Mark

The Gospel of Mark ends in the most ancient manuscripts with an abrupt scene at Jesus' tomb, which the women find empty (⇒ Mark 16:1-8). His own prophecy of ⇒ Mark 14:28 is reiterated, that Jesus goes before the disciples into Galilee; "there you will see him." These words may imply resurrection appearances there, or Jesus' parousia there, or the start of Christian mission, or a return to the roots depicted in ⇒ Mark 1:9, ⇒ 14-15 in Galilee. Other hands have attached additional endings after ⇒ Mark 16:8; see the note on ⇒ Mark 16:9-20.

The framework of Mark's Gospel is partly geographical: Galilee (Mark 1L14-⇒ 9:49), through the area "across the Jordan" (⇒ Mark 10:1) and through Jericho (⇒ Mark 10:46-52), to Jerusalem (⇒ Mark 11:1-⇒ 16:8). Only rarely does Jesus go into Gentile territory (⇒ Mark 5:1-20; ⇒ 7:24-37), but those who acknowledge him there and the centurion who confesses Jesus at the cross (⇒ Mark 15:39) presage the gospel's expansion into the world beyond Palestine.

Mark's Gospel is even more oriented to christology. Jesus is the Son of God (⇒ Mark 1:11; ⇒ 9:7; ⇒ 15:39; cf ⇒ Mark 1:1; ⇒ 14:61). He is the Messiah, the anointed king of Davidic descent (⇒ Mark 12:35; ⇒ 15:32), the Greek for which, Christos, has, by the time Mark wrote, become in effect a proper name (⇒ Mark 1:1; ⇒ 9:41). Jesus is also seen as Son of Man, a term used in Mark not simply as a substitute for "I" or for humanity in general (cf ⇒ Mark 2:10, ⇒ 27-28; ⇒ 14:21) or with reference to a mighty figure who is to come (⇒ Mark 13:26; ⇒ 14:62), but also in connection with Jesus' predestined, necessary path of suffering and vindication (⇒ Mark 8:31; ⇒ 10:45).

The unfolding of Mark's story about Jesus is sometimes viewed by interpreters as centered around the term "mystery." The word is employed just once, at ⇒ Mark 4:11, in the singular, and its content there is the kingdom, the open secret that God's reign is now breaking into human life with its reversal of human values. There is a related sense in which Jesus' real identity remained a secret during his lifetime, according to Mark, although demons and demoniacs knew it (⇒ Mark 1:24; ⇒ 3:11; ⇒ 5:7); Jesus warned against telling of his mighty deeds and revealing his identity (⇒ Mark 1:44; ⇒ 3:12; ⇒ 5:43; ⇒ 7:36; ⇒ 8:26, ⇒ 30), an injunction sometimes broken (⇒ Mark 1:45; cf ⇒ Mark 5:19-20). Further, Jesus teaches by parables, according to Mark, in such a way that those "outside" the kingdom do not understand, but only those to whom the mystery has been granted by God.

Mark thus shares with Paul, as well as with other parts of the New Testament, an emphasis on election (⇒ Mark 13:20, ⇒ 22) and upon the gospel as Christ and his cross (cf ⇒ 1 Cor 1:23). Yet in Mark the person of Jesus is also depicted with an unaffected naturalness. He reacts to events with authentic human emotion: pity (⇒ Mark 1:44), anger (⇒ Mark 3:5), triumph (⇒ Mark 4:40), sympathy (⇒ Mark 5:36; ⇒ 6:34), surprise (⇒ Mark 6:9), admiration (⇒ Mark 7:29; ⇒ 10:21), sadness (⇒ Mark 14:33-34), and indignation (⇒ Mark 14:48-49).

Although the book is anonymous, apart from the ancient heading "According to Mark" in manuscripts, it has traditionally been assigned to John Mark, in whose mother's house (at Jerusalem) Christians assembled (⇒ Acts 12:12). This Mark was a cousin of Barnabas (⇒ Col 4:10) and accompanied Barnabas and Paul on a missionary journey (⇒ Acts 12:25; ⇒ 13:3; ⇒ 15:36- 39). He appears in Pauline letters (⇒ 2 Tim 4:11; ⇒ Philippians 1:24) and with Peter (⇒ 1 Peter 5:13). Papias (ca. A.D. 135) described Mark as Peter's "interpreter," a view found in other patristic writers. Petrine influence should not, however, be exaggerated. The evangelist has put together various oral and possibly written sources - miracle stories, parables, sayings, stories of controversies, and the passion - so as to speak of the crucified Messiah for Mark's own day.