Monday, September 11, 2017
565 - Mark My Words
Spirituality
Column No. 565
September
12, 2017
Common
Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Mark My Words
By Bob Walters
It seems
that everybody but me already knew that the Gospel of Mark is basically the
witness of St. Peter.
I have read
the Gospels many times, know that Matthew wrote to the Jews, Mark to the
Romans, Luke to the Greeks and John to everybody. Matthew the Jew was a hated tax collector for
the Romans recruited by Jesus to be a disciple.
Mark was a Jew but not a disciple and most Bible scholars agree he was probably
the “young man who fled naked” (Mark 14:51-52) when Jesus was arrested. Luke, a
Greek physician, was not among the 12 Disciples but probably was one of the “70
or 72” caretaker disciples (Luke 10:1-2) and also very likely was the “other
man” with Cleopas on the road to Emmaus when they were visited by Jesus (Luke
24:13-18) following the crucifixion.
John, “the Disciple Jesus loved,” was the only Disciple who actually was
at the crucifixion. All the rest
fled. At the cross, of all Jesus’s
followers, only John and a few women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, were
there.
To recap
the Gospel writers early on, Matthew was despised, Mark was a coward, Luke was
a foreigner, and John, probably too many times in his Gospel, mentioned that he
was “the disciple Jesus loved.” My dear
but now 10-years-deceased pastor and mentor Russ Blowers liked to joke,
lovingly, that John wanted to make sure everyone knew he was Jesus’s
“favorite.”
To me the
greatness of the Bible is more than just its divine trustworthiness. With its fascinating stories, depth, danger, complex
and linked characters, and how everything ultimately fits together; there is
always something new to learn.
And I keep
learning things, thanks in no small part to my great friend and teacher George
Bebawi, a Bible translator and well-regarded scholar in church history (lecturer
at Cambridge University, England) who for the 14th consecutive
September at East 91st Street Christian Church begins a Christian
teaching series, this year on the Gospel of Mark. The class – free and open to
everyone – begins this week, Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the upstairs
“Sun Room” at E91. Anyone from any
church is welcome.
Because I
help George finalize his class notes (proofing and formatting), I saw the information
on Peter and Mark. I shared that nugget
with pastor-friend Dave Faust, who said, “Oh yeah, that’s in 1 Peter 5:13, and
Silas (verse 12) helped both Peter and Paul.”
John Samples, dear friend and pastor who wrote the foreword for my new
book, said “That’s true, and isn’t it interesting that everyone thinks Mark is
a shortened version of Matthew, when actually Mark was written first and
Matthew is more like an extended version of Mark?” Many of you could probably add much more.
So sorry if
I’m a bit behind, but I find constant renewal not only in daily relationship
with Jesus but in the perpetual freshness of scripture. I pray you do too.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) sincerely invites you to George’s free class series on Mark at
E91. Just bring your Bible and your
brain … and some note paper.
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