Jesus then recruits other disciples, such as James and John, and decides to spread the Word of God to other parts of the region while doing good deeds, like miraculously healing the sick and the blind. As a symbol of his personality, Jesus does not accept the role of prophet and then forbids his disciples to spread the idea that he is the messiah, due to "the contemporary messianic ideals of the Jews which he rejected" (arclay 234). For the first time, this appears to be a weakness in the text, for after all of the exposition on Jesus as the Son of God, the "expected One," the author throws the reader into a contradictory quandary, for how could Jesus be prophetized as the Son of God while not acknowledging his role as the Messiah?

However, in Chapter 8, verse 31, Jesus clears up any questions concerning his role as the…...

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Bibliography

Barclay, William. The Gospel of Mark. UK: Westminster Press, 1975.

Macrory, J. "Gospel of Saint Mark." New Advent. Internet. Taken from the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910 ed. Robert Appleton Company.   / cathen/09674b.htm.http://www.newadvent.org 

Peterson, Hugh R. A Study of the Gospel of Mark. Nashville, TN: Convention Press, 1958.

The New w Layman's Parallel Bible: New Testament. King James Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981.

Gospel of Mark centers on the controversies of the Little Apocalypse and the narrative of Jerusalem Barabbas. At heart, it is the soulful Christian struggle between the good symbolized at the heart of Old Testament philosophy and made personally physical in the Christ. As in all Christian texts, the conception of evil is posited against the Good News of Jesus. Steeped in Palestinian and Roman tradition in a way not seen in the Epistles of Paul, Mark's gospel presents an audience-specific version of evil, where lack of devout, blind, and holy initial faith in the Christ, witnessed by the Zealots choice of Barabbas over Jesus, was symbolic for the evil of the anti-Christ. (Mark 13:1-2) Lacking in support for the Christ, the people of Jerusalem represented a secular evil to Mark.
Paul struggles with the same empirically Christian evil symbolized by those standing against Christ, but expands it to those…...

Homeric Epics and Mark
Dennis McDonald's The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark (2000) is a book that was always guaranteed to upset orthodox Christian theologians and biblical literalists and fundamentalists everywhere, since its main thesis held that the author of the first gospel used the Iliad and the Odyssey as literary models. He compares Mark to the apocryphal Acts of Andrew, a Gnostic book, and describes it as a "hypotext" that "relies somehow on a written antecedent" (McDonald, p. 2). Specifically, Mark used Books 22 and 24 of the Iliad as models for the death and burial of Jesus, in which Achilles brutally kills Hector and then releases the body to his father, King Priam of Troy. Hector's soul went to Hades and never returned, but of course Jesus was resurrected on the third day, even if his rather dim disciples in Mark failed to recognize him initially.

This was…...

Jesus was aware that he was a subversive power. Matthew does omit the part about Jesus needing to go into hiding. This suggests that the author had less of a need to emphasize the theme of persecution than Mark did. Mark makes sure this story is told from the perspective of the oppressed.
Matthew also recounts the tale of Jesus forgiving the paralyzed man, calling into question his divine authority. As with the story of the leper, Mark's version is far more dramatic than is Matthew's. In Mark's version, the aides had to cut a hole in the ceiling to deliver the man upon a stretcher. Matthew simply says that some men brought over a paralyzed man on a mat. Similarly, Matthew only has the crowd yelling once and not over and over, "This fellow is blaspheming!" (Matthew 9:3). It is almost as if the author expects that the audience…...

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References

Aherne, C. (1910). Gospel of Saint Luke. In the Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved November 30, 2010 from New Advent:  

Commentaries, exegeses, and correspondences provide pastors with tremendous help in crafting relevant, meaningful, and evidence-based sermons. In fact, texts like those of Boring (2006), Collins (2007), Donahue & Harrington (2002) and Moloney (2002) can be considered indispensable. Commentaries like these round out a discussion of each gospel, and each passage within scripture. Moreover, reading and re-reading commentaries helps to eliminate bias and promote an open-minded and lively discussion about the contextual variables and inherent meanings in the gospels. When encountering a critical passage like Mark 13:33-37, it may be tempting to take the text at face value and ascribe personal meaning to it. As valuable as personal meaning and literalism can be, commentaries provide rich and thoughtful analysis related to special events like the First Sunday of Advent. Each of these commentaries provides historical context for the Gospel of Mark. Moreover, some of the writers like Boring (2006) place the Gospel…...

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References

Boring, M.E. (2006). Mark: A Commentary. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

Collins, A.Y. (2007). Mark, A Commentary. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Donahue, J. R. & Harrington, D.J. (2002). The Gospel of Mark. Sacra Pagina. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press.

Moloney, F. (2002). The Gospel of Mark, A Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

 

As with the Gospel of Mark’s theme of impending darkness and suffering, what is the Good News? Is there a message of joy here? How do you talk to your parishioners about embracing the cross, even as we approach life with joy and hope?
Darkness and suffering are recurrent themes throughout the Bible. God’s love is offered as a resolution to the suffering endemic to human existence. The Gospel of Mark’s unique apocalyptic vision simultaneously presents the Good News to teach the truth about Jesus as the Son of Man. Depending on how the text is read and interpreted, there is certainly a message of joy embedded within the Gospel of Mark. I would therefore communicate the key themes related to the Son of Man, the identity of Jesus, and the means to salvation while disseminating the Good News to parishioners.

The beauty of the Gospel lies in its fantastic contradictions and…...

Jesus warns not just Peter but all of "them" about not boasting about the messiah in Mark, Matthew, and Luke too. Jesus's warning comes immediately after the miraculous healing of the blind man (Mark 8:30; Matthew 16:20; Luke 9:21). Interestingly, the Gospel of Matthew is more emphatic about Peter's future role as the "rock" of the Church of Christ: "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven," (Matthew 16:18-19). In the Gospel of Matthew, the author is ultimately concerned with the establishment of a new and formal covenant with God. The seeds of Christianity have been planted in the soil…...

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References

Aherne, C. (1910). Gospel of Saint Luke. In the Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved November 30, 2010 from New Advent:  

Marks Gospel
Mark's Gospel

The Gospel of Mark is one of the most important Gospels in the New Testament. It is considered so important because it provides a canonical account of the life of Jesus, and narrates the Ministry of Jesus from his baptism from John the Baptist all the way to the death and resurrection. (Bright, 2006) The gospel focuses on the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem. It deals mainly with the attempts of Jesus to perform miracles while maintaining a sense of secrecy about his own divinity, and after he predicts the events that are about to unfold, his disciples misunderstand the immanency of Jesus' demise.

Mark's Gospel does not discuss Jesus' birth or his life before his baptism. It simply refers to Jesus as the man from Galilee. The baptism of Jesus is portrayed as an interesting affair where Jesus' position had not been known to…...

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Work Cited

Bright, Hilda. (April, 2006). Mark's Good News. Easy English.info. Retrieved from,  http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/mark-lbw.htm .

In fact looking further the contrast between the two on the expression of the connection between Jesus and his mother is quite different as in Mark an interchange is spoken by Jesus through the following passage, where in a sense her forsakes her and his family.
Mark 3: 31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

3: 32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.

3: 33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

3: 34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

3: 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

This message is entirely missing from Luke. Though, the passage in Mark…...

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References

Holy Bible, King James Version, Nashville TN: 1984.

Areas to Compare
The Gospel of Mark

Mark 1:16-20, the Calling

Why should we focus on the First Disciples' Calling? This calling was the first of Jesus' ministry to the public. The act of Jesus was a distinction in Jewish society. According to Jewish tradition it was not a norm for Jewish teachers to go to the field and recruit disciples. It is the disciples that sought teachers. Jesus is particular in calling out his first disciples, i.e. Peter, Andrew, John and James. According to Mark, the initiative for recruiting and training to become a disciple always comes from Christ.[footnoteRef:1] [1: J. Donahue, The Theology and Setting of Discipleship in the Gospel of Mark. (Milwaukee, WI:Marquette University Pres, 1983), 15.]

Jesus did not call these disciples to repent. He only asked them to follow him. He transformed the lives of fishermen by asking them to pursue new lines of activities and mission. Such following…...

Whether Biblical literalism is valid seems unanswerable, however, from this type of historical analysis, which a literalist would reject. A person who sees the Gospels solely as documents of faith, written by Jesus' actual disciples at relatively the same time period despite their different perspectives, versions of events, and literary motifs, would naturally try to reconcile the two different versions of Jesus of Matthew and Mark and suggest that they made up the 'same' person of the same whole. One Jesus demands care on the part of His followers, the other demands trust, but both are important values for a Christian. A literalist would be reading for spiritual sustenance, a Biblical historian would be reading to try to get a sense of how the teacher Jesus was viewed and constructed by later authors -- perhaps Mark wrote in a time of need, while Matthew was trying to preach about the…...

Matthew and Mark
The synoptic Gospels of Matthew and Mark differ significantly in their perception of Jesus, but share great similarities in the way in which they state salvation should be sought. ithin Matthew, Jesus is described as Godlike, but within Mark Jesus is seen as a special man, but not as a God. Mark and Matthew are similar in their perception of the attainment of salvation. Matthew describes salvation through repenting, keeping the commandments and giving to the poor and needy, while Mark also describes the attainment of salvation through keeping the commandments and good works. Together, the similarities and differences that exist within these closely related texts serve to highlight the challenges of the interpretation of the Bible.

Matthew describes Jesus as Godlike. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is not shown as fallible or limited in power or authority, as he is in Mark. Further, Matthew's Gospel contains an…...

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Works Cited

Bible, King James Version (KJV). Gospel of Matthew. 04 may 2004.  http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/matthew-kjv.html 

Bible, King James Version (KJV). Gospel of Mark. 04 May 2004.  http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/mark-kjv.html

This is evidenced in the first chapter's list of Jesus' linage, recalling similar lists in the Old Testament, tracing the line of Israel. Second is the nativity gospel, or story of the hero's extraordinary origins, along the lines of Moses' story of persecution and salvation from death as a baby from Genesis. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is a dogmatic illustration of the role of Jesus as teacher to his followers. Jesus also teaches his disciples and others through parables, through miracles, and by quoting and interpreting scripture in a prophetic style. The final genre of the Gospel of Matthew is that of the Passion story, the narrative present in all of the gospels, of Jesus' death and resurrection.
Atmosphere: The atmosphere of the Gospel of Matthew is of a world of great hypocrisy. There is a tension between the exterior world and the interior world. Jesus teaches his followers…...

Rst: New Testament
the passion in synoptic gospels vs john'S GOSPEL

The Synoptic Gospels, which are the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, are called "Synoptic" because their patterns and stories show similar themes as well as differences. Placing them side by side, which has been done many times, can give a quick "historical" synopsis of Jesus' life. hile the Synoptic Gospels use many of the same patterns and stories, each author stresses his own themes, particularly in describing Jesus' Passion: his suffering and death. Mark emphasizes Jesus' suffering. Matthew focuses on Jesus' kingship and the jealous plotting against him. Luke stresses Jesus' innocence and its recognition by several of Jesus' key oppressors. The Synoptic Gospels use common historical patterns and stories to convey their messages.

In contrast to the Synoptic Gospels, John's Gospel is less historical and more poetically, theologically developed. John's Gospel does not use the same patterns or many…...

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Works Cited

Just, Felix. The Passion and Death of Jesus. 15 August 2014. Web. 15 August 2015.

King James Bible Online. John Chapter 18. 2015. Web. 14 August 2015.

-- . John Chapter 19. 2015. Web. 14 August 2015.

-- . Luke Chapters 22 and 23. 2015. Web. 14 August 2015.

Mark
The Book of Mark

According to Burton Mack's analysis of the synoptic gospels, A Myth of Innocence: Mark and Christian Origins, the Gospel of Mark was likely written in 70 CE in Syria. The Gospel of Mark tells the story of a Jesus who is not born in an overly divine fashion in the sense that it contains no story of Mary's impregnation by the Holy Spirit nor Jesus persecution by Herod. Nor does it contain an extensive Judaic linage of the figure of Jesus, or extensive sermons, like the book of Mark. Instead, it begins with Jesus' baptism as a teacher by the hands of John the Baptist.

According to Mack, the Jesus of Mark's envisioning is an angry, rather terse parable-teller and speaker of wisdom literature, designed to be obscure in meaning than easily understood. He is a man whom stands outside of conventional, Judaic society and is crucified by…...

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Works Cited

Cameron, Ron. The Other Gospels. Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1982

Mack, Burton. A Myth of Innocence: Mark and Christian Origins. Fortress Press, 1988 Edition.

Robbins, Vernon K. "Last Meal: Preparation, betrayal, and Absence." (Mark 14: 12-35)." In The Passion in Mark: Studies on Mark 14-16, edited by Werner h. Kelber, 21-40.