Introduction To Gospel Written Down By Mark

Gospel of MarkThis is a very exciting time for me personally. I just finished writing a book called “The Kind of All Israel: My Journey through the Gospel of John” and my heart is longing now to begin a new adventure.

This time I invite you to travel to Jesus through the road map we have come to know as the Gospel of Mark. This new study is my running journal that documents my heart’s journey through it and invites you to come along as well.

Why did I chose to deal with the Gospel of Mark next? Well… there is an interesting and almost anecdotal reason behind it. I picked this Gospel because of how different it is from the Gospel of John.

It can be said that some people divide humanity into men and women, rich and poor, west and east, educated and uneducated (and the list can go on and on), but as one my mentors Daniel Boyarin amply put it, the world (well at least the Christian world) is divided into those who love the Gospel of John and those who love the Gospel of Mark! I think that while this is a mere anecdote, it has a lot of truth in it. The two Gospels are very different in their approach, content and style, so it is only natural that people with different styles, interests and approaches relate to one Gospel more than to the other.

A wonderful scholar and friend in Jerusalem told me once that Gospel of John is the one Gospel he just does not like to read since he can never follow its logic and this drives him crazy. While Mark and based upon it Luke and Matthew he is able to relate to very well (millions feel the same way).[1] Opposite to this wonderful man of God’s opinion, there is a testimony of millions of other Christians that in spite of difficult passages in the Gospel of John derive the greatest amount of spiritual nourishment from this Gospel.

Some may take the above statement as valuing some parts of Holy Scriptures over others, instead of simply “going with” what theologians call “the whole council of God” – meaning entire Biblical tradition on equal footing.

I do not see it this way. We have ample examples from the New Testament authors that justify this perspective. They certainly do not quote from or allude to all the books of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) in equal measure. They too have their “favorites”. The three book from which the New Testament quotes the most are the Book of Isaiah, Psalms and Deuteronomy. Incidentally, Isaiah, Psalms and Deuteronomy were the three books that were also found in greatest amounts of copies in Qumran, when the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. There is no denial that from the four Gospels, John and Mark from the beginning took the lead in capturing the spiritual imagination of Christians. So, once we slowly walked through John it seemed like a wonderful idea to see what this Gospel has to say about Jesus.

NOTE: To enroll into new LIVE online “Jewish Background of the New Testament” course taught by me, please, leave your info by clicking HERE. (eTeacherBiblical is registering students for 50% of the regular tuition cost of its courses). Our class is to begin with 2 weeks time.

These two Gospels are very different. For example, in the New Testament studies for a long time it has been costmary to divide the four Gospels into the works of greater or lesser Jewishness (a nonsensical idea). For example, the most traditional statement is to say that the Gospel of Matthew is the most Jewish of the Gospels, while the Gospel of Mark was the least Jewish of them all. If you either read my book King of All Israel or took a part in our Jewish Studies for Christians Study Group you know my point of view on this:

I think that all Gospels, including the Gospel of John come to us from the Jewish matrix. Some address the issues of Christ-following non-Israelites more (like Mark and Matthew) and some much more (like Luke), some almost not at all (like John), but all of them are authored from within the counters of rich and diverse Jewish theologies and missiologies of the day.

When the Gospels are read by all Christians through the perceptions of the first century Israelites, new and surprising insights will surely emerge.

Therefore, with this brief introduction, I invite you, my dear friend, to join my exploration and to reread the Gospel of Mark as a Jewish first century document. Let us assume the opposite from what we were taught about this Gospel and see what happens.

May the Lord open our minds and hearts to receive his gracious teachings. May He add his great blessings to our readings and interpretations of His magnificent word!

Prayer:

Aveinu Malkeinu, Our Father Our King,

With great passion and urgency, we ask you to open up our minds and hearts,

so that we can see Jesus and Him only.

Amen.

NOTE: To enroll into new LIVE online “Jewish Background of the New Testament” course taught by me, please, leave your info by clicking HERE. (eTeacherBiblical is registering students for 50% of the regular tuition cost of its courses). Our class is to begin with 2 weeks time.


[1] Approximately 70% of Matthew’s Gospel and the Gospel of Luke is the exact text of the Gospel of Mark. This is the main reason these three Gospels are called “synoptic” meaning they are so similar that it can be said they are “looking in the same direction.”

About the author

Dr. Eli Lizorkin-EyzenbergTo secure your spot in our new course “The Jewish Background of New Testament” - CLICK HERE NOW

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  1. Vera Lúcia

    Quero muito agradecer os e-mail, todas as informações que tenho recebido, pelo interesse de vocês. Vocês são muito amáveis. Quero lhes comunicar que eu não falo inglês, não tenho computador, só tenho o meu celular e mesmo assim, não é aquele celular… Não sei como traduzir. Mas mesmo assim muito obrigada mesmo de coração.

  2. Todd Maloney

    Where can I buy your book?

  3. Gladys

    Esta página ha sido muy saludable para mí. Tengo la ilusión de aprender sobre el Judaísmo pues me he encontrado muy corta de conocimientos en este sentido . He leído a Marcos y me gustará mucho profundizar en él un poco más. Gracias, Dr. Eli

    1. Eric de Jesús Rodríguez Mendoza

      BS”D

      Shalom Gladys!!

      Gracias por comentar!
      Te invito a que compartas tus comentarios en la respectiva página en Español, a fin de que sea mejor aprovechado por los visitantes! 😉

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    1. Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg

      Thank you will do!

  5. Ildiko

    Shalom, Dr Eli
    When I teach the New Testament for kids in CEF-groups I start every time whit Mark, because this contains short, clear, easy to understand ” lessons”. Think I know this Gospel best,so I am very happy for this opportunity to learn something ( or very much things) to it. I am ready for what Drs Charles van den Berg say ” Sometimes we have to let go of old beliefs that we hold to receive new things.” May our God bless and help you in that journey.