Following Jesus: Discipleship in the Gospel of Mark

By Steve Langford

The book explores what it means to follow Jesus - to be a disciple. It presents a study of the gospel of Mark, identifying the gospel's unique message about the discipleship journey. It follows the journey of Jesus's first disciples, tracing how they moved from being blind to being able to see, but not clearly, to seeing clearly. It unpacks Jesus's teachings to explain what being a follow of Jesus entails. It describes the discipleship journey of moving from how the world trained us to think and live to allowing the ways of God that Jesus taught to shape our thinking and living. It lifts up the radical transformation of life that is the result of being a follower of Jesus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jul 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781698712383

Steve Langford

Dr. Steve Langford—also known as Pastor Steve—has dedicated his adult life to the study and teaching of scripture in the local church with a focus on spiritual formation. In the spiritual communities in which he has walked, he is known as a gifted teacher with a prophetic spirit. He served as a pastor for fifty years, first in Baptist life and then as an ordained elder in the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. Since retiring in 2019, he serves—in addition to his writing—as a spiritual guide, Bible study teacher, and Bowen Family Systems coach/counselor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies from Howard Payne University along with master’s and doctor of ministry degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His postdoctoral work has been in Bowen Family System Theory with an applied focus on spiritual formation and leadership in the local church. Pastor Steve is married to Etta, his wife of fifty-three years. They have three adult sons and four grandchildren.

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Copyright 2022 Steve Langford.

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ISBN: 978-1-6987-1240-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6987-1239-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6987-1238-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022913771

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Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1     The Second Touch

Introduction—Mark 1:1–3:35

Chapter 2     The Son of God

Chapter 3     Capernaum — The Crowds

Chapter 4     Opposition

Chapter 5     The Twelve

Interlude: The Parables—Mark 4:1–34

Chapter 6     Parables about the Kingdom

Blind—Mark 4:35–8:21

Chapter 7     Withdrawals

Chapter 8     Deeds of Power

Chapter 9     Sent Out

Chapter 10   They Did Not Understand

Chapter 11   Gentile Territory

Interlude: Healing The Blind Man—Mark 8:22–36

Chapter 12   Can You See Anything?

Seeing But Not Clearly—Mark 8:27–10:45

Chapter 13   Then He Began to Teach Them

Chapter 14   Who Is the Greatest?

Chapter 15   How Power Is Used in the Kingdom

Interlude: Healing Blind Bartimaeus—Mark 10:46–52

Chapter 16   Bartimaeus

Jerusalem—Mark 11:1–12:44

Chapter 17   Acted-Out Sermons

Chapter 18   By What Authority? — Teachings in the Temple

Interlude: The Temple Discourse—Mark 13:1–37

Chapter 19   The Temple Discourse

Jesus’s Passion And Resurrection—Mark 14:1–16:8

Chapter 20   Anointed for Burial

Chapter 21   The Passover Reinterpreted

Chapter 22   Gethsemane — Prayer, Betrayal, Arrest

Chapter 23   The Trial before the Sanhedrin and Peter’s Denial

Chapter 24   The Roman Trial before Pilate

Chapter 25   The Death of Jesus

Chapter 26   Jesus’s Burial and Resurrection

Chapter 27   Following Jesus: Reflections on Being a Disciple

Chapter 28   A Discipleship Model

Appendix A  Background to the Gospel of Mark

Appendix B  Interpretive Outline of the Gospel

Appendix C  Discipleship and the Ego-Centric Self

Appendix D  Apocalyptic Literature

End Notes

Introduction

W e know about Jesus’s life and ministry because of the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. While each gospel deals with Jesus’s life and ministry, each is unique. Each has a unique message for their particular audience. Thus, how they present the life and ministry of Jesus is shaped by the message the gospel was designed to proclaim. The structure of the gospel reflects its particular message and is frequently a hint about it. ¹ This fact is particularly true of the gospel of Mark.

This book presents the unique message of the gospel of Mark. It is not intended to be a verse-by-verse commentary. Rather, using broad strokes, it presents the central message of the gospel.

On the surface, Mark’s gospel presents the life and ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. However, within the story of the life and ministry of Jesus, Mark’s gospel tells another story—the story of the disciples. The structure of the gospel suggests this story, the story of the disciples, was the gospel writer’s main concern. (See Chapter 1.) In telling the story of the disciples, the biblical author gives us a glimpse of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. He helps us see and understand the journey involved in being a disciple of Jesus.

In reading Mark’s gospel, we certainly want to hear the author’s message about Jesus—his life and ministry, his death and resurrection. We want to gain a deeper understanding of Jesus so that we can know him and his teachings, but we don’t want to miss the author’s other message. We want to learn from him what it means to be a follower of Jesus—a disciple. We want to learn what is involved in the discipleship journey.

Chapter 1

The Second Touch

Mark 8:22–26

Can you see anything?

Mark 8:23²

O n the surface, it looks like just another one of Jesus’s many healing miracles. This story, however, is unique in several ways.

The obvious thing that stands out about this healing is that it required a second touch. Some people brought a blind man to Jesus, begging him to heal the man. Jesus anointed the man’s eyes with saliva and then asked, Can you see anything? (Mark 8:23). The man was able to see, but he could not see clearly. I can see people, but they look like trees, walking (Mark 8:24). A second touch was required before he was able to see clearly. This miracle is the only miracle recorded in any gospel that required a second touch.³

A second unique feature is the story is found only in the gospel of Mark. All four gospels have a story of Jesus healing a man who was blind.⁴ Mark is the only gospel that records this particular healing that required a second touch. That fact suggests the story plays an important role in the gospel.

Another fact about this story is its location in the gospel. It is placed in the middle of the gospel, dividing the gospel in half. The placement is not random. Rather, it is intentional and significant.

Finally, the required second touch divides the story into three stages. First, the man was blind. After Jesus anointed his eyes with saliva, the man could see, but not clearly. After the second touch, he saw everything clearly. The significance of the miracle story lies in these three stages: blind, seeing but not clearly, seeing clearly.

The blind man represents the disciples. His story is their story. The three stages of the healing miracle correspond to their experience as told in the gospel. Initially, they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah—i.e., they were blind. In the middle of the gospel, they confessed that Jesus was the Messiah (Mark 8:27–30). At that point, they were able to see, but they struggled to understand what he taught about his impending suffering. They could see but not clearly. Only after his death and resurrection did they see clearly.

In addition, the three stages of the healing miracle reflect the outline of the gospel.⁵ The gospel divides into four major sections. It begins with an introductory section that ends with Jesus’s selection of the twelve. The next three sections correspond to the three stages of the miracle story and the three stages of the disciples’ experience: blind, seeing but not clearly, the second touch that enabled them to see clearly. The author used this healing story with its three stages as a literary tool to communicate the structure of the book and the focus of the book—the discipleship journey.

Introduction — Mark 1:1–3:35

The first section of the gospel (Mark 1:1–3:35) serves as an introduction. It records the call of the first disciples (Mark 1:16–20; 2:13–14) and the two factors that led Jesus to choose the twelve to be apostles (Mark 3:13–19). It describes the people’s amazement at Jesus’s teaching and healing ministry, resulting in large crowds thronging around him (Mark 1:21–2:12). The press of the crowds is the first factor that led Jesus to focus on teaching and training his disciples. The press of the crowds is a recurring theme throughout the gospel. The second factor that contributed to Jesus’s focus on his disciples was the opposition he encountered from the religious leaders (Mark 2:13–3:6). Like the crowds, that opposition is a recurring theme throughout the gospel. With the crowds seeking him for his healing powers rather than his teachings about the kingdom and the religious leaders seeking to kill him (Mark 3:6), Jesus chose to invest in a small group of twelve (Mark 3:13–19). From that point on in the gospel, the twelve were the primary focus—of Jesus and of the gospel.

A collection of parables (Mark 4:1–34) serves as an interlude between the introduction and the second section of the gospel. The parable of the sower—or better, the parable of the soils—reflects the various responses Jesus had encountered as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom (Mark 1:14–15).

Blind — Mark 4:35–8:21

The second section of the gospel (Mark 4:35–8:21) introduces the disciples’ blindness. It describes a series of withdrawals in which Jesus sought to escape the press of the crowds and the opposition of the religious leaders so he could invest in the twelve. In this section, the disciples did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Their blindness is reflected in the first story of this section in which Jesus calmed the storm on the sea (Mark 4:35–41). They were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’ (Mark 4:41). In the first half of the gospel, only those possessed by unclean spirits recognized who Jesus was—at Capernaum (Mark 1:23–34), in Galilee (Mark 3:11), and in the land of the Gerasenes (Mark 5:6–7).

The disciples’ blindness was most evident in their struggle to understand his teachings. Their struggle to understand is the dominant theme in this section. When they struggled to understand Jesus’s parables, he asked, Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? (Mark 4:13). When Jesus came to them, walking on the sea in the midst of a storm, the author recorded, And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened (Mark 6:51b–52). When they asked him to explain his teachings about what makes one ceremonially unclean, he responded, Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see? (Mark 7:18). This section of the gospel ends on this note of not understanding. Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear? . . . Do you not yet understand? (Mark 8:17–18, 21).

In this section of the gospel, the disciples were blind. They did not know who Jesus was. They were unable to understand what he taught.

In the midst of their blindness, they experienced things that contributed to their being able to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons (Mark 1:21–34; 5:1–20; 7:24–30). He raised the dead (Mark 5:21–43). He calmed the raging storm (Mark 4:35–41) and walked on the water in the midst of a storm (Mark 6:47–52). He fed over five thousand with five loaves and two fish (Mark 6:30–44). On another occasion, he fed over four thousand with seven loaves and a few fish (Mark 8:1–10).⁶ He enabled the deaf to hear (Mark 7:31–37). These experiences led them to the conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah. These miracle stories were the first touch that moved the disciples beyond their blindness into being able to see but not clearly.

The healing of the blind man that required a second touch serves as an interlude between this second section, in which the disciples were blind, and the third section, in which they could see but not clearly.

Seeing but Not Clearly — Mark 8:27–10:52

Mark’s story of the healing that required a second touch is placed at the halfway point of the gospel. In the second half of the gospel, the disciples are able to see. They recognize Jesus as the Messiah, but they do not see clearly. They still cannot understand his teachings, particularly his teachings about the suffering he would encounter in Jerusalem.

The first story recorded in this second half of the gospel is of the disciples’ recognition of Jesus as the Messiah (Mark 8:27-30). Jesus had led his disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi, north of the Sea of Galilee. There, he asked them about what people were saying about him. Who do people say that I am? (Mark 8:27). After hearing the different responses, he asked them what they were saying about him behind his back. But who do you say that I am? (Mark 8:29). Peter spoke for the group when he said, You are the Messiah, (Mark 8:29). They were no longer blind. They were able to see! While they recognized Jesus as the Messiah, they still did not understand the things he taught. They were able to see, but they did not see clearly.

Jesus immediately began to build on their understanding that he was the Messiah. He began to teach them what was involved in being the Messiah. Specifically, he began to teach them about the suffering he would experience in Jerusalem (Mark 8:31). What he taught them went against their understanding of the Messiah’s role. They struggled to understand what he was teaching, much less embrace it. Peter pushed back by rebuking him—And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him (Mark 8:32).

Their struggle to understand or accept what Jesus taught about his suffering is the repeated theme in this section of the gospel. On three different occasions, he told the disciples what would happen to him in Jerusalem (Mark 8:31; 9:30–32; 10:32–34). Each time, the disciples struggled to grasp what he was saying. Each time, Jesus attempted to move the disciples beyond their partial understanding of who he was and their misunderstanding of the nature of the kingdom of God. Each time, he taught them the meaning of discipleship. The nature of discipleship is the dominant theme of this section.

The healing of blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46–52) serves as an interlude between this third section of the gospel and the last two sections. When Jesus enabled him to see, Bartimaeus followed him as he journeyed to Jerusalem. The experience of Bartimaeus foreshadows that of the disciples. Once they were able to see clearly, they too would be faithful followers of Jesus, embracing and living the ways of the kingdom he taught. They too would follow Jesus on the way of discipleship.

The Second Touch — Mark 11:1–16:8

The last third of the gospel relates what Jesus experienced in Jerusalem. It offers a clear chronology of the last week of his life.

The week began with his royal entry into Jerusalem on the first day of the week, Sunday (Mark 11:1–11). On Monday, he took charge of the temple, driving out those who were selling, along with the money changers (Mark 11:12–19). His actions led to conflict with the religious authorities who tried different ploys to trap him so they might arrest him. These interactions in the temple took place on Tuesday (Mark 11:20–12:44). The Temple Discourse (Mark 13:1–37) divides the week into two separate sections.

The story of his passion, beginning with the anointing on Wednesday in the home of Simon the leper, is told without interruption. On Wednesday, Jesus dined in the home of Simon the leper. During the meal, an unidentified woman anointed him with ointment (Mark 14:1–9). That same evening, Judas went to the chief priests, offering to betray Jesus into their hands (Mark 14:10–11). On Thursday, his disciples prepared a place for the group to celebrate the Passover (Mark 14:12–16).

On Thursday evening (the first hours of Friday for the Hebrew people and the beginning of the Passover celebration), Jesus observed the Passover with his disciples (Mark 14:17–26) before going to Gethsemane to pray (Mark 14:27–42). There, he was betrayed by Judas and arrested by a crowd authorized by the religious leaders (Mark 14:43–52). He was taken to the high priest, where he was put on trial before the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:53–65). While the trial was taking place, Peter denied knowing him (Mark 14:66–72).

When it was daylight (Friday), the religious leaders took him to the Roman governor Pilate, demanding that he be crucified (Mark 15:1–14). Pilate gave in to their demands, delivering Jesus to a detail of Roman soldiers who crucified him (Mark 15:15–32). Jesus was on the cross from nine in the morning until his death at three in the afternoon (Mark 15:33–41). As the evening approached, bringing the beginning of the Sabbath, his body was taken from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea and buried in a tomb (Mark 15:42–47).

Early on the first day of the week, following the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb to anoint the body. There, they met a young man who told them that Jesus had been raised (Mark 16:1–8).

Jesus’s passion, followed by his resurrection, became the second touch that enabled the disciples to see clearly. The events of this last week, culminating in Jesus’s crucifixion and death, left the disciples disillusioned and defeated. Their expectations were crushed, their hopes shattered. Then came the resurrection! Only through the resurrection were they able to understand what Jesus had been teaching them about the role of the Messiah and, thereby, the nature of discipleship.

The Discipleship Journey

The gospel of Mark tells us the story of the disciples—how they, like the blind man, moved from being blind to seeing but not clearly to seeing clearly. It relates the experiences that led to their recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. It details their struggle to understand what he taught—seeing but not clearly. It describes Jesus’s passion which became the second touch that enabled them finally to understand.

The gospel describes the journey that is involved in being a follower (disciple) of Jesus. The three stages in the blind man’s healing—blind, seeing but not clearly, seeing clearly—are the pattern of the discipleship journey that is repeated in the life of every disciple. The journey is one of learning the things of God Jesus taught. It involves resistance to and struggle with what he taught, just as the disciples struggled to understand, much less accept, what he taught about his suffering and death. (Who among us has not argued with something Jesus said, rejecting it as unrealistic or impractical or impossible—turn the other cheek, forgive the one who wronged you, love your enemy, don’t accumulate and hoard material wealth, don’t worry?) The discipleship journey is one of moving beyond old ways of thinking and living. It leads us to embrace the ways of God Jesus taught, allowing them to shape how we think and how we live.

The gospel of Mark tells us the story of the disciples. It tells the story of anyone who is a follower (disciple) of Jesus. Thus, the gospel of Mark tells our story.

INTRODUCTION

Mark 1:1–3:35

Chapter 2

The Son of God

Mark 1:1–15

You are my Son, the Beloved.

Mark 1:11

T he gospel begins with a series of rapid-fire, barebones accounts of events that marked the beginning of Jesus’s ministry: the ministry of John the Baptizer, the baptism of Jesus, the temptations of Jesus, and the beginning of his Galilean ministry. The writer did not take time to elaborate on any of these events or develop their meaning. He simply used them to introduce Jesus as the Messiah, the son of God.

The Pattern Repeated Throughout the Gospel

Stringing together a series of events is a pattern used throughout this gospel. Grouping stories together into a series creates units within the gospel. Each unit develops a theme and advances the story.⁷

The first four series of stories (Mark 1:1–3:35) comprise the introduction to the gospel. After this first rapid-fire account introducing Jesus as the Messiah, the son of God, the author then described Jesus’s early ministry in Capernaum. Seven events that happened in and around Capernaum are strung together in this second series (Mark 1:16–2:12). This second series of stories presents the response of the multitudes to Jesus’s teaching and healing. This series about the crowds is followed by four stories in which Jesus was in conflict with the religious leaders (Mark 2:13–3:6). This introduction identifies the forces—the incessant demands of the crowds and the growing opposition of the religious leaders—that led Jesus to select and invest in the twelve (Mark 3:7–35).

This pattern of stringing stories together into a series to develop a theme continues in each of the other three sections of the gospel: the withdrawals in which the disciples were blind, the journey to Jerusalem in which the disciples could see but not clearly, and in the last week of his life, which became the second touch enabling the disciples to see clearly.⁸

Using this pattern created a fast-paced gospel full of stories about what Jesus did. The teachings of Jesus piggyback on those stories. The gospel contains only two collections of Jesus’s teachings: the parables in Chapter 4 and the Temple Discourse in Chapter 13. As a result, the gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four gospels.

The gospels of Matthew and Luke follow Mark’s storyline, using his stories, often quoting them verbatim. Each adapted Mark’s outline to develop their own purpose, adding materials that were unique to each of them. Both Matthew and Luke contain many more of the teachings of Jesus than does the gospel of Mark.⁹

The Son of God

The opening series of events established Jesus’s identity as the son of God (Mark 1:1).

All four gospels speak of Jesus as the son of God. It was a term associated with the Messiah. The term, however, would have been especially significant for those for whom the gospel of Mark was written.¹⁰

The term son of God was used frequently in Roman culture in reference to the reigning Caesar. The custom began under the reign of Octavian. Octavian’s naval victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BCE ended a decades-long civil war between the armies of Octavian and the armies of Mark Antony. This war filled the land with political unrest while draining it economically. Thus, when Octavian emerged victorious, the people began to refer to him as the savior of the world, as the prince of peace, as the son of God, and even as God in the flesh. His defeat of Mark Antony eliminated his rival, allowing him to claim the title of Caesar. He took the name of Caesar Augustus, i.e., the Divine Caesar.¹¹ The practice of referring to Caesar as the son of God continued after his death.¹²

To refer to Jesus as the son of God was to say Caesar was not the true son of God. Jesus was the one to whom true allegiance was due.

My Son, the Beloved

Jesus’s identity as the son of God was underscored in his experience of baptism by John.

John was a prophetic figure who reminded people of the prophet Elijah (Mark 1:6). He preached in the wilderness, on the fringes of society, and beyond the reach of the established religious authorities. His message of repentance was coupled with the practice of baptism as a way to express that repentance. John spoke to the felt needs of the people, particularly their sense of falling short and the resulting fear of judgment. His baptism, coupled with repentance, offered the prospect of forgiveness. The people flocked to him. Their response reflected a spiritual hunger that was not being met by the temple, with its sacrificial system, or by the scribal focus on the Mosaic Law. The people were hungry to experience God and God’s forgiveness.

The gospel writer used the words of Isaiah 40:3 to define John’s work. He was sent by the Lord to be a voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord! (Mark 1:3). He was the messenger sent to prepare the way (Malachi 3:1). John’s role was to prepare the people for one who was coming (Mark 1:7). His preaching created a sense of expectancy of one who would baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8). To be baptized with the Holy Spirit was to be empowered by the Spirit. It was to have