Gospel of Mark 1-16

The oldest of the canonical gospels comes second in the New Testament, and as has been noted by scholars seems to form part of the source for both Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke owing to the incredible amount of similar material between them.  If you've ever heard the talk about another source called the Q Gospel, I'll be bringing up my idea for that later on.  For now, the Gospel of Mark:

It begins by invoking Isaiah to introduce John the Baptist.  This is no great surprise.  There's no nativity narrative for Jesus at all, no explanation for where he came from.  He simply appears for the baptism scene as also featured in Matthew.

Needless to say, there's a lot of familiar material, including the sequence of events.

Following the baptism is the 40 days in the wilderness and temptation by Satan.

John the Baptist is arrested, and Jesus proclaims, "The kingdom of God is at hand," which is a subtle shift but certainly supports my belief that the phrase "kingdom of God" is very much like "Son of man" as far as Jesus is concerned.

He recruits Peter, Andrew, James, and John as he does in Matthew.

He teaches in the synagogue, performs exorcisms, cures Peter's mother, cures the leper.  Among the variations is a stronger focus on Jesus attempting to hide who he is, and a general de-emphasis on his growing frustrations.  In a lot of ways, Matthew can be said to be a flourish of Mark (one that also puts a heavy emphasis on the connection to Jewish beliefs, which Mark will shortly demonstrate as certainly no great concern of his).

He cures the paralyzed man.  The religious authorities begin to speak ill of him.  Matthew is identified as Levi.  Religious authorities again question his taste in associations immediately after.

Another considerable mark of distinction between Mark and Matthew is Mark's pointed reference to John the Baptist's disciples actually siding with the religious authorities.  I'll speak more about the significance of this in a little bit.

Jesus begins openly identifying himself, cures a withered hand on the sabbath, which provokes the religious authorities to actively plot against him.

More cures and exorcisms.

The twelve apostles are once again named, and are immediately sent out to perform works similar to what Jesus has been doing,  Jesus's mother is referenced in the same way as she was in Matthew, and in this one hasn't even been named.  In fact, unless you're willing to interpret her in a way that is not at all popular among Catholics, she's never named at all in Mark.

There are parables.  He calms the stormy sea.  Another feature unique to Mark is the demon who identifies itself as Legion, "for we are many."  It may be a symbolic feature for all those who doubt Jesus.  It may also be a case of biblical schizophrenia.

As in Matthew, Jesus is all but described as resurrecting a dead little girl.  People begin to ask, who is this guy and how did he become so wise and stuff?  He's called "the carpenter" (rather than "the carpenter's son, as in Matthew), and also referenced with Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon.  (Catholics prefer the idea of perpetual virginity in Mary, although there is the tradition that Jesus in fact had several brothers; Reza Aslan contends that the James who becomes prominent later in the New Testament, in Acts and Letter of James, is in fact Jesus's brother, although he is not one of the apostles, even though there are two James there.)

The apostles are sent out again, two by two.  Jesus has become such a known commodity at this point, Herod wonders if he's the resurrected John the Baptist.  Mark only mentioned what happened to John the Baptist as an aside.  Unlike in Matthew, then, the immediate transition to Jesus seeking a "lonely place" has nothing to do with learning about John the Baptist's death.

Jesus walks on water.  He rebukes the religious authorities, saying they prefer human tradition rather than the way of God.

He cures the daughter of the Gentile, although in Mark he's identified as Greek.  He cures the deaf man.  He feeds a multitude twice.  He suggests there's a reason why he did it twice.  The first time, there were 12 baskets of food left over, the second time 7 baskets.  I'm just shooting in the dark here, but perhaps this is supposed to mean the first time he was speaking to the Jews (12 tribes of Israel) and the second time to everyone (7 as in every day of the week or, well, everyone).

His apostles realize who he is.  He discusses his impending fate.  The reference to the kingdom of God coming appears again, as in Matthew.  Then the transfiguration.  Then the oath to hide that this happened until after the resurrection.  He does grow publicly frustrated, but the emphasis is not nearly as strong as in Matthew.  Although funny enough for these schismatic Christian times of ours, he insists that, "He that is not against us is for us," meaning that if anyone is promoting Jesus they ought to be accepted, no matter if they're part of "our" circle or not (a problem even Acts reflects at the very beginning).

He rejects Moses doctrine, going so far as to say it wasn't even God who gave that particular command, but rather Moses himself.

He cures the blind man.

Palm Sunday occurs (with its unfortunate echo later after the scourging as well).  He curses the fig tree.  Unlike Matthew, there's a follow-up to this moment.  Then the temple incident.

Christians love the "cornerstone" reference Jesus borrows from the Old Testament, but the greater point he makes is actually far more significant.  The parable itself is known well enough, which reflects a series of individuals sent out to deliver a message and each of them is murdered, including the son of the man sending all these people.  The point of the parable is that God has sent all these messengers, too, including Jesus, who is murdered by his own chosen people, the Jews.  This is the point of departure from Jesus attempting to fulfill Jewish prophecy to starting his own divergent religion, Christianity, because what he's saying here is that the Jews are no longer the chosen people, but rather, basically, everyone else.

(Jews, naturally, would prefer not to believe that.)

This, by the way, is described by Mark as the first time the religious authorities attempt to arrest Jesus.  And no wonder!  They try to make it a Roman issue, then a theological issue.  The people, meanwhile, only love Jesus more.

It's at this point that I'll finally talk about my Q Gospel theory.  Basically, as Gospel of Matthew made perfectly obvious and Mark here as well (remember, this one was written earlier), the early Christians likely had as much faith in the legacy of John the Baptist as Jesus.  I submit that Q Gospel was a joint biography.  In early Christianity, it would have been rash for Jesus to speak out against Rome, and that seems like something that was edited or obscured out of the narrative.  So too the intermingling of John the Baptist and Jesus's ministries.  Christians in the first century would have known all about the Q Gospel.  It's why the three gospels that follow distance themselves from it while still obviously using it as a source.  They realized that John the Baptist at some point had to be downplayed but not completely forgotten.  It's not surprising that the fourth attempt, the Gospel of John, is so different, and the only one claimed to have come from one of Jesus's actual followers, and is filled with unique biographical material.  Or that later, noncanonical gospels are so wildly divergent from the four canonical ones.  As the effort to present a portrait of Jesus himself became more important, he was more and more distanced from John the Baptist.  It would be very interesting to read the Q Gospel.  I would be willing to bet that a lot of the Jesus narrative is in fact derived from John the Baptist's (in Luke, for instance, the unmistakable piggybacking concerning how they are born).  This is not to say we must toss everything out that we believe about one or the other, or that questions of this kind invalidates faith in any way.  But that there are things we will never know for certain about John the Baptist and about Jesus.  When the four gospels were written, it was dangerous to be completely truthful.  The Romans persecuted the Christians enough as it was.  And that's just one way the record was distorted.

Now that I've discussed the the theoretical Q Gospel, back to Gospel of Mark.

The same anonymous woman anoints Jesus, as in Matthew.  Judas decides to betray Jesus.  The Last Supper occurs, as detailed in Matthew.  Jesus suffers in Gethsemane.  He appears before the high priest, then Pilate, although while he struggles as before Pilate this time in no way absolves himself of his ultimate decision.

Mary Magdalene, as in Matthew, is present at the crucifixion, along with, this time, a Mary who is described as the mother of James the Younger, Joses, and Salome.  If you want to entertain thoughts popularized by The Da Vinci Code, you certainly also have in Mary Magdalene, emphasized in Mark as the first person, alone this time, to see Jesus resurrected, the possible wife of Jesus, quite an honor for an apparently random witness of the two climactic events.  Further suggestions for the other Mary now have two gospels with another Mary present at the crucifixion where tradition (and Gospel of John) has Mary the mother of Jesus present.  Not to step on too many toes...

For the record, the only mark of distinction Mark gives Mary Magdalene otherwise is that Jesus "had cast out seven demons" from her.

The eleven remaining apostles are described as not believing in the resurrection until they see Jesus for themselves.  By the end of Mark, Jesus ascends into heaven.

Gospel of Matthew 1-28

This is the perfect lead-in to the New Testament, considering its obsession with the Old Testament, and that's the best way to introduce the Gospel of Matthew.

It begins with the first of two genealogies in the gospels, which is something that both reflects a classic element of the Old Testament as well as prove that Jesus was descended from the house of David, which was one of the many prophesies this gospel seems intent to point out as fulfilled.

It has a nativity sequence, featuring Joseph's doubts, the wise men, the wicked Herod, the flight to Egypt (of course!).

Then a shift to John the Baptist.  We'll talk more about him a little later, but given the emphasis Reza Aslan put on him in Zealot, I can't help but see the Baptist in a different light.  He's always been prominent in Christian lore, but as Aslan depicts him, he was actually a pretty big deal in his day, to the point where he threatened to eclipse Jesus even after his ministry and crucifixion.  It's no wonder, then, that he keeps randomly appearing in this gospel.

He's the first one, by the way, in Matthew, to preach against corrupt religious leaders, a refrain Jesus enthusiastically picks up.

And then Jesus is baptized by him, of course.

Jesus then departs for the wilderness, where he stays for 40 days and is tempted by Satan.  As with many elements of the Bible, this reads like an echo of how his ministry will end, so there's suffering at both ends.

His basic message is, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  Although "his," I would argue, and I'll get back to this, isn't Jesus, but John the Baptist.

Jesus recruits Peter, Andrew, James, and John, the core and most famous apostles.  He begins his ministry in earnest, curing people and teaching in synagogues.  He delivers the Sermon on the Mount, which includes the Lord's Prayer (and the phrase "pearls before swine," which has since become the title of a delightful comic strip).  He talks so much, it's exactly like all the prophets in the Old Testament.

A leper is cured.  The centurion's servant is cured.  Peter's mother is cured.  There are exorcisms by the boatload.  Jesus uses the phrase "Son of man."  He calms the stormy sea.  He cures the paralyzed man.  He recruits Matthew, which begins the theme of the religious authorities challenging him that runs through the rest of the gospel.  Not coincidentally, after this he cures a blind man and asks him not to talk about it.  He realizes, perhaps, that he's doing everything necessary to provoke his bad end, but the time isn't right yet, so now he has to try and prevent word from continuing to spread.  Except Jesus became human for a trap.  And at least in Matthew he just keeps walking into them.  He can't help himself.

The twelve apostles are named in full: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, the other James, Thaddeus, Simon, and the notorious Judas Iscariot.  At this point none of them has really done anything.  Jesus sends them out to do the same stuff he's been doing.

John the Baptist is brought up again.  He seems to need reassurance as to who Jesus is.

Jesus becomes increasingly anxious about his ministry.  After he flat-out calls himself the Son of God, the religious authorities actively begin looking for ways to dispose of him.  He keeps trying to keep a low profile.

Jesus alludes to his impending fate, but this talk increases as the danger increases.

Interestingly, the only other time Mary appears in this gospel she isn't even identified by name but rather in her blood relation to Jesus.  And as he's asked his followers to do previously, Jesus distances himself from her.

There are a lot of parables.  This reading is also the first time that I seriously considered the idea that he's really talking about himself in them.  "Kingdom of heaven" is a way of referring to himself, then, like "Son of man."  He's the last royal figure the world will ever truly need, then, which is majestically and then cruelly demonstrated later in the gospel.

But few people really seem to know who he was, in this gospel, before the ministry.  "Is not this the carpenter's son?"  He himself doesn't even have a reputation!  Later, there's even talk that he's dismissed as a glutton and a drunk.  Just what was Jesus doing for his first thirty years, anyway?

John the Baptist is executed.  Like Jesus later he requires special justification and hand-ringing on the part of the figure who condemns him.

Jesus retreats after learning this news.  He then feeds a multitude with a small amount of food for the first time.  Then he walks on water.

He's also, however, growing increasingly frustrated.  Quite remarkably, from this point on in the gospel, actually, Jesus can be described as quite frustrated indeed.  It becomes his defining characteristic.  It's also at this point that he shifts the focus of his ministry to the Gentiles (i.e. Not Jews).  Previously he was quite insistent that he was coming to speak to Jews only, much like everyone in the Old Testament, and that everything that was old was new again.  But in fact he's making that a very literal development.

He feeds a multitude with a small amount of food again.

He keeps invoking Jonah, too, especially the whole "three days" period.  I suppose it's pretty obvious.

He makes it clear to his apostles who he is, and then tells them about what awaits him.  Then Jesus performs the transfiguration, in which it's really obvious that he's more than human.

He keeps trying to explain himself.  The religious authorities begin to test him openly.  It's funny, though, and appropriate, that Jesus has a lot of compassion for his apostles, although he shares the Old Testament virtue of favoring humbleness.  In the Old Testament, compassion was something often suggested but rarely practiced.

Palm Sunday occurs, the one time Jesus gets to enjoy what it's like to be apparently universally loved.  Then he causes a scene in the temple.  He's building the case against himself all by himself.

He becomes angry with a fig tree.  But really he's becoming more nervous about actually experiencing what he's been headed toward all his life.

As if to emphasis the curious link I've been making, he challenges the religious authorities concerning the legacy of John the Baptist.  So they decide to try and make it a Roman issue.

He talks about the end of days.  Although, "he" I think doesn't actually refer to Jesus but John the Baptist.  I know I'm going against classic theology again here, but the words he speaks at this point don't make any sense.  They make much more sense if you suspect the author of this gospel to have also been drawing from the legacy of John the Baptist, remembering his ministry, and having gotten them a little jumbled.  It would make sense.  In the earliest days of the emerging Christianity, they were trying to figure out what it all meant.  That was why they needed the gospel narratives.  Matthew is not the earliest one, but it's clearly the one that concerned itself most with the old faith and the transition to the new one Jesus represented.  John the Baptist is identified as Elijah here, one of the criteria for the coming of the messiah, which some of Jesus's own apostles think he embodies.  All this talk about "within this generation" would certainly have sturdy qualifications if referring not to a second coming but the first appearance, the crucial ministry itself, and thus must necessarily come from the mouth of John the Baptist.  Perhaps I will have further insight reading the other gospels.

Jesus is anointed by an anonymous woman, sometimes interpreted to be Mary Magdalene.  But this is an action that has the same symbolic weight as the visit of the wise men at the start of this gospel.

Judas betrays him for 30 pieces of silver.

The Last Supper occurs with the classic elements for Catholic mass introduced.  Jesus predicts Peter will deny him.  He suffers his worst moment of the gospel in the garden of Gethsemane, his supreme moment of doubt.  He's brought before the high priest.  He's brought before Pilate.  Pilate declares himself innocent.  After the scourging Jesus receives mock royal treatment.  Simon of Cyrene appears to help carry the cross.  The two robbers are referenced (but neither has a redemptive moment in this gospel).  Jesus is distraught on the cross.  After his death, it's a centurion who figures out what just happened.

Those present at the crucifixion are identified as Mary Magdalene, plus a Mary who is described as the mother of James and Joseph (whoever they are), and also the mother of James and John, the apostles frequently referred to as the sons of Zebedee.  Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for the body of Jesus.  Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" witness the resurrection, are later met by Jesus.  The religious authorities, incredibly, still conspire against him, trying to discredit the resurrection.  Jesus meets the remaining apostles on a mountain, asks them to spread the faith to all nations.  At the end of this gospel, he's still among them.