The Gospel According to Mark "Jesus - The Son of God"
Each book in the Bible gently guides God's people into a more intimate relationship with their Creator, as He knows must occur, for His people to receive Him in the depth of the relationship that He purchased for them. Each day we are covering, in sequential order, one of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament and expecting people’s lives to change through the revelation this information will give.
Today is the second day and the book is, The Gospel According to Mark the second book in the New Testament as it appears in our Bible. It is thought to be the first account of Jesus’ “earthly life” written, but it is placed second. Mark’s account of the gospel is the shortest of the four accounts, and the most direct.
Mark’s first statement is, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;” whereas Matthew’s account leads Jesus’ genealogy back to Abraham and links Him to God that way so the Jewish readers could believe through prophecy being fulfilled.
Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism quotes the voice coming from heaven as saying, “This is my beloved Son…”, and Mark’s records it saying, “Thou art my beloved Son,…” These two accounts are subtly different but very different in their relational intimacy. This change of tone and wording is found throughout the Progression of Revelation in the New Testament, and it is what this blog series is bringing to light.
Mark’s next progression is to quote Jesus saying, “…believe the gospel.” Which is the first time for Jesus being quoted as saying, “believe it.” Jesus had preached the gospel and said it would be preached in the whole world, but had not straightly told people to believe it.
When Jesus entered into Peter’s house in Matthew’s account, He touched Peter’s mother, but in Mark’s account He “took her by the hand and lifted her up” another subtle sign of the intimacy increasing in Mark’s account.
While healing a leper, Jesus touched him in Matthew’s account, but in Mark’s record Jesus was moved with compassion and then Jesus touched the leper. In Matthew’s account, Jesus told the leper not to tell anyone about his cleansing other than the priests and that was the end of that situation, but in Mark’s account Jesus said the same thing, and the man went and “began to publish it much…”
A man was taken to Jesus and was healed according to Matthew’s account, but Mark’s account had his friends take the roof apart, let him down through it, and then was healed.
Jesus taught about the Sabbath in Matthew’s account and showed how to treat it, but in Mark’s account He says clearly, “And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath:…”
In Mark’s account Jesus showed emotions toward the people chastising Him for even considering healing a man on the Sabbath, “He looked around about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts,” but not in Matthew’s account.
During Jesus’ “A house divided against itself” statement, Mark has Jesus’ friends thinking He was “beside Himself.”, but not in Matthew’s record.
“The unpardonable sin” statement in the Gospel According to Mark says, “hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:..” instead of what Matthew says, “it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”
In “The grain of mustard faith” Matthew says, “The kingdom of heaven is like…”, and Mark says, “Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?” thereby gathering the people’s interest and including them instead of preaching to them.
When Jesus rebuked the storm in Matthew’s account, He asked why they feared and said they had little faith. In Mark’s account of the same instance, He said, “How is it you have no faith?”
In the “The man possessed with a legion of evil spirits,” Jesus asked what his name was in Mark’s account: but, in Matthew’s account, Jesus just took care of the problem.
Mark’s account of Jesus’ life continues deepening in the relational aspect throughout it, but let’s fast forward to the events surrounding the “Last Supper” through Jesus’ Ascension and look at some of the differences in this section of scripture.
Mark tells us about Jesus instructing His disciples to meet a man carrying a pitcher of water, and Matthew only says, “such a man,” when He instructed them to find a place for the Last Supper.
Jesus replied to the high priest in Matthew’s account, “Thou hast said…”, but in Mark’s account, Jesus said, “I am…” which is Jesus’ first time to profess that He was the “Christ the Son of The Blessed.”
Matthew tells about, “Simon a man from Cyrene…,” and Mark tells about, “Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.”
The last command Jesus gave His disciples is known as the Great Commission, and in Matthew’s account, Jesus said, ”All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”, but Mark recorded Him saying, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
The last major difference in Mark’s account and Matthew’s is the ascension of Jesus. Matthew did not mention it, and Mark completed his account with it stating, ”So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.”
The examples in this blog are only a limited sample of the differences of the relational depth described through Mark’s depiction of Jesus as it is compared to Matthew’s writing and it is like this throughout his account of it.
I want to make certain that you do not misunderstand the intent of this blog. The blog is not to enlighten people about the differences in the Bible due to God’s people writing it and having their own understanding of the events as they occurred. The intent of the blog is to demonstrate the difference in revelation that God gives to His people as they intently follow Him and focus on what He has told them through their individual lives and the revelation they’ve received through the Holy Spirit and His Holy Bible.
