Whenever I teach my class “Four Gospels in Global Perspective,” I begin by asking the students to choose their favorite Gospel. To give a visual component to the poll, I assign each Gospel to a corner of the room and have students physically move to their Gospel’s corner. Year after year, Luke and John overflow. Matthew never puts in a bad showing, but only a few brave adherents cast their lot with Mark. While I’m no longer surprised by this breakdown, I’m always a little dismayed because Mark has long been my favorite Gospel. In the hopes of winning more adherents to “Team Mark” during this year’s Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) cycle, I offer six reasons that Mark might just be the Gospel for you.
Mark the underappreciated
To begin, I hope that Mark’s underdog status will pique your interest. Mark has been underappreciated since at least the fourth century CE, when no less a figure than St. Augustine declared it a summary of Matthew’s Gospel. He believed that Mark had been put together for missionary purposes; Christians who followed his logic instead concentrated on the more fulsome stories in Matthew and Luke. If you’re a hipster like me and want to see the cool in the un-cool, Mark might just be the Gospel for you.
Mark the mysterious
The reader who dives into Mark will immediately discover puzzling things. For a purported summary, Mark is strangely not a straightforward Gospel. From beginning to end, it’s filled with secrecy and mystery. Instead of a birth narrative, the Gospel launches with the heavens torn open and a full-grown Jesus receiving the Holy Spirit. Then, in an unexpected twist, Jesus spends the next part of the Gospel trying to keep his identity hidden. The evasive nature of Jesus has perplexed scholars to the point that they gave this characteristic its own name: the “Messianic Secret.” And of course, Mark ends in the most mysterious place of all: at the empty tomb, with no resurrected Jesus in sight. If you like a good page-turning mystery, Mark might just be the Gospel for you.
Mark the ironic
The mystery in Mark’s Gospel is complemented by Mark’s healthy sense of irony and the unexpected. Just as Jesus unexpectedly tries to keep his identity a secret, the people we expect to understand him (in other words, the disciples) don’t have a clue. In fact, it’s only demons who seem to get it! To top it off, Mark’s Jesus has a mischievous side. When confronted by the authorities in Jerusalem, he responds with half-answers and trick questions, delighting the crowds that gather around him. If you’d like to see the trickster side of Jesus, Mark might just be the Gospel for you.
Mark the conflicted
At the same time, Mark’s Gospel doesn’t shy away from conflict and tension. Underneath Mark’s irony is the acknowledgment that Jesus’s arrival will stir up the powers that be. Mark portrays a Jesus who comes to wrestle with the demonic forces that oppress humanity, and this conflict spills over into his interactions with earthly authorities as well. Mark doesn’t present a “gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” His Jesus has righteous anger and boldly claims his messiahship at his trial. If you find yourself looking for a Jesus for today’s conflicted world, Mark might just be the Gospel for you.
Mark the faithful
In his complicated portrait of Jesus, Mark continually points us to Jesus himself. As a result, Mark contains almost none of Jesus’s teachings. Instead, he focuses relentlessly on Jesus and his actions. Through his portrait of Jesus, Mark confronts his readers with the simple, yet serious questions: Will you take up your cross and follow Jesus? If you find yourself tired of “thoughts and prayers,” Mark might just be the Gospel for you.
Mark the first
Last, but not least: Unlike St. Augustine, many biblical scholars (myself included) now believe that Mark was the earliest Gospel written. His writing represents the first brave attempt to put the message of the Gospel into words. Without Mark, there would be no Matthew and Luke. If you want a glimpse of the first Christians wrestling with what Jesus meant for the world, Mark might just be the Gospel for you.
