Christian Salvation: Jesus & The Gospel of Mark
Question: Does the Gospel of Mark identify Jesus as Saviour?
----------​----------​----------​----------​----------​
​
Overview
​
The Law of Moses specifies that the intercession or mediation of a priest and the sacrifice of an animal are required to forgive sins (Leviticus). More specifically, the priest would transfer the sin-guilt of an individual or community onto an animal and then sacrifice the animal as an atonement for the sin. This means that sin was forgiven by relying on God’s provision of a priestly intercessor and sacrificial atonement. (It should be noted that the priest represents the idea that the guilty cannot intercede for the guilty. Only the innocent can intercede for the guilty - hence the necessity of a priest who was set apart and distinct from the rest of the community. The sacrifice represents the idea that God must move against sin with judgment and retribution because God is perfectly holy and cannot allow sin to go unpunished - hence the necessity of blood atonement.)
​
The roles of priest and sacrifice are fulfilled in Jesus in the New Testament. First, Jesus transferred the sin-guilt of humanity onto himself (Priest). Second, Jesus died in the place of humanity as an atonement for human sin (Sacrifice). This is the New Covenant (Testament) that God has established with humanity for the forgiveness of sins and this is what Jesus and the Apostolic Church proclaim as the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
The Gospel of Mark: Jesus spoke about his future arrest by the Jewish Religious Leaders and his subsequent death and resurrection throughout the Gospel of Mark (2:18-20, 8:31-33, 9:9-13, 9:30-32, 10:32-34, 12:1-12, 14:1-11 & 14:27-28). Jesus also said that his death will be sacrificial and will ransom many from God’s judgment and condemnation of sin (10:35-45 & 14:22-25). These events were fulfilled as Jesus predicted and the resurrection of Jesus was confirmed by an Angelic Messenger (16:1-8) and by several post-resurrection appearances of Jesus (16:9-20).
Bible Passages
​
Mark 2:18-20
​
(18) Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”
(19) Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. (20) But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
​
Mark 8:31-33
​
(31) He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. (32) He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. (33) But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
​
Mark 9:9-13
​
(9) As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. (10) They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.
​
(11) And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
(12) Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? (13) But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”
​
See Mark 6:14-29
​
(14) King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
(15) Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
(16) But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
(17) For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. (18) For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” (19) So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, (20) because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
(21) Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. (22) When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” (23) And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
(24) She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
(25) At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
(26) The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. (27) So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, (28) and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. (29) On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
​
Mark 9:30-32
​
(30) They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, (31) because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” (32) But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
​
Mark 10:32-34
​
(32) They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. (33) “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, (34) who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
​
Mark 10:35-45
​
(35) Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
​
(36) “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
​
(37) They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
​
(38) “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
​
(39) “We can,” they answered.
​
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, (40) but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
(41) When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. (42) Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. (43) Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, (44) and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. (45) For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 12:1-12
​
(1) Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. (2) At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. (3) But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. (4) Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. (5) He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
​
(6) “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
(7) “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ (8) So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
​
(9) “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. (10) Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; (11) the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes’?”
​
(12) Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.
Mark 14:1-11
​
(1) Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. (2) “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
​
(3) While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
​
(4) Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? (5) It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
(6) “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. (7) The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. (8) She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. (9) Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
(10) Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. (11) They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Mark 14:22-25
​
(22) While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”
​
(23) Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. (24) “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. (25) “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
​
See Mark 14:32-42
​
(32) They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” (33) He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. (34) “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
(35) Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. (36) “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
(37) Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? (38) Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
(39) Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. (40) When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
(41) Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. (42) Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
​
See Mark 15:33-38
​
(33) At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. (34) And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
​
(35) When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
(36) Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
(37) With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
(38) The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
​
Mark 14:27-28
​
(27) “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ (28) But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
​
Mark 16:1-8
​
(1) 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. (2) Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb (3) and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
(4) But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. (5) As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
(6) “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. (7) But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
​
(8) Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
​
Mark 16:9-20
​
(9) When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. (10) She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. (11) When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
(12) Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. (13) These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
(14) Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
​
(15) He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (16) Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (17) And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; (18) they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
​
(19) After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. (20) Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
​
​
​