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Who was Mark?

• His mother was Mary, who owned a home where early Christians gathered.

Acts 12:12—When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.

• Early on, he joined Barnabas and Saul (who later became Paul)

Acts 12:25—When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.

Acts 13:5—When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

• In the middle of their missionary tour, Mark inexplicably left them

Acts 13:13—From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

• This later causes a split between Paul & Barnabas

Acts 15:36 – 40—Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.”  Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.  They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

• He was a cousin to Barnabas

Colossians 4:10a—My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas.

• His relationship with Paul is later reconciled

2 Timothy 4:11—Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.

• He was also close to Peter

1 Peter 5:13—Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark.

This aspect of Mark's history becomes important later

 

What was Happening when he Wrote

As best we can tell, the following events were taking place.  In 54 A.D., Nero becomes Emperor of Rome. Nero wanted to build a new palace in Rome, but he couldn’t get anyone else to come on board with the idea.  In 64 A.D., a fire broke out in Rome—coincidentally, right where Nero wanted to tear down old buildings and build his new palace.  It was a large fire:  Rome had 14 precincts; of those, 11 were damaged, 3 of which completely destroyed.  Suspicion turns to Nero; Nero needs to find someone to blame.  The historian Tacitus puts it this way:

“No humane endeavors, no princely generosity, no efforts to placate the gods were able to dispel the scandalous suspicion that the burning of the city was the result of an order. To silence this rumor, Nero pushed the Christians forward as the culprits and punished them with ingenious cruelty…Their execution was made into a game: they were covered with the skins of wild animals and torn to pieces by dogs. They were hung on crosses. They were burned, wrapped in flammable material and set on fire as darkness fell, to illuminate the night. Nero had opened his gardens for this spectacle and put on circus games. He himself mingled with the crowd dressed as a charioteer or stood up high on a chariot.”

Tradition says that this is the time that the Apostles Paul and Peter were martyred.  Tradition also says that Mark’s Gospel was written either right before, or right after, Peter’s death--and that Mark’s story is Peter’s story, told to Mark.  Papius, writing in Interpretation of the Lord’s Oracles, tells us:

“Mark, having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately what he remembered of the things said and done by the Lord…”

It's interesting to note that Peter doesn’t come off well in the Gospel. Is it possible he wanted to make sure the true story was told?

 

The Marks of Mark’s Gospel

From a Literary, there are two things to be said about Mark's Gospel:

• It is the shortest Gospel
• It is the sloppiest Gospel (perhaps written in a hurry, given the persecution of the time?)

From a Historical perspective, Mark has often been the ignored Gospel.  For some time it was traditionally assumed that Mark’s Gospel was just a summary of Matthew and Luke.  Almost all of Mark (95%) is found, usually word-for-word, in Matthew & Luke.  It took 500 years for a commentary to be written on Mark.  There was almost an attitude of, "Why read the Readers’ Digest when you can read the real thing?"  One should not miss, though, the hidden treasures in Mark's Gospel.  For example, it is the only Gospel to tell us John & James’ nickname:

Mark 3:17—James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder).

It is also the only Gospel to tell us this interesting tidbit:

Mark 14:51 – 52—A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. [Some have speculated that this unnamed young man is none other than Mark himself!]

More recently, scholars are realizing that Mark looks not to be a summary. Rather, it looks to be the reverse:  Matthew and Luke used Mark. If this is the case, then Mark goes from being the “ignored” Gospel to the foundational Gospel.  As such, it would have been the template for the other Gospels.  To read Mark's Gospel means we're on our way to having read Matthew and Luke's Gospels.  It is also foundational in the sense that it gives the basic Gospel portrait of Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection.  This is the basic story—and as such, it is a great place to start when wanting to learn about Jesus.

Mark's Gospel contains the following Characteristics:

• Disciples who were flawed
  
  Mark does not try to cover up the flaws of Jesus' disciples.  This is something which gives us hope—if Jesus could take these guys and turn them into great men, then pretty much Jesus can take anyone!
   
• Two views of Jesus:

The powerful Son of God

Jesus’ first conflict is with Satan. His ministry begins with the casting out of a demon. We find in this Gospel spiritual warfare, and the resurrection—even death can’t defeat Jesus.  This too gives us hope: this is the Jesus who is on our side.

The Suffering Servant

In this Gospel Jesus is persecuted, beaten, and crucified. He didn’t come to be served, but to serve others.  This as well gives us hope: we are not alone in our sufferings. Whatever we are going through, Jesus has been there too.

• Again:  it is the basic, foundational Jesus story
   

This is the introduction to Mark's Gospel.  Next week we begin our study.  See you then!

In Christ,

--Pastor Dan