Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 25:70 (Spring 2021)
Article: The Theological Message Of The Gospel Of Mark
Author: Kenneth R. Cooper

JODT 25:70 (Spring 2021) p. 49

The Theological Message Of The Gospel Of Mark

Kenneth R. Cooper

* Kenneth R. Cooper, Ph.D, professor of Bible and theology, Tyndale Theological Seminary and Biblical Institute

Of all the Gospels, Mark comes to us in a rather compact, terse, fast-paced manner. Believed by most to be the earliest Gospel, Mark may have provided a major source for Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels. Approximately 90% of the Gospel of Mark may be found in Matthew and Luke; yet, until the twentieth century, Mark virtually “lay on the shelf” little read and less studied. According to Luke Timothy Johnson, this may in part be due “to the widespread opinion that he had only condensed Matthew’s version, and partly due to the fact that his narrative met liturgical and catechetical needs less adequately than his synoptic successors.”1 Johnson noted that no commentary on Mark appeared until the sixth century; then it took until the ninth century before another appeared. Mark seems to have faded into the shadows of Matthew and Luke. Add to this his apparent lack of narrative order and he falls deeper into the shadows.

In the twentieth century, scholars appear to have “rediscovered” the Gospel of Mark. For twentieth century scholars, Mark has become the most popular of the synoptic Gospels. According to Johnson, this was due largely to the “thought that Mark provided the earliest and most reliable historical source for those seeking to uncover the historical Jesus.”2

Mark should present little difficulty to those seeking to uncover his theology because of its brevity and its conciseness. Upon closer examination, however, one can see that this is not the case. For one thing, there appears to be no logical literary or theological structure to the book. In fact, structure provides one of the major concerns of the study of Mark. For instance, Mark is unlike Luke who states that “it seemed fitting for me . . . to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus’”

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the things that Luke had carefully investigated (Luke 1:3, emphasis added).3

While Luke establishes basically a chronological order for his account, Mark does not seem to have a specific order for his, logical or chronological. In light of this fact, Merrill C. Tenney noted, “an outline of Mark is difficult to construct because of the impressionistic character of the Gospel.”4 Norma...