Current Sermon Series

Who Is This? Discovering Jesus in the Gospel According to St. Mark

Elliot Grudem, Senior Minister
January 2009

It seems that The Gospel According to St. Mark was written to a hurting people. The people were tired. They were suffering. They had seen close friends and family members die horrific deaths. They wondered if they would be next.

Mark probably wrote this gospel in Rome for the church in Rome. Nero was emperor. St. Peter was probably dead-martyred by Nero. If St. Paul wasn't already dead, he would soon face the same fate as Peter.

Things were heating up for the church in Rome.

In AD 64, a fire burned two-thirds of Rome. Nero was looking for a scapegoat. According to the Roman Historian Tacitus, Nero found a group of Christians and induced them to confess to starting the fire (probably in a way that makes Jack Bauer look like a Girl Scout). Nero had his scapegoat. He also had a reason to round up Christians living in Rome.

I'll let Tacitus tell the rest of the story (as cited in Will Durant's Caesar and Christ):

They were put to death with exquisite cruelty, and to their sufferings Nero added mockery and derision. Some were covered with the skins of wild beasts, and left to be devoured by dogs; others were nailed to crosses; numbers of them were burned alive; many, covered with inflammable matter, were set on fire to serve as torches during the night.

If you were part of the church in Rome, you must have wondered:

How will the church survive this persecution?

Will I be a torch at Nero's next party?

Will my wife and kids be torn apart by a pack of dogs for the entertainment of my neighbors?

I think that Mark, a pastor in the suffering Roman church, attempted to answer these questions by writing this gospel. Instead of answering those questions or fears directly he instead answered them this way: "Let me tell you about Jesus."

He told them the story of Jesus. But he wrote more than just a biography. He wrote a gospel (which means "good news"). Mark wrote a message of good news to a hurting, tired, suffering, fearful people.

As we explore this gospel, we will do so trying to answer the question Mark answers for his readers: Who is this Jesus? And why is this more than just a story about a man? Why is this good news for me?

We invite you to join us this Spring as we look at Jesus through the Gospel According to St. Mark. If you want to hear the sermons, click here.