4. Mark

This is New Testament Survey, Gospels Through Acts. And what we'll be discussing is the gospel of Mark in this particular session. So let me go ahead and get us started with a prayer and then we'll get right into the content. Father, I'm so thankful for today. I'm thankful for your kindness and your mercy, your grace and your love that is evident, not only in my life, but in the lives of those that are listening to this and watching this video. We pray God for your mercy and grace to continue to flood our lives. And Lord, we just pray that you would receive glory out of our discussion and learning about the gospel of Mark in Jesus' name, amen. And so before we get started on the gospel of Mark, there were two things I wanted to discuss just so that you all would get a sense of not only the gospel of Mark, but whenever I say or talk about a gospel, that you have a sense of a couple of common concepts within all the gospels. And the first is, what is a disciple? Well, a disciple is, as I'm sure you have heard in churches and in other settings, is simply a learner. But let's dig into that a little further. So when Jesus said, go and make disciples, it was a Jew speaking to other Jews in their dialect. And they would have understood exactly what he was talking about. So those words had a very specific meaning

and embodied a well-known paradigm that first century Jewish listeners would have been able to understand. The role of rabbi, of course, the role that Jesus took on and many other rabbis during that time would have been well-known in this particular culture. Every first century Jew would know that scriptures had authority over all aspects of their life and that the rabbis were commissioned to help interpret the scriptures. So, you know, a person that was listening to a rabbi would have understood that whatever the rabbi decides is the final word, right? So they had a desire, the Jews of that time had a desire to honor God by doing all the right things. Behavior during that time was really important. Whereas today we focus on the condition of our heart to dictate behavior. Back then the behavior was an indication of what was in the heart, right? So behavior was a really important aspect of determining a follower of God. In their world at the time, rabbis were the teachers who had been given the authority, the role to interpret God's word for the living of a righteous life, defining what behavior would please and not please God. Therefore, if a rabbi ultimately agreed to a would-be disciple's request and allowing him to become a disciple,

the disciple to be agreed to totally submit to the rabbi's authority in all areas of interpreting the scriptures for his life. This was a cultural given for all observant Jews and young men of that time. As a result, each disciple came to a rabbinic relationship with a desire and a willingness to do just exactly what the rabbi interpreted the scripture to mean. Rabbis would have helped to deal with real-life questions. Some examples of these questions might be, may I light a candle on the Sabbath? How many candles may I light on the Sabbath? A real-life question regarding marriage might be, can I divorce my wife if, fill in the blank. A real-life question regarding tax collectors would be, if I know my taxes are going to be oppressed or going to be used to oppress our people, should I pay them? As part of this, how should we live interactive process, the disciples would debate various rabbinic interpretations. This might involve weeks of dialogue and debate for the rabbis were in no hurry to resolve these issues and questions. They actually kind of allowed the disciples to, you know, debate one interpretation over the other. However, when the rabbi ultimately did declare his authoritative interpretation on an issue, all further debate ceased. His declared interpretation was now known and therefore binding on his disciples lives

for the rest of their days. As such, the rabbi was the matrix, the filter, the grid through which every life issue flowed, as well as the lens through which every life issue was viewed. Fast forward to today. The central issue of being a disciple of Jesus is this, will I willingly submit? Will I willingly submit, surrender for a lifetime? Every aspect of my life, including my worldview, my paradigms, my career, my personality, my character, my ethics, my desires, my motivations. my values, my family, my ego, my sexuality, and all attitudes that might come from me to the authority of Jesus and his teachings. That's the takeaway. So we understand the context in the first century. We now can apply that to our lives today. The second point I wanna talk about real quickly before we get into the gospel of Mark is what or who is the passion of Jesus? Passion viewed biblically is a few things. The actual English word is used only three times in the KJV, Acts 14, 15, James 5, 17, denoting human nature, and also Acts 1, 3, referring to the sufferings and passions of Christ. These references are obviously the word passion in its Greek tense. We only see in those three texts. The phrase passion of Christ refers to the time

when Jesus entered Jerusalem, his arrest, his conviction, his suffering, crucifixion, resurrection, and appearance in a glorified body. He did all of this for us, our sins, and anyone who may believe in him, and also anyone who believed in his substitutionary death on the cross as their own. Let's take a look at Isaiah 53, three through 10. He was despised and rejected by men. A man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from. He was despised and we didn't value him. Yet he himself bore our sicknesses and he carried our pains, but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities, punished for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep. We all have turned to our own way. And the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all. Verse seven, he was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before his shearers. He did not open his mouth. He was taken away because of oppression and judgment and who considered his fate.

For he was cut off from the land of the living. He was struck because of my people's rebellion. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was a rich man at his death because he was with a rich man at his death because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully. Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a gift offering, he will see his seed. He will prolong his days. And by his hand, the Lord's pleasure will be accomplished. Jesus was not a victim. He was accused, suffered and died willingly in accordance with God's purpose for him. And to save us, the sufferings of Jesus was for a specific purpose, the salvation of all who choose to believe in him. His passion became the atoning act for the sins of the world. Theoretically speaking, what is the passion of Christ? You are, you are his passion. Your life and the everlasting aspect thereof is his passion. So as we go into a season where we are thinking about the death of Christ and even throughout the year as we consider him, realize that he went to the cross sent by God for us. And we, in essence, are his passion. Through his word, which we know is the ultimate truth. So Mark, like the other gospels, is an anonymous body of work.

However, we are fairly certain, at least by AD 125, that the early church attributed the work to a man named Mark. Why did Mark write his gospel? He wants his Gentile readers, he's writing to Gentiles, to understand who Jesus is and what real discipleship involves. Mark wanted to arm his Christian readers with a knowledge of the good news of salvation. Mark 1.1 begins with this, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. What or who are the sources of Mark's gospel? Mark was not an eyewitness. Like Matthew, we talked about Matthew in our last time together. Matthew obviously was Levi, but also was a tax collector. Matthew and Levi are synonymous, they're the same people. But he had a Jewish audience and he also walked with Christ. So he was an eyewitness of what Christ did during his ministry. Mark was not an eyewitness. So his material is believed to have been handed down to him through other writings, traditions, and from the apostle Peter himself, who, as we know, was an eyewitness. If we follow the quote, Q2 16. source hypothesis. Remember, this is the hypothesis that has Mark as being the first gospel written. Mark provides raw material for Luke and later Matthew. Therefore, Mark's gospel is beyond revolutionary for a few reasons. One, he was not an eyewitness. Two, he's getting material directly from Peter, who as we know, was an eyewitness. And also, his gospel is believed

to be written very soon after Christ is resurrected. And so we'll look at that date in just a minute. He, Mark, is in essence the creator of the gospel in its literary form, if we consider his gospel to be first. The gospel of Mark then would be the sine qua non, or that Latin phrase meaning without which not. It is essential. It is indispensable. It is the preeminent gospel. So if we look at the two source hypothesis, again, Mark's gospel being the first is beyond revolutionary. We believe that Mark's gospel was written in Rome. If you have the slides and you're following along, this would be the third slide. So we believe that, or the preponderance of evidence, which is what we talked about last session, that is, if you weigh the evidence against other evidence, the likely place that Mark wrote his gospel is in Rome. There's a few reasons why we consider this, or things that we have to consider as important to have this to be the case. First, there's a large number of Latin phrases within the gospel of Mark. There's also an incidental mention of Simon of Cyrene's sons, one of whom is believed to be in Rome at the time. No other gospel mentions Simon's sons. John does not mention Simon at all. So let's look at Mark 15, 21. They forced a man coming in from the country who was passing by to carry Jesus's cross. He was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. So we believe that one of those sons was believed to be in Rome at the time. And also there's apparently a Gentile audience in the gospel. Obviously, if he's writing in Rome, he's writing to some of those that are in Rome who would have been Gentiles. And then there's a lot of allusions to suffering in Mark's gospel, which was pretty consistent with the time, and especially in Rome around that time. So those are some factors that we would consider as important when we date Mark's gospel. I'm sorry, when we consider whether or not Mark's gospel was written in Rome. There's also the fact that in 1 Peter 5, 13, Mark is in Rome with Peter in the early A.D. 60s. So we date Peter, 1 Peter right around A.D. 62 and 63, and also 1 Peter is written primarily to a Gentile audience. So if we look at all of these factors, we can consider that and strongly consider that the gospel of Mark was written in Rome. So we date Mark in the mid 50s to early A.D. 60s. Now consider this date. So if Mark is dated in the mid 50s, and we consider that Christ was resurrected right around A.D. 33, then Mark's gospel appears within a 20-year time frame of Jesus' resurrection. And that is no small feat considering how things were published and how things were recorded during that time. So we understand that the gospel

was written in Rome. Mark relied upon Peter to write his gospel. Peter was in Rome in the late 50s, and there is evidence of that, and that Luke and Matthew used Mark's gospel in the creation of the gospels that bear their names. This is all helping us decide the dating of Mark's gospel. And then we date Luke Acts in about A.D. 62, obviously after the dating of Mark. So those are factors that we have to consider to date the gospel of Mark in the mid 50s to early A.D. 60s. How do we know Mark wrote his gospel? Well, tradition mostly. But equally important is by the writings of Papias of Hierapolis. He was a bishop at the time in Phrygia of Asia, minor, until about A.D. 130. His statement about the gospel of Mark is recorded in Eusebius' Historia Ecclesiastica, written in the A.D. 325. So this is what Papias writes. Mark became Peter's interpreter and wrote accurately all he remembered, not indeed in order of the things said or done by the Lord. For he had not heard the Lord, nor had he followed him, but later on, as I said, followed Peter, who used to give of teachings as necessity, demanded but not making, as it were, an argument of the Lord's oracles, so that Mark did nothing wrong in writing down single points as he remembered them. For to one thing, he gave attention, to leave out nothing of what he had heard and to make no false statements about them." So tradition mostly helps us consider that Mark wrote his gospel, the gospel with his name on it. So what is his purpose? Well, he has really two purposes. While they don't stand out directly, but Carson provides two purposes of Mark's gospel. The first is Christology. And remember, Christology is, ology is the study of, and Christ, of course, is our savior and Messiah. So Christology is the study of Christ.

So theology, Christology, just to give you a formal definition is, Christology is the theology related to the person, nature, and role of Jesus the Christ. And then also, so that's one purpose. And then another purpose that Mark has is discipleship, as defined by Mark 1, 16 through 20. So let's look at that. As he passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. Follow me, Jesus told them, and I will make you fish for people. Immediately, they left their nets and followed him. Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother, John, in a boat, putting their nets in order. Immediately, he called them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired man and followed him. So we see there an example of immediately following Christ and also some discipleship. So let's look at another scripture, Matthew 2, I'm sorry, Mark 2, 14. Then passing by, he saw Levi, or Matthew, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office. He said to him, follow me,

and he got up and followed him. On Mark 3, 13 through 19, Jesus went up to the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed 12, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. He appointed the 12, to Simon he gave the name Peter, and to James, the son of Zebedee, and to his brother, he gave the name Voronegis, that is, sons of thunder. Andrew, Philip, and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. So those are just some examples of that discipleship piece that I was talking about. There are some other examples in Mark 6, 7 through 13, Mark 8, 33 through 34, and Mark 11, 1 through 7, all showing that discipleship piece. Mark, in essence, wants his believers to be followers of Christ, walking the same road as humility, suffering, and if necessary, death. Mark might argue today that if Jesus suffered, why would we not? So that is, in essence, Mark's purpose for writing his gospel. His overarching theme throughout the gospel

is Mark wanted to arm his Christian readers with a knowledge of the good news of salvation. There's a word that appears in Mark much more frequently than the other gospels, and that word is the Greek word euthos, meaning straightaway, straight, or immediately, and immediately, or euthos, is used 40 times in Mark's gospel, and primarily in the first few chapters. So as we look at the use of this word, we're gonna read a few scriptures. Mark 1, 10, we'll look at Mark 1, 10, 12, 19 through 20, verse 21, 29, 30 through 31, and 42, all in the first chapter. So Mark 1, 10, as soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove, as soon as, is the Greek word euthos. 1, 12, immediately, the spirit drove him into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals and the angels were serving him. 19 through 20, going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John in a boat putting their nets in order. Immediately, he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired man and followed him.

Verse 21, they went into Capernaum and right away he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and began to teach. Right away, is the Greek word euthos. Verse 29, as soon as, euthos, they left the synagogue, went into Simon and Andrew's house with James and John. And then 30 through 31, Simon's mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever and they told him about her at once, is the Greek word euthos. So he went to her, took her by the hand and raised her up. The fever left her and she began to serve them. And then verse 42, immediately the leprosy left him and he was made clean. So those are just some examples of this word being used 40 times in Mark's gospel where we don't find in the other gospels. So why do you think he uses this word so much? There's a few, at least a couple of ideas as to why he might have used immediately or euthos as much as he did. The first is, he wanted to suggest that Jesus did exactly as God instructed him and expected him to immediately. So God would say something to Jesus, Jesus would do it immediately. There's also another idea that some suggest it's because Mark is in a hurry to get to talking about the cross. Remember I said, when we started this session

that the passion of Christ includes not only us, but if we look at it chronologically, it includes the time that Jesus entered Jerusalem all the way to and through his resurrection. So Mark begins this entering into Jerusalem in chapter 11. Now Mark is the shortest gospel, he has 16 chapters in his gospel. And if we look at this based upon percentage, he spends 32% of his time talking about the passion of Christ. Some would say that he's in a hurry to talk about that. So that's another reason as to why he may have included the word euthos so much because he was in a hurry to talk about his main subject. All right, so let's look at Mark in seven basic sections. The first section is basically the preliminaries of Jesus's ministry. In this section, which is Mark 1.1 through Mark 1.13, it's the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God in verse 1.1. And then look at this, all by verse 13, when you look at Matthew and then Luke, they take a much longer time to talk about these subjects. But Mark is out of these subjects in 13 verses. He talks about, for example, the gospel being the euangelion, which is the good news, that's the Greek term for gospel. He talks in these first 13 verses about, or he introduces the ministry of John the Baptist, who is the forerunner of the Messiah to the Messiah.

He talks about Jesus's baptism and Jesus's temptation in the wilderness, all within the first 13 verses. So again, Mark is ready to, again, he has less words to get his message across, but he also deals with a lot more subjects in a shorter timeframe. The next section is the Galilean ministry part one. We have this section in Mark's gospel occurring from Mark 1.16 to Mark 3.6. In this section, we have Mark talking about the fulfillment of time has come. The kingdom is near. And with Jesus's announcement or with him being announced as being the Messiah, the kingdom of fulfillment has come. Jesus calls four disciples in this section. Mark gives us a typical day in the life of Jesus in this section. He teaches in the synagogue. There are exorcisms. There are healings, all of which attract larger crowds who begin to follow Christ. Also in this section, we see controversy with the Jewish leaders. And the things that they take issue with is Jesus's ability to forgive sins, his fellowship with tax collectors, like Matthew or Levi, as Mark calls him, and sinners,

his disciples' failure to fast regularly, and disputes over the Sabbath. So if we look at the scripture on the slide, this is slide number 13, this particular verse, Mark 4.35-38, these verses, I'm sorry, this is Mark 4.35-41. These verses give you a sense of the transition. So he got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, silence, be still. The wind ceased and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? And they were terrified and asked one another, who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him. So the next section, section three. is the Galilean ministry part two. And we find this in Mark 3.13 through Mark 5.43. So in this section, Mark gives us an idea of what's happening. First, Jesus' popularity continues to grow in this section. He attracts more and more crowds. He appoints the 12 apostles in this section. So all 12 are appointed by chapter five, verse 43. There are four types of miracles in this section. And we see these types of miracles in the other gospels, but Mark gives us them in these couple of chapters. First, there's a nature miracle. I just read that scripture earlier. He got up and rebuked the wind, right?

There's an exorcism miracle in chapter five, verse one through 20, where he cast out the demons from a man referring to themselves as legion. There's a healing miracle in chapter five, verse 25 through 34, the healing of the woman with the flow of blood issue. And then there is a resurrection miracle in chapter five, verse 21 through 24 with the raising of the daughter of Jairus from the dead. So the four miracles, just in summary, are a nature miracle, an exorcism miracle, a healing miracle, and a resurrection miracle, all happening within this third section of Mark's gospel. So let's read the transition here. He left there and came to his hometown and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue and many who heard him were astonished. He was not able to do a miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. So let's transition to the next section, which is section four. This is Galilean ministry, part two, transition. I'm sorry, part two, conclusion. And this is Mark six through seven through Mark 8, 26. So in this section, Mark gives us some other aspects of Jesus's ministry.

And first, Jesus addresses the rumor that John the Baptist has returned from the dead by discussing John the Baptist's death at the hands of Herod Antipas. So he talks about that. 5,000 are fed in this section. Jesus walks on water and then 4,000 are fed in this section. The disciples are not understanding the person of Jesus Christ as represented in chapter eight, verse 14 through 21. Let's read that. The disciples had forgotten to take bread and had only one left with them in the boat. He then gave them strict orders. Watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. Aware of this, he said to them, why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don't you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts? Do you have eyes and not see? Do you have ears and not hear? And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets full of leftovers did you collect? 12, they told him. When I broke the seven loaves for the 4,000, how many baskets full of pieces did you collect?

Seven, they said. And he said to them, don't you understand yet? So this is an example of the disciples, regardless of the miracles that are happening in front of them, they're still not recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. Let's read the transition, which is on the slide. Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road, he asked his disciples, why do people, who do people say that I am? They answered him, John the Baptist, others, Elijah, still others, one of the prophets. But you, he asked him, who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, you are the Messiah. And he strictly warned them to tell no one about him. So that's the transition to section five. So section five, we are one section away from talking about the passion of Christ. So in section five, Mark writes in chapter 8, 27 through 1052 that Peter gets it right, right? So we saw, we just read the transition and then we're recognizing Peter getting it right and recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. A shift from crowds and miracles to the disciples and the cross. So there's a shift here happening. There's a threefold teaching happening in this section that Mark points out. Jesus teaches about his death.

The disciples misunderstand. Jesus teaches about the cost of discipleship. Talks about his death, right? And the disciples misunderstand because, I mean, you're here, Jesus, why are you talking about your death? So they misunderstand. And then he talks to them about the cost of discipleship. We also have in this section, the transfiguration happens as well. So let's. Three, the transition to the next section, in Mark, when they approached Jerusalem and Bethpage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and told them, go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord needs it and we'll send it back here right away. Another use of the Greek word euthos. So let's go to the next section. So this is the Passion of Christ. We're in chapter 11 now. This is where Mark, some would say is trying to get to. He spends the next five chapters talking about the Passion of Christ. So let's look at this first section,

which Mark or Carson has identified as 11.1 through 13.37. So obviously Jesus enters Jerusalem in this section. His Masonic message continues as he enters the city and he sets the stage for confrontation and cleansing of the temple. There is an issue with, or issues with the priest, the teachers of the law and elders challenged Jesus. Jesus asked him about the interpretation of Psalm 110.1 in chapter 12, verse 35 through 40. Let's look at that. Verse 35, while Jesus was teaching in the temple, he asked, how can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself says by the Holy Spirit, verse 36, the Lord declared to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. David himself calls him Lord. How then can he be his son? And the large crowd was listening to him with delight. He also said in his teaching, beware of the scribes who want to go around in long robes and who want greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows' houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment. So he's challenging the rulers of that day, right? This section ends with the Olivet Discourse.

This is just the discourse on the Mount of Olives, which is named such because of the orderly and extending teaching given by Jesus on the Mount of Olives. His subject is the end times. So let's read the transition from this section to the next, which will be the last section. And this is Mark 14, verse one and two. It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priest and the scribes were looking for a cunning way to arrest Jesus and kill him. Not during the festival, they said, so that there won't be a riot among the people. So we have the last section, which is the Passion and the Empty Tomb narrative. This is section, I'm sorry, this is chapters 14, one through 16, eight. So there are two sections here, the Passion narrative and the narratives about the Empty Tomb. The only definitive date in this gospel is the two days that are mentioned in the gospel before the Passover, when the chief priests and teachers of the law plot Jesus's death. In this section, we also see, or Mark writes about the anointing of Jesus's head. Judas provides a means for arresting Jesus. Jesus arranges for he and the disciples to share Passover together.

There's prayer at Gethsemane and the arrest of Jesus. A series of judicial proceedings take place in this section and trials. Peter denies Jesus having just recognized him as Messiah in the last section. Peter Pilate sentences Jesus to die by crucifixion. And then also in this section is the execution of Christ for our sins happens on Golgotha. His burial takes place the same day. The Empty Tomb, the Angel's Announcement and Jesus's Resurrection in chapter 16, verse one through eight. So you'll notice in your Bible, if you turn to Matthew, I'm sorry, Mark chapter 16, I wanna read those first eight verses in chapter 16. And in my Bible, and my guess is, it's probably in yours the same. There's a note that says some of the earliest manuscripts conclude with Mark 16, eight. So let's look at those verses for a second. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices so that they could go and anoint him. Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise. They were saying to one another, who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us? Looking up, they noticed that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side. They were alarmed. Don't be alarmed, he said to them. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. crucified. He has risen. He is not here. See the place where they put him, but go, tell his disciples and Peter, he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there just as he told you. They went out and ran from the tomb because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone since they were afraid." So there's a couple of contextual concerns that folks have debated over the decades. And the most common problems with Mark occur actually at the beginning of Mark and the end. So one of the debated aspects of the Gospel of Mark is the inclusion of the Son of God in verse 1.1. So let's look at that. Mark 1.1, in the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So some would argue that Mark wrote in the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that's it. The other part that is highly debated is there is a longer ending in your Bible and in my Bible, and that is Mark 16.9-20. This appears in most Bible translations, but not all. So this narrative in these latter verses, verses about the resurrection of Christ, his appearance after his resurrection, and his commissioning of the disciples. This section is found in a lot, again, a lot of manuscripts, but some don't have it. And then others have this note that in the earliest manuscripts, this section is not included. Most would argue, I would say, for the inclusion of these particular verses, but some would say that Mark intended to end his Gospel with that last verse. They went out and ran from the tomb because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone since they were afraid. And Mark wants the Gospel, some would argue, to speak for itself. So thank you again for sitting with me and going through the Gospel of Mark. I hope that you found some useful information, not only from the reading of Carson, but also from the overview that I provided today. I look forward to our next time together, where we will talk about the Gospel of Luke, who, as I've mentioned before, wrote not only the Gospel of Luke, but also Acts. So we'll take some time and go through

the Gospel of Luke. Some of the aspects that we will look at is from whom did Luke gather his facts to write his Gospel? Because Luke also was not an eyewitness. What clue are we given in Luke 1.1 as to the purpose of Luke's Gospel? And then who is Theophilus, who Luke addresses his Gospel to, and not only the Gospel of Luke, but also Acts. And your reading plan for the Gospel of Luke is in your syllabus. Again, thank you for your time and I'll pray for us. And then I look forward to talking to you the next time. Father, I'm so thankful for your word. I'm thankful for the Gospel of Mark. I'm thankful, Lord, that he spent time talking about the passion of Christ, realizing, God, that your passion, Lord, was for us to have a way to be saved. And I'm so thankful for that, Lord. I'm thankful, Lord, for this day. I'm thankful for anyone who is listening and watching this video. And I just pray, God, for your grace and mercy as we go out through the rest of the day and our next week. In Jesus' name. Amen.