Welcome to this course on Jesus in Mark’s Gospel. To get started, please watch this introductory video. If you liked this course, please support me with a donation. This will motivate me to create more courses about the Bible and my Catholic faith. In return, I will pray for you and will send you email notifications when I have uploaded new courses.
Section 1 - Background Information
Before delving into the gospel text, we will answer the six w’s, that is: who, when, where, what, why, and how. This background information can be useful in helping us understand and interpret the text.
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Section 2 - Chapter One
The beginning of a story is very important. Good beginnings should hook readers and compel them to read on. They should also introduce us to the main characters, the setting, and the plot. We will study how Mark masterfully does all these things in the very first chapter of his Gospel.
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Section 3 - Meaning Through Structure
By analyzing various literary devices found throughout the Gospel we will discover how Mark structured his text. After identifying various levels of structure, we explain how he used them to communicate his message more effectively.
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Section 4 - The Main Themes
When we analyze the text, it becomes clear that Mark wrote his gospel to answer three basic questions: (1) Who is Jesus? (2) What is his mission or way? (3) What does it mean to be his disciple? These questions are just as important for us today as they were for the first generations of Christians.
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Section 5 - Jesus’ Discourses
Mark’s gospel is action packed because he was much more interested in Jesus’ deeds than in his words. However, he does include two longer teachings: Jesus’ parables and the eschatological discourse. We will study these to unpack their full meaning.
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