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RK:
The
Man Behind the Gospel
by
John Ross Schroeder
A Brit ish television channel ran a series called " Jesus: t he Evidence." Viewers
were left with uncertainty. How much of what Jesus said and did
is fact? How much legend? Was a so-called secret gospel of Mark more
important than the known gospel accounts? Here we take
a behind-t he-scenes look at the man who wrote the real gospel of Mark.
W
HAT KIND
of people
would you have
chosen to preserve
in writi ng the life and teach–
ings of Jesus of Nazaret h?
A despised tax collector? A
close personal friend of J esus?
A .physician who would pass fo r
a historian? Or perhaps Mark, a
young aide who associated with
J esus' disciples'?
Few have ever understood why
such diverse personalities were
chosen to write t he fou r gospel
accounts, or what the forces were
that shaped their lives and percep–
tions.
Who was this Mark? What was
he like? The evidence, though
sketchy, is reveali ng. The New
Testament itself supplies surprising
information.
Early Encounters
First, a few points about Mark's
name. His full name was John
Mark. In first-century Palestine it
was not uncommon for a man to
have two names. John was his Jew–
ish name, Mark his Greek name
(Marcus
in Latín).
Mark carne from a fairly wealthy
family that was influential in the
early Jer usalem church . When
Peter escaped from jail, it was to
40
the home of Mary, Mark's mother,
that he carne to contact a large
assemblage of chu rch members.
T he house was large enough to
have at least one spacious room
plus a courtyard with an outer
door. Servants were obviously
employed. (See Luke's documenta–
tion in Acts 12: 12-13.)
What an opportune place to hear
stor ies about the li fe of J esus! Mark
certainly moved in the r ight ci rcles.
He must have known Peter from
the earl iest days of his ministry. l t
wou ld be unthinkable to suppose
that he was not acquainted with all
the original apostles. Few were in a
better posit ion to learn the facts
about J esus' life and teaching.
T he book of Mark records a
mysterious statement about an inci–
dent that took place in a garden
outside J erusalem. "And a young
man followed him [J esus], with
notbing but a linen cloth about his
body; and t hey seized him, but he
left tbe linen cloth and ran away
naked" (Mark 14:51, 52, Revised
Standard Version, except where
otherwise noted).
T his was a moment of high trag–
edy. J esus is about to be crucified.
On the surface these two verses
seem irrelevant to the essential sto–
ry. So why this brief interruption in
the main story?
It
has been sug–
gested that tbe Garden of Geth-
semane may have been owned by
Mark's family.
lf
so (with a nose
for news and feeLing a big story
about to break), Mark may have
been near the events surrounding
Jesus' final hours. Here was a
young man who liked to be in on
things.
Following the last supper , Mark
shadowed Jesus and his disciples to
see what was going on. (He got a
little too clase.) Few writers can
resist paint ing a small portrait of
t hemselves somewhere in a major
work. Here Mark inserts himself
into the crucifixion record. Under
pressure John Mark flees t he scene.
Later he will run away again.
An Asslstant to Apostles
Mark emerges again 15 years later
at the time of a famine. The
Chu rch of God in Antioch, Syria,
was not slack to belp the J ewish
brethren in the Holy City. Gifts
were sent t bere by Paul and Barna–
has. Later tbe two returned to
Antioch and Jobn Mark was with
tbem.
There Pau l and Barnabas were
formally ordained and sent to t he
Greek world. (This was Pau l's fi rst
tour.) L uke's historical account
mentions that John Mark was their
assistant or helpe1 (Acts 13:5). The
RSV has it: "And they had John to
assist t hem." T he T ranslators New
The PLAIN TRUTH