Growing up in Jerusalem, John Mark was just a teenager at the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. His mother Mary, apparently a widow, owned a significantly sized home in the city, and was a follower and supporter of Jesus. This was probably the home with the Upper Room. Given the importance of this visitor, and all the talk of death and such, we should hardly be surprised if the lad was the one who had slipped out of his room clothed only in his bed-sheet, and who tailed the group to the Garden of Gethsemane and part way to the High Priest's palace before he was nearly arrested himself (Mark 14:51-52). We note Mark's Gospel is the only place that little story is recorded, and it really doesn't fit in the narrative very well, but would prove how Mark knew at least some of the gospel first hand.
Given some of the Twelve were cousins of Jesus (see my introduction to Matthew), we should hardly be surprised at how many of the primary figures in Acts are relatives. Barnabas was instrumental in the early growth of the church, and helped bring Paul into acceptance after the latter's conversion. This man was Mark's elder cousin, and brought the young man along on Paul's first missionary journey. The boy bailed out on them at Perga in Pamphylia. For this reason, Paul balked at having him along on the second journey. Barnabas was more forgiving, and took Mark with him on a separate journey, while Paul took Silas.
Eventually Peter took to Mark as his own son, and they worked as a team. Mark showed his worth, and was reconciled with Paul. It appears Mark had been working in the Roman churches for a while by the time Paul and Peter were executed. These churches didn't want their last living link to the Savior to die himself without a written record of the gospel, so they prevailed upon Mark to write something. The account he wrote was probably first published around 67 or 68 AD. This would be after Peter's death, but prior the destruction of Jerusalem, a signal event he fails to mention. All the more important for him to write then while the risk to his safety was high during the persecution of Jews and Christians leading up to the march of Titus on Jerusalem.
Thus, at about the age of 50, Mark wrote his Gospel in Rome for the Christians there. This accounts for the brevity and tone of Mark's Gospel. While he wrote as an insider of the Hebrew society, intimately acquainted with details of the geography, he does not focus on the teachings of Jesus, because there was little to address a Gentile audience. Rather, he states with clarity and force what made Jesus unique in the world, and emphasizes the outline of Jesus' plan to train up and equip the Apostles for taking His message across the world. We see, then, the logic of Jesus' actions as the essence of Mark's message. Jesus was the faithful Servant of His Father, willing to sacrifice Himself for the Kingdom of Heaven.
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Chapter 1 -- Mark introduces Jesus as the obedient heir of God Almighty, come to establish His reign upon the earth.
Chapter 2 -- Making the case Jesus is a man of virtue, Mark shows us just what sort of people are His enemies.
Chapter 3 -- The conflict with the oppressors of Jesus' day continues, as we see Jesus taking the moral high ground on every issue.
Chapter 4 -- Mark describes how Jesus proves His full mystical heritage, a man who understood deep mysteries.
Chapter 5 -- More than just a wise teacher, Jesus carried the full and ultimate authority over all things in this world and in the next.
Chapter 6 -- Jesus could have easily taken over the Roman Empire with His power and authority, but Mark makes it painfully obvious Jesus had no interest in a worldly kingdom.
Chapter 7 -- The Jewish leadership really had no clue what God was trying to say in the Law of Moses. Their concept of what was holy and unholy was completely amiss.
Chapter 8 -- It was necessary for Jesus to distinguish between the worldly legends of the Jewish Messiah and the mystical spiritual Messiah promised by God.
Chapter 9 -- The Twelve reflected many of the same attitudes as the Jewish leadership in failing to understand the mystical spiritual nature of His Kingdom.
Chapter 10 -- Contrasting the stories of two men who confront the same calling to leave this world behind, and the difference in how they respond, Jesus shows how little this world understands what really matters.
Chapter 11 -- The real problem was not removing the current Jewish leadership, as the disciples imagined, but the whole false cult which Judaism had become.
Chapter 12 -- Jesus pointed out the monumental difference between what men could understand and what God wanted them to see by faith.
Chapter 13 -- Jesus teaches the difference between the end of the Nation of Israel and the End of Time.
Chapter 14 -- The only one who understand all Jesus had said about His death was a woman. Meanwhile, to the last moment, His disciples seemed oblivious to the doom awaiting Jesus.
Chapter 15 -- Mark offers a rather brief account of the trial before Pilate and subsequent crucifixion.
Chapter 16 -- A brief summary of the transition from scattered and fearful disciples to legendary figures of faith and preaching.
By Ed Hurst
24 May 2008
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