Laurel Cobb's three decades of social work and advocacy on behalf of the disadvantaged in emerging countries around the globe inform this powerful book on the Gospel of Mark. Cobb combines academic insights into scripture with personal experiences of social inequities around the globe and a strongly articulated argument for resistance against Empire (then and now) as a crucial component of any life of Christian discipleship.
After an introduction and brief glosses on the structures of imperial power in first-century Palestine and in our contemporary world, Cobb delves into the text of Mark over 16 additional chapters. She parses Marcan passages that might be well-known to the reader with a fresh eye, offering insights into the scriptures and applying those insights to the experience of the contemporary reader. Using her many personal experiences of faith, economic struggle in the face of a globalized consumer culture dictated from the United States, and gender inequality, Cobb asks the reader to address one's own responsibilities as a citizen of the world in need of resistance against imperial power in all its forms.
