C.I. Scofield

Bible Correspondence Course[1]

 

LESSON XLIIL

The Gospels and Acts., continued

 

MARK

 

I.       General Remarks.

 

Mark is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, "who, being in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be grasped to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant." Phil. 2:5, 6. This emptying was of the glory which He ''had with the Father before the world was," not of power, nor of knowledge. He ceased to be "in the form of God." No part of the Scriptures witnesses more definitely to the divine power of Christ than Mark. It is the book of the servant, but that servant is the Son of God. The key-verse is 10:45. The characteristic word is "straightway," which is a servant's word, signifying punctuality and diligence in service. Accordingly, Mark is preeminently a book of deeds, rather than words. Miracles have in Mark the leading place, as parables have in Matthew. It would be out of character for a servant to teach.

 

In strict harmony, too, with this central purpose of Mark to accentuate the service of Christ, are the omissions. There is no account of His genealogy, His miraculous conception, the adorations of the shepherds, the Magi, and Simeon, as in Matthew and Luke, nor of His preexistence, as in John. Neither do we find in Mark any law-giving like the Sermon on the Mount, nor are judicial sentences pronounced upon the nation and the city, as in Matthew, the Gospel of the King. In eleven brief introductory verses Mark brings us to the mature Jesus, baptized with water and with the Spirit, and in the full activity of his appointed service.

 

The student should, therefore, seek in the study of Mark to hold his mind to the contemplation of Christ the Servant of Jehovah. The best possible introduction to this study is the - prayerful reading of Isa. 42:1-21; 50:4-11; 52:13 to 53:12; Zech. 3:8; Phil. 2:5-8.

 

II. Analysis of the Book.

 

Mark falls into the following sections:

 

Section I. Introduction, 1:1-11.

 

Section II. The Servant tested as to his fidelity. 1:12, 13.

 

Section III. The Servant at work. 1:14 to 13:37.

 

Section IV. The Servant ''obedient unto death." 14:1 to 15:47.

 

Section V. The Risen Servant, exalted to authority (Phil. 2:9, 10), commissions servants, but continues His

own service, ''working with them, and confirming the

word with signs following." 16:1-20.