The idea of “The Factual Data” sheet comes from reading that Warren W. Wiersbe’s homiletic teacher, Lloyd Perry who used a generic “Factual Data” sheet for sermon preparation. I have adapted “The Factual Data” sheet to the different genres (Narratives, Hebrew Poetry, the Epistles, and the Gospels) of Scripture instead of a one-size-fits-all approach. The Factual Data Sheet is a tool to do the spade work of sermon preparation. In the Factual Data Sheet, the preacher studies first the context outside of the preaching unit and next the content inside of the preaching unit.
1. STUDY THE CONTEXT (Macro Hermeneutics)
A. Context of the Gospels
Wayne Slusser calls the Gospels of a sub-genre category of narrative which he identifies as theological narrative biographies. The rationale behind the Gospels classified as a sub-genre; that is, theological narrative biographies, is to capture the different aspects unique to the Gospel accounts. The term theological represents the applicational aspect of the narrative for the reader; that is, the Gospels were written and geared to awaken and subsequently strengthen faith. The term narrative represents how the Gospel is structured. The term biography represents the life of the central figure of life of the central figure of the story; that is, Jesus Christ.[1]
The four Gospels present one portrait of Christ from four angles.
1) Matthew writes to the Jews (There are over 100 quotations or allusions to the OT).
2) Mark writes to the Romans (Mark writes a shorter letter for the busy Roman). Mark presents Christ as the Servant (No genealogy of a servant necessary).
3) Luke, the Gentile (Colossians 4:11) writes to the Gentiles and records more material than any other author of the Gospels to win one Gentile (Theophilus in Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1)
4) John writes to the World and presents Christ as God (John 1:1) who was with God eternally. John writes so sinners might believe and be saved (John 20:31). All four Gospels combined give the full portrait of Jesus.
B. Context of the book
1. What is the theme or theological message of the book?
Jesus is the “Son of God” is immediately announced as the theme in Mark 1:1.
Near the end of the Gospel, the Roman centurion, perhaps forms an inclusio with Mark 1:1 in his pronouncement at Jesus’ death in 15:39: “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”
At Jesus’ baptism (1:11), God his Father pronounced, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
His Father made a similar pronouncement at His Son’s transfiguration in 9:7: “This is my beloved Son: hear him.”
Even the demons recognized the deity of Christ in 3:11: “You are the Son of God” and 5:7: “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the most high God?”
Grant R. Osborne compares Jesus to a “learning disability” instructor. The disciples are ‘learning disability’ children, and Jesus portrays all the characteristics of such a teacher---patience, love, repetition, and a realism that refuses to allow the disciples to rationalize their failure.”[2]
What is the theme of Mark? Mark presents Christ as the Son of God who makes disciples. Mark is narrative and this genre supports Mark’s theme. Mark’s threefold development of his theme is mapped out through the plot. The plot has a storyline; that is, Jesus Christ.[3]
The three geographical settings help establish the theme
The beginning of the plot begins in the region of Galilee (1:1-8:21). In 2:13-17, the theme is supported when Jesus is portrayed as God, who forgives sin.
The middle of the plot records Jesus on the way to Jerusalem training his disciples (8:22-10:52). In the middle of the plot, the theme is evident when Christ presents the three predictions of His death which again accent the Old Testament Messiah who was to die (Daniel 9:26).
The plot climaxes in Jerusalem itself (11:1-16:8) where He dies and resurrects from the dead and fulfills Old Testament Scripture regarding the coming Messiah/Son of God. This plot also includes Jesus’ discipling His disciples as He takes them on a journey from the north in Galilee to the south in Jerusalem not only geographically but spiritually. Here is how the three-fold outline of Mark follows the geographical settings and develops the two-fold theme (Jesus is the Son of God who makes disciples).
2. How is the theme developed?
(Here is how the three-fold outline of Mark follows the geographical settings and develops the two-fold theme).
In Galilee, Jesus the Son of God Makes Disciples with the Multitudes (1:14-8:21)
On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus the Son of God Makes Disciples with His Disciples (8:22-10:52)
In Jerusalem, Jesus the Son of God Makes Disciples in the World (11-16)
3. Who wrote the book?
Papias (70-150), bishop of Hierapolis, for example, writes: And the elder [i.e., the elder John, the author of the Gospel of John] said this: “Mark became an interpreter of Peter; as many things as he remembered he wrote down accurately (though certainly not in order) the things said or done by the Lord. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but he came later—as he said with reference to Peter who taught whenever the need arose, but he did not [teach] according to the arrangement of the oracles of the Lord, with the result that Mark did not err when he thus wrote certain things as he recalled them. For he planned out one goal ahead of time, namely, to leave out nothing which he heard and not to falsify any [of the words of Peter].”[4] Peter referred to Mark as his son in 1 Peter 5:13, just as Paul referred to Timothy as his son or the one he mentored in 1 Timothy 1:18.
4. When did he write the book?
The earliest Mark could have written, if the testimonies of the Anti-Marcionite Prologue and Irenaeus are correct, was after the death of Peter and Paul. The most probable dates of Peter’s martyrdom in Rome are A.D. 64-67. Paul probably died as a martyr there in A.D. 67-68. However, Clement of Alexandria and Origen both placed the composition of this Gospel during Peter’s lifetime. This may mean that Mark wrote shortly before Peter died. Perhaps Mark began his Gospel during Peter’s last years in Rome and completed it after Peter’s death.
The latest Mark could have written was probably A.D. 70 when Titus destroyed Jerusalem. Many scholars believe that since no Gospel writer referred to this event, which fulfilled prophecy, they all wrote before it. To summarize, Mark probably wrote this Gospel sometime between A.D. 63 and 70 (Thomas Constable in Netbible.org introduction).
5. To whom did he write the book?
Mark wrote to Christians in Rome. Mark uses Latinisms (12:42; 15:16) familiar to Romans.[5] This would account for the shortness of the Gospel. Mark wrote to the Romans who were achievers. He wrote with brevity for people on the go. Mark L. Strauss called Mark “a gospel narrative on steroids!”[6] Mark recorded only two of Jesus’ sermons whereas Matthew recorded five.
2. EXAMINE THE DETAILS OF THE PASSAGE SELECTED TO PREACH (Micro Hermeneutics)
Bas van Iersel captures cohesion for the entire Book of Mark in a chiasm (Iersel, Bas M. F. van. Reading Mark:
Gospel of Mark: 1:1
(A1) In the desert (1:2-13)
(y1) Forward look to the Galilean Ministry (Mark 1:14-15)
(B1) In Galilee (1:16-8:21)
(z1) blindness to sight (8:22-26)
C) On the way (8:27-10:45)
(z2) blindness to sight (10:46-52)
(B2) In Jerusalem (11:1-15:39)
(y2) Flashback look to the Galilean Ministry (15:40-41)
(A2) At the tomb (15:42-16:8) [7]
1. In Galilee, Jesus the Son of God Makes Disciples with the Multitudes (1:14-8:21) (for 1 1⁄2 years). Jesus’ ministry in Galilee followed his one year in Judea (John 1:19- 4:45).
In addition to the similarities of conflicts in both Galilee and Jerusalem, there are contrasts. The first series of conflicts from the religious leaders in Galilee ended with them plotting to destroy Jesus (3:6). The second series of conflicts from the religious leaders in Jerusalem leaves them asking no more questions. They had challenged his authority, and he authoritatively answered them (12:34).
Jesus is confronted five times in Galilee
1. Conflict over healing/forgiveness (2:1-12)
2. Conflict over tax collectors (2:13-17)
3. Conflict over fasting (2:18-22)
4. Conflict over the Sabbath (2:23-28)
5. Conflict over healing on the Sabbath (3:1-6)
Jesus is confronted five times in Jerusalem
1. Conflict over authority (11:27-33)
2. Conflict over taxes (12:13-17)
3. Conflict over the resurrection (12:18-27)
4. Conflict over love for God (12:28-34)
5. Conflict over sacrificing one’s all (12:35-40)
2. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus the Son of God Makes Disciples with His Disciples (8:22-10:52). (For the last 6 months)
The majority of the seven times that Mark designates Jesus and his disciples on their journey, he uses ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ (“in the way”): 8:27 (ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ); 9:33 (ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ), 9:34 (ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ); 10:17 (εἰς ὁδὸν); (Notice this change from ἐν to εἰς is not in one of the passion predictions); 10:32 (ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ), 10:46 (παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν), 10:52 (ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ). The use of prepositions is fluid for sure. But in 10:46, he breaks his pattern and uses παρὰ with the accusative τὴν ὁδόν “beside the way.” Blind Bartimaeus was “by the way” in 10:46 before he met Jesus. At this point, Bartimaeus was not a disciple. After Jesus gave him sight, Bartimaeus was “in the way” as a disciple of Jesus.
Christ presents the three predictions of His death, again accenting the OT Messiah who was to die. Just as Mark presents Christ as the Suffering Servant (Mk 10:45), so does Isaiah in his Suffering Servant passages:
1. The Servant is Sent (42:6-7)
2. The Servant is Rejected (49:7)
3. The Servant is Abused (50:6)
4. The Servant is Crucified (52:13-53:12)
Three-fold Prediction Pattern
First Prediction of Christ’s death (8:27-38)
A. The Prediction (8:27-31)
B. Disciples’ slow response (8:32)
C. Jesus’ First Discipleship Lesson (8:33-9:1): Disciples deny themselves in following Jesus
Second Prediction of Christ’s death (9:30- 31)
A. The Prediction (9:30- 31)
B. Disciples’ slow response (9:32-34)
C. Jesus’s Second Discipleship Lesson (9:35-37): Disciples serve others in following Jesus
Third Prediction of Christ’s death (10:32-45)
A. The Prediction (10:32-34)
B. Disciples’ slow response (10:35- 41)
C. Jesus’ Third Discipleship Lesson (10:42-45): Disciples humble themselves in following Jesus
INTRODUCTION TO INCLUSIO Healing of Blindman
Mark 8:22-26
Through repeated touches was the blind man healed because the disciples were slow to comprehend Jesus as the Son of God
CONCLUSION TO INCLUSIO Healing of Bartimaeus
Mark 10:46-52
Instantaneously because Bartimaeus recognized who Jesus was
The last main division in Mark follows the concluding inclusion.
3. In Jerusalem, Jesus, the Son of God, Makes Disciples in the World (11-16). (Jesus’ last eight days in Jerusalem climaxing His death and resurrection).
Through the rest of Mark, the disciples continue not to see perfectly who Jesus is nor their role as disciples.
Jesus’ inner-circle disciples fall asleep instead of praying and disappoint Jesus in the garden in Mark 14:32-42.
Later in the chapter, after the garden experience, “all” of the disciples “forsook him” (14:50).
The leader of the apostolic band denies Jesus three times (Mark 14:66-72).
After Jesus’ resurrection in 16:7, the angel tells the women to “tell his disciples and Peter that he goes before you into Galilee: there shall you SEE him” (16:7). T. J. Geddert argues that this commands a “Discipleship Renewal.”[8]
When the disciples “see” Jesus, the Son of God in his resurrected body in Galilee, they will finally have spiritual insight into the person and work of Christ, and they will take up their crosses and follow him to their deaths. Jesus, the Son of God, was successful at disciplining his disciples, who went on to “do greater works” than Jesus, just as he predicted in John 14:12.
1. Wayne Slusser. “A Discourse Analysis of the Passion Predictions in the Gospel of Mark” (Ph.D. diss., Baptist Bible Seminary, Clark Summit, 2012, 70.
2. Grant R. Osborne. Preaching the Gospels: Methodology and Contextualization, JETS 27.1, 1984. 40.
3. Abraham Kuruvilla also sees the twin themes: “The constant association of Jesus with the disciples suggests the focus of the Gospel is not exclusively Christological. That, of course, is not to suggest that discipleship and Christology are separable” (Mark: A Theological Commentary for Preacher. Eugene: Cascade Books, 2012, 4). R. T. France likewise notes the inseparability of these two doctrines: “Discipleship is the proper outcome of a healthy Christology” (The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text. NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002, 28). Rodney J. Decker writes, “Mark’s purpose is related to discipleship. He works it out, paragraph by paragraph, by challenging his readers to answer two intertwined questions: Who is Jesus? and What does he expect from those who follow him?” (Rodney J. Decker. Mark 9-16 Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament, Baylor University Press. Kindle Edition, 2014, xxi). Mark L. Strauss adds to this litany: “With the majority of scholars we believe that Mark’s narrative purpose is not only Christological but also parenetic, to call believers to follow the suffering of the Son of Man” (Mark: Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014,
4. Eusebius. Ecclesiastical History, 3
5. The woman whom Jesus observed was not only a widow but a poor widow. She contrasts with the many wealthy people there. The two small bronze coins (Gr. lepta) that the widow contributed were together worth about one sixty-fourth of a denarius, the day’s wage of a workingman in Palestine. Mark told his Roman readers that they were worth “a fraction of” (NIV) one Roman cent (Gr. kodrantes, a transliteration of the Latin quadrants) (Thomas Constable, NetBible.org on Mark 12:42. The “Praetorium” was “a Roman cohort was a tenth of a legion, about 500-600 soldiers” (NetBible.org on Mark 15:16).
6. Mark L. Strauss. Mark (Grand Rapids: Zondervan) 2014, 17.
7. Bas van Iersel, Mark: A Reader-Response Commentary, Translated by W. H. Bisscheroux. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1988 (click to open a preview).
8. T. J. Geddert. Watchwords, Sheffield: Continuum International Publishing Group, 1989, 166–69).