Thank you for the question on the benefit of the Gospel of Mark, “How may we gain benefits from Mark’s Gospel?”
For one’s consideration on the lessons one can learn from the Gospel of Mark:
A. One of the benefits of the Gospel of Mark is not so much where one came from but have you come to a place a faith in Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of Mark does not record the lineage of Jesus. The lineage of Jesus is important but more importantly than who or where one is born is whether one is doing the will of God. Jesus came to be the Servant of God.
It may be that Mark didn’t include the lineage of Jesus for it didn’t matter to the Greek-Roman listeners of his letter. The readers wouldn’t be able to identify with the names of Jesus’ lineage. Just as many of us can identify with the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. We read it but it doesn’t have any relevance to us.
Perhaps for Mark, he was saying it is not as important as to whom you were born to or where you were born to, but rather have you come to a place of faith in Jesus Christ. One’s lineage doesn’t contribute to one’s salvation nor one’s position in life. Anyone can become a child of God regardless of life’s status.
B. One of the benefits of the Gospel of Mark is the model of Jesus being the Servant of God.
As one reads the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is actively doing the will of God. He is serving others. He is not sitting around and waiting for people to serve him. He didn’t come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Christians say that they are followers of Jesus, but one has to ask are we doing what the Heavenly Father wants us to do. We pray the Lord’s prayer, “You will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” but are we doing God’s will or our own will?
A servant in the Old and Testament does not have a will of their own. Their will was subject to do whatever the master asks/demands of him/her. Slaves were to obey their masters as unto the Lord. Today, the idea of being a servant is rejected by our modern culture. We have rights and we insist and even demand more rights. I wonder, “Do we demand our rights from God as well?” We feel that our opinion should be consulted and our approval is needed before we act on God’s request for us. The idea of command is no longer relevant in our culture. Jesus obeyed the commands and will of God. Should we as his followers?
C. One of the benefits of the Gospel of Mark is that Jesus didn’t discriminate with people.
Jesus didn’t show favoritism to the rich over the poor or only to those who were like himself. He had a tax collector to become one of his Apostles. He met people wherever they were in life even with their illnesses. He didn’t shun the sick and lame. He didn’t just wine and dine with the religious, the famous or the “decent” people. The social classification of individuals didn’t matter to him.
In our world, subtle discrimination and favoritism abounds. If one’s nationality is not like my own, I may not build a relationship to him, but if he is from my country or community, well, s/he is family. Christians and Churches are not exempt from favoritism. I admit that I am also guilty of this, but God has given me an opportunity to befriend a Muslim. We have dined together and we work side by side on his house projects. This is a new experience for me. I trust that I will be a good witness to him.
D. One of the benefits of the Gospel of Mark is that he writes simply to the addressees.
The sentence structure of Mark is simply and short sentences. Reading Luke or even John, it is much more complex. Mark presents Jesus in a very simple manner that an “uneducated” Greek-Roman servant could understand and identify with the life of Jesus. It’s every day common events.
Granted that in some culture, one has to be very knowledgeable about science while in other cultures, they just want to listen to story of Jesus and his life. The danger for our modern scientific culture that we excuse ourselves from sharing the Gospel of Jesus because we can’t or don’t know how to address the questions of the atheists. We are afraid to share Christ. It may not even be popular to be call oneself a Christian. It’s more acceptable to be a “progressive” person or enlightened person in society.
E. One of the benefits is learning from Jesus. The Gospel of Mark has been used to disciple other people.
Jesus shows the disciples how he lived and what he said to others. They were learning from the Master. Jesus interaction with people left an indelible mark or impact on the disciples. Jesus didn’t talk a great talk, but he walked the talked. Jesus modeled what it means to be in the image and likeness of God and seeing others in that way. He showed compassion, not insisting on the letter of the Law.
Christians are longing for someone to model and mentor what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Do we have those individuals in our Church? Do we dare to say to another person let’s share life on life, and not Bible facts with Bible facts. It’s safer to share biblical facts than being transparent with one’s struggles in one’s life. How we long for someone to be real.
I hope that what I have written will be a help to you and to readers. The Scriptures are meant to teach us about ourselves, our relationship with God and with others. It’s a mirror for us. Our goal is to be more like Jesus Christ in our attitudes and in our actions, not be like our neighbors in their appearances.
SUMMARY: All Scripture is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (II Tim. 3:16–17).
For more perspectives:
https://www.quora.com/How-may-we-gain-benefits-from-Marks-Gospel