P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

Hello friend. Last week we explored Matthew’s Gospel, and learned of Matthew’s passion to show that Jesus came as a King, and in the direct line of the greatest king in Israel’s history, King David.

But as we open Mark’s Gospel, we see a very different perspective. And we begin today with a most unusual story about the author. Oh yes, it’s always been called Mark’s Gospel, but it’s not really Mark’s Gospel in the same sense that we call the other three Gospels, Mathew, Luke and John.

You see, there are several things about this Gospel that are most unusual. First, it’s written more in the present tense than the other three Gospels. It’s as if an eye witness is recording the events as they happen.

But the confusing point is this: Mark could not have been that person. He wasn’t one of the 12, in fact he wasn’t even a close follower of Jesus from the start. So he didn’t see or hear most of the events he records.

Another point is that Mark’s Gospel quotes the words of Jesus in the vernacular of that day in Palestine, not in Greek like the rest of the New Testament. And Mark follows very closely the report of Mathew, which has led to an ongoing debate as to which was written first, Matthew or Mark. But time and again Mark has some details to add to what Matthew has to say. With each addition, it seems he might have been saying, “Yes, Matthew got it right, and there’s this additional point you might like to know.” But again, most of these details Mark could not possibly have known firsthand.
And did you ever notice that in the whole book, Mark’s name is never mentioned? If Mark wrote it, wouldn’t you think he’d claim to be an eyewitness of some of the events for authenticity’s sake? Unless, of course, he wasn’t the actual author! And there the plot thickens.

Mark is the only Gospel to record a story (told in just two verses, so it’s the briefest of tellings) drawn from the night of Jesus’ arrest. It’s about a young man that rushed from his home in such a hurry he just slipped a cloak around his body. When he got to the Mount of Olives and watched Jesus’ arrest, he paused, transfixed, a moment too long. One of the soldiers grabbed him assuming, correctly, that he had to be a Jesus supporter. But in the darkness and confusion of that shadowy evening, the young fellow squirmed and got away, leaving the soldier with only the cloak in his hands.

That young man ran, stark naked, in the cool of night, to his home nearby, ever so grateful for the darkness! It’s widely believed that Mark here recorded his own personal experience. He didn’t name himself of course. But then would I, would you, if we had to run naked down Main Street late one Thursday night!

According to tradition, Mark enjoyed a good education, lived in a good part of town, had good social connections, and spoke and wrote excellent Greek, the cultured language of the Roman empire. And ultimately as a true believer, he wanted to share the Good News about Jesus.

According to the Church Fathers, Mark worked with Peter as the older Apostle gave his testimony to Roman audiences. Mark translated from the Aramaic of Palestinian Jews, into Greek. And it was this frequent translation of the stories of the life of Jesus that laid the foundation for his later writing of the book we now call “Mark.” In reality it’s the record of Jesus’ life from the lips of Saint Peter, so we could rightly refer to it as the Gospel of Peter.

And that reality introduces us to the figure of Peter, whose image constantly hovers over these pages, and that fact offers some other confirming details. Mark records more details of the faults and failings of Peter than the other three evangelists, and he also says less about Peter’s honorable deeds. For example Mark gives a longer version of Peter’s multiple denials and the cock crowings during Jesus’ trial. Which instantly makes it sound like Peter himself telling the story from a point of intimacy no one else could have known. It’s a chastened, vulnerable Peter that’s talking. It’s not the defensive account Peter might have told the morning after the events. It has the perspective of Christian maturity. That’s what Mark captures perfectly.

And what is the point of view of Mark’s (or should I say Peter’s) Gospel? That takes us back to the words of the Church Father Augustine, who says that John in his Apocalypse identified four Living Creatures at God’s throne: the man figure representing Mark’s Gospel. So Mark’s Jesus is a man. That means in this Gospel we can expect to see Jesus in his full humanity—more than the other three Gospels. Of course He’s fully divine, but He’s also fully human. So as you read this Gospel, you’ll notice time and again the human touches that keep reminding us, “Yes, He’s one of us, feeling like us, aware of the weakness of the human race just like the rest of us.”

Now, I have my Bible open to Mark 4:30, and it reads:
The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, becomes the largest of all garden plants with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade (Mark 4:30).

Only Mark’s Gospel records this brief parable. How impressed Peter must have been when he first heard it. How it stayed with him! This rough, swearing fisherman is such an unlikely choice for a disciple. To use the metaphor of the parable, he’s such a miniature “seed” for Jesus to plant. Would the seed survive? Would it sprout? Would it grow? Would it attain its potential as the largest of the garden plants, one that would provide shade for the birds that flew into his garden? Would it get beyond “self serving” and become “others serving?” Would it become a tall tree sought by the weak and the discouraged?

Yes it did, that’s the life story of Peter. How he must have cherished this parable as he grew into maturity and told it over and over again. Weakness became strength, immaturity became maturity, doubt became faith. That’s the theme of Peter’s life. And Mark chooses this otherwise unknown parable, to introduce a story which he notes happened that same day.

During this day of teaching, the Record says Jesus had spoken to the crowd

as much as they could understand (Mark 4:33).

Isn’t that a very human Jesus? He didn’t talk over their heads, didn’t give them more than they could take in, didn’t say more than they could process and apply to their lives. And because such a crowd had gathered at the sea shore, Jesus spent most of the day sitting in a boat, anchored a few feet from shore, with the people seated on the shore listening.

But by evening, exhausted, and needing to escape, He asked the disciples to pull up the anchor, and cross to the other side to rest in preparation for another day. Our very human Jesus is physically exhausted! He knows the feeling we have at the end of an exhausting day!

As they left, one of the disciples put a cushion under Jesus’ head as he curled up in the stern of the boat. And so began a carefree evening sailing.

From Gennesaret, on the west of the Sea of Galilee, to Gadara, on the east where the next miracle took place, is about seven miles as the crow flies. But sailing is never as the crow flies. And as they approached the middle of the lake, the stars were enveloped in swirling clouds, and the shoreline North, South, East and West disappeared from view. Thunder clapped, rain fell, and the wind whipped the water into threatening waves.

Of course, small storms wouldn’t phase fisher folk. They lived on and in these waters. They knew every mile of its surface and its boundaries. But even these men knew a dangerous storm when it came. And as the storm increased in ferocity, they knew their lives were at risk.

Peter explains that “the boat was full of water.” Any moment, they’d be swimming in the deep, and considering the distance to shore, and no certainty about direction, they could all be lost.

And what is Jesus doing in this storm? He’s sound asleep!

What an incredible portrait. But remember what Peter’s Gospel is all about? It’s a picture of an entirely human Jesus. And at the beginning of his book he pictures Jesus asleep in a storm like any other exhausted person would be.

Ultimately, one of the disciples realized they had a sleeping “passenger” on board. They woke Jesus with screams of desperation, “We’re dying! Don’t you care?”

It brings to mind the words of an old hymn you may know by
Frank Graeff:

Does Jesus care when my way is dark,
With a nameless dread and fear,
And the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

O yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief,
When the days are weary, the long night dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

And then . . . well, the rest of the story we’ll take up in our daily broadcast tomorrow.