[Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash.]
Of course it's different, you may say. There are four Gospels and they are all different. And John's Gospel is very different from the other three which are referred to as the Synoptic Gospels. However, there are some features of Mark's Gospel which are unique to him and worth thinking about.
The first thing we note about this second Gospel is its brevity. It is significantly shorter than the other Gospels. Mark's Gospel has 16 chapters compared with Matthew's 28, Luke's 24 and John's 21 chapters. This is a crude way of comparing the length but it makes the point. Mark is good at keeping the narrative flowing. He avoids the long discourses and the detail which the other writers provide - but there are also times when he adds information which the others do not mention. Mark's Gospel begins with Jesus at the beginning of his public service. There is no reference to his birth or to the role of Mary and Joseph in his early years. There is no long family tree or genealogy which we find in Matthew's Gospel and also in Luke's Gospel. We do not have any reference to the role of the shepherds or the magi from the east. We have no mention of Herod's attempt to destroy the rival king. So if we compare Mark's Gospel with the start of Matthew's Gospel we find that the detail of Matthew's first two chapters (48 verses) is totally omitted from Mark's Gospel. Again, the same is true with regard to Luke's Gospel. Sidlow Baxter points out that it is not until chapter 8 that Matthew reaches what Mark has covered in his first chapter [Sidlow Baxter: Explore the Book]
If we look at the account of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel, it runs from Matthew 5:1 to Matthew 7:28.
Chapter 5 = 48 verses.
Chapter 6 = 34 verses
Matthew 7 = 28 verses.
There is no mention of the sermon on the mount in Mark's Gospel. It should have been between verse 39 and verse 40 of chapter 1.
I am indebted to Sidlow Baxter for the following observations which I have adapted slightly. He points out the condemnation of the cities of Galilee which would not repent (Matthew 11:20-24) is absent from Mark's Gospel. Also, the condemnation of Jerusalem for their rejection is found in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 23:37) and Luke's Gospel (Luke 13:34) but Mark does not include this in his Gospel. Sidlow Baxter says that this is in keeping with the portrayal of Jesus as the humble servant. Sidlow Baxter also observes that the title 'Lord' is used between 70 to 80 times in the other Gospels but it is rarely used in Mark. The same writer illustrates this by comparing the same incidents in the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). Firstly, the cleansing of the leper is covered in all three Gospels. Here is how Matthew recounts the leper's words to Jesus, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean" [Matthew 8:2 NIV] and Luke says the same (Luke 5:12). But in Mark the word "Lord" is omitted. Here is the verse in Mark's Gospel
A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." [Mark 1:40 NIV] Again, if we look at the storm on the lake, here is how Mark records how the disciples addressed Jesus.
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown [Mark 4:38 NIV]. Here is how Luke describes the same situation and note the different term of address.
The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown" [Luke 8:24 NIV] Sidlow Baxter says that the word translated as 'Master' means ' chief' [Greek word is epistates = a commander or someone who is appointed over others]. Matthew uses the Greek word 'kurios' which is translated 'Lord' and which emphasises supremacy and authority (Matthew 8:25).
This is because Mark is presenting Jesus as the Servant and it is not expected that a Servant will be addressed as "Lord" although after his resurrection when Jesus had ascended to heaven Mark refers to the Lord working with His disciples (Mark 16:19). Over the whole of Mark's Gospel we could put the heading 'Jesus at Work,' so Mark is more interested in His actions rather than His teaching.
[There are some instances where Mark does use the title 'Lord' but they are exceptions - Mark 1:3, 2:28; 5:10; 11:3 and there is a reason why he uses the term in each occurrence.]
You might have noticed that the blogs are a bit shorter because I need to learn from Mark and be brief and to the point! Some of you might feel that I am not doing justice to the subject but I understand that I am becoming a bit long-winded. I might be able to dig deeper for those who want to do that and provide some supplementary material.
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