Bible Discussion Thread

INTRODUCTION TO MARK (Part 9):

VII. THE THEME OF THE BOOK:

Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." That is the theme of the Gospel of Mark.

VIII. TO WHOM IT WAS WRITTEN:

It was written to the Romans and written in a style to reach the Roman mindset.

HERE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE INTRODUCTION:

The Roman mindset was one that followed the judicial system. You had to prove everything by the law. If you couldn't prove anything by the law, they didn't buy it. It was strictly judicial. That's why the book of Romans, which is called the Constitution of the Christian faith, every doctrine is found in the book of Romans. The book of Romans is written like a legal brief. Romans is written like a lawyer would present a case in a courtroom.

And that is how he is talking to the people in Rome. Well, that is what Mark does also. I don't know if you have noticed or not, but Mark's gospel is pretty short and pretty blunt. He doesn't give a lot of details. If he didn't think something was necessary to prove a point, he left it out.

Mark does not give it to us because it is not necessary for proving the point. Mark presents his gospel like a script, fact after fact, and he is presenting it like a legal brief to the court. Jesus Christ will be presented to us as the Suffering Servant. Mark says I'm going to prove it to you, so that you people in Rome that have this mind that is governed by the judicial system, you'll find evidence. You are going to have to figure out what are you going to do with this Jesus? He didn't come as a king. He came as a servant. But I am going to prove to you that He is the Messiah.