Horsley, Richard A. Hearing the Whole Story: The Politics of Plot in Mark's Gospel. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001.
Horsley's book makes a case for an interpretation of Mark that combines an interest in how the plot of the Gospel would have been heard with rigorous historical criticism. Although Horsley overstates some points, preachers should read his book to avoid common theological mistakes in reading Mark for today.

Kelber, Werner H. Mark's Story of Jesus. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979.
An accessible introduction to a literary interpretation of Mark's Gospel as a whole.

Myers, Ched. Binding the Strong Man. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1988.
Myers' book is a fascinating interpretation of Mark's Gospel with a strong social justice edge to it. Use this book to complement some of the more standard commentary fare.

Nineham, D. E. Saint Mark. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1963.
A brief yet insightful commentary on Mark. It should be a part of any preacher's commentary library.

Schweizer, Eduard. The Good News According to Mark. Atlanta: John Knox, 1975.
A very helpful, basic commentary on Mark's Gospel.

Taylor, Vincent. The Gospel According to St. Mark. 2nd ed.; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1981.
A classic commentary on Mark.

Tolbert, Mary Ann. Sowing the Gospel: Mark's World in Literary-Historical Perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1989.
An important book for understanding Mark as a literary work. The book is technically demanding, but worth the effort.

Homiletical and Pastoral Resources Related to Mark

Craddock, Fred. The Gospels. Nashville: Abingdon, 1981.
Craddock treats Mark in one of his chapters. He is both an excellent Biblical scholar and an insightful homiletician.

Ourisman, David J. From Gospel to Sermon: Preaching Synoptic Texts. St. Louis: Chalice, 2000.
Ourisman thinks that preachers should take the narrative shape of the whole Gospel in to account when preaching it. He devotes a whole chapter to preaching from Mark.

Smith, D. Moody. Interpreting the Gospels for Preaching. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980.

Preaching Apocalyptic Motifs in Mark

Jacobsen, David Schnasa. Preaching in the New Creation: The Promise of NT Apocalyptic Texts. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1999.
I consider how to interpret apocalyptic texts in light of their language and symbols with a view toward how they relate to our present symbolic world. The book includes extensive comments on the second half of the so-called "Little Apocalypse" in Mark 13.

Preaching apocalyptic texts?

Available from
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