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In a Nutshell Mark's Gospel was written to tell us, in a nutshell, the
meaning of Jesus' life on earth, how God's Kingdom will come and how His will
can be done on earth as in heaven. |
Question Think
over the 122 "hunches" - which story did you like the best? How
does it relate to the work Jesus completed for us?
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We have travelled
with Mark from the Mediterranean Sea when he and Uncle Barnabas left Paul. We
have tried to understand how he composed his story of Jesus. We have tried out
some of our hunches - was he the young child on Jesus' knee when the disciples
were arguing over who was the most important? Maybe Mark was there when Jesus
said: Let the children come!
The story Mark has told us relies on what many eye-witnesses saw. It is a story that is locked into the stories of many others. It doesn't read as if it is written to be the final version but it is written to encourage people to listen carefully to what Jesus taught, to follow what He did and be grateful to Our Father in Heaven for the forgiveness of our sins that has been granted us by the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world.
Mark's story assumes it will be read and re-read. There are many stories joined together in this gospel. Many people are mentioned. Many places are recalled. Many events are told. My overall hunch is that Mark wrote this so that followers of Jesus could tell the stories of Jesus to their children and so encourage them to follow Jesus and one day tell the stories for themselves.
I hope you have enjoyed these stories. I have also written Mark's tale. I also want to give you some suggestions about what you can do next.