Another title that marks uses to refer to Jesus is “Son of God”, it is one of the most important titles Mark uses for Jesus. The title “Son of God” mainly means the idea of a king, the Messiah. Son of God has many possible meanings, referring to , or humans or even all mankind. According to most Christian traditions, it refers to the relationship between and .
However, this title is not used as much by Mark as the title "Son of Man." In fact, some manuscripts do not include the title Son of God in Mk. 1:1. It may be that Mark uses the title Son of God to create an ironic contrast between those that understand that Jesus is God’s son, like the unclean spirits in Mk. 3:11, and those who do not understand who he is, like the disciples in Mk. 4:41.
The Messiah, Mark’s uses this title in many ways that suggest divinity in his gospel. The Messiah was mainly used by the Jews, which means Christ in Greek. An example to show that Jesus is the Messiah is: once Caiaphas asked Jesus 'Are you the Messiah?', and Jesus replied, 'I am'. In many ways it clearly shows that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ.
Jesus did not addressed himself as the Messiah as many people would misunderstood, even more as they misunderstood when he referred himself as the Son of God , or Son of Man. The only people that called Jesus 'Christ' or 'Messiah' was the disciples and even they would really understand the meaning.
Jesus is the Messiah because he is the one that people have had to wait for, and he is the only one who can “rescue” humans. However, Jesus’ identity as God’s son and as Messiah would be so easy to be misunderstood if they were revealed at once, so Jesus kept his identity as the Messiah in secret, looking to reduce the publicity given by miracles, so meanwhile he could focus on teaching his twelve disciples.
The messiah in mark’s gospel can mean: the Christ, the anointed one, and the king.
Mark’s gospel shows us that the Messiah is Jesus by showing that Jesus full-filled the prophecy by arriving to Jerusalem in a donkey, as said in the prophecy of Zachariah.
Jesus was also called 'rabbi' by His own disciples; by those who wanted help; by Peter himself and even by Judas as he kisses him. Rabbi can also mean a teacher. In the time of Jesus Rabbi was a form of address, equivalent to ‘sir’ but by the end of the century and was used to referring to a teacher.
In Mark’s gospel only two people call Jesus Rabbi, one of them is, and the other one is Judas.
b) Discuss the importance of Jesus being the Son of God to Christians today.
For Christians today “son of god” can mean various things:
Jesus as divine: In Christianity the title of Son of God is used to describe Jesus as a divine being and a member of the .
Jesus as godly: Another view is that, Jesus styled himself the Son of God in the same sense as a good person was sometimes referred to as a son or child of God (though not The Son of God).
Christians as children of God: The New Testament speaks of no individual Christian as it speaks of Jesus, as The Son of God.
The importance for Christians today that Jesus is the Son of God can be for various reasons, for example the importance of healing miracles of Jesus for Christians is very important. This is because Christians can rely on these miracles to have faith in the Kingdom of God. If Jesus did not perform healing miracles then it destroys the image we see of Jesus. Christians believe that it was because he was Son of God that he had the power to perform healing miracles. Christians see these miracles and believe that they could happen to them if they have faith because these miracles are so great and unimaginable. Christians may turn to Jesus when they are ill, so they put their faith in God believing in these miracles, so they have faith that a miracle could happen to them. When Christians read about these miracles in the Bible they see God's power and this strengthens their faith. The most important thing for Christians is that they have faith in Jesus, that’s why they believe Jesus is the Son of God, because he has power given by God.
Christians truly believe that Jesus is the "", who came to provide and with by his death for their .
Christians usually think “Son of God” shows that Jesus in not just the Messiah, but that he is God himself, made human. “Son of God is a shorthand way to referring to the Incarnation. So for Christians today “Son of God” basically means “God the son”.
Christians today may also interpret the title "Son of God" by understanding it as an expression of Jesus' divinity and specifically his unique divine as the Second Person of the Trinity.
The title is often used in the Mark’s Gospel; it is mainly used at the Baptism and the Transfiguration.
It is quite clear that Mark’s Gospel tries to show that Jesus is the Son of God. Mark’s Gospel begins with the words: “this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God” (Mark 1:1) though it is clear that Jesus’ identity as the Son of God is important to Mark.
Jesus is the Son of God according to Christians, If Jesus Wasn't God he wouldn’t be divine, so why would Christians particularly care what he said? Why pay any more attention to him than to any other ethical thinker? , we don’t have a lot of evidence of Jesus existence but for Christians is important, so Jesus is the Son of God.
c) “Jesus was a good man, a teacher”, do you agree? FACY
Jesus was a good man, but he was more than just a teacher, he was many other things like the Son of God, Jesus did many important things when he was on earth, the most important is that he preached, he taught and healed, also his miracles were very important for Christians, and still are today, it’s a sign of faith. In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus is just a good man, a good teacher. Many people agree that Jesus was a great teacher, especially Christians. Some even see him as a prophet.
The Bible, the book that tells his story, can answer for us if Jesus was really a good person and nothing more. But we need to examine Jesus’ own story, not what others said about him, but what he said about himself. In Mark’s gospel Jesus claims to be various things:
-Jesus tells us about his equality with God. -Jesus shows his powers to forgive sins. -Jesus said he was the path to salvation. -Jesus said to be the Christ.
In the other hand, how do we know Jesus was not lying about himself and who he really was? These are some Jesus’ own claims about himself. It isn’t hard to see that if Jesus was just a man, then none of these claims could be true, he wouldn’t be able to have powers to forgive sins or to create miracles.
If, when Jesus made his claims, he knew that he was not God, then he was lying to his followers. But if he was a liar, then he was also a hypocrite because he told others to be honest, whatever the cost, while he himself taught and lived lie. Many will say that Jesus was a good moral teacher. But how could he be a great moral teacher and without knowing misleading people at the most important point of his teaching, his own identity?
Christians think Jesus is just a good man for various reasons, one of them is because the idea of miracles was a very big thing for them, it made them have faith and believe in Jesus. If Christians didn’t think as Jesus as the son of man or more than just a man, it wouldn’t give them faith. Many Christians think he is a messenger from God, some believe he is just the Son of God.
I thinks that Jesus is not just a man, if not he couldn’t perform his miracles, so if he couldn’t do that he would just be a teacher, but many Christians wouldn’t think of him as the same way they do now. The idea of Jesus just being a good man could be misunderstood by many people, as the idea of Jesus just being a teacher. Jesus is more than just a man, if not Christians wouldn’t have the faith and believe as they do today. Jesus is very important for many Christians today, if Jesus was just a good man he wouldn’t be as important as he is now.