Analysis of St. Mark: Chapter 4:35-41 and insight on the authour Mark.
St. Mark: Chapter 4:35-41
Mark was the interpreter and recorder for Peter in his later ministries. His job would most likely be the equivalent to a multilingual personal assistant in today 's business world. Mark recorded Peter 's recollections and was striving for accuracy, but not necessarily for strict chronological narrative order (Elwell 88). Theologians estimate that the Gospel of Mark was composed approximately between the mid 40 's to early 60 's. Rome is thought to be the place of origination for this Gospel. This being so, the audience is most likely to be composed of Gentiles. Usually Jesus was a matchless teacher; but in this Gospel He appears even more distinctly as the mighty Worker. A very interesting thing seen in Mark that is not in other Gospels is that Jesus asks those who he came in contact with Him not to tell anyone of what they have witnessed (Elwell 94).
As verse 35 of chapter 4 begins, it was near dark and Jesus wants to cross the body of water and said to His disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." (Mk 4:35) Jesus was exhausted from teaching all day and the stress of people trying to see Him. He had been using the boat as a pulpit to speak from so the disembarking from the location was speedy (Erdman 77). Just as Jesus had fallen asleep, a great tempest or squall swept down onto the water and boat. The boat, that was most likely a smaller boat but big enough for about 14 to 15 passengers, was tossed in the wind and beaten with waves. The waves actually came into the boat, "so that it was nearly swamped (Mk 4:27)." The disciples were not inexperienced sailors, yet the storm was so powerful that they began to fear for their lives. They decided to wake Jesus and questioned weather or not He was concerned for the lives of His disciples. At this, Jesus got up and "rebuked" the wind and waves until they were still. He then turned and said, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" The disciples where terrified and asked each other, "Who
Mark was the interpreter and recorder for Peter in his later ministries. His job would most likely be the equivalent to a multilingual personal assistant in today 's business world. Mark recorded Peter 's recollections and was striving for accuracy, but not necessarily for strict chronological narrative order (Elwell 88). Theologians estimate that the Gospel of Mark was composed approximately between the mid 40 's to early 60 's. Rome is thought to be the place of origination for this Gospel. This being so, the audience is most likely to be composed of Gentiles. Usually Jesus was a matchless teacher; but in this Gospel He appears even more distinctly as the mighty Worker. A very interesting thing seen in Mark that is not in other Gospels is that Jesus asks those who he came in contact with Him not to tell anyone of what they have witnessed (Elwell 94).
As verse 35 of chapter 4 begins, it was near dark and Jesus wants to cross the body of water and said to His disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." (Mk 4:35) Jesus was exhausted from teaching all day and the stress of people trying to see Him. He had been using the boat as a pulpit to speak from so the disembarking from the location was speedy (Erdman 77). Just as Jesus had fallen asleep, a great tempest or squall swept down onto the water and boat. The boat, that was most likely a smaller boat but big enough for about 14 to 15 passengers, was tossed in the wind and beaten with waves. The waves actually came into the boat, "so that it was nearly swamped (Mk 4:27)." The disciples were not inexperienced sailors, yet the storm was so powerful that they began to fear for their lives. They decided to wake Jesus and questioned weather or not He was concerned for the lives of His disciples. At this, Jesus got up and "rebuked" the wind and waves until they were still. He then turned and said, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" The disciples where terrified and asked each other, "Who
Cited: Elwell, Walter and Yarbrough, Robert. Encountering the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999. Erdman, Charles. The Gospel of Mark. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1945. Morgan, G. Campbell. The Gospel According to Mark. Philadelphia: The Blakiston Company, 1927. Yancey, Philip and Stafford, Tim. Student Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.