Last fall, we began our journey through the Bible. We started in Genesis with the creation and we traced the formation of God’s people beginning with the call of Abraham and Sarah. God gave his promise of blessing to them.
Later, we heard the story of Joseph. If you know the story, you know that Joseph, through no fault of his own, ended up in Egypt and even went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. But God worked in that situation to bring good out of bad and eventually Joseph’s whole family was saved from famine because he was in Egypt. And that is just the beginning. (Some of you are in the middle of bad times now, but God wants to bring something good out of the bad things you are experiencing.)
In Exodus, we saw how God, through Moses, led all of God’s people out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, to the mountain where God gave them his laws, and then toward the promised land. Last month, as we considered Deuteronomy, we saw how important the family is in God’s plan for the world. And we left these people just ready to enter their new land.
We are shifting our attention to the New Testament for this month.
If you have read the book of Mark, you may already know that
1. It is the shortest gospel of the four
2. It moves quickly and uses the word “immediately” a lot
3. It was the first gospel written
What you may not know is how important Mark, the author, was in the life of the church after Jesus left and how important this gospel became for understanding Jesus both then and now. His story helps us understand how a committed young person can play an important role in the life and mission of the church. (I hope we have youth here who want to be totally committed so that God can use you.)
We don’t know exactly how Mark’s life went, but I want to see if we can reconstruct what may have happened.
As a young man, Mark lived in Jerusalem with his mother Mary. (Two teens come to “Jerusalem” on stage left.) He was not one of the 12 disciples, but he knew about Jesus and probably saw Jesus often. In the gospel he wrote, Mark doesn’t mention his own name, but when Jesus was arrested, Mark 14:51,52 says that the soldiers almost caught a young man, but he slipped out of his clothes and ran away naked. Many think this young man might have been Mark. He had risked his life to try to stay close to Jesus and he lost his clothes. Let me ask you, what are you willing to risk to stay close to Jesus? (As someone has said, “if you were hauled into court because you are follower of Jesus, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”)
Later, we read in Acts, something else happened. Remember the time Peter was in prison and the angel came and opened the doors for him? (Another person comes to “Jerusalem.”) Where did Peter go? He went straight to Mark and Mary’s house because he knew that the other disciples were gathered there! Some people think this may have even been the house that had the upper room in it. If so, Mark might have been able to eavesdrop on the disciples’ conversation with Jesus on the night of that last supper.
After Jesus left this earth, the church in Jerusalem began to grow. Peter was an important leader. He probably took Mark under his wing and trained and mentored him so that he knew and understood everything about Jesus.
It wasn’t long, though, until some people realized that God was asking them to take the message of Jesus to other places. Paul was one of those. (Enter “Jerusalem.”) Remember how he met Jesus on his way to Damascus and was totally transformed? Barnabas was another. (Enter “Jerusalem.”) He is called the son of encouragement in the Bible. They took Mark with them. (Paul, Mark, Barnabas move to “Cyprus” stage center) What good would Mark be on this trip? Acts 13:5 says they had John Mark to assist them. The word used there is the same as the word in Luke 1:2 where Luke says he depended on eyewitnesses and servants of the word. These servants of the word were people in the early church who were recognized as authorities about Jesus. They knew stories of Jesus, where he went, what he did, what he said. So if you wanted to know something about Jesus, ask an eyewitness or a servant of the word.
So, Mark went along as one of these servants of the word, a person who had been trained and who knew the life and traditions about Jesus. Maybe it worked this way. When they went to Cyprus, where Barnabas grew up, Barnabas may have served as leader that day because he knew the people and culture. Then Barnabas would introduce Paul who told of his conversion by the grace of God. After that, people may have asked, “But what about Jesus? What did He say?” Then Mark may have spoken because he was the recognized authority on the life and teachings of Jesus.
But then we learn that Mark went back to Jerusalem. (Mark returns to stage left.) Why? Was he tired? Did he get sick? Did he have a girlfriend? Probably not.
Remember that the church in Jerusalem was made up of people from Jewish background. Peter was their leader. But Paul and others were pushing out into the non-Jewish world to let the Gentiles know about Jesus. Jews and Gentiles were quite different. The Jews knew about Abraham and Moses and the laws. The Gentiles did not. They just knew about Jesus. Some differences developed which led to disagreements. Mark was concerned that these differences not get out of hand, so he may have gone back to Jerusalem to keep Peter and the church there informed about what was happening in Gentile land. Mark probably served as a mediator between Peter and Paul. So, both Peter and Paul found Mark to be a valuable help.
Later on, Paul ended up in prison in Rome. (Paul to stage right.) When Paul wrote from prison to Timothy he said, Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. (II Tim 4:11-13) What are these parchments? Is this the time when Mark is working on writing his gospel?
At the same time, Peter was also in prison in Rome. (Peter to stage right.) And Peter wrote in I Peter 5:13, Your sister church in Babylon sends you greetings; and so does my son Mark.
Mark became valuable to both Peter and Paul. The entire Christian church from Jerusalem to Asia in that time and down to our world today would come to depend on what he wrote. And today the Coptic Church in Egypt honors St. Mark as the one who first brought the gospel to Egypt. (Dismiss actors.)
So Mark’s own story is one of a young man ready and willing to be used of God to continue the work of Jesus. Mark was uniquely qualified to write the gospel, this story of Jesus that came out of the Jerusalem church and was used to win Gentiles around the world.
But Mark was not interested in telling his own story. He wanted people all over the world to understand the story of Jesus. And with the guidance of the Holy Spirit he wrote it down so we too can understand and follow Jesus.
For a few moments I want to focus our attention on the first line of Mark’s account of the Gospel: The beginning of the gospel or good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God. This line is like a title that could be written large across the first page.
On first reading, that line makes sense mostly. We understand that when God sent his son to this earth to save us from our sin and to provide a pattern for our lives, we are talking about good news. That is what Gospel means. The effect of this good news is that we are no longer trapped by the treadmill of human effort. We no longer have to depend only on human solutions to our problems. God has come into our world with answers to our problems. (And to some of you who have come through tough times this past week, that really sounds like good news. You have had things happen to you that put you over the edge. I have seen a steady stream of people facing hard times this week. One man came to me sobbing. Another young man said he was so stressed he went to the emergency room.) The good news is that God cares. Because of this good news, our way of looking at things has changed. As Paul said in II Corinthians 5, From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view. We understand Mark’s reference to the Gospel and to Jesus Christ the Son of God.
But how should we understand the word beginning? I know that some people joke and say that baseball is mentioned in the Bible because it talks about the “big inning.”
• Is this verse talking about Isaiah’s prophecy about John the Baptist? “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Is that the beginning of the Gospel?
• Then we read that John appeared, proclaiming a baptism of repentance and forgiveness of sins. Is Mark referring to the appearance of John the Baptist?
• Then Jesus comes on the scene and he is baptized. Is Mark talking about the appearance and baptism of Jesus? Is that the beginning?
When did this new action of God begin? With Jesus? Or way back at the beginning of time when God had in mind to save us? The Bible says, Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love. (Eph. 1:4 Msg). That in itself is enough to blow our minds.
But we are not done yet. That is just the beginning. Of course, the word beginning refers to time as when we talk about the beginning of Vacation Bible school. But it goes beyond a clock or a calendar or a time line. It carries with it a whole other idea of being first. When Mark writes about the beginning of the Gospel, he has something more in mind. Let me see if I can explain.
Those of you who have checked your mailboxes this morning know that the church board is recommending that we build a restroom accessible to wheelchairs. In that announcement you will find a little sketch of where that will be and what it will look like. Eventually, we will have detailed drawings called blueprints. We might say those blueprints are the beginning of a handicapped restroom. They will serve as the first model, the map, the pattern for building. And that is the other meaning behind the word beginning here in Mark –the first pattern.
The words Mark wrote have two purposes. First, they serve as a record of the way Jesus came and introduced the good news. But, second, they also serve as a blueprint, a model, for continuing the work of Jesus. Christians in Mark’s day needed to know not only how Jesus came and what he did, but how to carry on with the work Jesus started. And we need to know how Jesus wants us to carry on the work of building God’s kingdom. So the book of Mark can serve as our road map.
If you do not know who Jesus is, then I invite you to read this book of Mark to learn about how Jesus came, where he went, who he helped, why he died and rose again, and to understand that he wants you to repent of your sin, to believe in the good news, to be forgiven, and to follow him. These 16 chapters are for you. But that is just the beginning. The work goes on.
If you are a Christian, then I invite you to study this book of Mark to learn how God’s people are to continue the work of Jesus.
• Using Mark as a pattern, you will see that our first task is to understand who Jesus is. Next week we will look at the question, “Who is this man?” Without a clear understanding of who Jesus is, there is no Gospel.
• You will see that our task is to take up the cross of discipleship, ready to face trials and hardships even as Jesus did. We are called to walk the path of righteousness, peace, and harmony. Someone told us this past week, “It’s hard to be a Christian.” In our world today, perseverance is in short supply. But God won’t ask you to do anything he won’t provide strength for.
• And you will see that our task is to tell the world. That means your family, your friends and neighbors, as well as people in other cultures and nations. God wants to bless the whole world. Our prayers should include people beyond our own circle. They should not be like the prayer one man prayed, “Bless me and my wife, John and his wife, us four and no more.”
•
Conclusion
If you look at the last page of the book of Mark, you will see several different endings. Scholars don’t agree on which one was the original. We don’t know if the original ending got lost or if Mark’s gospel ended with verse 8. Whichever it was, the story of the Gospel begins with Jesus, but it continues with us. Mark understood that what he wrote was just the beginning. Our task is to continue the work of Jesus here and now.
(Resource: Willard M. Swartley, MARK: The Way for all Nations. Herald Press. 1979.)
