The Gospel Of Mark: Mark As A Suffering Messiah

Mark wasn’t one of Jesus’ disciples or apostles but was known as one of the four evangelists to set a path of Christianity. Mark was the first gospel writer who wrote his gospel around 65-70CE, followed by Matthew, Luke and John. Mark wrote to the Christians who suffered during persecution in the time of Nero before Constantine, to keep their faith and stay strong as God will save them from their darkest times. Mark conveys a strong message of Jesus as the Suffering Messiah, or Crucified Christ, through his gospel. Mark emphasises about the death of Jesus and the events leading up to Jesus’ death to represent Jesus’ suffering and humiliation for why he must die for the forgiveness of our sins and salvation of mankind.

The first bible passage in the Gospel passage of Mark that shows Jesus as the suffering Messiah is Mark 14:32-36, They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” This bible passage was the beginning of Jesus’ suffering, eventually leading up to his final hours of death, his crucifixion. Jesus is depicted as a human, with the emotions of ‘deeply distressed and trouble’, representing his fear, grief and sorrow as suffering. Jesus knowing it was nearly time for his death knelt down and prayed to his Father in heaven to see the vision on how he would die. God showed him and because he was overwhelmed with the vision, Jesus sweated blood, waiting for the hour to pass to follow and complete his Father’s will to save others.

The second bible passage in the Gospel passage of Mark that shows Jesus as the suffering Messiah is Mark 15:16-20, The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.” This bible passage shows Jesus’ suffering at the hands of the soldiers before he took his walk to his death because of the people, the believers of Christ, chose to hand him over to be mocked and humiliated. The King of all Kings, The Messiah, The Son of Man like stated in Mark 9:31, The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. There Jesus suffered as entertainment and fun with blood and gore. Jesus was abused for the sake of our sins and disrespected due to our wrong doings.

The third bible passage in the Gospel passage of Mark that shows Jesus as the suffering Messiah is Mark 15:27-30, They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” This bible passage shows more how the people, the believers of Christ, also mocked his names. They challenged and questioned Jesus about his name, the Son of Man, the one called the Messiah.They tested if he was going to be saved by God or was he just like the robbers who were hung beside him. He died on the cross for our salvation. He stayed strong, staying true to his teachings in order to spread the word of God, to teach unconditional love, which is what the Messiah was meant to do being sent by God to the Earth.

The fourth bible passage in the Gospel passage of Mark that shows Jesus as the suffering Messiah is Mark 15:31-32, In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him. This passage shows the continuous suffering of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, with the insults of his name, The Messiah. It was his father’s will to allow him to go through this journey of life and death. Jesus had a choice to come down from the cross but he was following his father’s will of dying on the cross to save the sins of mankind. He continued to show the message of salvation. Jesus died in passion for our sins as seen in the Paschal Mystery, and through this he accomplished our salvation.

The final bible passage in the Gospel passage of Mark that shows Jesus as the suffering Messiah is Mark 15:33-37, At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. This last passage portrays the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, his crucifixion, the end of his sufferings. He completed and carried out his mission and now lives in the realms of heaven sitting with God at his right hand of the throne. Jesus suffered and died on the cross for our redemption, our source of forgiveness and everlasting life. Jesus was represented as a lonely figure, a person who went through suffering until death, abandoned by the people who once believed in him, his followers, supporters and believers in Christ, even by his own Father in heaven.