Jesus?

This is where most modern Christians get the idea that the disciples were deeply spiritual men and could sense something holy and amazing about Jesus. Grown men with families and businesses would not drop everything and wander off with a spiritual teacher unless they could sense his holiness.

Other people believe that the disciples had heard talk about Jesus. Perhaps they heard he had never sinned. Perhaps they heard about good things he had done for people in Nazareth, his hometown. Motivated by a quest for enlightenment, these men left everything for the opportunity to learn from Jesus.

There is a better historical explanation as to why these men left everything to follow Jesus. Unfortunately, you need the background presented in the first six chapters of Mark to understand the real answer.

What if Jesus turned to you and said, “I want you to come with me and learn from me. I have great things for you to do. You will make a difference in the lives of many people.” How would you feel? Would you drop everything to go with Jesus? In one sense, that is exactly what Jesus is saying to you right now.

Why Should We Believe Mark?

The Gospel of Mark does not specify an author within the pages of the work. The early church fully believed Mark was the author. Eusebius, writing in the early fourth century A.D., quoted Papias from A.D. 140 saying, “And John the Presbyter also said this, Mark being the interpreter of Peter, whatsoever he recorded he wrote with great accuracy . . . He was in company with Peter, who gave him such instruction as was necessary.” (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, (A.D. 325), 3:39:15)

Irenaeus, writing around A.D. 185, said, “Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, also transmitted to us in writing what had been preached by Peter.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, (A.D. 180), 3:1:1)

Eusebius quoted Clement of Alexandria from about A.D. 200, saying, “When Peter had proclaimed the word publicly at Rome, and declared the Gospel under the influence of the Spirit; as there was a great number present, they requested Mark . . . to reduce these things to writing, and that after composing the Gospel he gave it to those who requested it of him. Which when Peter understood, he directly neither hindered nor encouraged it.” (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, (A.D. 325), 6:14:1)

The idea that Peter neither approved nor disapproved the content may reference a concern that Peter was not always portrayed in this Gospel in a positive light. Mark recorded Peter’s denial of Jesus as a major issue and probably caused some concern among early church leaders. The quote from Clement of Alexandria saying that Peter did not disapprove the content seems to have addressed this concern.

The second-century writings quoted above show that early church writers believed that Mark was closely associated with Peter. This is consistent with 1 Peter 5:13, where Peter refers to Mark as his son. This association probably also explains why Peter appears as the main character among the disciples throughout the book of Mark.

Mark is also mentioned several times in the New Testament. In Acts 12:12, Mark was living in Jerusalem with his mother. It seems their home was a center for Christian activity in Jerusalem.

Mark was also related to Barnabas. He began traveling with Paul and Barnabas in Acts 12:25 and went on the missionary journey beginning in Acts 13:1-3. Mark left Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:13 and returned to Jerusalem. Acts 15:36-41 also recounts a discussion between Paul and Barnabas over Mark. Their disagreement was significant enough to cause them to work separately.

But Mark was not abandoned by Paul indefinitely. In Colossians 4:10, Mark was in Rome helping Paul during his imprisonment. This is also substantiated in another prison epistle, Philemon 24, where Paul calls Mark a fellow worker. Finally, when Paul is nearing martyrdom, he writes to Timothy and asks for Mark, saying that Mark is helpful (2 Timothy 4:11).

Mark is well qualified to write the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Because of the statement that Mark wrote what Peter preached in Rome, we might conclude that the handwriting belongs to Mark, but the content is the Gospel of Peter.

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