Simmons TPT The Book of Mark

12-Lesson Study Guide
1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-1-4245-6625-9
Verlag: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 176 Seiten

Reihe: The Passionate Life Bible Study Series

The book of Mark is an explosive account of Jesus' miraculous life. Mark highlights the many miracles of Jesus, illustrating the beautiful union of divine power and overwhelming mercy as he healed, taught, and saved the lost. This gospel reveals the Suffering Servant and transforms us into his fervent followers.   This 12-lesson study guide on the book of Mark provides a unique and welcoming opportunity to immerse yourself in God's precious Word as expressed in The Passion Translation®. Begin your journey with a thorough introduction that details the authorship of Mark, date of composition, first recipients, setting, purpose, central message, and key themes. Each lesson then walks you through a portion from the book and includes features such as notable verses, historical and cultural background information, definitions of words and language, cross references to other books of the Bible, maps, and character portraits of figures from the Bible and church history.   Enrich your biblical understanding of the book of Mark, experience God's love for you, and share his heart with others.

DR. BRIAN SIMMONS is a passionate lover of God. After a dramatic conversion to Christ, Brian knew that God was calling him to go to the unreached people of the world and present the gospel of God's grace to all who would listen. With his wife, Candice, and their three children, he spent eight years in the tropical rain forest of the Darien Province of Panama as a church planter, translator, and consultant. Having been trained in linguistics and Bible translation principles, Brian assisted in the Paya-Kuna New Testament translation project. After his ministry overseas, Brian was instrumental in planting a thriving church in New England (U.S.) and currently travels full time as a speaker and Bible teacher. He is the lead translator of The Passion Translation®.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Simmons, Brian

Leseproben

LESSON 1

Beginning the Gospel of Mark

“You are the Messiah,
the Son of the Living God!”

MARK 8:29

Welcome to Mark’s Gospel! Truly, Mark’s account of the life of Jesus is a treasure as he records not only miracles (twenty-one to be specific) but also story after story of the merciful acts of Jesus. Mark’s writing will inspire you to follow Jesus more intensely, and it will challenge you to love Jesus more deeply.

Authorship

As you delve into the sixteen chapters of Mark, it’s important to understand who the author was. The vast majority of scholars, from the early church to the modern age, believe the writer of Mark’s Gospel is the same Mark known in the book of Acts as John Mark, the nephew of Barnabas, a disciple of Paul and Barnabas, and, later, a disciple of Peter.2 Mark first joined Paul and Barnabas as they left Jerusalem on their first missionary journey in AD 49 (Acts 12:25; 13:1–5). Then, according to Acts 13:13, after the events in Paphos, Mark left Paul and Barnabas in Perga, in southern Turkey, and returned to Jerusalem.

Now, while the specific reasons for Mark’s departure are unknown, it seems reasonable to assume that the events in Paphos or a personal change of plans caused Mark to leave. Later, in Acts 15:36–41, Paul and Barnabas part ways over a disagreement regarding taking Mark along on their second missionary journey: “[Paul] didn’t think it was proper to take the one who had deserted them in south-central Turkey, leaving them to do their missionary work without him” (v. 38). Over the course of time, Mark did seem to reconcile with Paul. Paul recommends him to the church of Colossae (Colossians 4:10), and Paul mentions him with much admiration in 2 Timothy 4:11: “That leaves only Luke with me, so find Mark and bring him with you, for he is a tremendous help for me in my ministry.” Mark was also with Paul when he wrote the small letter of Philemon (vv. 23–24).

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Date and First Readers

Mark may have written his Gospel in the 50s or, as some scholars suggest, the early 60s. He certainly had to finish it before his death in AD 68. According to early church tradition, Mark spread the good news in Alexandria as well as in other places, especially in Africa. But it was in Alexandria in 68 where he met the death of a martyr.3

Church tradition also records Mark writing at the request of Peter and Peter’s followers in Rome:

But a great light of religion shone on the minds of the hearers of Peter, so that they were not satisfied with a single hearing or with the unwritten teaching of the divine proclamation, but with every kind of exhortation besought Mark, whose Gospel is extant, seeing that he was Peter’s follower, to leave them a written statement of the teaching given them verbally… the Apostle, knowing by the revelation of the spirit to him what had been done, was pleased at their zeal, and ratified the scripture for study in the churches.4

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Church tradition also notes that Mark’s Gospel was distributed in Rome: “When Peter had publicly preached the word at Rome… [he] exhorted Mark…to make a record of what was said; and that he did this, and distributed the Gospel among those that asked him.”5 So Mark’s first readers were undoubtedly Roman followers of Jesus since he wrote at their urging. Moreover, other clues lead to such a conclusion as well. For example, Mark translates Aramaic words into Greek, replaces Greek words with Latin words (e.g., “legion” is the word translated “mob” in Mark 5:9,6 and praetorium is translated “compound” in 15:167) and explains Jewish customs in detail (see, for example, Mark’s extensive discussion of ritual hand washing in 7:1–23). It’s clear that his initial readers were more familiar with the ways of pagan Rome than they were with the ways of Jewish Jerusalem.

The End of Mark’s Gospel

Virtually all English translations of the Gospel of Mark have a footnote on 16:8 or 16:9 regarding the end of the book. There’s a textual matter in question—namely, some early copies of this Gospel do not include post-resurrection appearances of Jesus as the other three Gospels do, while other copies of Mark have verses added after 16:8 that at least refer to Jesus speaking to his disciples in his resurrection state. So there’s an ongoing discussion among Bible scholars about where Mark ended his Gospel. Because of the complexity of this matter, we added to this study guide an appendix, “Mark’s Ending,” that will introduce you to this discussion.

No matter which available ending the reader accepts for Mark, one thing is certain: even if this Gospel ends at 16:8, it ends with Jesus’ empty tomb and an angelic announcement of his resurrection from the dead. Like the other three Gospels, Mark witnesses to the fact that death did not keep Jesus in its grip. He who is life overcame death!

Purpose

Mark certainly wrote with the intent to encourage his readers in their faith, which makes sense given that his original intended audience was composed of followers of Jesus in Rome. During the years that Mark wrote, the Roman emperor Claudius sought to restore pagan Roman rites, expelled foreign cults, and even ordered Jews to leave Rome.8 Thus, Mark’s early readers needed constant assurance that Jesus was the Messiah and that following him was worth it.

Mark’s purposes in his Gospel are at least two-fold: to prove Jesus’ identity as the promised Savior and to call believers to live as Jesus, as servants par excellence.

Jesus’ Identity. It’s more than fair to say that Mark’s Gospel hinges on the famous confession of Peter that Jesus is the Messiah (8:29). He wasn’t the conquering king that Israel was expecting; rather, he was a suffering servant, unexpected in many ways.

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Living as a Servant. After reading 8:34–38, it becomes obvious that a life following Jesus is a life that looks different to the world. Jesus, in particular, exhorts the crowd listening to him that his true followers will abandon their lives in favor of following him and living like him.

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Major Themes

Mark’s Gospel has five major themes, which are detailed in “Mark: Introduction” found at the beginning of the Gospel in The Passion Translation. After reading through the “Major Themes” section in the Introduction, note each theme below, read the applicable corresponding verses, and answer the questions.

•The Person of Jesus.

•The Messianic Mission of Jesus.

•The Work of Jesus.

•Discipleship and Faith.