The Gospel of Mark is the oldest book we know about Jesus Christ. It tells the story of Jesus’ public ministry, from his baptism to his resurrection. His intention is clearly to tell the story of Jesus as an explanation of his death and resurrection.
However, in an artistically brilliant way, the author invites us to delv into the history of Jesus as if we could participate with him and his disciples in the facts narrated in this book. With every scene, story, dialogue, we are invited to know more. about who he is and what he expects of us as disciples.
- And to do so.
- Mark describes Jesus always on the move.
- Traveling with his disciples to Jerusalem.
- In this gospel.
- We have the impression that Jesus is still on his way somewhere.
- This is obvious when we realize that the Greek word for?Way? (gr.
- ???? / hods) appears 16 times in this gospel (1:2.
- 3.
- 2:23; 4: 4.
- 15; 6: 8; 8: 3.
- 27; 9:33.
- 34; 10: 17.
- 32.
- 46.
- 52; 11: 8.
- 12:14) suggesting that the author chose to present the story of Jesus through a literary journey that can be divided into three parts:.
(1) Ministry in Galilee: Mark begins his gospel by telling the story of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee (1:1-8:21), focusing on his first encounters with his disciples, his initial relationship with the multitude, his teachings, and His conflicts with the Jewish authorities It is at this point in his history that Jesus makes his first invitations for people to begin to follow Him (1 : 16-20; 2: 13-14, 3: 13-19). , Mark helps us answer the question: “Who is Jesus?(4:41 cfr 1: 7-8, 22-27, 34, 38; 2: 5-12, 17, 28; 3:11, 20-29; 5: 7; 6: 3-4, 14-16, 48-52; 7: 36-37; 8: 11-13).
(2) Disciples on the Way: In the second part of the Gospel, Mark continues to demonstrate the development of Jesus’ mission with his disciples on the way to Jerusalem (8:22-10:52). In this part of the Gospel, the author invites us to observe Jesus’ discipleship with special attention to his relationship with the twelve disciples. With this, Mark helps us answer the question: “What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?; see 8: 27-30, 31-33; 9: 7-8, 9-10; 18, 24, 29; 30-32; 33-37, 40, 42, 43-47; 49-50, 10 : 10-12; 10: 15-16; 17-22, 26-31; 32-34, 38, 43-45).
(3) Death in Jerusalem: Finally, Mark tells us how Jesus’ ministry, which begins in Galilee, unfolds along the way with the disciples, ends in Jerusalem with his betrayal, his suffering, and his death on the cross (11:1-16:8). Apparently, all the stories told indicate the moment of Jesus’ death, and the gospel has its heyday here. And here, Mark helps us answer the question: “What does Jesus expect from his disciples?(14:28; 16:7; see 11:7-11; 15-18; 20-25; 27-28; 12: 10-11; 16-17; 28-34; 41-44; 13: 24-27, 32-37; 14: 3; 10, 20, 27-31, 37, 40, 41, 44, 47, 50, 51-52, 54, 66-72; 15: 12-15, 22-26, 27- 32; 16: 8).
With this account, Mark presents the path of discipleship with Jesus, in a narrative that mixes the powerful presentation of the person of Jesus with the total lack of understanding of the disciples about who Jesus really was, and in this path of discipleship with Jesus , Mark also teaches us that being a disciple of Jesus is following his steps in the midst of difficulties and struggles, that is, it is about carrying our cross daily and following your steps on the path of your life with him.
Is this very clear when the author describes the path of discipleship with the phrase?On the way? (gr. ??????? / in t- hod-i; cf. 8: 3, 27; 9:33, 34; 10:32, 52) in the context of each of Jesus’ three predictions of his death (8: 31-32a; 9:30-31; 10:32-34). In other words, for Mark, to follow Jesus is to be with him on the way of the cross every day. Following Jesus is a commitment to be with him to death!
If anyone wants to come after me, surrender, take your cross and follow me; because whoever wants to save her life will lose her, but whoever loses her for my cause and the gospel will save her.
? San Marcos 8: 34. 35
But it is interesting that this journey with Jesus presented by Mark is presented as a chess trip. With each story told, Mark demonstrates that it was not only the multitude, opponents, or authorities who did not understand who He was, but that the disciples themselves did not seem to understand who He was (8:32), what He taught (7:18), and what the Master expected of them (8:17-18), and this is evident in each of the three parts of the gospel:
(1) Lack of understanding: in the first part of the book (1:1-8:21), Mark tells us that the disciples did not understand who Jesus really was (4:13; 7:18), as they followed for the wrong reasons (1:21-45), had no faith (4:40), did not believe in his power (6:37, 8:4), did not recognize him (6:49), and could I not understand what Jesus was doing through his miracles (8 : 16-21).
(2) Lack of acceptance: In the second part of the book (8:22-10:52), Mark emphasizes Jesus’ predictions about his mission and death, but the disciples seem convinced that this would not actually happen. as for urging Jesus to try to correct him for his?Madness? (8:32), while the disciples did not seem to accept that this would be the destiny of His teacher (9:32), or they preferred to completely ignore what He had taught about his death (10:35-45).
(3) Lack of fidelity: Finally, in the third part of the book (11:1-16:8), Mark shows how the disciples were unfaithful to Jesus, in view of all the misunderstandings about who he really was and what his mission would be, the disciples could not be faithful to his teacher: Judas, perhaps the most disgruntled of the disciples, decided to betray him (14:10-11; 17-21). Peter, in all his self-sufficiency, goes to the point of saying that he would never abandon him (14:27-31), but ended up denying it three times (14:66-72). The disciples could not pray with their teacher when he needed it most (14: 32-41), and in the end they all fled leaving him alone to be arrested (14:50-52): in the last moments of his life and ministry, Jesus had been betrayed and abandoned by all his disciples.
In other words, the path of Jesus’ discipleship with his disciples narrated by Mark is but a path of repeated failures of his disciples before a Master who loves them to the last consequences, and that is precisely why this gospel is so important. for us: as the disciples, on our journey with Christ, we have experienced recurring failures in the face of what the Lord expected of us, but we are always faced with a Master who loves us as imperfect as we do.
But what draws our attention to the Gospel of Mark is that in describing this failed journey, Mark teaches us that as disciples of Jesus, we must (1) understand who he is, (2) accept his mission, and (3) live a life. fidelity to Him, avoiding the negative examples of His disciples, that is, Mark invites us to a new path with Jesus, a path according to the teachings and expectations of our Master, a new path with Him on the way to the new Jerusalem.
And we, who know history very well, and whom we tell from the first verse who Jesus is (1:1; cf. 15:39), and we know exactly what he came to do (cf. 8:31; 9:30-31; 10:32-34; 15:33-38; 16:5-7), we have a privileged perspective to study this book: we can find on this literary journey what Mark wants to teach us about Jesus waiting for us as his subscribers. When we read the gospel of Mark, we are invited to walk with Jesus on a journey that will transform our perspective on who he is and what it means to be his disciple.
Therefore, during the series of devotions “A” Jesus “we want to invite you to read this gospel every week with us. In each of the articles in this series we will leave you a link to read the text, so that you can read the Gospel of Mark and reflect on how your journey with Jesus developed on the way to the new Jerusalem. Our desire is that this series be used by God to transform your life, so that you can be inspired to follow Jesus more closely in your life. life Are we going to start this journey with Jesus together?
Soli Deo Gloria