The Gospel of Mark is the most translated book in all the world. No other book appears in as many languages. The shortest of the four gospels, Mark's is only 16 chapters. It is a fast-moving account of the life of Christ, with emphasis on Christ's actions, as well as His death and resurrection. It is a great place for the IMPACT ministry to start! This gospel focuses on Jesus' humanity and especially his servanthood. It provides a realistic picture of Jesus as he was. It is clearly written for a different audience than the other gospels, for Mark leaves out Jesus' genealogy, includes few Old Testament references, explains the Jewish customs, and uses Latin terms rather than Greek. For many reasons it is believed that this gospel was written for the Roman world rather than for the Jew.
There are two reasons why the Gospel of Mark is a book of supreme importance. First, it is believed to be the earliest of all the gospels and that the Luke's and Matthew's gospels borrowed heavily from Mark's account. For instance, of Mark's 661 verses, Matthew reproduces 606. He even reproduces 51% of Mark's actual words. Luke reproduces 320 of Mark's verses and 53% of Mark's actual words. There are only 24 verses in Mark which do not occur in Matthew and Luke. Also, both Matthew and Luke follow Mark's order of events. The first three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the synoptic gospels because they can be compared column by column with each other. The word "synoptic" means to "see together."
As the earliest gospel, Mark is believed to have been written before the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. and close to when Peter died in 65 A.D. The second reason that this gospel is so important is that it contains the record of what Peter preached and taught about Jesus. It is considered to be "Peter's Gospel." Mark's full name was John Mark (John his Hebrew name, and Mark his Roman name). From Peter's reference to him as his son in the faith (1 Peter 5), it is believed that Peter was influential in John Mark's conversion, and was like a son to him. Early church tradition tells us that Mark became the companion of Peter. Mark would write down what Peter preached and shared. We know from Acts 12 that John Mark was the son of a wealthy woman who opened up her large home for the early church to meet. Mark was also the nephew of Barnabas, and when Paul and Barnabas went on their first missionary trip, they took Mark with them. The Scriptures do not say what happened, but Mark turned back from Paul and Barnabas and went home early (Acts 13:13). Later, when Barnabas wanted John Mark to join them on the second missionary trip, Paul would not allow it. This led to a major split between Paul and Barnabas, where Paul teamed with Silas and went one direction and Barnabas went with John Mark. The beauty of Scripture is that we see the whole story and how God can further His Kingdom even in the midst of disagreement, as the gospel was carried out in two different directions. And it is good for us to remember John Mark, who although he didn't follow through during the first journey, proved to be irreplaceable in providing the first gospel and also ministering effectively in his later years. Paul mentions that Mark is ministering with him, and at the end, Paul writes to Timothy, saying, "Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry." (2 Timothy 4:11)
It is exciting to be able to read this gospel together and to see God's drama played out on the pages of Scripture. Our first evening we read Mark 1:1-11 together and discussed John the Baptist's role in preparing the people for Jesus and we talked about the baptism of Jesus. To prepare for this coming Thursday night, Nov. 1, read Mark 1:12-45.
