Who is Jesus in the Gospel of Mark?

In this lesson, we look at the various roles of Jesus found in the gospel of Mark. The book begins and Mark calls Jesus the Son of God, and the book ends with the Centurion who saw how Jesus died, and he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God." In the middle God the Father says, "You are my Son, whom I love" both at Jesus' baptism and on the Mt. of Transfiguration, and when the demons encountered Jesus, "They fell down before Him and cried out, 'You are the Son of God' (3:11-12 & 5:7). When Jesus was on trial, the high priest asked Jesus, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"  Jesus said, "I am!" Seven times Jesus is declared the Son of God in Mark, but the title that rings out the most is "Jesus the Son of Man," and this was the phrase that Jesus used about Himself, and it was used fourteen times in Mark. Blind Bartimaeus called Jesus the "Son of David" twice in 10:47-48, and Jesus used the phrase when speaking to the religious leaders as to why they say that Christ is the "Son of David, since David, "Speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared, 'The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.' David himself calls Him, 'Lord.' How then can He be his Son?" Lastly, the phrase that is only used in Mark is "The Son of Mary," which is found in 6:3. It reads, "Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren't His sisters here with us? And they took offense at Him." Mark also does not say the son of the carpenter, but he actually calls Jesus the carpenter. Leaving out Joseph, Jesus' step-dad, it reaffirms to his readers that Jesus was the Son of God, not born of a man, but born of a woman, which made him also the Son of God, and he was a descendant of David, which made him the Son of David, the One from whom will come the eternal kingdom. Jesus was all of these, which as Mark said in the beginning of the book, "The beginning of the gospel - or the good news - about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." It is through Him that we can become a part of the family of God too!