Week 7- The Gospel of Mark

Part one of a three week series on “The Synoptic Gospels: Christianity & Jesus of Nazareth.” Synoptic means “see together with.” Matthew, Mark, and Luke are studied together by scholars because of their literary dependence on one another. This means, there is a fair amount of nearly identical material found in all three Gospels. Scholars suggest that there may have been a common source for material that Matthew and Luke share, which they have dubbed, “Q” (based on the German word, Quelle).

At the same time, each Gospel has its own emphasis and flavor. In the lectures for week 7, Dr. Tim discusses the central role of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel, in which Jesus’ messianic identity seems to be a secret–not at all hidden to readers, but to those in Jesus’ day. Why was there a “messianic secret”? How can we know that Jesus was the Son of God? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus, and what did Jesus mean when he said that his disciples have to pick up their crosses and follow him? These and other important questions for today as well as in the first century are addressed in detail by the professor.