QUESTION:

I will like to know what is the main theme of the gospel of Mark and what possible outline can I draw to help me study it better.  thanks.

Response:

The main theme of the Gospel of Mark is this:   Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the savior of mankind.   This is the theme of all four gospels.

Of the four gospels, Mark has been described as the one written for a Roman audience.  Whether this is true or not is debatable, but the uniqueness of Mark is its sense of drama.  It is constantly say that Jesus went here and there.  Jesus began to do this or that.   Jesus is always on the move in his ministry toward Jerusalem and his death.   In Mark, Jesus is a man of action.  We move quickly from one scene to another.  Jesus heals many.  He is a man of purpose.  Of the four gospels, Mark is written in the simplest Greek.  Mark’s knowledge of Greek was somewhat rudimentary.  It is the shortest of the gospels and most scholars agree that it was the first to be written, perhaps as early as the 50s or even the 40s AD.

Let me give you this suggestion.  If you want to understand the uniqueness of Mark and to have a deeper understanding of the book you should pick up a couple of commentaries on Mark.   My favorite book to place the four gospels in their place and to understand how each of the four is unique is a very good book “Four Portraits of Jesus” by Mark L. Strauss I strongly suggest this book.  It is easy to read and will help you to understand what makes each of the gospels unique.

John Oakes