I dig Mark’s style. Get it done quickly and go first! HA! That’s my style man. Mark is the earliest of the gospels and also the shortest! He leaves nothing to be developed really about who Jesus is because in the very first verse Mark runs out and proclaims Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of God! I like that. First and foremost kinda like…and then it’s action…throughout the book Mark uses words like amazed, astounded, astonished.

Why? Why come running out the gates with “Jesus, He’s the Savior, the Christ, the Son of God,” and then words like astounded, amazed, astonished…and action after action after action…teachings yes, theology yes, but man Mark concentrates on action…why? One last thing I really think is important to note about Mark as we open up his book…he was a screw up…he messed up pretty badly with Paul yet here we are, reading The Gospel according to Mark…he’s being used mightily in churches and lives across the world and across all times…and so no wonder he can’t help but open up with man, Jesus…He’s the Savior, the wonderful Counselor, the Everlasting Father, and this Jesus, turns lives around…more on Mark’s mistake in a moment…

Mark records for us how that people were amazed and at times utterly overwhelmed in their reaction to Jesus and I just kinda like that. No major development of theology…no real foundation or setting…just Jesus is who He said He is and man when I really look at Him and when others hung out with Him, watched Him…they were stunned!

Now think about this… Matthew was a tax collector, Luke a physician, John a fisherman…Mark, just a boy. And so I see the wonder in Mark…and I realize how I just scum it up man…how sometimes, actually most of the time, I need to take a step back from furthering myself educationally and just wonder at Jesus man…just allow the splendor of the King to enter my heart man…Mark will help with that.

Now, Mark doesn’t self identify however the earliest manuscripts include the “according to Mark” title and there are some clues found in the book that link it to Mark. We’ll see those as I walk you through some interesting things about Mark and then we’ll cover some interesting things about the book in general.

Mark is mentioned 10 times in the New Testament and from these ten statements we are able to craft a bit of a biographical sketch of him. We know from Colossians 4:10 that Mark was the cousin of Barnabas. We know from Acts 12:12 that his mother’s name was Mary. We know from Acts 12:25 that it was Mark, who was also called John Mark, who accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey but in Acts 13:13, he departed from them early and returned to Jerusalem.

This is what messed Paul up…Paul was obviously against this and in Paul’s mind, Mark made a big mistake. In fact Paul was so upset with Mark, and we know this from Acts 15, that he parted ways even with Barnabas because Barnabas wanted to take Mark again, on their second missionary journey, and Paul was like, “nope, not after he left us last time!” See, Mark messed up. And apparently, he had messed up pretty badly. Something happened that made him turn from the ministry and Paul wasn’t going to give him another chance. Barnabas wanted to…the conflict escalated, Paul and Barnabas parted ways.

Now what’s intriguing is that apparently Mark proved himself with Barnabas because we find in Colossians 4 and Philemon Verse 24 that Paul would later call Mark a fellow co-laborer and in 2 Timothy 4:11 Paul would say that Mark has helped him greatly in his ministry. And to me that is encouraging. Why? Because Mark messed up! He got into ministry and then seemingly ran away. Sounds a lot like what other character we find in the New Testament? Right, Peter! And interestingly, church history will tell us that Mark became very close to Peter…I wonder why? Did they have anything in common? A lot actually.

But what about Gideon, Noah, Moses, David, Jacob, Abraham, Rehab, and even Jonah? Just like Mark, just like you and I, just like me…man they messed up royally, yet God in His grace and love picked them up, dusted them off and restored them. And each of them ended up impacting eternity man…

Oh I’m not surprised at all that Mark and Peter were close. In fact, Peter calls Mark his son in 1 Peter 5:13 just as Paul calls Timothy his. So Mark was to Peter as Timothy was to Paul. This is confirmed in the writings of the church fathers.

So there is one other place in the New Testament where we have a possible Mark sighting and that is found in Mark Chapter 14. A young man follows Jesus out into the night, to the Garden of Gethsemane, and the soldiers ripped off his tunic, or robe of sorts, and he runs away buck neked…a short, odd, weird account we find almost out of context there in Mark Chapter 14…and so I’m fine with accepting that this is Mark simply saying, “I was there.” Although he would have been young indeed. Probably around 12 years old at the time…

Most scholars agree and we have this confirmed in early church history writings that Mark was indeed a young man when Jesus was crucified so the gospel that he writes is considered to be the accounts and understanding that he received from Peter. Many believe that this is actually Peter’s account as written by Mark. Contextually that would seem to fit also because Mark is the book of miracles…which Peter was one and he no doubt knew it. All but four chapters in Mark present at least one miracle. Words like again and immediately are repeated throughout. Less teachings and more experiences…and one last thing that fits perfectly into the early church fathers writings that Mark’s gospel was dictated to him by Peter…in all four gospels, Peter’s denial of Jesus is recorded however in Mark we find a subtle, heart breaking difference.

A personal touch. Matthew and Luke say that when Peter remembered what the Lord had said, how before the rooster crows he would have denied Him three times, that he ran out and wept bitterly. John just states it factually…Peter denied Him, they took Jesus to Pilate. But in Mark 14:72 we find an interesting difference. Mark writes, “when Peter had thought about it…” That is a personal, internalization that you do not find in the other gospel accounts…this is a phrase of pause…a long description summarized in a statement…almost like Peter really shared with Mark what had gone through his mind…how he hadn’t seen it…how he couldn’t believe Jesus when He first said he would do it…how utterly devastated he was to have done it…

But check this out. Peter stood there with Mark, recounting his failing, completely whole. Strong. Restored.   Forgiven. Clean. Closer than ever to His Lord, His God and His friend Jesus…and so it’s almost as if he turns to Mark and says, “don’t write any of that. Write, when I thought about it…” A personal touch…a pause for sure…

Now what’s really interesting about this Book which links it to this church specifically is that most likely, scholars agree, this book was written in Rome and for the Romans! Isn’t that crazy! We just finished Paul’s epistle to the Romans and by the leading of the Holy Spirit, here we are in the Gospel written to the Romans…from hardcore theology, to practical Christianity and now it’s like Jesus is saying, “come on back home guys.” You’ve learned much, you’ve accomplished much, you’re growing…come let’s walk together with the focus entirely upon Me now so that context will be correct.

And how true! All that we learn, all that we see, all that is revealed in this wonderful Word of God…if applied or taken out of the context of the Person of Jesus Christ, much will be missed. The power will be missed. So cool. God’s hooking us up!

So this book is believed to be written to the Romans as each time Mark mentions a Jewish tradition, he explains it! Mark often explains Jewish words, customs, and places. He used Roman time rather than Hebrew time. And he translated some words into Latin. Much unlike, for example, Matthew as Matthew, who often speak of the law and when speaking of Jewish customs, give no explanation.

Now each of the four gospels present Jesus Christ however they all present Him in a slightly different light. All center upon Him being God, the third Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, Savior of the world yet Matthew was written to the Jews and presents Jesus as the King of the Jews. Mark, written to the Romans, presents Jesus as…well, a slave man…a suffering servant, humble and although fully God, somehow human…Luke was written to the Greeks and presents Jesus as the Savior of all mankind and John, written to the entire world presents Jesus as the Son of God. (Seven “I am” statements.)

The timing of Mark is debated a bunch. Some place it as early as 40 AD but most place it no later than 70AD. Most, however, agree that Mark is the earliest of the gospels. The order of the gospels in terms of when they were written goes Mark, Matthew, John, Luke and you may not know this but most scholars agree, (because of the writings of folks like Ignatius and Eusibius who lived in the first and second centuries who spoke of the gospels), most scholars place all of the gospels as being written before 100 AD.

So check this out…just a couple of examples. Ignatius quoted Matthew and he died in 115 AD. The John Rylands papyrus fragment P52 (which was found in an Egyptian market in 1920), contains a snipet of John's gospel and the document itself is dated about to the year 100. It contains portions of John 18, verses 31-33, 37-38.

So we have Mark as the author, getting hooked up with the details from Peter...sometime around 50, or 60 AD, hanging out in Rome…writing primarily for Roman consumption…and so the beginning…

Mark Chapter 1 Verse 1

• We find three statements of beginning in the Bible. Genesis 1:1, Mark 1:1 and John 1:1. What’s cool is their significance to us…Genesis 1:1, the beginning of creation. John 1:1 the beginning beginning…the beginning with no beginning…and then Mark 1:1, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s a pretty neat pattern because I followed the same. My life began. June 22, 1980…sometime early morning…the beginning of my life upon earth…then somewhere around 1988, 1989…I was introduced to the formal concept of an All Mighty ever present and ever existing God….ok…but then…September of 2005, the beginning of the gospel man…a rebirth, a new beginning, all things passed away, all things became new…Mark style (messed up), Peter style, (Failure but today completely clean)…an interesting pattern that is often seen in even our lives…
• And so Mark doesn’t open up with creation, with deep theology…he opens up with action and fact…

Mark Chapter 1 Verses 2 – 3

• Who is this? Yes, John the Baptist.

Mark Chapter 1 Verses 4 – 8

• And so next week I’ll open up with a look at what we find there in verse 8…the baptism of the Holy Spirit! A foundational, Christianity 101 study as we continue to press into the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings…