Week 2 Reading Diary: Gospel of Mark

For this week I have chosen the Gospel of Mark to read.

The Gospel of Mark has so many different stories but focuses on the life of Jesus. It follows the life of Jesus as the Messiah, as well as his miracles and his twelve disciples.

Jesus performed many miracles healing the sick, the blind, the injured, and expelling demons from tormented people. He fed many using very little, performed miracles in every chapter, and was then betrayed and hung on a cross to die.

John the Baptist was also a character in this gospel. Many people believe that Jesus was the resurrection  of John the Baptist, who had previously been killed. John the Baptist was actually Jesus' cousin and was also the one who baptized Jesus.

John the Baptist
Stained Glass Window 

Betrayal and doubt were both common themes. Jesus continuously mentioned that he was going to be betrayed by someone he knew, by one of his disciples. Doubt was present even after people watch him perform miracles. It continued to reoccur, they would doubt him and then he would question why they doubted him.

I heard the majority of these stories growing up, but the one that I had never hear, and that stood out to me, was the story of the pigs, or swine. It was such a random story of a demon possessing someone and then Jesus casting them into a large group of pigs, just to have the pigs commit suicide in the nearby body of water. I assume that it is demonstrating the power of Jesus Christ and how the demons were so terrified of him that the only way they could cope was to die.



What I found interesting was this concept of misery. Even Jesus, who knew he was sent to Earth by his father to be crucified for all of man kind, appeared to be miserable. The continuous doubt appeared to wear on him, and as I read his eyes began to sadden more and more in my mind. Even near the end he is pleading to God to not make him suffer. The pain of being an "angel" forced to live upon Earth was pain enough for him. While Jesus is the son of God and perfect, I can only imagine that it would have been frustrating to have people throw themselves at you just because the could heal you, and to never believe you or listen to you even after they have seen what you are capable of with their own eyes. To be the only perfect person in an imperfect world must have been frustrating.

The parables in the Gospel of Mark are worth mentioning. Jesus uses these parables as an attempt to teach us. Mark his two parables, the most famous of which is the parable of the sower. It is a parable that teaches us that we must grow Gods word in good soil. Jesus gives the example of three different types of soil and ends with the "good soil," saying that you will produce the most if Gods word is produced in good soil. The soil is a metaphor for ones faith in God.
Here is another link to all of the parables in Mark.

Seed Sower
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine

One of the things I love about Biblical stories is that they are all about flawed people, just like the people now. History is always repeating itself and this is a perfect example of how we, as people, are continuously flawed.