Stuff about Stories:

• We read stories and let them have their way with us and then we read them again and again and marvel at how they work. The Gospel of Mark is just such a story and deserves to be honored in this way.
• Mark too has a plot. After the Baptist is arrested, Jesus begins preaching; after John is put to death, Jesus announces he must go up to Jerusalem to suffer, die and be raised. In the story, people plot against Jesus, how to put him to death: will they succeed? Jesus will appear in Galilee and the story will continue.
• Mark too has characters; the chief of these is Jesus. Another character is the group called “disciples”. Will they get the point of following Jesus?
• Mark has a narrator who is our reliable guide and mentor. We, as readers, are in a privileged position because the narrator takes us into his confidence and shares with us his insight into what is happening. The author does this to persuade us to his point of view.
• Mark too uses location to structure the world of the story: we go up the high mountain, across the lake, into the house or synagogue, through the garden, out into the courtyard.
• There is more. Read the book by Rhoads and Michie mentioned in the resource list. People have found this book to be very helpful.
• Have you read the Gospel right through yet?