Blog # 2 Jorge Andres Morales

Mark's Gospel deeply focuses on the human Jesus, which expresses feelings, thoughts, and acts according to the situation. Although this Jesus appears to be human, never abandons his divine identity. The latter mentioned is crucial for his transition to "the other side" which is basically a metaphor that entails the evolution of his holy thoughts from a Jewish to a Gentile perspective. In order to address to to his audience Mark relies on translation of certain words from the Arameic and Latin for example, which suggest his audience was mostly conformed of gentiles, romans, and different segments of society at the time. Through his gospel, Mark is able to describe a couple of similar stories that happen to call my attention. The two episodes of healing the blind and the two regarding the feeding of the crowds under distinct circumstances. All four episodes have a purpose that is basically to explain how Jesus begins his journey that will guide him according to fate. At the beginning of "the way" he cures a blind man, whereas at the end he does the same. This is an example of Inclusio, a literary device used by Mark to serve his figurative purpose that explains Jesus's journey. Furthermore, the feeding of the crowds is a Chiasmus, another literary device, that serves the purpose of connecting similar events that happen to be antagonistic in a sense. After the woman in the episode of the exorcism challenges Jesus with her response, he finds himself overwhelmed and for some reason changes his mind wich is crucial within the gospel...a turning point where Jesus considers the gentiles. It is quiet interesting how Mark manages to link every event in a way his audience is able to identify the evolution of Christ's journey, which eventually leads to the crucifiction and resurrection.

Bibliography

Collins, John J. The Catholic Study Bible. Second ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2006. Print. New American Bible.