St Mark's Gospel: Discipleship and Faith

Mark's Gospel moves with characteristic immediacy. Jesus is walking beside the Sea of Galilee when he sees Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew casting their net. He calls them: "Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people." They immediately leave their nets and follow. A little further on, he calls James and John son of Zebedee, who are in a boat with their father mending nets. They too "immediately" leave the boat and their father and follow him.

The word "immediately" (euthys in Greek) appears repeatedly in Mark — it characterises a gospel of urgency and action. The disciples' response is total: they leave livelihood, family, and security.

Significance for Jesus' disciples: The call is unconditional and total — no negotiation, no conditions. It echoes Elijah calling Elisha (1 Kings 19:19–21), where the prophetic call supersedes family duty.

Significance for 21st century Christians: Churches and missionary organisations use this passage as the basis for vocation — the understanding that Christians are called to follow Jesus in their specific circumstances. The Jesuit order's magis (the "greater" calling to total service) draws on this passage. For many Christians, discipleship means daily, concrete commitment — not a one-time event.

The abruptness of the call and the completeness of the response are features of Mark's style — not necessarily implying the disciples had no prior knowledge of Jesus.

Among the crowd pressing around Jesus, a woman who has suffered from bleeding for twelve years — spending all she had on doctors without improvement — touches the edge of Jesus' cloak, believing that touching it will heal her. Immediately the bleeding stops and she feels in her body that she is healed.

Jesus senses that "power has gone out from him" and asks who touched him. The disciples are baffled — the crowd is pressing around him. The woman, "trembling with fear," comes forward and falls at his feet, telling him the whole truth. Jesus says: "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

Significance of faith:

The woman's faith is entirely self-initiated. She is not brought by friends (unlike the paralysed man), not asked by a parent (unlike Jairus). She acts on her own belief that Jesus can heal her — even reaching through a crowd.

Aspect	Detail
Twelve years of suffering	Also the age of Jairus' daughter — the two stories are interleaved in Mark
Purity context	Bleeding made a woman ritually unclean under Mosaic law (Leviticus 15:25–30); she would have made the crowd unclean by touch
"Power has gone out"	Healing as a dynamic, not just a decision
"Your faith has healed you"	Faith (pistis) is the active agent — not Jesus' will alone but the meeting of faith and power

This passage presents faith as active trust — not passive belief, but a decision to act on the conviction that Jesus can help.

Jesus sends out the Twelve two by two and gives them authority over evil spirits. He instructs them to take nothing for the journey except a staff — no bread, no bag, no money, no extra clothing — but to wear sandals. They are to stay in whatever house welcomes them and to shake the dust off their feet against places that do not receive them. They go out, call people to repentance, drive out many demons, and anoint many sick people with oil and heal them.

Key features of the mission charge:

Instruction	Significance
Sent two by two	Jewish law required two witnesses; mutual support; accountability
Nothing for the journey	Radical dependence on God and hospitality of others; no self-sufficiency
Shake dust off feet	A symbolic act of disassociation — commonly done when leaving Gentile territory; here applied to rejecting villages
Anoint with oil	Continues Jesus' healing ministry; oil is used in Jewish healing practice

Significance for 21st century Christians: This passage underpins Christian mission — the Church's calling to go out, proclaim, heal, and serve. Missionary organisations (e.g. Church Mission Society) draw on the two-by-two structure and the principle of dependence on local hospitality. The "shake the dust" instruction is used to model moving on when a message is rejected, without resentment.

The cost (8:34–38): After Peter's confession and the first passion prediction, Jesus calls the crowd with his disciples and says: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" He warns: "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

This teaching is given immediately after the passion prediction — discipleship is deliberately shaped by the cross. The call to deny self and "take up your cross" was not a metaphor in 1st-century Palestine — crosses were instruments of Roman execution.

The rewards (10:28–31): Peter says: "We have left everything to follow you!" Jesus responds: "Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields — along with persecutions — and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

The hundredfold return includes persecutions — Jesus does not promise an easy path. The reversals ("last will be first") echo the Kingdom values seen throughout Mark.

Passage	Cost	Reward
8:34–38	Deny self, take up cross, lose life	Save one's soul; not be ashamed at the coming of the Son of Man
10:28–31	Leave home, family, fields	Hundredfold return + eternal life (with persecutions)

Jesus' prediction (14:27–31): After the Last Supper, Jesus tells the disciples they will all fall away — quoting Zechariah 13:7: "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered." He promises to go ahead of them to Galilee after his resurrection. Peter protests: "Even if all fall away, I will not." Jesus replies: "Truly I tell you, today — yes, tonight — before the cock crows twice you yourself will disown me three times." Peter insists emphatically he will not.

The three denials (14:66–72): While Peter is warming himself in the courtyard during the trial, a servant girl says she saw him with Jesus. Peter denies it. She says it again to bystanders. Peter denies it again. Later, bystanders say his accent gives him away as a Galilean: "Surely you are one of them." Peter begins to call down curses and swears: "I don't know this man." The cock crows a second time. Peter breaks down and weeps.

Significance:

• Peter is the leading disciple — his failure is the starkest possible statement that no human being can sustain discipleship by willpower alone.
• The inclusion of this embarrassing episode strongly supports the tradition that Mark's Gospel draws on Peter's own testimony — an invention would not have been so damaging to the Church's first leader.
• For 21st century Christians: Peter is a model of restoration, not just failure — he is specifically named in the angel's message at the empty tomb ("Go, tell his disciples and Peter" 16:7), suggesting his reinstatement. Human failing is part of the discipleship story.

Mark 16:9–20 does not appear in the earliest manuscripts and is almost certainly a later addition. The AQA specification includes 16:14–20, however, so students must know it.

(Extra context — most scholars regard 16:9–20 as a later addition not found in the earliest manuscripts. The AQA specification requires knowledge of 16:14–20; the above note is for factual accuracy but is not required for exam answers.)

The commission (16:14–15): Jesus appears to the Eleven while they are eating and "rebukes them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen." He then sends them out: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."

Signs following belief (16:17–18): Those who believe will drive out demons, speak in new tongues, pick up snakes, be unharmed by poison, and lay hands on the sick who will recover.

The ascension (16:19–20): Jesus is taken up into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. The disciples go out and preach everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming his word with signs.

Significance: The commission is the culmination of discipleship — the disciples who fled at the arrest are now sent into all the world. For 21st century Christians: This passage provides the mandate for global mission and evangelism. It also raises questions about the nature of resurrection appearances and the authority of the Church to baptise and proclaim.

Differing views on discipleship then and now:

Group	View
Jesus' 1st century disciples	Total reorientation of life; physical following; abandonment of livelihood
Religious orders (e.g. Franciscans, Jesuits)	Vows of poverty, chastity, obedience — literal enactment of 8:34–38
Mainstream 21st century Christians	Discipleship as daily commitment within ordinary life — family, work, community; not requiring physical abandonment
Liberal/critical view	The radical discipleship demands reflect the early community's expectation of an imminent end-time; less binding in a long-standing world

Different views on faith in Mark:

• Faith as trust: The woman with a haemorrhage acts on trust — she believes and acts before she receives (5:34).
• Faith as action: Bartimaeus cries out despite being silenced — faith is persistent (10:47–52).
• Faith that God will act: The father of the epileptic boy says "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief" — faith includes honesty about its own weakness (9:24).
• Faith and doubt together: Discipleship in Mark includes failure, misunderstanding, and restoration.

Authority of Jesus' teaching vs secular sources:

• Christian view: Jesus' words in Mark carry the authority of divine revelation — the Holy Spirit speaking through Scripture. They provide moral and spiritual guidance for all time.
• Liberal/academic view: Jesus' teaching must be interpreted in its 1st-century context; universal application requires careful hermeneutics (interpretation) — not all commands are directly transferable.
• Secular/humanist view: Jesus' ethical teaching (love God and neighbour; care for the poor; service over status) may be valued as wisdom, but not accepted as uniquely authoritative. Secular ethics, human rights frameworks, and democratic consensus are alternative sources of moral authority.

1. Saying the disciples "immediately left everything" as proof of faith

The Markan "immediately" is a stylistic feature of urgency — it should not be read as biographical precision. A stronger exam answer discusses the significance of total commitment rather than focusing on the speed of the response.

2. Misattributing "your faith has healed you" as applying to all healings

Jesus uses this phrase specifically for the woman with a haemorrhage and for Bartimaeus — not for every healing. Some healings in Mark (e.g. Jairus' daughter) focus more on Jesus' authority than on the recipient's faith. Avoid generalising.

3. Describing Peter's denial as permanent failure

Mark specifically includes "and Peter" in the angel's message (16:7) — signalling his reinstatement. The denial story is a discipleship story about human weakness and restoration, not simply betrayal.

4. Confusing the mission of the Twelve with the Great Commission

The mission of the Twelve (6:7–13) is a specific sending during Jesus' ministry. The commission in 16:14–20 is post-resurrection. Both are relevant to discipleship questions but should not be conflated.

5. Treating all views on the authority of Jesus' teaching as equally supported by Mark

The question asks for contrasting views. A strong answer presents the Christian case (divine authority, Holy Spirit) and the secular/liberal case (historical context, alternative frameworks) with equal care — then reaches a justified conclusion.