Background
Mark is almost exactly half the length of Matthew and Luke, suggesting standardized scroll lengths. Given the cost of ancient scrolls, Mark would have been the most affordable of the Gospels, and must have circulated widely in the first century. Matthew and Luke both considered Mark sufficiently reliable to draw heavily on this Gospel. By the second century, however, church fathers were more interested in completeness and focused more heavily on Matthew, which incorporated a majority of Mark’s material.
Authorship
That Mark wrote this Gospel represents the earliest and undisputed tradition of the church, reaching back to the early church father Papias (and thus within several decades of this Gospel’s publication). This early tradition reports that Mark derived his information directly from Peter, a close eyewitness of most of the events narrated in the Gospel. Mark apparently knows Aramaic, and its influence shows up in his Greek (or in the Greek of the milieu where he grew up). Mark was a common Roman name, but in Aramaic-speaking areas of Judea it would have occurred especially among elite families. Thus the author of this Gospel could be the cousin of Barnabas who worked with Paul (Ac 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37, 39), including later in Rome (Col 4:10). This is probably the same Mark who also worked with Peter in Rome (1Pe 5:13), independently supporting Papias’s belief about authorship.
Date
Any proposed date is based on somewhat slender evidence, though very few scholars date Mark later than AD 75, and the majority date it around 70 or as early as 64. A few have dated it even earlier, to the reign of Caligula in the 40s, though one wonders if Mark would have taken notes from Peter so early, especially if he is the same Mark who abandoned Paul in that decade (Ac 13:13). Because it encourages disciples to stand in the face of persecution, many suggest that the Gospel was written especially to encourage Christians living in Rome under Nero’s persecution, which began in 64, probably the most common date offered by conservative scholars. Early Christian tradition declares that both Paul and Peter were martyred during that period of persecution in Rome.
Mark is likely the earliest of our four Gospels. Papias says that Matthew wrote first, but also says that Mark depended on Peter; some scholars think that Matthew’s earlier writing refers only to a collection of Jesus’ sayings compiled by Matthew rather than the later Gospel of Matthew. Because roughly 90 percent of Mark’s accounts appear in some form in Matthew’s Gospel, and because Mark’s grammar is weaker, it seems much more likely that Matthew’s Gospel drew on Mark, rather than the reverse. (The Biblical quotations in Matthew also reflect a mixture of the standard Greek translation and a different way of translating the Hebrew; by contrast, where Matthew overlaps with Mark, his quotations follow only the standard Greek translation, as Mark’s quotations do.) Mark must be early enough for it to have become the standard account, despite its grammatical weaknesses; Matthew and Luke both draw on it heavily. Because there is some reason to believe that Luke writes in the 70s, a date for Mark around 64 is a reasonable proposal.
Reliability
See the Introduction to the Gospels. If Mark draws on the recollections of Peter, as the earliest and only tradition suggests, he had access to firsthand information. There is nothing in this Gospel that could not at least potentially come from an eyewitness, and as many scholars have persuasively argued (e.g., Richard Bauckham), the firsthand memories of Jesus’ disciples undoubtedly circulated for many decades after Jesus’ resurrection. Matthew and Luke, who probably wrote within two decades of Mark, had far better access to Mark’s identity and sources than modern scholars do. The dependence of Matthew and Luke on Mark (according to the most common scholarly view) shows two things: first, that like good biographers they followed their sources rather than made them up; and second, they considered Mark a particularly trustworthy source. This would be especially true if, like Papias, they believed that Peter’s authority stood behind it.
Messianic Secret
One theme in Mark often emphasized by modern scholars, yet already noted in the church fathers, is what scholars usually call the Messianic secret. Jesus conceals his Messiahship from the public until the conclusion of his ministry and even urges many of those healed in private to keep the healing secret (though this attempt often proves unsuccessful). A key reason for silence about the healings is that Jesus was drawing ever-increasing crowds, creating conditions difficult for personal ministry (1:45; 2:2; 3:9–10, 20). The presence of such crowds would also draw unwelcome attention from the political elites, and premature revelation of his Messiahship would precipitate his premature execution as king of the Jews. Moreover, Jesus’ Messianic title and purpose, clearly misunderstood by his own disciples, would certainly be misunderstood by the crowds. Scholars have offered some possible subsidiary motives: (1) some argue that potential Messiahs received the title only once enthroned; (2) people in antiquity viewed premature boasting negatively; (3) Biblical prophets sometimes faded into the background so their divine message could be highlighted.
Yet Jesus clearly remains the hero of Mark’s Gospel; even the disciples often misunderstand him, but God’s purposes are fulfilled exactly as promised. The opening proclamation of the kingdom climaxes in Jesus’ crucifixion as king of the Jews, with Mark only afterward pointing his audience to the resurrection that lies beyond it. This pattern fits the hiddenness of Jesus’ Messiahship. Mark knows that the kingdom will come in its fullness but recognizes that in the present it is visible only to some (4:11–12, 30–32; cf. 2Co 2:15–16). Jesus focuses on the sick, the poor, the morally and socially marginalized, and others, rather than cultivating the favor of the powerful. Yet in the words of Paul, God reveals his power in weakness; indeed, ultimately in the epitome of human weakness: in the cross (1Co 1:18–25). ◆
Quick Glance
Author:
John Mark
Audience:
Mostly Gentile Christians, probably in the church at Rome
Date:
Between the mid-50s and late 60s AD
Theme:
To encourage his readers to persevere through suffering and persecution, Mark presents Jesus as the Servant-Messiah and Son of God who died as a ransom for sinners.