theology of mark

soo. i wrote a paper. and this is parts of it..with a few added things.

In Mark’s gospel, because he must solve the contradiction between the two definitions of the messiah role presented in the book of Isaiah(41 and 53), he gives several solutions and examples of how JESUS is the messiah. With the support of Isaiah 53, Mark presents Jesus as he was, a savior of sins and death, not the great political leader the Jewish people had hoped for. ANYWAYS.

We must realize that life will not always be “smooth sailing,” even with God on our side. Mark presents this idea of suffering, death, and resurrection that must occur not only with Jesus, but also in the very souls of his followers.

This was Mark’s warning to the Jewish people: that they should not give up when life begins to get difficult. [[The Jewish people had a history of leaving the land given to them by God to look for better land, when life in "Canaan" got harsh or difficult]] Leaving only got them into further trouble because of the abandonment of the covenant with God.

What Mark was trying to tell us was…
God will test his people, but he will never give them more then they can handle. There will be good times and bad times, but if you stay faithful to God, God will be faithful to his covenant and the people. “If you are faithful, then God will be your protection”

Through the concept of suffering, death, and resurrection, Mark is trying to tell the Jewish people that God never did plan on sending a great political leader who would make all things perfect and wonderful. Instead, God sent us Jesus to teach us how to deal with life’s problems. He sent us a role model.

There will be suffering, “mini deaths” and resurrection within our souls. These “mini deaths” represent the difficult times in your life, times in which you WILL suffer. BUT! WAIT! Jesus brought a message, there will ALWAYS be resurrection, as long as you are faithful to God. Everything will be okay in the end.

Bottom line… dont give up on God because life isnt easy. IF you have faith in him, he will help you overcome, your soul will experience resurrection from the suffering and death. You are strengthened through the tests, so dont runaway from God, without God you cannot experience true resurrection of the soul. God is your salvation.