READ IT! - Introduction to Mark 12-16

Readings for this week

Monday: Mark 12

Tuesday: Mark 13

Wednesday: Mark 14

Thursday: Mark 15

Friday: Mark 16

Saturday: Joshua 1

Sunday: Joshua 2

Introduction to Mark 12-16

Chapter 12

Jesus tells the Parable of the Tenants, and is questioned about paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar, and about marriage at the Resurrection.

While Jesus was debating with the Sadducees a scribe was impressed and asked Jesus a question: What is the most important commandment?

Jesus recites the Shema in response, saying, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

He then adds that the second is to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The scribe strongly agrees with Jesus on this, and Jesus tells him that he is not far from the Kingdom of God.

Jesus teaches about the Messiah and warns against the Teachers of the Law.

Jesus was at the Temple and sat across from the offering place and watched people come and give offerings. He saw many rich people come and put in bunches of money, but then he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And Jesus tells his disciples that she gave more than the others because she gave everything she had.

Chapter 13

The disciples were impressed with the large stones used to build the Temple, so Jesus began to tell them about the future and how all these stones would be toppled over.

He began to tell them about the terrible days that would come in the future, and the signs that would appear in the sky, and the false messiahs who would come, and how one day he himself – the Son of Man – would appear in the clouds in power and glory to gather up his children from the earth.

But then he added no one knows when this is all going to take place – no one – not the angels, not even Jesus himself – only God the Father knows. It will be a surprise, so be prepared!

He adds:

“It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.”

Chapter 14

Jesus is anointed by a woman at Bethany.

After Jesus shared his last Passover Meal with his disciples, they sang a hymn and went to the Mount of Olives. Jesus predicts that all of the disciples will fall away from him, reciting, “Strike the shepherd, scatter the sheep.” But he promises that after he rises he will go to Galilee and meet them there. Peter then declares his loyalty to Jesus saying he would never fall away. Jesus says to him that Peter will disown him three times that very night. But Peter insists he’s willing to die for Jesus, and all the others say the same thing.

Jesus took his disciples to a place called Gethsemane and had them sit and pray while he took Peter, James, and John along with him.

“The word gethsemane means ‘olive press’ and symbolizes the weight that Jesus carried as He went to the cross. The gethsemane was symbolic of a human burden in Christ’s time, too, but it was on the shoulders of the Jewish people.

The gethsemane was an economic leash, tying the lower classes of society to the purse strings of the wealthy who owned the olive presses. The masses looked to the promised Messiah, who would come from the ‘stump’ - understood to be an olive tree - of Jesse, to release them from their burdens.”

Jesus became deathly terrified at this point and told them to stay and keep watch. Jesus went off a bit further by himself and began to cry out to God to take away this cup of wrath… but also for God’s will to be done.

Jesus came back to his disciples and found them asleep, so he said to Peter, “You’re asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jesus went to pray again and when he came back later he found them sleeping again and they didn’t know what to say to him.

This happened a third time and Jesus exclaimed, “Are you still taking a nap? Enough already! The hour has come! Look! The Son of Man is being handed over to sinners! Get up! Let’s go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Just then Judas showed up with an armed crowd of thugs from the chief priests and Torah-teachers. Judas came over and kissed Jesus, which was his signal to the crowd to come arrest that man. The men seized Jesus, and one of the disciples panicked, grabbed a sword and cut off the ear of one of the servants of the high priest.

Jesus then points out the irony of the teachers of the “light” sneaking around in darkness.

Then everyone with Jesus ran away and hid, including an unnamed young man (possibly Mark himself) who’s in such a hurry he leaves his clothes behind.

Jesus is then taken before the Sanhedrin, and Peter disowns him three times. 

Chapter 15

Very early in the morning, the Sanhedrin decided to drag Jesus over to the Roman Governor Pilate for a decision on what to do with him. Pilate asks, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus says, “You say so.” The priests started accusing Jesus of all kinds of stuff, but Jesus didn’t say anything, so Pilate was like, “Aren’t you going to say something in your own defense?” But Jesus still said nothing and Pilate was amazed at him.

At this point the narrator informs us that it was traditional for a prisoner to be released once a year at the request of the people. He also tells us that there was at this time a known terrorist and murderer locked up in prison named Barabbas. The crowd chose this opportunity to ask Pilate for the traditional release of a prisoner. Pilate was like, “Uhh… okay. Do you want this ‘King of the Jews’ back?” But the crowd had turned against Jesus, and they were like, “No! Give us the terrorist! Set Barabbas free!” Pilate thought this was kind of stupid, so he was like, “What should I do with this ‘King of the Jews’ then?” The crowd shouted, “Crucify him!” Pilate was dumbfounded, and asked, “Why? What crime has he committed?” But the crowd kept screaming “Crucify!” so Pilate gave in to them. He released Barabbas, and had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified.

Jesus is brought to the Praetorium and surrounded by the company of soldiers. Jesus is given a purple robe and a crown of thorns and is beaten with a scepter. The soldiers chant “Hail, King of the Jews!” and pay homage to him. Jesus is taken in procession out to the streets, where Simon the Cyrene follows along with him, carrying the instrument of execution.

They took Jesus to a hill called Golgotha. They offered him wine mixed with Myrrh, which he refused. Immediately after this refusal, they crucified him. He is placed on the cross at 9:00am, at the exact time of the daily morning sacrifice at the Temple. He dies at exactly 3:00pm, at the exact time of the daily afternoon sacrifice at the Temple. And the curtain in the Temple was suddenly torn in two from top to bottom at this very moment – no more separation from God. When a Roman soldier saw the way Jesus dies and everything that had happened he declared, “Surely this man was the son of God!”

Jesus was dead and the Sabbath would begin at sunset, so a man named Joseph who was from Arimathea went to Pilate and demanded Jesus’ body. Joseph was a member of the Jewish council who believed in Jesus and did not take part in their plot against him. Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the centurion as witness and the centurion confirmed Jesus’ death. Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb while Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph watched.

Chapter 16

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" We learn from Matthew’s Gospel that they weren’t concerned about moving the stone because it was too heavy for them, but because it had Pilate’s seal on it. But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were afraid. The young man in white said:

“Don’t be afraid! You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. Look! You can see where they laid him! But go! Tell his disciples, especially Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. And you will see him there, just like he told you.”

Shaking from fear and confused, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Later Additions

Mark originally ended with them being afraid and not telling anyone anything. This was perhaps his way of saying that the story of Jesus wasn’t over yet, and it was up to the reader to decide whether or not they would put their faith in the resurrection. However, later members of the church apparently thought Mark’s gospel was a bit too open-ended and needed more closure, so they added to it details taken from the other three canonical gospels to help clean up Mark’s rather abrupt and confusing ending. They came up with both a short ending and a longer ending for Mark.

The short version sums things up this way:

“Then they quickly reported all these instructions to those around Peter. After this, Jesus himself also sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Amen.”

The longer version takes details from the other gospels and Acts:

From Matthew and John:

The book describes Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene, who is now described as someone whom Jesus healed from possession by seven demons. She then tells the other disciples what she saw, but no one believes her.

From Luke:

Then Jesus appears "in a different form" to two unnamed disciples. They, too, are disbelieved when they tell what they saw.

From Matthew, Luke, and John:

Jesus then appears at dinner to all the remaining eleven Apostles. He rebukes them for not believing the earlier reports of his resurrection and gives them instructions to go and preach his message to all creation. Those who believe and are baptized will be saved, but unbelievers will be condemned.

From Acts:

In verses 17-18, Jesus states that believers will "speak in new tongues." They will also be able to handle snakes, be immune from any poison they might happen to drink, and will be able to heal the sick.

From Luke and Acts:

According to verse 19, Jesus then is taken up into heaven where, Mark claims, he sits at the right hand of God. The right hand is seen as the position of power. After the ascension, his eleven disciples then went out and preached "everywhere," and several signs from God accompanied their preaching.