After?examining?a?number?of?depictions?of?Jesus??life?in?literature,?art?and?film?this?semester,?which?of?the
canonical?gospels?(Matthew,?Mark,?Luke?and?John)?do?you?think?has?been?the?most?influential?to?later
interpreters??Please?give?concrete?examples.?Please?only?use?attachments?given.
new testament | 1791
THEGOSPELACCORDING TO MARK
authorship and date
Although the Gospel is anonymous, an ancient tradition ascribes it to John Mark (mentioned in Acts 12.12;
15.37), who is supposed to have composed it at Rome as a summary of Peter?s preaching (see 1 Pet 5.13). Modern
scholars fi nd li+ le fi rst-century ce evidence to support this tradition. Mark is the shortest of the four canonical
Gospels and is generally thought to be the earliest and to have been used as a source for both Ma+ hew and
Luke. The vague references to the destruction of Jerusalem in Mark 13 (contrast Mt 22.7; Lk 19.43) could be clues
that the Gospel was composed just prior to the Jewish revolt that began in 66 ce and the Roman reconquest and
destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 ce.
style and content
The language of the Gospel is that of popular spoken Greek. Its style features rapid sequences of brief and vivid
concrete episodes linked simply by ?and? or ?and immediately,? frequently omi+ ed in translation for less awkward
reading in English. The narrative o- en shi- s from the past tense into the present tense, enlivening the action. The
content of the Gospel consists mostly of stories about Jesus? actions and disputes with scribes and Pharisees, including
some of Jesus? sayings, with two speeches (one mostly of parables) interrupting the rapid fl ow of episodes.
Mark appears to have drawn upon a rich variety of oral traditions of Jesus? actions and teachings, including chains
of miracle stories, sets of parables, and stories of controversies with the Pharisees. Some scholars think that the
Gospel may have been a text that was still performed orally by Christian storytellers. The overall narrative weaves
sequences of episodes together into a complex plot with several interrelated themes and confl icts. In the earliest
manuscripts, Mark ends abruptly at 16.8. This (apparently original) open ending invites the reader to continue the
story of Jesus and the kingdom. In some later manuscripts Mark?s story was ?completed? with resurrection appearances
of amalgamated elements from the other canonical Gospels, to make it conform to their common pa+ ern.
structure
The Gospel story unfolds in an escalating series of steps. A- er Jesus? baptism by John, he proclaims the kingdom of
God and manifests its miraculous power in rural Galilee as the renewal of Israel, over against the Jerusalem priestly
establishment and its representatives, the scribes and Pharisees (chs 1?3). In the fi rst long speech of the Gospel,
Jesus then teaches the mysterious plan of the kingdom in parables to large audiences and especially to his disciples
(4.1?34). Jesus continues his program of the renewal of Israel in a sustained program of sea crossings, exorcisms,
healings, and wilderness feedings reminiscent of the activities of Moses and Elijah (the great prophets of the past
who, respectively, founded and renewed Israel), along with continuing disputes with the scribes and Pharisees
(4.35?8.21). In the next step of the story, one framed by healings of blind men that highlight the disciples? misunderstanding,
Jesus repeatedly makes clear that, besides being a new prophet equal in signifi cance to Moses and
Elijah in his restoration of covenantal Israel, it is necessary that he carry out the agenda of a martyr-messiah of Israel
who must be condemned by the rulers, be killed, and rise again (8.22?10.52). A- er his dramatic messianic entry
into Jerusalem and his provocative prophetic condemnation of the Temple, Jesus confronts the Jerusalem priestly
establishment and its representatives (chs 11?12). In a second major speech, Jesus warns the disciples about fanatical
misinterpretation of the coming political struggles (ch 13). In the fi nal section of the Gospel, following Jesus? last
meal with the disciples and his betrayal and arrest by the rulers? posse, he is accused of treason, blasphemy, and
insurrection, condemned, and turned over to Pilate, the Roman governor, who orders him executed by crucifi xion
(chs 14?15). The Gospel then ends abruptly with the story of the empty tomb and the women?s fear (16.1?8).
interpretation
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