Musings on Mark ~ 2
There are 4 gospels. The four gospels are written by 4 different men who ~ while telling essentially the same story ~ deliver the gospel with different perspective, different emphasis. Two of the writers were disciples who were part of THE 12 : disciples who were named apostles by Jesus during his life and ministry. Two were men who were not disciples. Mark was one of the latter. When I read scripture, while I read the words and the message, while I follow the stories and their purpose and meaning, while I consider the theological implications -- out of the corner of my mind's eye, as it were -- I am seeing the man who wrote that portion. We know all scripture is God-breathed ~ God "inspired" {Latin inspīrāre to breathe upon or into, equivalent to in- in-2 + spīrāre to breathe} Believing this, we know and accept scripture as God's word. So you have God and the person into whom God breathes. For me it is like coffee. To make coffee you pour boiled water through ground coffee beans. Although you leave the coffee grounds behind, if it doesn't go through the grounds -- it just isn't coffee. If you change the beans, you change the flavor. So John's gospel is different than Matthew's and Mark's and Luke's. So ~ who is Mark? From what we know, what can we see?
The story in Acts 12 intrigues me on several levels. Certainly the story of a man (Peter) being released from prison by an angel...yeah, that's cool! (Read it: it was cool even to Peter.) But certainly one of the things that is interesting is where the church is meeting to prayer for Peter. We are told it was at the home of "Mary the mother of John, also called Mark ..." (Acts 12:12). This verse makes me think it is likely that John's parents ... or perhaps only his mother, since she is the only one mentioned ... were prominent leaders in the church in Jerusalem. One theory is that the John Mark's father is not mentioned because perhaps he was a Roman...hence John called Mark. Perhaps, but the early church was still quite Jewish-exclusive and I seriously doubt the church would have met at a Roman's house. Peter knew where to go when he was released, which suggests to me that Mary's house is where the church usually met. And the identification which is used by Luke (the author of Acts) is "the home of Mary, the mother of John called Mark. That says to me that the readers of Luke, in a time much later than the event, would know who John Mark was...even more than they knew who Mary was. OK...so by the time Luke wrote Acts, Mark was someone who was known in the broader scope of the church. This story also make me think that Mark may have lived in a home where the members of the church at Jerusalem and its leaders met -- likely -- regularly. He would have eaten with them, listened as they talked about the events going on around them in this wild crazy season. He would have heard the first hand accounts and inside stories of Peter, John, James ... etc. as they reminisced about the 3 years with Jesus. This also makes me think it likely that he saw the events of the 3 years with his own eyes. We do not know how old he was at this point, but I think -- putting 2 and 2 together -- he may have been teen-age or just younger when Jesus was alive. He was old enough to travel with Paul and Barnabas when Antioch was planted, and old enough to make it back to Jerusalem by himself when he left them at Pamphylia. So before he wrote his own gospel account, Mark had, perhaps from a "child" or "teen" 's view, lived through the days of Jesus' life. I think he was young when Jesus lived, because before the planting of Antioch (most commenators I scanned agree) Paul had spent the 14 years at home in Tarsus studying and forming his theology around the radical conversion he had experienced. So Mark wa, perhaps, 20-something by time of the Acts 12 story Jesus spent much of the 3 years of his ministry in the north of Israel...so Mark was perhaps not eye-witness to everything. But he would have been in Jerusalem for the events like the resurrection of Lazarus, the confrontation with the Pharisees, the death and resurrection of Jesus and the day of Pentecost.
Mark was Barnabas' nephew...maybe a favorite nephew, considering the events that follow. He would have been there during the days when Barnabas went and investigated the crazy miracle of Saul/Paul's conversion in Damascus (I think Barnabas went and checked things out). John Mark must, I think, have met Paul when Paul came with Barnabas to meet the church leaders in Jerusalem. (More about what all this means about Barnabas in a future blog). I think John Mark was a favorite nephew because he goes up to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. We are told in Acts 11 that a prophet, Agabus, told the people at the church in Antioch that there would be a severe famine. Antioch sent Saul and Barnabas to Jerusalem with an offering for those suffering in Judea. So Paul and Barnabas were there when Peter was released from prison...probably at the prayer meeting at Mary's house. When P&B go back up to Antioch, they take John Mark with them. Mark is part of that radical Antioch church ... the very first gentile based church ~ very very cutting edge. Then he goes as part of the team on the first leg of Paul and Barnabas' very first journey. We do not know why he quit and went back to Jerusalem...but the guess is that he 'flaked out'. Clearly Paul wanted to write him off. Mark went "home" to Jerusalem, but then goes back up to Antioch. He is there when it is time for P&B to go on a second journey. You know the story: the fight of the century happens when Barnabas wants to take John Mark on this 2nd trip. Paul says "NO". Barnabas and Paul do NOT resolve their differences over Mark then. And Barnabas goes "home" to Cyprus with John Mark. Did Barnabas see something in his nephew? Or did he just stick up for him cuz he was family? Well I think Barnabas saw something strong and powerful in this young man and refused to give up on him. Clearly he was right.
What we know about Mark after this, we know from tidbits of information and ... for me ... educated guesses based on those tidbits. And of course, we can draw a pretty strong conclusions from the fact that he wrote a gospel that was accepted as canon by the church fathers.
We know from scripture...notes in Paul's letters...that Mark did not quit, but matured and found his way back into Paul's good graces. Paul says in perhaps his last letter, 2 Timothy, "Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. " (2 Tim 4:11-12) This infers that, at sometime previous to the writing of this letter, John Mark and Paul had again worked and traveled together. And we know that when Paul was in prison in Rome writing the book of Colossians, that Mark was with him. (Col. 4:10). This says John Mark was well traveled. It seems a reasonable guess to me that he likely spoke several languages -- certainly Hebrew, Greek and Latin. But for me the key to who John Mark became comes from the fact that we know from scripture that he spent time with Barnabas, and we know from history that Mark traveled with Peter as his translator/interpreter. Wow! Discipled by these 2 power-houses! My imagination flairs at the picture of Mark and Peter on the road together. Imagine listening as Peter recounts the days with Jesus. Imagine those late nights, the hours of conversation -- the intimate discipleship that Mark received. When you translate, or interpret, you must think through the language finding words that convey not just data, but specific intent. As Mark translated, I think, these sermons and stories of Peter were melded into Mark's heart and imagination. Superimposed upon, and mixing into what perhaps he, himself, saw and heard ~ the story of Jesus was woven into Mark's heart.
The result? A succinct, vivid picture of Jesus. Mark's gospel -- while short and lacking the pre-stories and the genealogies from Matthew and Luke -- is bright and full of details. It reads like a story where the story teller sees the events in his mind's eye as they occurred, not merely as data and details.
Next -- some of the stories of the gospel of Mark.
The story in Acts 12 intrigues me on several levels. Certainly the story of a man (Peter) being released from prison by an angel...yeah, that's cool! (Read it: it was cool even to Peter.) But certainly one of the things that is interesting is where the church is meeting to prayer for Peter. We are told it was at the home of "Mary the mother of John, also called Mark ..." (Acts 12:12). This verse makes me think it is likely that John's parents ... or perhaps only his mother, since she is the only one mentioned ... were prominent leaders in the church in Jerusalem. One theory is that the John Mark's father is not mentioned because perhaps he was a Roman...hence John called Mark. Perhaps, but the early church was still quite Jewish-exclusive and I seriously doubt the church would have met at a Roman's house. Peter knew where to go when he was released, which suggests to me that Mary's house is where the church usually met. And the identification which is used by Luke (the author of Acts) is "the home of Mary, the mother of John called Mark. That says to me that the readers of Luke, in a time much later than the event, would know who John Mark was...even more than they knew who Mary was. OK...so by the time Luke wrote Acts, Mark was someone who was known in the broader scope of the church. This story also make me think that Mark may have lived in a home where the members of the church at Jerusalem and its leaders met -- likely -- regularly. He would have eaten with them, listened as they talked about the events going on around them in this wild crazy season. He would have heard the first hand accounts and inside stories of Peter, John, James ... etc. as they reminisced about the 3 years with Jesus. This also makes me think it likely that he saw the events of the 3 years with his own eyes. We do not know how old he was at this point, but I think -- putting 2 and 2 together -- he may have been teen-age or just younger when Jesus was alive. He was old enough to travel with Paul and Barnabas when Antioch was planted, and old enough to make it back to Jerusalem by himself when he left them at Pamphylia. So before he wrote his own gospel account, Mark had, perhaps from a "child" or "teen" 's view, lived through the days of Jesus' life. I think he was young when Jesus lived, because before the planting of Antioch (most commenators I scanned agree) Paul had spent the 14 years at home in Tarsus studying and forming his theology around the radical conversion he had experienced. So Mark wa, perhaps, 20-something by time of the Acts 12 story Jesus spent much of the 3 years of his ministry in the north of Israel...so Mark was perhaps not eye-witness to everything. But he would have been in Jerusalem for the events like the resurrection of Lazarus, the confrontation with the Pharisees, the death and resurrection of Jesus and the day of Pentecost.
Mark was Barnabas' nephew...maybe a favorite nephew, considering the events that follow. He would have been there during the days when Barnabas went and investigated the crazy miracle of Saul/Paul's conversion in Damascus (I think Barnabas went and checked things out). John Mark must, I think, have met Paul when Paul came with Barnabas to meet the church leaders in Jerusalem. (More about what all this means about Barnabas in a future blog). I think John Mark was a favorite nephew because he goes up to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. We are told in Acts 11 that a prophet, Agabus, told the people at the church in Antioch that there would be a severe famine. Antioch sent Saul and Barnabas to Jerusalem with an offering for those suffering in Judea. So Paul and Barnabas were there when Peter was released from prison...probably at the prayer meeting at Mary's house. When P&B go back up to Antioch, they take John Mark with them. Mark is part of that radical Antioch church ... the very first gentile based church ~ very very cutting edge. Then he goes as part of the team on the first leg of Paul and Barnabas' very first journey. We do not know why he quit and went back to Jerusalem...but the guess is that he 'flaked out'. Clearly Paul wanted to write him off. Mark went "home" to Jerusalem, but then goes back up to Antioch. He is there when it is time for P&B to go on a second journey. You know the story: the fight of the century happens when Barnabas wants to take John Mark on this 2nd trip. Paul says "NO". Barnabas and Paul do NOT resolve their differences over Mark then. And Barnabas goes "home" to Cyprus with John Mark. Did Barnabas see something in his nephew? Or did he just stick up for him cuz he was family? Well I think Barnabas saw something strong and powerful in this young man and refused to give up on him. Clearly he was right.
What we know about Mark after this, we know from tidbits of information and ... for me ... educated guesses based on those tidbits. And of course, we can draw a pretty strong conclusions from the fact that he wrote a gospel that was accepted as canon by the church fathers.
We know from scripture...notes in Paul's letters...that Mark did not quit, but matured and found his way back into Paul's good graces. Paul says in perhaps his last letter, 2 Timothy, "Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. " (2 Tim 4:11-12) This infers that, at sometime previous to the writing of this letter, John Mark and Paul had again worked and traveled together. And we know that when Paul was in prison in Rome writing the book of Colossians, that Mark was with him. (Col. 4:10). This says John Mark was well traveled. It seems a reasonable guess to me that he likely spoke several languages -- certainly Hebrew, Greek and Latin. But for me the key to who John Mark became comes from the fact that we know from scripture that he spent time with Barnabas, and we know from history that Mark traveled with Peter as his translator/interpreter. Wow! Discipled by these 2 power-houses! My imagination flairs at the picture of Mark and Peter on the road together. Imagine listening as Peter recounts the days with Jesus. Imagine those late nights, the hours of conversation -- the intimate discipleship that Mark received. When you translate, or interpret, you must think through the language finding words that convey not just data, but specific intent. As Mark translated, I think, these sermons and stories of Peter were melded into Mark's heart and imagination. Superimposed upon, and mixing into what perhaps he, himself, saw and heard ~ the story of Jesus was woven into Mark's heart.
The result? A succinct, vivid picture of Jesus. Mark's gospel -- while short and lacking the pre-stories and the genealogies from Matthew and Luke -- is bright and full of details. It reads like a story where the story teller sees the events in his mind's eye as they occurred, not merely as data and details.
Next -- some of the stories of the gospel of Mark.
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