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The Gospel According to Mark, Introduction and Notes: Alan Hultberg
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August 26, 2015
Mark is the oldest of the Gospels written, most likely, between the late-50s and mid-60s. Our earliest surviving texts are from the third century. The Gospel of Mark portrays Jesus as the suffering Son of God whom no one recognizes until the very end.
The differences between Gospels, noted below, are best attributed to a Gospel's genre, or kind of writing: the authors were concerned with theological appropriateness rather than historical accuracy.
Did Jesus ever preach about himself? Was he willing to do miracles as a sign of his identity?
Mark 1:34 - . . . But he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
Mark 1:44 - . . . See that you say nothing to anyone.
Mark 3:12 - And He would strongly warn them not make Him known.
Mark 5:43 - . . . he gave them strict orders that no one should know . . . .
Mark 7:36 - Then He ordered them to tell no one, but the more He would order them the more they would proclaim it.
Mark 8:12 - . . . I assure you: No sign will be given to this generation!
Mark 8:30 - And He strictly warned them to tell no one about Him.
Mark 9:9 - As they were coming down from the mountain, He ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
In Mathew, Mark, and Luke the answer seems to be mostly no: and he rejects the idea as a Satanic temptation. In John the answer seems to be yes. Mark 2: 10 & 11, and 5:19 seem at odds with this? There is also the question of did Jesus know - the answer is of course yes - that telling them not to would make them proclaim him all the more?
Professor Fears believes that Jesus was an Essene.
Mark1:38 - . . . That is why I have come.
In the Fully Revised Fourth Edition of The New Oxford Annotated Bible - New Revised Standard Version With the Apocrypha, Mark:38 - . . . for that is what I came out to do.
Professor Fears believes that the "out" is out of the Essene community. If follows, in Professor Fears opinion, that Jesus spoke Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic.
When Jesus was approached by a leper to be healed in Mark 1:40, did he feel compassion for the man or did he get angry? Some scholars adjudge that anger to compassion is the more likely intentional emendation, so that anger has better chance of being the "original."
Mark 4: - The Parable of the Sower - Who determined where the seed fell? Who determined that the ground would be hard? The answer is certainly the Creator. Satan?
Mark 5:21 - 39. A Girl Restored and a Woman Healed.
When the Jewish Leader Jairus came to seek Jesus' help, had his daughter already died or not?
In this version of the Bible the answer is no in both Mark and Mathew. (Mathew 9:18 . . . "My daughter is near death, . . . ." Mathew 9:23 When Jesus came to the leader's house, He saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly.)
In the Fully Revised Fourth Edition of The New Oxford Annotated Bible - New Revised Standard Version With the Apocrypha this agreement is not there. The answer is yes in Mathew, but no in Mark.
It appears that the text in Mathew has been altered in this version, in a way that is not consistent with earlier texts.
It appears that Jesus was an Apocalyptist?
Mark 1: - Then He said to them, "I assure you: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power."
Mark 13:30 - I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.
p. 1484. Why Would a Good God Send People to an Everlasting Hell? by Paul Copan is radically at odds with TULIP (Calvinism), and, I think, what Scripture actually says.
p. 1487. The Question of Divorce
I do not see how to read Mark 10:11 & 12 as other than completely prohibiting divorce.
Possessions and the Kingdom
Mark 10:25 - It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."
Mark 10:45 - . . . to give His life - a ransom for many.
Many - but not all. This is the L (Limited Atonement) in TULIP.
p. 1491. Cleansing the Temple Complex
Did Jesus cleanse the Temple at the beginning or end of his ministry?
(In Mathew, Mark, and Luke the cleansing to the Temple was his last public act. In John 2:13 - . In John 3:22 - After this Jesus and His disciples . . . baptized.)
p. 1493. God and Caesar
Mark 12:16 - . . . "Caesar's," they said.
Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, to the crowd, here. Jews in Palestine were allowed to use coins without image of Caesar on them, if they chose to do so. There was a penalty in that the exchange rate was lower for the coins without images. The crowd knew this.
Mark 14:30 - "I assure you," Jesus said to him, "today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times!" (Mathew 26:34 "I assure you," Jesus said to him, "tonight - before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times!")
Again - Gospel writers were concerned with theological appropriateness, not with historical accuracy.
Did Jesus carry his own cross? No in Mark 15:21. Yes in John 19:17.
When did Jesus die?
Mark 15:40 When it was already evening, because it was preparation day (that is the day before the Sabbath). John 19:31 Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the on the Sabbath (for the Sabbath is a special day).)
Appearances of the Risen Lord
Were the last 12 verses of Mark, where Jesus appears to his disciples after his resurrection, original or added later? Early sources would say yes.
The sixty-second book I have finished this year. The fourteenth, of thirty-six great books in Professor Fears' Teaching Company course, that I have finished.
The differences between Gospels, noted below, are best attributed to a Gospel's genre, or kind of writing: the authors were concerned with theological appropriateness rather than historical accuracy.
Did Jesus ever preach about himself? Was he willing to do miracles as a sign of his identity?
Mark 1:34 - . . . But he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
Mark 1:44 - . . . See that you say nothing to anyone.
Mark 3:12 - And He would strongly warn them not make Him known.
Mark 5:43 - . . . he gave them strict orders that no one should know . . . .
Mark 7:36 - Then He ordered them to tell no one, but the more He would order them the more they would proclaim it.
Mark 8:12 - . . . I assure you: No sign will be given to this generation!
Mark 8:30 - And He strictly warned them to tell no one about Him.
Mark 9:9 - As they were coming down from the mountain, He ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
In Mathew, Mark, and Luke the answer seems to be mostly no: and he rejects the idea as a Satanic temptation. In John the answer seems to be yes. Mark 2: 10 & 11, and 5:19 seem at odds with this? There is also the question of did Jesus know - the answer is of course yes - that telling them not to would make them proclaim him all the more?
Professor Fears believes that Jesus was an Essene.
Mark1:38 - . . . That is why I have come.
In the Fully Revised Fourth Edition of The New Oxford Annotated Bible - New Revised Standard Version With the Apocrypha, Mark:38 - . . . for that is what I came out to do.
Professor Fears believes that the "out" is out of the Essene community. If follows, in Professor Fears opinion, that Jesus spoke Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic.
When Jesus was approached by a leper to be healed in Mark 1:40, did he feel compassion for the man or did he get angry? Some scholars adjudge that anger to compassion is the more likely intentional emendation, so that anger has better chance of being the "original."
Mark 4: - The Parable of the Sower - Who determined where the seed fell? Who determined that the ground would be hard? The answer is certainly the Creator. Satan?
Mark 5:21 - 39. A Girl Restored and a Woman Healed.
When the Jewish Leader Jairus came to seek Jesus' help, had his daughter already died or not?
In this version of the Bible the answer is no in both Mark and Mathew. (Mathew 9:18 . . . "My daughter is near death, . . . ." Mathew 9:23 When Jesus came to the leader's house, He saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly.)
In the Fully Revised Fourth Edition of The New Oxford Annotated Bible - New Revised Standard Version With the Apocrypha this agreement is not there. The answer is yes in Mathew, but no in Mark.
It appears that the text in Mathew has been altered in this version, in a way that is not consistent with earlier texts.
It appears that Jesus was an Apocalyptist?
Mark 1: - Then He said to them, "I assure you: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power."
Mark 13:30 - I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.
p. 1484. Why Would a Good God Send People to an Everlasting Hell? by Paul Copan is radically at odds with TULIP (Calvinism), and, I think, what Scripture actually says.
p. 1487. The Question of Divorce
I do not see how to read Mark 10:11 & 12 as other than completely prohibiting divorce.
Possessions and the Kingdom
Mark 10:25 - It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."
Mark 10:45 - . . . to give His life - a ransom for many.
Many - but not all. This is the L (Limited Atonement) in TULIP.
p. 1491. Cleansing the Temple Complex
Did Jesus cleanse the Temple at the beginning or end of his ministry?
(In Mathew, Mark, and Luke the cleansing to the Temple was his last public act. In John 2:13 - . In John 3:22 - After this Jesus and His disciples . . . baptized.)
p. 1493. God and Caesar
Mark 12:16 - . . . "Caesar's," they said.
Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, to the crowd, here. Jews in Palestine were allowed to use coins without image of Caesar on them, if they chose to do so. There was a penalty in that the exchange rate was lower for the coins without images. The crowd knew this.
Mark 14:30 - "I assure you," Jesus said to him, "today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times!" (Mathew 26:34 "I assure you," Jesus said to him, "tonight - before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times!")
Again - Gospel writers were concerned with theological appropriateness, not with historical accuracy.
Did Jesus carry his own cross? No in Mark 15:21. Yes in John 19:17.
When did Jesus die?
Mark 15:40 When it was already evening, because it was preparation day (that is the day before the Sabbath). John 19:31 Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the on the Sabbath (for the Sabbath is a special day).)
Appearances of the Risen Lord
Were the last 12 verses of Mark, where Jesus appears to his disciples after his resurrection, original or added later? Early sources would say yes.
The sixty-second book I have finished this year. The fourteenth, of thirty-six great books in Professor Fears' Teaching Company course, that I have finished.
Displaying 1 of 1 review