Study of Mark/Background

A quote from the youth minister at St. Patrick's Church, Wallington, UK: "If this book (Mark) isn't true, then Jesus was a liar, and this book should burn. If it's true, it's definitely worth studying." And that is why we should study it in the first place. To try and discern its truth, its reliability. To discern whether Jesus was the biggest liar in history, or the Son of God.

Also, studying an account that so many people read and trust in helps our understanding of sociology, that is, by studying and understanding what others believe, we can understand the people themselves better.

Mark is a book that's lasted over 2000 years. If a book can be widely read for that long, with over 1 billion believers, it is definitely worth a study.

Pre-Lesson Activity

 * Skim through Mark's Gospel, and try and get a general idea of what it's about.
 * Do some research on 1st Century Palestine, using books, wikipedia, or the general internet.

Israël in Jesus' Time
When asked what religion Jesus was, people will often reply: 'Christian!', with little thought. In fact, Jesus was brought up as a Jew and remained a Jew thorughout his life. Because of this, his way of life and upbringing would have been surrounded by his religion - very orthodox Judaism.

In Jesus' time, Israel was part of the massive Roman Empire. In 37 BC, Herod the Great was made King of the Jews by the Romans. The man was well reputed as a tyrant. He died in 4 BC, and it was then decided by the Romans to split Israel under two kings. Archelaus ruled the southern part, Judaea, and Herod Antipas ruled the northern part, Galilee. Archelaus didn't last long in power; he was so cruel that the Romans sacked him and replaced him with one of their own Roman procurators: Pontius Pilate. Herod Antipas was cruel and selfish, as his father was. However, he stayed in power throughout Jesus' life. He wasn't allowed to call himself 'king', only 'tetrarch'.

There were three things that were central and important to the Jews' lives at that point: The Torah, The Synagogue, and The Temple. We will now look at these three things in more detail.

The Torah
The Torah is the holy book of the Jewish faith, and thus part of the heart of it. Moses is believed by the Jews to have recieved God's laws during the Exodus. The Torah consists mainly of the laws of Moses, and of the general history of the Jewish race. The Torah is basically the first five books of the Christian Old Testament. The important part about the Torah for the study of Mark is that the book mainly contains the laws that the Jews were expected to live by, including Jesus. Other names for the Torah are: the Pentateuch, the Law, and the Law of Moses.

The Synagogue
The Synagogue was the local place of worship for the Jews. Here, the Torah would have been studied and explained. Synagogues were a common sight in Palestine. There was one in every town, and often one in the villages. As well as a place of worship, the Synagogue was a community centre and a school, where Jews could meet up together, and where the children could learn about their faith. Every male Jew would have been taught how to read and write fluently, including Jesus.

The Temple
The Temple was the biggest place of worship the Jews had. There was only one Temple, in Jerusalem. The first one was built by King Solomon, before being destroyed in 587 BC. It was rebuilt by Herod the Great, who added to the original designs to make it even more impressive. For the Jews, the Temple was the holiest place in the world. They believed God had told Solomon to build it. Animal sacrifices were offered only there. The Temple was again destroyed in 70 AD, and was never rebuilt. A muslim shrine, known as 'The Dome of the Rock' now stands there.

The Different Types of Jews
In Jesus's day there were two major schools of thought within Judiasm, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Both these groups appear in the Bible. The Bible also mentioned are Herodians and the Zealots (who are not mentioned in Mark). Essenes, not mentioned in scripture were a seperatisit sect.

Pharisees
The word Pharisees itself (lat. pharisæ|us, -i) is usually derived from the Hebrew פרושים perushim from פרוש parush, meaning "set apart". They were a party of strict orthodoxy and lived strictly by the Law. They also represented common people interested in religion untainted by politics. The Pharisees were the most prominent opponents of the Sadducees.

Historians generally consider that after the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic Judaism produced Rabbinic Judaism, that is normative, mainstream Judaism which is the basis for all contemporary forms of Judaism except for the Karaites.

Sadducees
The Sadducees included mainly priestly and aristocratic families. They collaborated with the Roman and exercised political control of the nation with Roman support. They accepted only the Torah (the first 5 books of Moses) as scripture and they opposed the detailed expansion of the Law. Mark mentions them in 12:18 and tells us they did not believe in the resurrection.

Herodidans
These are likely supporters or adherents of Herod Antipas. They are mentioned in Mark as plotting with the Pharisees how to kill Jesus in 3:6 and in 12:13 as testing him regarding paying taxes.

Why Mark Wrote His Gospel
The Gospel of Mark shares with all gospels the purpose of telling the good news of Jesus.

An engaging story to be read aloud. Though perhaps surprising to we who live in societies that are 80 to 90 percent literate, literacy in the ancient Mediterranean world at this time was likely no more than 10 to 20 percent. A number of things in the gospel point to this intent. Mark uses the sandwich technique (a popular way relating anecdotes and stories) in recounting the events of Jesus ministry. . Mark recounts events in greater detail, typically Mark is twice as long as the equivalent pericope in Matthew. All these suggest that the Gospel of Mark was written to be read aloud.

Next Lesson
Bible study

Supplemental Resources

 * Sermons Through the Bible - Pastor Joe Focht