The ministry of John the Baptist (1:1 – 7)
John denies that he is the Christ (1:8)
The baptism of Jesus Christ (1:9 – 11)
The temptation of Jesus (1:12 – 13)
Jesus returns to Galilee (1:14)
The first Galilean ministry begins (1:15)
Jesus calls the first disciples (1:16 – 20)
The man with an unclean spirit (1:21 – 28)
Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law (1:29 – 31)
Jesus heals many at Peter’s house (1:32 – 34)
The disciples search for Christ (1:35 – 38)
The first preaching tour in Galilee (1:39)
Jesus cleanses a leper (1:40 – 45)
Jesus heals a paralytic (2:1 – 12)
The call of Levi (2:13 – 17)
A question about fasting (2:18 – 22)
Lord of the Sabbath (2:23 – 28)
The man with a withered hand (3:1 – 6)
A great multitude follow Jesus (3:7 – 12)
Jesus chooses the twelve apostles (3:13 – 19)
The multitude prevents Jesus eating bread (3:20 – 21)
Jesus and Beelzebub (3:22 – 30)
The true kindred of Jesus (3:31 – 35)
Parables taught beside Galilee (4:1 – 34)
The parable of the sower (4:1 – 9)
The purpose of the parables (4:10 – 13)
The parable of the sower explained (4:14 – 20)
A lamp is not to be hidden (4:21 – 25)
The parable of the growing seed (4:26 – 29)
The parable of the mustard seed (4:30 – 32)
The use of parables (4:33 – 34)
The calming of the storm (4:35 – 41)
Jesus heals the Gadarene demoniac (5:1 – 20)
Jairus pleads for his daughter (5:21 – 24)
A woman healed of an issue of blood (5:25 – 34)
Jesus raises Jairus’ daughter (5:35 – 43)
Second visit of Jesus to Nazareth (6:1 – 6)
The twelve apostles, sent out to preach (6:7)
Instructions to the twelve (6:8 – 11)
Herod’s perplexity (6:14 – 16)
John the Baptist imprisoned (6:17 – 20)
The execution of John the Baptist (6:21 – 29)
The feeding of the five thousand (6:30 – 44)
Jesus walks on the water (6:45 – 53)
The traditions of the elders (7:1 – 13)
Things that defile (7:14-23)
The Canaanite woman’s faith (7:24 – 30)
Jesus heals a deaf and dumb man (7:31 – 37)
The feeding of the four thousand (8:1 – 10)
The demand for a sign (8:11 – 13)
The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (8:14 – 21)
The stages of conversion (8:22 – 26)
Peter’s declaration about Jesus (8:27 – 29)
Jesus foretells his death and resurrection (8:30 – 33)
The cross and self-denial (8:34 – 38)
The transfiguration (9:1 – 8)
The coming of Elijah (9:9 – 13)
Jesus heals a demon possessed child (9:14 – 29)
Jesus again foretells his death (9:30 – 32)
True greatness (9:33 – 37)
John’s question about other disciples (9:38 – 41)
Mortification of sin (9:42 – 50)
Jesus’ teaching about marriage and divorce (10:1 – 12)
Jesus blesses little children (10:13 – 16)
The rich young ruler (10:17 – 27)
Peter’s question about rewards (10:28 – 31)
Jesus foretells his death and resurrection a third time (10:32 – 34)
James and John’s request to sit with Christ (10:35 – 45)
Jesus heals a blind man at Jericho (10:46 – 52)
The Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem (11:1 – 11)
Jesus curses the fig tree (11:12 – 14)
Jesus cleanses the temple (11:15 – 19)
The lesson from the withered fig tree (11:20 – 26)
Jesus questioned about his authority (11:27 – 33)
The parable of the wicked tenants (12:1 – 12)
Jesus questioned about paying taxes (12:13 – 17)
Jesus questioned about the resurrection (12:18 – 27)
Jesus questioned about the greatest commandment (12:28 – 34)
Jesus’ question about the Christ (12:35 – 37)
Jesus denounces the scribe and Pharisees (12:38 – 40)
The widow’s offering (12:41 – 44)
Christ’s teaching on the end times (13:1 – 37)
The destruction of the temple foretold (13:1 – 2)
The beginnings of sorrows, but not the end (13:3 – 8)
Persecutions foretold (13:9 – 13)
The destruction of Jerusalem foretold (13:14 – 20)
False Christs and false prophets (13:21 – 23)
The coming of the Son of man (13:24 – 27)
The lesson of the fig tree (13:28 – 32)
The necessity of watchfulness (13:33)
The faithful and the unfaithful servants (13:34 – 37)
The plot to kill Jesus (14:1 – 2)
Mary anoints Jesus (14:3 – 9)
Judas agrees to betray Jesus (14:10 – 11)
The preparation of the passover (14:12 – 16)
Jesus foretells his betrayal (14:17 – 21)
The institution of the Lord’s Supper (14:22 – 25)
Jesus and his disciples sing a hymn and depart (14:26)
Jesus foretells Peter's denial (14:27 – 31)
Jesus prays in Gethsemane (14:32 – 42)
The betrayal and arrest of the Lord of all (14:43 – 52)
Jesus is led away (14:53 – 54)
Jesus is examined before Caiaphas (14:55 – 65)
Peter denies Jesus three times (14:66 – 72)
Jesus before the council (15:1)
Jesus before Pilate (15:2 – 5)
Jesus or Barabas? (15:6 – 15)
The soldiers mock Jesus (15:16 – 20)
The crucifixion of Jesus (15:21 – 32)
The death of Jesus (15:33 – 41)
The burial of Jesus (15:42 – 47)
The resurrection of Jesus (16:1 – 8)
Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene (16:9 – 11)
The unbelief of the disciples (16:11 – 14)
The great commission (16:15 – 18)
The ascension of Jesus (16:19 – 20)
- to provide the first Christian tract for Gentiles
- to prove the deity of Christ from his miracles
- to illustration conversion through his miracles
- to give the sign of casting out of demons
- to show that no case was too hard for him
- to teach man’s primary need of forgiveness
- to show that God takes the initiative in salvation
- to encourage prayer for others
- to urge the gospel net to be spread wide
- to learn about conversion from the miracles
- to show Christ’s response to opposition
- to demonstrate the preaching of the gospel
- to record the training of the twelve
- to teach the nature of human unbelief
Bible Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Mark
by Dr Peter Masters, Metropolitan Tabernacle (adapted from sermons)
Some have called Mark’s Gospel the first Christian tract. Very probably, it was the first Gospel to be written, and it would be a good description to call it an evangelistic tract to Gentiles. We think of a tract today as a very small thing, but in the 18th and 19th centuries many, many tracts were easily the length of the Gospel of Mark and longer. As a tract it is short and terse in its statements, and so striking, because it is designed for making known the gospel of Christ.
The author is unnamed in the original, but early Christian writers by A.D. 140 were all clear in their minds that it was by John Mark. Unanimously, without doubt, that was the oral tradition. It was also called, particularly by Justin Martyr, the memoirs of Peter. It was regarded as essentially the Gospel of Peter – Mark (John Mark) being the penman.
It was probably written between A.D. 50 and A.D. 70, and in all likelihood the record here is just about within 20 years of the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection and ascension. We see absurd things claimed on the Internet by people who just do not know what they're talking about, when they suggest to unwary readers that the Gospels didn't appear and Christian literature in general, until 100 or 200 years after the death of Christ, so everything is questionable and unreliable; that’s complete nonsense. This is the first and the earliest of the Gospels.
Mark, John Mark, the penman, was a nephew of Barnabas, a companion of the apostle Paul on his first missionary journey, and Mark is an encouragement to us because he wasn't a great success as an apostolic helper. He let the side down, and abandoned the journey and the mission, and had to be set aside in his younger years. But he shined later, and he recovered himself, and was faithful in all things, and is later highly commended. If we've had a poor start in the Christian life, and we’ve made mistakes and we have drifted a little here and there, we are not necessarily branded. Like John Mark we can recover; by the grace of God, we can make much better progress, and some who were slightly slow starters in their commitment and Christian service, have become some of the greatest disciples, even martyrs in the history of the Christian church. That’s an encouragement to all of us – John Mark. Peter in his first epistle calls him Marcus, my son. They had become so close. Mark was his helper and is virtually his secretary.
The Gospels agree with one another beautifully, perfectly. Their supposed discrepancies on close examination are no such thing. They are only the superficial assumptions of cynics and critics who don't trouble to look carefully at the text, and see the harmonisation of the Gospels and their different roles. Most are very easily resolved. One of the main reasons for people to see discrepancies is that they do not grasp that the Gospels do differ in character, but not in facts. They are not just four varied random accounts. They have different themes, objectives, and character. If that is not realised, people will think they see discrepancies. Critics of the Bible have a hypothetical source for the Gospels. It could be in the form of oral traditions, but they speak of it as a document, known as Q. No shreds of it or trace of it can be demonstrated, despite the thousands of documents found. It is only a theory, but armed with this they say Matthew, Mark, and Luke copied differently from it.
The real reason for the differences is that they are writing for different readers, and with different purposes in view. Matthew is written for Jews and seeks to prove that Jesus is the Messiah. Mark is quite different and is clearly written for Gentiles, and laboriously explains what Jews would know. It is short compared to Matthew and Luke. It is strange that when we use a Gospel as a tract, we go for John. That is odd because John seems to be written more for believers than for unbelievers. It is Mark that was the tract of the New Testament. Mark proves Jesus is the Christ by his works, Matthew by his words. Luke is more of a biography. John assumes his readers are familiar with the others and focuses on the words of Christ and their meaning and depth. In John 16 Christ tells the disciples that when Spirit comes he will lead them into all the truth, a very important phrase: bringing to memory all Christ said and did. We believe Mark wrote what Peter gave him; Peter calls Mark his son. He was his secretary, probably translating from the Aramaic of Peter, in this breathless style.
The Gospel of Mark has been described quite rightly as the brisk Gospel. It is full of pace; it is almost breathless. There are no refinements of linkage between the events. There is no time spent in that; it is ungarnished; it is vibrant. One of his favourite words is ‘immediately’, translated, straightway, forthwith. He writes very vividly. It is brisk, breathless – no superfluous, inter-linking comments, or anything of that kind; it moves so swiftly.
He focuses more on the acts and the miracles of Christ than he does actually on the teaching. He does both, but his emphasis is on the acts, and that's because this is an evangelistic tract, and he is constantly drawing attention to the divinity of Christ. His Gospel is proving the divinity of Christ from his works most specifically. Mark is distinctive in proving that Christ is Messiah from his works. Matthew deals more with Christ as a teacher, and Mark more with his works, his miracles, his wonders. Of course, there is great overlap but we can see a degree of distinction. Luke is more properly a complete biography, whereas the Gospel of John demonstrates the wonderful divinity of Christ from his words. So there is a different purpose, a different aim in each Gospel but this was very likely the first with an entirely evangelistic direction and interest.
Mark has this distinction too, that more than any other Gospel he draws attention to the opposition to Christ. His record alternates in this way: he presents some work of Christ and then immediately he describes opposition which arose following on from that. So you have the positive and the negative alternating all the way through the book, as he draws attention to the hostility, the opposition in this world to the Lord who came to suffer and to die for his people. No other Gospel is like his in setting up the drama of comparisons. He will record achievements and then move the spotlight to the hostility and opposition, and then back to the great feats of power, and then back to opposition.