HIGHLIGHTS OF MARK

 
  Mark’s concise, fast-moving account of Jesus’ life, presenting Jesus as the miracle-working Son of God
  The shortest Gospel, it was the third to be written (c. 60-65 C.E.), evidently with non-Jews in mind
 

Jesus conducts a vigorous campaign of Kingdom preaching

  Jesus is baptized and begins preaching, “The kingdom of God has drawn near” (1:9-11, 14, 15)
 
  He invites Simon, Andrew, James, and John to leave the fishing business and be his followers (1:16-21)
 
  After preaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, he proceeds to preach throughout the whole of Galilee (1:21, 22, 35-39)
 
  Levi, a tax collector, responds to invitation to be Jesus’ follower (2:14-17)
 
  Jesus forms a group of 12 apostles to preach (3:13-19)
 
  He uses many illustrations when teaching about the Kingdom of God so that only worthy ones get the full sense of what he says (4:1-34)
 
  Jesus encounters lack of faith while witnessing in his home territory (6:1-6)
 
  He steps up the preaching activity by sending out his apostles (6:7-13)
 
  His activity reaches into Phoenicia and the Decapolis (7:24, 31)
 
  Jesus is transfigured in Kingdom glory (9:1-8)
 
  Outside Jerusalem, he prophesies about ‘the coming of the Son of man with great power and glory’ (13:1-37)
 
  At the Lord’s Evening Meal, Jesus promises that his followers will be with him in the Kingdom (14:12-31)
 

The miracle-working Son of God

  At the synagogue in Capernaum, he frees a man from demon possession; afterward, he heals Simon’s mother-in-law and cures many others of various afflictions (1:23-34, 40-42)
 
  By curing a paralytic, Jesus demonstrates his power to forgive sins (2:1-12)
 
  Sufferers crowd in from all parts seeking relief (3:1-12)
 
  After calming a storm on the Sea of Galilee, he expels demons from a man and allows them to enter a herd of swine (4:35–5:17)
 
  He heals a woman suffering from a flow of blood and resurrects Jairus’ daughter (5:21-43)
  
After feeding 5,000 with two fishes and five loaves, Jesus walks on the windswept Sea of Galilee (6:35-52)
 
  He casts a demon from the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman and cures a deaf man having a speech impediment (7:24-37)
 
  He feeds 4,000 with seven loaves; at Bethsaida, he restores sight to a blind man (8:1-9, 22-26)
 
  From a speechless, deaf boy, Jesus expels a demon that had resisted the disciples; he restores sight to a blind beggar at Jericho (9:14-29; 10:46-52)
 
  He curses a fig tree, which subsequently withers (11:12-14, 20)
 

Opposers of God’s Son are unsuccessful

  After Satan’s efforts at temptation in the wilderness, angels minister to Jesus (1:12, 13)
 
  When scribes of the Pharisees criticize his eating with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus refutes them (2:15-17)
 
  Later the Pharisees object to his disciples plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath and Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath; they join the Herodians in wanting to destroy him (2:23–3:6)
 
  Jesus convincingly refutes the accusation that he expels demons by means of Satan (3:20-30)
 
  Jesus’ forerunner John the Baptizer is beheaded, but Jesus continues to teach (6:14-29, 34)
 
  Pharisees and scribes protest that his disciples disregard their tradition about hand washing; Jesus exposes their hypocrisy and explains the real source of uncleanness (7:1-23)
 
  Pharisees question Jesus regarding divorce in order to test him, but without success (10:1-12)
 
  Chief priests, scribes, and older men challenge Jesus’ authority after he cleanses the temple, but he silences them (11:15-18, 27-33)
 
  He tells the parable of the vineyard to expose the opposition of the religious leaders to God’s will and their intent to kill Jesus; these seek to seize him but fear the crowd (12:1-12)
 
  Pharisees and Herodians ask Jesus whether it is right to pay taxes to Caesar; Sadducees pose a difficult question about the resurrection. All fail to trap Jesus (12:13-27)
 
  Judas betrays Jesus; Jesus is arrested and the Sanhedrin judges him worthy of death; nevertheless, he foretells he will ‘sit at the right hand of power and come with the clouds of heaven’ (14:1, 2, 10, 11, 32-65)
 
  Pilate is pressured into condemning Jesus to death; Jesus dies on the stake and is buried (15:1-47)
  Angels announce the resurrection of Jesus (16:1-8)