Mark ~ musing on the gospel

I think if the gospel writers were given access to modern technology, Luke might have had a wed-site complete with maps and interactive pictures and links. I think John would have had a blog -- a famous one. Or...maybe he would have done little mini-documentaries.  I suspect that Matthew might have had a blog too...albeit QUITE different than John's. Matthews would have had lots of links to the Old Testament literature. But Mark -- Mark would, I think, have chosen Twitter: short, 'this is what we did today'  entries. He might have linked to a blog, maybe so he could add longer notes when he chose. Mark's gospel is short and quick. No background stories of Jesus' birth, very few parables. It felt to me as I read it in one setting, rather than reading it in bits and stories and chapters, like a head-long rush to the cross and the resurrection. I noticed, and nearly ALL the commentators I referenced noted, the details Mark includes -- details that would have been noted by someone who SAW these events and then, musing, told the story later. I have copied and included a list of them compiled (thank you very much) by one commentator. {webpage citing at the end of the blog}

• James and John leave their father in the boat with
  the servants when they heed Jesus' call to follow him (1:20);
• James and John go with Jesus and the rest into the
  house of Simon and Andrew (1:29);
• Jesus takes Peter's mother-in-law by the hand and
  raises her to her feet (1:31); 
• On the evening of the Sabbath, when the sun has
  set, the sick are brought to Jesus to be healed (1:32);
• In the morning, long before daylight, Jesus gets up
  and goes out (1:35);
• There are so many people crowded into the house
  that there is no room even near the door (2:2);
• The paralytic is carried by four men and the roof
  is dug out in order to lower the paralytic down (2:3-4)
• Jesus looks around at his critics with anger (3:5);
• Jesus sits in a boat in the water and teaches the
  crowd of people on the shore (4:1);
• Jesus is asleep on a cushion in the stern of the
  boat (4:37-38);
• There are about two thousand pigs into which Jesus
  sends the legion of unclean spirits (5:13);
• Jesus instructs the people to sit down upon the
  green grass in groups of hundreds and fifties (6:39-40);
• Jesus puts his fingers in the ears of the deaf and
  dumb man, touches the man's tongue with saliva, looks to heaven with a deep sigh and says "Ephphatha" (7:33);
• Jesus spits on a blind man's eyes and laying his
  hands; the blind man is described as gradually regaining his sight
  (8:23-25);
• Peter asks Jesus whether he should build shelters
  for Jesus, Moses and Elijah (9:5);
• Jesus takes children into his arms, blesses them
  and lays his hands on them (10:16);
• The blind man who is healed in Jericho is
  identified as the son of Timaeus (10:46);
• Jesus is crucified at the third hour
  (15:25);
• Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome
  bring spices to the tomb very early, before the sun has risen
  (16:2). 1

These little things ... Jesus taking Peter's mother-in-law by the hand, Jesus asleep on a cushion in the boat ... these are the details that conjure in my mind an image of Peter sitting at campfire when he and Mark stopped for the night during their travels, Peter and Mark sitting after dinner sipping glasses of wine long into the early morning hours reminiscing.  I love this about Mark's gospel. It has the "and then ~" ... "and then ~" feel to the writing.

But I am still digging into Mark. I will continue ~





 1 http://www.abu.nb.ca/courses/NTIntro/Mark.htm