8. Are the Witnesses Honest? (2)

(2) The Gospel of Mark

 

• The widely accepted author Mark or John Mark wrote this gospel likely sometime between 50-70 AD.[1]
• The gospel is written in fairly basic Greek (less elaborate that Matthew’s Greek).
• John Mark’s two names suggest a Hebrew (John) and Greek (Mark) background.
• It is the briefest, most action packed, very factual gospel.
• Mark was evidently directed to a Roman audience, and early tradition indicates that it originated in Rome . It omits strictly Jewish concepts (like Jesus’ genealogy, fulfilled prophecy, Mosaic Law etc), gives interpretation for Aramaic words (like in Mark 3:17, 5:41, 15:22), and uses Latin terms in place of Greek equivalents (as in 4:21, 6:27, 6:42, 15:15-16 and 16:39).
• The detailed description of the “guest room” in 14:12–16 (compare Matthew 26:17–19; John 13:1–12) suggests that Mark was writing about his own house.
• Given the somewhat odd details mentioned in Mark 14:51-52, John Mark was probably the young man mentioned in these verses.
• The house of his mother was apparently a major meeting place for the early church (Acts 12:12-17).
• The presence of a maid (Acts 12:13) suggest a substantial, perhaps even wealthy family.
• John Mark was the cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10).
• He was travel companion to Paul for his first mission trip, then got into a dispute with Paul (Acts 15:37-39), but this was later resolved (Philemon 23 and 2 Timothy 4:11).
• Peter calls John Mark “my son” (1 Peter 5:13).
• The “they” form used often in the gospel (like Mark 1:29-31, 8:22, 9:30, 11:15) and the description of Jesus’ emotions, supports the theory of Mark describing Peter’s account. As a comparison, the other gospels use “he” and “we” forms in these situations.
• About 90% of Mark’s material is also found in Matthew and Luke (synoptic gospels).
• Jesus resurrection appearances mentioned in Mark 16:9-20 are not in the oldest extant codices (340 AD – Codex Sinaiticus) and therefore not generally believed to have been part of the original gospel. Some suggest that Mark just ended with the women’s discovery of the empty grave (Mark 16:1-8), others believe the original ending was lost at a very early date.

The synoptic relationship between the synoptic gospels

Comparing the Four Gospels