Journey Through the Gospel of MarkSample

The Structure of Mark: The Pivot

When beginning a new book of the Bible it can help to have an outline of what to expect and where the book is going. There are a couple of helpful and simple ways of outlining Mark that will help you make sense of what you read.

One helpful way to think of the Gospel of Mark is to split it right down the middle. Dr. David Smith has offered this chart to help frame the two halves of Mark.

For the first half of the book, Jesus may appear to his followers to be just another miracle worker. The people following Jesus are with him because he’s making their lives better. He provides food, health, and other good things. But after Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah (chapter 8), the story changes and the Gospel begins to answer the question, “Why is the Messiah here?” This outline can be helpful for understanding how to make sense of different passages throughout the book.