I. Mark 1:1-13 Introduction: the Coming of the Servant of God
II. Mark 1:14-45; Mark 2; Mark 3:1-6 Beginning of His Ministry in Galilee
Chapter 1:14-45
Jesus’ Baptism; Calling of First Disciples and First Deeds
Chapter 2:1-3:6
Healings and Questions of the Pharisees
III. Mark 3:7-35; Mark 4-10 Main Part: Ministry of the Servant and Prophet of God
Chapter 3:7-35
Healings and Discourses
Chapter 4
Various Parables; Calming of the Storm
Chapter 5
Healing of the Man with an Unclean Spirit and of the
Woman with Issue of Blood;
Resurrection of Jairus’ Daughter
Chapter 6
Sending Forth of the Twelve Disciples;
Death of John the Baptist;
Feeding of the 5 ,000;
Jesus on the Lake
Chapter 7
Jesus Admonishes the Pharisees;
Healing of the Daughter of the Syrophenician Woman, and
The Deaf Man with a Speech Impediment
Chapter 8
Feeding of the 4 ,000;
Warning against the Leaven;
The Blind Man in Bethsaida;
Testimony of Peter and First Announcement of His Sufferings
Chapter 9
Glorification of Jesus;
Powerlessness of the Disciples Speech on Humility and Forgiveness
Chapter 10
On Divorce; the Rich Young Man; Bartimaeus
IV. Mark 11-15 End of His Service in Jerusalem
Chapter 11
Entering Jerusalem and the Cleansing of the Temple;
The Unfruitful Fig Tree
Chapter 12
The Evil Husbandmen;
The Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Scribes
Chapter 13
Jesus’ Speech on the Last Times on Mount Olive
Chapter 14
Jesus’ Anointing in Bethany;
The Last Passover, Gethsemane and Arrest
Chapter 15
Sentence, Crucifixion and Death of Christ
V. Mark 16 Close: Exaltation of the Servant of God
Chapter 16
The Resurrection
The Mission of the Disciples, and
Christ’s Ascension
The Gospel according to Mark is the shortest gospel and in presentation the most dense one. Mark does not so much describe the teachings but more the actions of the Lord Jesus. Very often Mark uses the present time in his accounts instead of the past time.
The word “and” (Greek: euthys) is very striking and appears more than forty times. Neither the genealogy nor the birth of Jesus are mentioned. In the very first chapter Mark starts his account of the Lord Jesus’ ministry.
The Lord Jesus retires into a quiet place much more frequently than is mentioned in the other gospels (Mark 1:12; Mark 1:35; Mark 6:31; Mark 6:46; Mark 7:17; Mark 7:24; Mark 9:2; Mark 11:19). Mark mentions particularly often that the Lord Jesus did not want his actions to be made public (Mark 1:34; Mark 1:44; Mark 3:12; Mark 5:43; Mark 7:36; Mark 8:26; Mark 8:30; Mark 9:9; Mark 9:30).
The disciples do not once call Jesus “Lord” and he is called “Christ” (Anointed One) seven times only.
All these peculiarities show that the subject of this gospel is to present Christ as God’s servant.
He was not only the promised king of Israel as in Matthew’s gospel but also the true servant of the Lord (compare Is. 42:1-9; 49:1-6; 52:13-15; Zechariah 3:8).
According to his own words he has not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
But the Lord Jesus is also presented as the true prophet in the Gospel of Mark (compare Deuteronomy 18:15). As such He announced the good tidings of God, the gospel.
This key word appears eight times in Mark, four times in Matthew and not at all in Luke (except for the Greek verb “evangelize”) and neither in John.
In Mark 1:38 the Lord Jesus explains with authority what His ministry was: announcing the Word of God as prophet: “Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.”
God’s servant is also the suffering servant. The report of the Lord’s suffering and death occupies a relatively large place in respect to the length of the gospel. Four times the Lord Jesus announces His coming sufferings to his disciples: Mark 8:31; Mark 9:12; Mark 9:31; Mark 10:32-34.
As can seen from the “Overview over the four Gospels” Mark, in contrast to the two other synoptic gospels, tends to report events in chronological order.
