Final session on Mark & his gospel
Tomorrow morning, Sunday, 19 Oct 2025, we will pick up where we left off last Sunday and press to finish up our adult Sunday school class discussion of Mark and his gospel, at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church, Panama City, Florida. The text of our Handout has already been emailed to class members who signed up for that; and is printed below for anyone else who may be interested.
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image: Mark the Evangelist, pinched online, credited as French art, the lion is frequently associated with Mark symbolically
Mark 14 Good News Translation
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
32 They came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James, and John with him. Distress and anguish came over him, 34 and he said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch.”
35 He went a little farther on, threw himself on the ground, and prayed that, if possible, he might not have to go through that time of suffering. 36 “Father,” he prayed, “my Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.”
Trinitarian doctrine holds that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three Persons, have the same will. But Jesus saying “not my will but they will be done” in Gethsemane was key to the 3rd Council of Constantinople (680-681 AD) determining that Jesus the Son, perfect God and perfect man, had two wills, a divine will and a human will. The human will wanted out of what was to come.
37 Then he returned and found the three disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Weren't you able to stay awake for even one hour?” 38 And he said to them, “Keep watch, and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
39 He went away once more and prayed, saying the same words. 40 Then he came back to the disciples and found them asleep; they could not keep their eyes open. And they did not know what to say to him.
41 When he came back the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come! Look, the Son of Man is now being handed over to the power of sinners. 42 Get up, let us go. Look, here is the man who is betraying me!”
How does Mark know what Jesus prayed when Jesus was off by himself?
The Arrest of Jesus
43 Jesus was still speaking when Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs and sent by the chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the elders. 44 The traitor had given the crowd a signal: “The man I kiss is the one you want. Arrest him and take him away under guard.”
45 As soon as Judas arrived, he went up to Jesus and said, “Teacher!” and kissed him. 46 So they arrested Jesus and held him tight. 47 But one of those standing there drew his sword and struck at the High Priest's slave, cutting off his ear. 48 Then Jesus spoke up and said to them, “Did you have to come with swords and clubs to capture me, as though I were an outlaw? 49 Day after day I was with you teaching in the Temple, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must come true.” Isaiah 53? Psalm 22?
Didn’t Jesus say more in this encounter with Judas and the Temple guards?
50 Then all the disciples left him and ran away.
51 A certain young man, dressed only in a linen cloth, was following Jesus. They tried to arrest him, 52 but he ran away naked, leaving the cloth behind. Who is this person and why does Mark mention him?
Jesus before the Council
53 Then Jesus was taken to the High Priest's house, where all the chief priests, the elders, and the teachers of the Law were gathering. 54 Peter followed from a distance and went into the courtyard of the High Priest's house. There he sat down with the guards, keeping himself warm by the fire. 55 The chief priests and the whole Council tried to find some evidence against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they could not find any. 56 Many witnesses told lies against Jesus, but their stories did not agree.
57 Then some men stood up and told this lie against Jesus: 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will tear down this Temple which men have made, and after three days I will build one that is not made by men.’” 59 Not even they, however, could make their stories agree.
60 The High Priest stood up in front of them all and questioned Jesus, “Have you no answer to the accusation they bring against you?”
61 But Jesus kept quiet and would not say a word. Again the High Priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed God?”
62 “I AM,” answered Jesus, “and you will all see the Son of Man seated at the right side of the Almighty and coming with the clouds of heaven!”
63 The High Priest tore his robes and said, “We don't need any more witnesses! 64 You heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?”
They all voted against him: he was guilty and should be put to death.
What was Jesus’ blasphemy that was used to convict and condemn him?
65 Some of them began to spit on Jesus, and they blindfolded him and hit him. “Guess who hit you!” they said. And the guards took him and slapped him.
Peter Denies Jesus
66 Peter was still down in the courtyard when one of the High Priest's servant women came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked straight at him and said, “You, too, were with Jesus of Nazareth.”
68 But he denied it. “I don't know … I don't understand what you are talking about,” he answered, and went out into the passageway. Just then a rooster crowed.
69 The servant woman saw him there and began to repeat to the bystanders, “He is one of them!” 70 But Peter denied it again.
A little while later the bystanders accused Peter again, “You can't deny that you are one of them, because you, too, are from Galilee.”
71 Then Peter said, “I swear that I am telling the truth! May God punish me if I am not! I do not know the man you are talking about!”
72 Just then a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows two times, you will say three times that you do not know me.” And he broke down and cried.
Mark 15 Good News Translation
Jesus before Pilate
15 Early in the morning the chief priests met hurriedly with the elders, the teachers of the Law, and the whole Council, and made their plans. They put Jesus in chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 2 Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus answered, “So you say.”
3 The chief priests were accusing Jesus of many things, 4 so Pilate questioned him again, “Aren't you going to answer? Listen to all their accusations!”
5 Again Jesus refused to say a word, and Pilate was amazed.
What about Jesus before king Herod?
Jesus Is Sentenced to Death
6 At every Passover Festival Pilate was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner the people asked for. 7 At that time a man named Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder in the riot. 8 When the crowd gathered and began to ask Pilate for the usual favor, 9 he asked them, “Do you want me to set free for you the king of the Jews?” 10 He knew very well that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.
11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask, instead, that Pilate set Barabbas free for them. 12 Pilate spoke again to the crowd, “What, then, do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews?”
13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
14 “But what crime has he committed?” Pilate asked.
They shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed him over to be crucified.
Bar-Abbas: son of the father. Some ancient manuscripts of Matthew call him Jesus Barabbas
The Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus
16 The soldiers took Jesus inside to the courtyard of the governor's palace and called together the rest of the company. 17 They put a purple robe on Jesus, made a crown out of thorny branches, and put it on his head. 18 Then they began to salute him: “Long live the King of the Jews!” 19 They beat him over the head with a stick, spat on him, fell on their knees, and bowed down to him. 20 When they had finished making fun of him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
Jesus Is Crucified
21 On the way they met a man named Simon, who was coming into the city from the country, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. (Simon was from Cyrene and was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) 22 They took Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means “The Place of the Skull.” 23 There they tried to give him wine mixed with a drug called myrrh, but Jesus would not drink it. 24 Then they crucified him and divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to see who would get which piece of clothing.
There is all sorts of scholarly and amateur discussion, but why Mark mentions Alexander and Rufus is not clear, is entirely speculative. In this same account, Matthew and Luke do not mention them. Gospel John’s story omits Simon of Cyrene altogether, has Jesus carry the cross himself.
Psalm 22:18: This verse is cited as the prophecy that was fulfilled by the soldiers' actions: "They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing".
25 It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The notice of the accusation against him said: “The King of the Jews.” 27 They also crucified two bandits with Jesus, one on his right and the other on his left. 28
29 People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus: “Aha! You were going to tear down the Temple and build it back up in three days! 30 Now come down from the cross and save yourself!”
31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law made fun of Jesus, saying to one another, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! 32 Let us see the Messiah, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him!”
And the two who were crucified with Jesus insulted him also.
The respectful thief is Luke’s character; Jesus saying “Today you will be with me in Paradise” is Luke’s line but it has been used by the Church in its shift FROM Salvation as relating to the Kingdom of God as here and now, Or the imminently coming Kingdom of God on Earth TO belief in the Kingdom of God as life of the soul in Heaven immediately after death.
The Death of Jesus
33 At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours. 34 At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”
The traditional seven last words of Jesus, recorded across the Gospels, are: (1) "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34), (2) "Woman, behold your son! Behold your mother!" (John 19:26-27), (3) "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34), (4) "I thirst" (John 19:28), (5) "It is finished" (John 19:30), (6) "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46), and (7) the first part of a statement to a thief, "Today, you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). There are NOT “seven last words” there are different accounts from different gospel writers.
35 Some of the people there heard him and said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!” 36 One of them ran up with a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, and put it on the end of a stick. Then he held it up to Jesus' lips and said, “Wait! Let us see if Elijah is coming to bring him down from the cross!”
37 With a loud cry Jesus died.
38 The curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 The army officer who was standing there in front of the cross saw how Jesus had died. “Truly this man was the Son of God!” he said.
40 Some women were there, looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph, and Salome. 41 They had followed Jesus while he was in Galilee and had helped him. Many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him were there also.
The curtain veil in the Temple separated the Holy of Holies where God was supposed to abide. Mark does not say why the curtain was torn, but people have said that it showed God’s rage at the crucifixion Or that it symbolizes that humans now have full access to the Father.
The Roman officer (centurion), a Gentile and outsider recognizes who/what Jesus is (as Jesus’ followers did not.
Gospel John has Jesus’ mother there, and the disciple whom Jesus loved. How was it really?
The Burial of Jesus
42-43 It was toward evening when Joseph of Arimathea arrived. He was a respected member of the Council, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. It was Preparation day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), so Joseph went boldly into the presence of Pilate and asked him for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. He called the army officer and asked him if Jesus had been dead a long time. 45 After hearing the officer's report, Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. 46 Joseph bought a linen sheet, took the body down, wrapped it in the sheet, and placed it in a tomb which had been dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were watching and saw where the body of Jesus was placed.
Isaiah 53:9 states the "Suffering Servant" would be buried "with the rich”.
Mark 16 Good News Translation
The Resurrection
16 After the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices to go and anoint the body of Jesus. 2 Very early on Sunday morning, at sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3-4 On the way they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” (It was a very large stone.) Then they looked up and saw that the stone had already been rolled back. 5 So they entered the tomb, where they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe—and they were alarmed.
6 “Don't be alarmed,” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here—he has been raised! Look, here is the place where he was placed. 7 Now go and give this message to his disciples, including Peter: ‘He is going to Galilee ahead of you; there you will see him, just as he told you.’” [Mark 14:28]
8 So they went out and ran from the tomb, distressed and terrified. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
This is the climax of Mark’s gospel: that nobody close to Jesus recognized who/what he was (the women ran away and said nothing; the men went back to Galilee). Except for the evil spirits Jesus cast out, only the Centurion knew him. It’s therefore up to Mark’s first century AD audience to proclaim Christ. Unlike MT, Lk, & JN written later, Mark has no post-resurrection appearances.