Religious Education: The Gospel of Mark

A 3 page article including introduction, summary and analysis.

This essay from the Teacher's Enterprise site is an essay suitable for year 12 students studying the gospel. It references quotations throughout and is easy to understand.

Examines each chapter supported by quotations.

Explanation of terms, words and phrases as well as the significance of events.

This extensive commentary is well organised under the headings:
Introductory/Overview Materials on the Four Gospels
Thematic Studies of the Four Gospels (with sections on Mark)
Studies focusing on the Gospel according to Mark and Use of Mark's Gospel in the Lectionary for Mass

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Bible Study Guide: The Life of Jesus Christ: Gospel texts, historical background, famous paintings of events from the Early Years, maps, the Ministry of Jesus, his Passion and Death, and the Resurrection

He was born, lived, and died as a Jew
Jesus' identity cannot be understood apart from his Jewishness.

Jesus' Social Class
Recent archaeological findings challenge the image of Jesus as a peasant preaching in a pastoral backwater.

The Complexity of His Religious Identity
Jesus was viewed as healer, moral teacher, apocalyptic preacher and, ultimately, the Messiah.

Did Jesus preach, as best we know? And if he did preach what kinds of things did he preach about?

The stories of Jesus of Nazareth recorded in the Gospels are attributed to four disciples: Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. Without these sources, we would know little about the historical Jesus. Yet, the Gospels are not biographies or history in the strict sense of the word. They are faith documents witnessing to Christian belief in Jesus as Son of God.

From the BBC comes an explanation of the miracle performed by Jesus with the feeding of the 5,000 recounted in the gospel of Mark. (scroll down the page to read about this miracle)

From the BBC comes an explanation of the miracle performed by Jesus: the stilling of the storm recounted in the gospel of Mark. (scroll down the page to read about this miracle)

The importance of the parables can hardly be overestimated. They comprise a substantial part of the recorded preaching of Jesus. The parables are generally regarded by scholars as among the sayings which we can confidently ascribe to the historical Jesus; they are, for the most part, authentic words of Jesus.

Few scholars question the historical authenticity of Jesus' parables and radical sayings. They point to the originality of Jesus as teacher and prophet. Whereas a typical 'rabbi' (Jewish word for 'teacher') taught in synagogues, Jesus teaches mainly in the countryside, near a lake, on a mountain or in the open fields. He directs his teachings to ordinary people including the sick, women, children and even foreigners. He uses everyday experiences or images from nature: meals and journeys, sheep and goats, coins and pearls, wheat and darnel, cloth and oil lamps, trees and birds.