Asher Sisneros

The Gospel of Mark is a fascinating book. Of the four Gospels in the Bible, it’s the shortest, delving into Jesus’ ministry immediately. In some ways, Mark is stylistically the opposite of John in that Mark is short, concise, and directly to the point. In contrast, the author of John elaborates on theologically rich substance in his introduction. The Gospel of Mark begins with a straightforward claim in the first verse: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”¹ The Gospel of John says the same thing just in a more poetic way: “In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”² In its most rudimentary form, both authors claim that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was God. The entire book of Mark is dedicated to proving that, calling all people to believe in Jesus Christ and receive salvation. The Roman population accepted the message with open arms, but the church leaders resisted. Mark recounts numerous instances where the Jewish leaders actively opposed Jesus and His disciples, even condemning Him to death in a rigged trial and murdering their savior. The Jews seemingly worshipped the same God as Jesus—Jehovah—but there was still a stark dividing line between the respective messages. What was it?

The Pharisees took the Mosaic law, and over time, they perverted it. What was originally a law to guide the hearts of men became a legalistic code to pacify God despite the heart’s sinful state. However, that is not how God functions. He sees the inside of the heart and judges accordingly. Jeremiah 17:10: “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” By emphasizing the importance of their legalistic code, the Jewish leaders forgot the reason for the law. In the beginning of Mark, chapter 3, the church leaders condemned Jesus for healing a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath. “And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there with a withered hand. So, they watched Him closely whether He would heal him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Step forward.’ Then He said to them, ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.” ³ According to the Mosaic law, it was wrong to work on the Sabbath because it was a holy day dedicated to thanking God and studying His word. The Pharisees lost sight of this noble objective. When a cripple was healed, they scowled. In their zeal to follow God’s law, they made laws of their own—laws that God didn’t command. Jesus quoted Isaiah in Matthew 15:8-9 regarding the Pharisees: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Jesus did not change the Old Testament law besides discarding the sacrificial system—His crucifixion was the ultimate sacrifice, making the sacrificial system null and void—rather, Jesus accused the Pharisees of developing their own laws. Their dissension stemmed from a different emphasis. All the Jewish leaders spread a ritual-based message. Jesus’ message was ethics-based. The Jewish leaders preached man’s law. Jesus preached God’s law. At this point, it seems obvious they would have a division, even if they worshiped the same God. The very philosophies were at odds. One was works-based while the other was grace-based.  

However, the grace-based vs. works-based stance on salvation isn’t enough. Ultimately, the Jews didn’t accept Jesus as God’s Son. By rejecting the Son in disbelief, they inadvertently rejected the Father. Blinded by their own zeal, they embraced death. The largest difference between the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and Herodians compared to Jesus’ disciples regarded their acceptance of Jesus’ divine sovereignty. It was unpopular among the Jewish leaders to believe in Jesus’ authority as God’s Son. They were God’s chosen people and they rejected Him. This fundamental dissension is central to the division between Jesus and the Jews—so central, that it led to His unjust execution. He was accused of committing blasphemy by claiming to be God’s Son. If they believed He was the Son of God, they wouldn’t have killed Him.

In conclusion, The Gospel of Mark dissects Jesus’ ministry shortly and concisely. It’s a must-read. In the book, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes constantly fought with Jesus. In some ways, this was because of their fundamentally opposite philosophies. Jesus taught about grace-based salvation, while the Pharisees believed in works-based salvation. Ultimately, their legalistic perversion of God’s law was so misguided that they couldn’t even recognize God Himself when He walked among them.

1. Mark 1:1 (NKJV) ↩︎
2. John 1:1-2 (NKJV) ↩︎
3. Mark 3:1-6 (NKJV) ↩︎