Well, I just finished a New Testament class that I had to write summaries for. So I thought that I would post them one-by-one. Enjoy them and critique them if necessary;)
MARK
Though Mark
is anonymous, in AD 125 an important segment of the early church thought that a
man of that name was the one who wrote it. This man would be the John Mark
mentioned in Acts and other books in the New Testament.
I think a
main theme in Mark is Jesus’ works. Mark doesn’t spend as much time telling of
His teachings, but more of the things He did.
I. (1:1-13)
A. Mark
begins His Gospel by telling us of John and his baptism ministry. As he is
telling the people to repent and baptizing them, the One he is preparing the
people to believe in, comes to be baptized. As He comes up out of the water,
the Holy Spirit comes upon Him like a dove and He is immediately led into the
desert.
B. One
thing we can learn from this is that if Jesus, a perfect being, had to be
baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, how much more do we, being wicked? Also,
since Jesus was tempted, we can go to Him knowing that He knows how it is and
also how to overcome it, and therefore will help us like no one else.
II. (1:14-3:6)
A. As Jesus
starts His ministry, He preaches like John had, telling the people to repent
and believe the gospel. He starts to
call certain men to Himself to be His disciples, heals many sick and demon
possessed people, and also preaches to them. Already the Pharisees are
questioning Jesus, and He explains to them His reasons for doing or not doing
certain things. The first time the Pharisees plot to kill Jesus is when He
heals a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath.
B. We can
learn from this section that Jesus really cared about and loved the people,
showing this by healing them and longing for them to believe the gospel. He
also tells us that He can forgive us our sins, which the scribes obviously did
not agree with and thought it was blasphemous of Him to say that.
III. (3:7-5:43)
A. This
section starts off saying that great multitudes followed Jesus, showing us that
He is getting more popular. Because there where so many people He was healing,
He had to have His disciples get a boat ready for Him so He wouldn’t get
crushed. Jesus then chooses 12 men to be His disciples. He also teaches the
people, mostly in parables, and does many miracles including calming the storm,
cleansing a man of demons, and restoring a girl to life.
B. An
important thing we can learn from this section is that our God is a mighty God.
We see this in all of His miracles: He just speaks the word and things happen.
We need to have such faith as that.
IV. (6:1-8:26)
A. After
Jesus is rejected in His home town of Nazareth,
He sends His Disciples out to preach and heal the sick, but to take nothing
with them. Mark goes into a detailed account of the beheading of John, and then
tells of Jesus feeding the 5,000, walking on the sea, healing many people in
many cities, teaching, again feeding a large multitude, and warning against the
leaven of the Pharisees and Herod.
B. From the
account of Nazareth we can learn
that Jesus could not do mighty works there because of their unbelief. If we
believe and trust in Jesus, He will do a great work in us. Furthermore, we can
learn that the world will try to kill all those who believe in Jesus and who
preach His Name, just like Herod did to John by putting him in prison and then
beheading Him
V. (8:27-10:52)
A. After
Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus tells His disciples that He
must die. Jesus urges the people to take up their cross and follow Him, even to
the point of losing their life. Then He goes with His disciples up to a
mountaintop and is transfigured before some of them, standing with Moses and
Elijah. God speaks to them from a cloud and says, “This is My beloved Son. Hear
Him!” After He comes down, He heals a boy that His disciples could not because
of lack of faith, predicts His death a second and third time, and teaches on
things such as who is the greatest, and marriage and divorce.
B. We can
learn from this section that to be great, we actually need to be a servant to
all. This is true greatness. We can learn to be kind to the little children,
and really to all, just as Jesus was. Moreover we can see that Jesus is
greatest of all the Old Testament figures and He is worth giving everything up
for.
VI. (11:1-13:37)
A. Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem
and then goes to the temple and drives out all those who bought and sold in the
temple. Most of the Pharisees and other leaders did not like Jesus, even hated
Him, and tried to catch Him in His words, but He would not be caught. Then
Jesus teaches His disciples all about the end times, and how no one knows when
the end will come.
B. An important theme in the later
part of this section is the end times. Jesus tells us that no one knows the
time in which He will return and that we need to be ready and watch. Also,
before that time, there will be many great tribulations that we will have to go
through and endure. We need to learn from this and do as He says: watch!
VII. (14:1-16:8)
A. Mark
starts chapter 14 off by saying that the chief priests and scribes sought how
they might put Him to death by trickery. Jesus is anointed with oil at Bethany
which Jesus says is in preparation for burial, after which Judas goes to the
priests and tells them he will betray Jesus, and they give him money to do it.
Then Jesus celebrates the Passover with His disciples, institutes the Lord’s
Supper, predicts Peter’s denial of Him, and goes into a garden to pray. As He was
praying, a great multitude came with weapons and arrested Jesus. All His
disciples fled. After He had been brought before many rulers, He is condemned
to the cross, and there He dies. That evening, a man named Joseph buried Jesus in
his tomb, but three days later the tomb was empty: Jesus was risen from the
dead. The women who first saw this where amazed and frightened and did not tell
the others.
B. What can
we learn from this? Too much to fit in this little summery! We can learn to
quietly stand before our accusers just as Jesus did. We can choose not to
follow the disciples’ example, but to follow Jesus even in the hard times of
life when we think everything is going wrong. And we can also remember that
Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and then defeated death and rose again so
that we could have eternal life with Him. We should always be thanking Him for
that.
I would say that Mark 1:15 is a good summery
verse of the whole book. Jesus says: “…The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent,
and believe in the gospel.” Jesus and what He did is the Gospel. By His works throughout His life He demonstrates the
Kingdom of God and ushers it in. We need to repent of our sins and believe in Him so
that God will save us from His wrath and welcome us into His family.
