Why is the Gospel of
Mark important for Christians?
Christians
have always considered it important to study the Bible. The Gospels are
especially studied as they describe what Jesus said and did - Gospel means Good News. However different Christians
disagree about how the Gospel should be interpreted:
p Many Christians believe it is the literal word of God and what ever is
written actually happened. The gospel tells the historical facts about
Jesus and it was inspired by God.
p Other Christians believe that it is inspired by God but they do not
believe that every story, miracle etc. is necessarily literally true. Instead
they believe that a Christian can question the Bible and in doing so search for
the meanings behind the stories.
p Many Christians would agree that God speaks through the Bible but it
was written by human beings who could sometimes get things wrong - certain
minor facts, details etc. Never-the-less the Gospels are central to the beliefs
and worship of Christians.
Why were the Gospels
written?
4
main reasons:
1.
Jesus’
disciples, the original witnesses were dying off. A permanent record was
needed.
2.
Gentiles
(non-Jews) came into the community of the Church. They came in great numbers,
from different backgrounds. There was a danger they might bring wrong ideas to
Christianity. The Gospel writers wanted to put the record straight about Jesus.
3.
The
Roman authorities needed to be shown that Christianity was not politically
dangerous.
4.
Christians
needed to be encouraged in their faith.
5. Authentic records needed to be kept, corrupt versions were appearing
Who was Mark?
He
may well have been the ‘John Mark’ who appears in Acts and in the Letters of
Paul and Peter. John Mark’s home was in Jerusalem, and he was a travelling
companion of Paul.
Christian
tradition also links Mark with Peter, the leader of the disciples - Papias,
writing 100 years after Jesus’ crucifixion, makes this claim. He said this
information came from a still earlier writer, who said that Mark was Peters
helper, and that he wrote down the stories that Peter told when he was
preaching. We need to be slightly careful here. ‘Mark’ was a very common name
in the Roman Empire. But if Mark was not John Mark, we know nothing about him.
When and where was Mark
written?
The
answer is probably AD 64-65 in Rome. This would fit in with the fact that the
emperor Nero was killing Christians in Rome in AD 64. Paul and Peter died in
this persecution. Mark emphasised that his readers should stand firm in the
face of trouble. This would fit in with the Roman situation. He uses Latin
words instead of Greek ones.(The Gospel itself was written in Greek.) Again we
cannot be certain. Some scholars believe there is not enough evidence. Others
suggest even earlier. Few believe it to be later.
What were Mark’s sources?
It
is difficult to be certain about written sources, since we do not have them, if
they ever existed. Mark would certainly have used stories about Jesus that were
circulated by word of mouth (orally) He may have consulted Peter. He also seems
to have used another source of information (Also used by Matthew and Luke in
their gospels) - this information is called ‘Q’.