Reading Notes: The Gospel of Mark, Part A

The Gospel of Mark, King James Version (1611)

Fun little sidenote: Back in 7th grade, I was part of a team where we memorized a book of the bible and competed for trivia, and that year was the Book of Mark! I did not have a good memory, however.

Jesus made sure to preach to the people who needed him the most, the ones who are sinners and have not found God yet. He chose fishermen, not the current church leaders, to be his disciples, to follow him and help him preach the word. He believed they would be a better choice and more worthy of his efforts and his support. One of the other great lessons that the book tells us is that if we are not together in our goals, we will fail. We must be united if we are to stay strong, as even the strongest of us can be tied up and robbed.

The Book of Mark is heavy in the use of parables, which are similar to fables. The one that sticks out the most is the story of a sower spreading seed, some of which ends up on ground covered in stone, some nestled into thorns, and more placed into soil that is good for growing. This parable is used to explain spreading the gospel, as some will be choked out by thorns inside someone's heart, some will be exalted by the person, though not planted as the roots cannot grow, and others still will see the roots take hold within them, and they themselves will eventually have planted many of their own seeds. He continues by talking about the mustard seed, which is unimportant when just a seed, but becomes a major and important plant once planted and grown.

Jesus also was able to raise people from what was believed to be the dead. A young girl, aged 12 years old, was lying with her family believing she was dead. Even though he was laughed at for saying that she was simply sleeping and was not dead, he was still able to go forth and cause her to rise, as if nothing was ever wrong with her.

Eventually, he places power into his disciples so that they could heal others and spread his word without him there. He also was able to feed 5,000 people with only 5 loaves of bread and two fish, which is absolutely incredible. After he does the same for 4,000 people, his disciples still do not believe him, which frustrates him, as they were there for his miracles, yet they still have doubts.

Miracle of the Bread and Fish by Giovanni Lanfranco

Source: Wikipedia