Mark
by David E. Garland
■ AUTHOR: John Mark, coworker of the apostle Peter.
■ DATE: Between A.D. 68 and A.D. 70.
■ OCCASION: There was terrible social upheaval in Palestine and throughout the Mediterranean world for the Jews. Life was also difficult for the early Christians. It was a time of suffering and martyrdom.
■ KEY THEMES:
1. To fortify the faith of believers who were suffering.
2. To explain the current suffering of believers.
3. To admonish “cross-bearing” as integral to discipleship.
4. To encourage believers with hope—in spite of their failures.
Authorship and Place of Origin
The writer of this Gospel wished only to give witness to Jesus Christ and not to identify himself, but ancient testimony has always attributed it to Mark. When the Gospels were shared with other communities, they needed titles so that hearers would know what was being read and readers would know what was on the shelf. Had they circulated anonymously, each community would have given them a different title. Why accredit a Gospel to someone not known as an apostle unless there was some basis for this in fact?
Ancient tradition also connects Mark to Peter. Some claim that this testimony is muddled, but the Gospel’s relationship to Peter is likely. The author would certainly not have been an unknown upstart who decided independently to write a Gospel. He must have been a recognized teacher in the church who could appeal to an even greater authority—Peter. That Matthew and Luke allowed themselves to be guided by Mark in writing their Gospels testifies to this fact.
Where Mark wrote his Gospel is difficult to decide. Tradition associates it with Rome, which may explain why Mark must interpret Palestinian customs for his audience (e.g., 7:3–5, washing of hands; 15:42, the “day of preparation” is the day before Sabbath).1 A good case can also be made for the Palestinian origin of the Gospel, however.
Setting and Purpose
Wherever this Gospel was written, it addressed a setting of persecution and crisis, probably around A.D. 68–70. The Roman historian, Tacitus, described the period of the late 60s this way:
The history on which I am entering is that of a period rich in disasters, terrible with battles, torn by civil struggles, horrible even in peace. Four emperors fell by the sword; there were three civil wars, more foreign wars, and often both at the same time…. Italy was distressed by disasters unknown before or returning after the lapse of the ages…. Beside the manifold misfortunes that befell mankind there were prodigies in the sky and on the earth, warnings given by thunderbolts, and prophecies of the future, both joyful and gloomy, uncertain and clear.2
THE TEMPLE MOUNT
Leen Ritmeyer’s classic reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple.
Jews faced even greater catastrophes. When Mark wrote, a Roman legion either was on the verge of or had recently sacked Jerusalem and demolished the temple. The discourse in Mark 13 suggests that Christians faced the full brunt of Satan’s onslaught. In addition to the social upheaval created by wars and the desecration of what was once a revered and holy shrine (13:7–8, 14), Christians had to deal with inquisitions (13:9), betrayal (13:12), family crack-ups (13:12), and hatred because of their faith (13:13). False prophets proliferated, peddling false hope (13:5–6).
In a context of suffering and martyrdom, Mark wrote:
(1) To fortify the faith of those in danger of being overwhelmed by fear (4:41; 10:32; 16:8). They may cry out in the midst of storms, “Don’t you care if we drown?” (4:38). Mark seeks to lift the community’s “eyes from the surging chaos that seems to engulf it and to fix them instead on the vision of the one enthroned in heaven, the monarch omnipotent in every storm.”3
(2) To account for the present circumstances of believers. Jesus promises his followers rewards but only with persecutions (10:29–30). He warns that they will be salted with fire (9:49–50). Their suffering is all part of the mystery of how the kingdom of God advances in the world.
(3) To admonish. Cross-bearing is not optional but an integral requirement of discipleship (8:34–38). The disciples’ sad performance provides a negative example of those who prefer glory to arduous hardship. Having no root in themselves, they endure awhile but fall away when affliction arises because of the word (4:17). Jesus’ behavior under severe trial sets the standard the community must follow.
(4) To encourage. Despite their grievous failures, Jesus never disowns his disciples and promises a renewed relationship after his resurrection (16:7). Readers would know, for example, that Peter repented, was restored, and died a martyr for the faith. They learn from Mark that God overcomes human weakness and that Jesus’ death and resurrection atones for even the worst sins.
(5) To prevent believers from being deluded by end-time delirium. Mark wants to fit readers with spiritual lenses that will allow them to see clearly heavenly realities through the blinding cloudbursts of earthly disasters.
(6) To fit Christ’s followers for mission to all the world (14:9). They are not selected for special privileges but sent out to call others to repent and believe the gospel (6:12). They are to feed spiritually hungry masses (6:37).
(7) To inform pious interest in Jesus their Lord. Mark gives a human face to the one whom these people believe is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus is a real person firmly planted in the soil of everyday Palestinian life.