A Small Essay on the Gospel of Mark

 

We all know that The Gospel of Mark is one of the four Gospels in the Bible which tell the story of Yeshua of Nazareth, the Christian Messiah.



What else do we know about the book? Like all of the books of the Bible, we do not have a single source that explains each book in its context. We have to examine all of the evidence we have available in order to make sense of the Bible and even then, there are far too many questions that remain unanswered or whose answers are not congruent with what Christian churches teach.

In examining the book, we will start with its authorship and our first controversy.

No one knows who wrote the Gospel of Mark. Many of the faithful will insist that the gospel was written by the Apostle Mark. I suppose they will be surprised to learn that there was no one named Mark among Yeshua's Apostles. In early church times, it was assumed that the gospel was written by John Mark, a follower of Peter. In spite of this tradition, scholars believe the gospel was written anonymously and that we do not know who the author was. It was long considered to be derived from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. It has been shown, however, that the Gospel of Mark pulled together stories from many sources and consolidated them. In fact, scholars now believe that Mark was actually a major source for both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

The gospel recounts the life, teachings, and purpose of Yeshua and his ministry. It is mostly congruent with Matthew and Luke, but the stories are not identical.

A second controversy exists in that the ending of the gospel in many modern Bibles is different from many others and from the oldest texts we have to examine.

The gospel was written in Greek, likely for a gentile audience. Its author does not name himself.

The earliest extant Greek manuscripts of Mark, codices Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, end at Mark 16:8, with the women fleeing in fear from the empty tomb. (Wikipedia: Gospel of Mark, Early Christian Writings.com)

Verses 9 through 20 contain some of the most important information in the New Testament, the charge by Yeshua to evangelize the world. They also contain some information that has given some Christian churches some ideas that veer widely from the main currents of modern Christianity, namely the snake-handling, strychnine-drinking, and fire-eating churches of rural Appalachia.





The text of these verses in the King James Bible is as follows:


[9]Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
[10] And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
[11] And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
[12] After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
[13] And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.
[14] Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
[15] And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
[16] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
[17] And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
[18] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
[19] So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
[20] And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

These verses are important, and critical to the understanding of the mission of the apostles and, in fact, all Christians. These verses recount what the women did after they found the empty tomb, followed by Yeshua's appearance to the eleven remaining apostles. Following this, a charge is included, namely the charge "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." This verse is the fundamental verse that gives churches the authority they need to go about insisting that everyone must observe their interpretation of Yeshua's message.

Verses 16 through 18 give Christians a further charge:

[16] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

[17] And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;[18] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

It is most interesting to note that the vast majority of Christain churches will live and die by verse 15 and completely ignore verses 16 through 18. 

This is especially significant when we realize that these verses were not a part of the original manuscripts of the gospel and were added at an unknown time by an unknown author with an unknown motive.  

It seems a shame that more Christian evangelicals who believe they have the "only way" do not have enough faith to follow the full extent of Yeshua's charge. A shame, indeed.