Tag: religious symbolism

Symbolism in the Gospel of Mark

January 30, 2026
Nature path

In my Master’s in Theology program, we are reading the Gospel of Mark this week. Mark is thought to have been the first of the four canonical gospels to have been written – probably in about year 70 (the year of the destruction of the temple). The other two synoptic gospels (i.e., similarly fashioned gospels) – Matthew and Luke – are thought to have drawn from Mark.

When I sat down this morning to read Mark’s gospel, I saw it with fresh eyes. I previously read the entire Hebrew Bible and New Testament from the first page of Genesis to the last page of Revelation, but that was well prior to having much biblical instruction. I then took a several-weeks class on Mark perhaps seven or eight years ago. Yet, I am still seeing it anew.

The first chapter of Mark – the beginning of the message of Christ in writing – leads us directly into redemptive symbolism.

Mark begins with a prophetic Hebrew Bible quote from Isaiah: “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ so John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And the whole Judean region and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Mark 1:2-5).

So much symbolism to unpack in one short paragraph. Isaiah is part of the Old Testament; the Old Testament foreshadows the New Testament, the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament. The preparer of the way – Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist – is to be “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness” (he was literally in the physical wilderness). Symbolically, when we are not living in relationship with God we are “in the wilderness” – an emotional/psychological/spiritual wilderness…… As an aside, wilderness is still used as a literary device in literature to symbolize being in a fearful or unruly psychological state away from a well-ordered societal environment where we feel safe. Think of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale.

Then, there is Mark 1:9-11: “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him. 11 And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my Son, the Beloved;[h] with you I am well pleased.”

The River Jordan is where the Israelites had crossed in the Old Testament from slavery in Egypt and from wandering in the wilderness for 40 years for disobeying God to enter the promised land. In baptism, we are freed from slavery and from life in the wilderness (i.e., from our confused darkness wandering) to enter into the promised land.

Immediately upon Jesus’ baptism, the Gospel of Mark writes, “And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.  He was in the wilderness forty days, tested by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him (Mark 1:12-13).”

Whenever we are provided God’s grace (as in baptism), Satan wishes to tempt us away from living in loving relationship with God. And, again there is the number 40. The Israelites had been sent into the wilderness (the untame place) for disobeying God, Satan tempted Jesus for 40 days. In biblical literature, a period of 40 (40 years, 40 days) is a period of purification and cleansing.

After Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness, he began drawing people to God: “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:14-15). In subsequent passages, Jesus began healing people and driving out unclean spirits. In other words, drawing us to God and healing us.

Kim Burkhardt blogs about faith at The Hermitage Within. Thank you for reading this faith blog and for sharing it with your friends. While you are here, please feel welcome to provide support to sustain this blog ($$).

Engaging faith tradition’s meaning via religious symbolism

August 14, 2023

I was in high school when I realized that my prayer life needed to move beyond communicating to a God sitting on a literal physical throne located high in the skies above. Growing in faith requires, at some point, learning to think beyond the literal (i.e., “The Garden of Eden story was literally about an apple and a snake”).

It took me several years longer to reach another stage of faith maturity: to begin grasping faith lessons with more of the breadth and meaning that religious symbolism is meant to impart. (The academic and theologian James Fowler did groundbreaking work on how we understand and navigate faith throughout our life stages in his book Stages of Faith).

Encyclopedia Britannica states that in religious symbolism, “The symbol object, picture, sign, word, and gesture require the association of certain conscious ideas in order to fully express what is meant by them. To this extent it has both an esoteric and an exoteric, or a veiling and a revealing, function” (the parables that Jesus told also had both revealing and veiling purposes).

Faith becomes more multifaceted when conceptualizing faith at this more varied level. Examples of recognizing the meaning of religious symbolism include:

  • There’s the apple and the snake (Garden of Eden)….. Adam and Eve were provided a terrestrial paradise with the condition that a life of terrestial paradise be contingent upon living as instructed by God; Adam and Eve violated the covenant given to them by God, thereby bringing sin and unhappiness into the world. Following God’s instructions would have allowed for the human happiness that God intended for us; we have free will, God can’t force us to live in right relationship with God. The lesson for us is that happiness for humanity as a whole and for us as individuals is contingent upon living in right relationship with God – something that we, in our broken state, have to work toward (and, we are dependent upon God’s grace). The message of us following God’s will is more important than the apple and snake in the Garden of Eden….
  • Robert Barron states in his book Catholicism A Journey to the Heart of the Faith that “One of the typical biblical names for the devil is ho diabalos, derived from the term diabalein (to throw apart). If God is a great gathering force, then sin is a scattering power.” God brings us together in love and unity, the devil divides us (I heard the bishop of the U.S. Episcopalian Church, Michael Curry, indicate that sin is based in selfishness). In referencing a passage about historical Israel, Fr. Brandon discusses that “Ever since humanity’s first parents fell out of paradise, that is, broke their relationship with God, God has been hard at work trying to mend that brokenness…..God’s intention was that a unified and spiritually vibrant Israel would function as a magnet for the rest of humanity, drawing everyone to God by the sheer attractive quality of their way of being.”

Coming to recognizing the meaning intended by religious symbolism involves maturing attentiveness to what is communicated in one’s faith tradition. Surrendering to the process provided by one’s faith tradition helps to incorporate the meaning provided by religious symbolism into one’s life.

Which religious symbolism – and its’ meaning – is providing meaning in your life?

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist and The Books of the Ages. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog post, please share it with them (thank you!).