Lessons From Mark | Session 70 | Mark Rightly Divided
1. Jesus' Unprecedented Popularity and Galilee's Messianic Hope
From Galilee to Jerusalem, Jesus' widespread popularity demonstrated the people's recognition of Him as the promised Messiah. His ability to heal, cast out demons, and teach with authority drew entire cities in Galilee (Mark 1:33), making it impossible for Him to enter towns openly (Mark 1:45). This popularity continued in Jerusalem, where His triumphal entry received enthusiastic public acclaim (Mark 11:8-10) and His daily temple teachings captivated the crowds (Mark 11:18). The people's readiness to follow Him and their recognition of Him as the "Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24) revealed a population deeply invested in Messianic expectations. This challenges the notion that Jesus was widely rejected. It was primarily the religious leadership who opposed Him, and they feared arresting Jesus precisely because they knew the people believed in Him.
2. Jesus Faced Immediate and Intensifying Opposition from Religious Leaders
As early as Mark 2, (Mark 2:7, 16, 18, 24) scribes and Pharisees began questioning Jesus’ authority. By chapter 3, they were actively plotting His death (Mark 3:6). This opposition was doctrinal, not personal or political. They rejected Jesus not because He was misunderstood, but because He threatened their oral traditions and power structures.
3. Jesus Proclaimed a Kingdom, Not a Church
Jesus preached “the gospel of the kingdom of God” (Mark 1:14–15), announcing that “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.” This was not a spiritualized reign “in the heart” or a foretelling of the church. It was a literal, geopolitical kingdom rooted in Jewish prophecy and centered in Israel.
Throughout Mark, Jesus never speaks of a spiritual organism called “the church,” nor does He reveal any doctrine about the Body of Christ, spiritual baptism into one body, justification by grace through faith apart from works, or positional truths like being “in Christ.” Instead, the emphasis is entirely on Israel’s national restoration and the imminent arrival of a Davidic kingdom promised in the prophets (cf. Isaiah 9:6–7; Daniel 2:44; Zechariah 14:9). This is consistent with Paul’s claims of a dispensation of grace that began with him and was untraceable prior to that point.
4. Miracles Were Credentials of the Messiah
The miracles Jesus performed were not mere acts of compassion or simply acts of power, they were the verifiable signs of the promised Kingdom. They authenticated Jesus as the King, not just as a moral teacher or healer. The people recognized the Isaiah 35 type signs and associated them with Messianic expectations. In Mark 11:10 the crowd in Jerusalem clearly linked His works to the Davidic Kingdom. They saw Him not as a generic wonderworker, but as the coming King.
5. John the Baptist’s Role Was Fundamental To What Followed
John fulfilled Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3, (Mark 1:2-3, 9:13) not metaphorically, but as a prophetic forerunner. He was the promised Elijah, but was rejected (cf. Matthew 11:14). This means the Kingdom offer was legitimate and contingent on Israel’s national response. Compare Malachi 4:5-6 with Mark 9:11-13.
Mark 9:11–13 displays a contingency of the Kingdom offer. The Kingdom could have come had Israel accepted Elijah (John the Baptist). His rejection triggered the necessity of the suffering Messiah, fitting a contingent prophetic model.
Contingencies for the suffering servant passages (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53) are seen both in the passages themselves (Is. 53:3, a retrospective confession: “we” did this. Not “it was destined from eternity,” but rather, “we blew it”). Jeremiah 18:7-10 shows a vital principle: prophecy is often contingent on human response.
Additionally, we could add that the suffering passages of the Messiah were so unclear that they could not be seen nor understood until after the Messiah had suffered, as seen in the experience of the Apostles.
6. The Mystery of the Kingdom Is That It Would Be Offered, Then Withdrawn
The offer of the Kingdom was real. Its rejection was not due to ambiguity in presentation, but to rejection. The mystery (Mark 4:11) wasn’t that the Kingdom would come, it was that it would be refused by the very nation it was promised to.
The Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-9) revealed that only a minority would receive the Kingdom message fruitfully. This was a mystery hidden from the prophets but revealed by Jesus.
7. Blasphemy of the Holy Ghost Was a National, Temporal Sin
The “unpardonable sin” (Mark 3:29) was not a personal, unknowable blasphemy. It was Israel’s national rejection of the Spirit’s testimony concerning Jesus. It was specific to that dispensation and cannot be committed today under grace.
8. Parables Were a Form of Judicial Concealment
Contrary to common teaching, parables were not designed to make truth more accessible. Jesus explicitly stated they were to conceal truth from the unfaithful (Mark 4:11-12). They were an act of judgment on a nation that had already begun to reject the King.
9. Jesus Had Authority to Forgive Sins on Earth
In forgiving the paralytic (Mark 2:10), Jesus claimed an authority that no one else had—the power to forgive sins as the Son of Man. This further underscored His Messianic identity, but also served as explicit testimony that He claimed to be God.
10. Jesus Carefully Managed His Public Revelation
Despite widespread popularity, Jesus repeatedly told healed individuals and unclean spirits not to reveal His identity. This was not fear-driven but strategic, avoiding premature political uprising or crucifixion (Mark 1:44, 3:12).
11. The Gospel of Mark Highlights Jesus’ Humanity and Authority in Tandem
Mark emphasizes both the humanness (e.g., Jesus needing solitude, praying, sleeping in boats) and supernatural authority of Christ. This serves to ground Him both as Israel’s King and as the Son of God capable of ruling in power. These aspects of His nature are inseparable, He is the God/Man.
12. The Kingdom Seen in Preview (Transfiguration)
Jesus affirmed that some would “have seen” the Kingdom come with power—fulfilled on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was a preview, not the full establishment of the Kingdom. (Mark 9:1–10)
13. Christ’s Death as Ransom for Israel
Jesus gave His life as a “lutron” (ransom) for “many”—best understood as a reference to Israel (Mark 10:45). In contrast, the “antilutron” of 1 Timothy 2:6 applies to the Body of Christ. Israel (the “many”) receives a ransomwhile the world receives an “antiransom,” that which is not a ransom because sins are not being imputed (2 Corinthians 5:19).
