Mark: The Compassionate Christ: Lesson 1

The Man and the Gospel

This gospel is set forth for all to read today but its origin and author are controversial.   In the next few lessons, we are going to look into this Good News of Jesus, the Christos and how the author looks at three key events in Jesus’ life – his baptism; the transfiguration and finally his crucifixion.  Mark doesn’t bother with any genealogy connecting the dots so to speak, rather begins with “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus.”

Much has been written about the authorship of this gospel.  As much controversy surrounds the author’s identification as it does to which gospel was written first and who copied after whom?  Let’s begin by looking at the man, Mark.

Perhaps one of the more popular views re: authorship is that John Mark who is frequently referred to in the Scripture is the author.  Others, claims vary but basically, we just don’t know!  Mark was a popular name in the day and was applied to John, a/k/a John Mark.  Let’s examine some biblical facts regarding John Mark.

1. Son of _______________________called John, also known as Mark (Acts 12:12)
2. Relative of ___________________(Colossians 4:10)
3. Helper of ___________________and __________________(Acts 12:25)
4. Early years:
   1. Acts 13:13 Left with Paul and Barnabas at _______________returning to ___________.
   2. Acts 15:38 Companion dispute: Paul’s Second Missionary Journey. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to _______.
5. Later years:
   1. Reunites with Paul and is referred to as a ________________(Colossians 4:10)
   2. Reference to aide/assistant (some call him son) to ________________(1 Peter 5:13)

Let’s assume that the author is this John Mark that is referred to many times in Scripture.  Just who is he?  And how did he get his information?  First, Peter went to Mary’s house following his imprisonment and miraculous departure.  Mary likely was one of the women followers of Jesus during His early ministry, especially in Galilee.  As such, this Mark would have been a young man and listened to and followed what his mother was doing.  John Mark was Jewish but like many were influenced by Greek culture of its time.  He would have been well-versed in Judaism but influenced as a child by Jesus.  He became one of the leading Christian missionaries and evangelists.

The timing of the gospel is as much of an issue as the authorship.  Some suggest Mark was the first of the written gospels while others suggest Mark’s gospel was taken from Matthew and Luke.  Many would agree today that Mark is the first written.  The book was written circa 65-70 AD and likely in Rome.  Let’s take a look at Rome in its day.  It was the capital of the then-known world, but its emperors were what we would call today, “crazy”!”

Let’s take a look back in history to Rome’s leaders

Let’s just say the governing executive of his time was not stable. After Tiberius, the reign was shortened significantly especially in the times of the building of the Christian Church and the determination of whether it was part of Judaism or something else?   The Jews in Rome had been expelled from the city by Claudius.  By Mark’s time, the Jews were coming under increased suspicion and eventually leading to persecution – especially by Nero.

Prior to the eventual destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD), there was a rise of nationalism in Israel.  The combination of issues in Rome coupled with the insurgence in Israel, led to the destruction of the Holy City.  If we begin to think in terms of the writer of Mark, the time of its writing becomes more significant in terms of the boldness of Mark’s language.   Even after the post-resurrection era, new Christians were relying on Jewish tradition.  For the post-resurrection Christians, the issue of the “Living Christ” was paramount.  God, the “Yahweh” God of the Israelites was now the manifestation of the Godhead in Jesus Christ and the Messiah that was promised long ago.

So with that background, it is noteworthy that Mark’s gospel is extremely bolder in its presentation of the Christos– the baptized Son of God, the manifested Godhead with the Law and Prophets in the Transfiguration; and finally the ultimate sacrifice of His Son, Jesus as the Lamb of God in the crucifixion and glorious resurrection.

We’re going to begin the review of Mark in two ways. First, the Christos or the Messiah promised so long ago and then the compassionate nature of Christos.  The opening verses of Mark are focused on two words: beginning and voice.  The voice that created the world is well known, but David in his 29^th Psalm reminds us that God’s voice is ever powerful (Psalm 29;4).  How did Mark know that if he were not raised in the Jewish faith?

Questions for the day:

1. Regardless of who wrote the Gospel of Mark, who was the ultimate author?
2. The women in Jesus’ life were paramount for His earthly ministry. Think about the mother’s influence on a young boy’s life as Mary to John Mark.
3. How do you view this gospel in light of its beginning, coupled with the history of its time?
4. Considering John Mark’s early childhood education by his parents, what does that say about early childhood Christian education today?