The Temple in the Gospel of Mark

The Temple in the Gospel of Mark provides an introduction to the Gospel of Mark and to the religious world of second temple Judaism. It also helps us to understand one of the major themes running through Mark's gospel. It looks specifically at the significance of the temple in the Gospel of Mark which takes us directly to the events of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. It also gives us some background knowledge of the temple. It is written from a historical and Biblical studies perspective. Each chapter has some questions at the end for the reader to reflect on. I have drawn on a wide range of sources. The book helps the reader to look at the story of Israel and how this impacts the Gospel of Mark. The word gospel is important to the life, Scriptures, and understanding of the church, not only at the time when the gospel was written but it also holds importance for the church of all time. Thus it is important for us today and we need to understand and interpret it for our own life and time. I have been interested in the theme of the temple and tabernacle in Scripture for many years. N. T. Wright's books on second temple Judaism I found very helpful as I researched this topic. I searched in commentaries on Mark and found the arguments that went back and forth very challenging. There is nothing straightforward in interpreting Scripture. Looking at the way Jewish interpretation of Scripture often differs from the Christian approach helped to keep me firmly grounded in the Biblical texts both in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament and the New Testament. While many students do not engage with the extra-biblical non-canonical writings including the Pseudepigrapha, Josephus and the apocryphal writings, I have introduced some examples of these that help us to compare what they have to say with Scripture. Most important of all it is my hope that the reader will be drawn to a deeper understanding of why Jesus and his followers followed the new pathway that he pioneered.