#40daybible Day 30 (Mark 8:31-16:8)

Day 30 ends up Week 6 by finishing the Gospel of Mark.

Some observations:

• Mark 8:31 is the turning point of Mark's Gospel. Up till Peter's confession, Jesus' ministry has been very positive and public. Now the tone will become more foreboding. Jesus sets his face toward the cross and focuses more privately on his disciples.
• Two more times after this Jesus will predict his death. Each time he predicts his death, the disciples do something that indicates they don't understand what's coming. The first time, Peter corrects Jesus about him going to die. The second time, the disciples have been arguing about who will be the greatest in the kingdom. The third time, James and John are angling to have the places of prominence in the coming kingdom. 
• The Transfiguration happens after Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ. This is the enigmatic moment when Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus on a high mountain.
• Some think that Mark's Passion Story predated the Gospel. I frankly don't know how you would go about proving that.
• Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly on Sunday.
• In Mark, on Monday he overthrows tables in the temple.
• On Tuesday he has debates. 
• In Mark 13 Jesus predicts the coming destruction of the temple in AD70.
• In Mark 14, Jesus has a Last Supper with the disciples, prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, gets arrested, gets denied, and appears before the Sanhedrin.
• In Mark 15, Jesus appears before Pilate and is crucified.
• Mark 16:1-8 is probably the ending of Mark that we have, giving us Jesus' resurrection. 16:9-20 were probably an early attempt to make up for what seemed an incomplete ending. There is another shorter ending among the manuscripts too. I suspect the original ending was lost at a very early date.

Personal point:

• Mark 10:45 is very significant in Mark: "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."