What inspired Mark to write the way he did?

Why is the gospel of Mark so mysterious? What inspired the author to write the way he did? In Mark's gospel, Jesus says peculiar things. He speaks in parables. The true identity and purpose of Mark's Jesus are elusive. Motifs of blindness and deafness are used, to express misunderstanding by those who follow him.

In chapter four Jesus says, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

He then tells his disciples, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables."

Yet, the disciples fail to understand the parables. As the story moves along, it seems as though the disciples are actually outsiders who do not understand "the secret." Everyone eventually abandons Jesus for their inability to comprehend what he has tried to teach them. An astute reader may even ask himself/herself: "Am I an outsider? Am I also failing to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God?"

As I've shared before in prior blog entries, the gospel of Mark is more than a story about a man who came to work miracles and die on a cross. It's also a story about the destruction of the second temple, and how the Jewish followers of Jesus can move forward without it. In fact, one could argue that it's the foremost purpose of the book! It's an "apology" of sorts, to explain why God allowed the Romans to win. And I think Mark's reasoning is simple- It's the same reason the Kingdom of Israel was trampled by Assyria. It's the same reason Judah was destroyed by Babylonia. And it's the same reason why the first temple was destroyed: God is going to allow the enemies of Judah to have their way again, because those who dishonor God - the religious establishment in Jerusalem (the blind and deaf) must be punished... BUT as we will see (for Isaiah and for Mark) there is hope for the faithful in the end...

Throughout his book, Mark quotes several Hebrew bible passages. Many of Mark's references point the reader to the prophets who wrote about the destruction of Israel and Judah at the hands of their enemies. And when Mark quotes from the Hebrew bible, I believe he wants the reader to know more than just the quote, but also the Hebrew text surrounding the quote - He wants the reader to know its context, to find deeper meaning.

One of my favorite examples is in Mark chapter seven, where Jesus is in a dispute with Jerusalem's religious leaders (they are spiritually blind & deaf).

Mark 7:6 “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.'"

Mark's Jesus is pointing us to a passage in Isaiah chapter 29. What we find there is quite fascinating in my opinion! Not only does it explain why bad things happen to God's people, but I believe it also may contain the inspiration for why Mark wrote in mysterious ways - with "words sealed in a scroll"...

Isaiah 29:1 Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on. 2 Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth. 3 I will encamp against you on all sides; I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you. 4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper. 5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant, 6 the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire. 7 Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night, 8 as when a hungry person dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still; as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion. 9 Be stunned and amazed, blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger, but not from beer. 10 The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers).

11 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”

13 The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. 14 Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” 15 Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?” 16 You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”?

17 In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field and the fertile field seem like a forest? 18 In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

So, what is Mark's "secret of the Kingdom of God"?

Answer: Jesus is the Messiah, whose mission is to die on a cross.

But in the end of Mark's gospel, none of the characters understood the secret.

The crowds turned on him.

Peter ran away.

The disciples ran.

The women ran.

Everyone left him, except you, the reader.

Now the tomb is empty (Mark ch.16).

You are the only one left to tell the story.

If you've read Mark's story, you have read the "words of the scroll" telling you that Jesus has risen from the dead. And I think, for Mark, THAT is when the deaf will hear and the blind will see the words of the scroll.

The secret of the Kingdom of God has been given to YOU.

Now it's up to you, to go "to Galilee", to go and tell, that Jesus is the risen Messiah whose mission was to suffer and die as a ransom for many.

I believe Mark 4:11 is addressed to YOU.

Questions?

Comments?

Thanks for reading!

-matt