The Emerging Portrait Of Jesus In The Gospel By Mark

The Gospel as told by Mark details the many trials and tribulations that Jesus encounters on his journey to reveal to the rest of the world that he is the Son of God. In doing so, Mark is able to artistically develop the emerging portrait of Jesus through the text, as well as form a well-defined relationship between Jesus and his chosen disciples. Throughout the narrative, the reader is able to witness Jesus’ actions as if a spectator to his mission of spreading the Word of God, and can make inferences regarding Jesus’ relationship with his disciples as the story progresses. In his Gospel, Mark’s portrayal of Jesus and the disciples draws us closer to our understanding of the nature of God, as well as what it means to be human.
In just the

Jesus is gathering His disciples, with the first being Simon, Andrew, James, and John. You can tell by their complete willingness to follow Jesus, that He is special and someone worth giving up your life for. When Jesus simply asked them to follow Him, “They left their nets and followed him” (Mark 1:18) without hesitation. This unwavering devotion to a man they barely know, while inspiring, is almost unnerving as one can only think about how deep their loyalty to Jesus—a man they have just met—actually goes. As the story progresses, Jesus begins to make himself known throughout places such as; Capernaum, Nazareth, and Galilee, by spreading the word of God, preaching parables, and performing tremendous miracles. While most attribute Jesus to that of a teacher, it is mostly his great and wondrous actions that are portrayed in Mark’s gospel as a way for Jesus to relay God’s message of healing and love to the community. Just by the sheer number of people that show up to Capernaum when Jesus is ridding of all the demons, and the fact that they had to lower Lazarus into the house because there were too many people surrounding it, indicates that Jesus’ presence in the community attracted a multitude of people that were interested in his wonderful deeds. Also, the fact that the scribe’s became suspicious and felt threatened by Jesus’ divine authority, indicates that Jesus’ mission during this time not only sparked joy

They were all sinners of the sort, but were nonetheless, people whom Jesus wanted to follow him. In Mark 2:17, Jesus, in response to the Scribes’ criticisms on eating with sinners and tax collectors, says, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners”. In saying this, Jesus is exemplifying the loving and healing nature of God, one that does not discriminate nor skip over those who have done wrong. The disciples’ relationship with Jesus parallels their relationship with God and gives the reader an image of what it means to be human. At this point of the narrative, the disciples’ love for Jesus is steadfast. They have gained a sense of purpose and belonging after being called to follow him. The fault in the disciples’ complete willingness to follow Jesus, is that they did not fully understand what being a disciple entailed, in others words, they didn't know what they were getting themselves into. It appeared, when reading the text, that once things got too serious between Jesus and the higher authorities, the disciples began to look for a way out—not because they didn’t love Jesus, but because they were afraid. This relates to our human identities because sometimes our fears get in the way of what we believe. The disciples, who were so supportive of