04-11-2010, 06:07 PM
Mark’s name was actually John Mark, but he was referred to as Mark to distinguish him from the others named John.
Mark was an eyewitness to Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, for his account tells us (at Mark 14:50-52), ‘Then [the Apostles] all abandoned him and ran. But, a certain young man who had slipped a linen nightgown over his naked body, started following close behind. However, [the mob] tried to grab him, so he ran away naked, leaving his covering behind.’ The fact that mark doesn’t identify this young man by name indicates that he was talking about himself.
The next mentioning of him in the Bible is when he traveled with Paul and BarNabas to Antioch, then on to the Island of Cyprus. From there, he (against Paul’s wishes) returned home to Jerusalem. And that departure later caused quite an argument between Paul and BarNabas, when BarNabas wanted to take Mark along on a subsequent missionary journey. However, in a letter written several years after that, Paul indicated that he had forgiven Mark and asked him to come to him.
Mark was a resident of Jerusalem, because the Bible tells us that Peter went to the home of Mark’s mother (in Jerusalem) after a messenger from God freed Peter from the jail there. And the fact that Mark was present in a nightgown at Jesus’ arrest indicates that Jerusalem was his home.
Some commentators have claimed that Mark’s Gospel was the first to be written, but there is no proof of that claim, and it appears as though much of Mark’s story is actually borrowed from the more detailed account of Matthew. Also, the fact that the book of Mark appears to be written for the benefit of the gentiles, indicates that it is likely a later writing.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with one Bible writer copying the words of another, since Mark and Luke appear to be compiled accounts, and the writings of Matthew were included in those compilations.
The reason why Mark wrote this book was apparently to eliminate many of Matthew’s references to Hebrew prophecies. He likely did this so that gentiles (the ones he was preaching to) could see how Jesus’ life and words applied to them, rather than to the Jews. His writing is definitely more direct, interesting, and abbreviated than the Book of Matthew. However, many of the details that are found in Matthew and Luke are missing.
There are several important places where Mark’s Gospel disagrees with Matthew’s Gospel. Yet, that is simply to be expected when several people tell the same story from different points of view. While many of the things that Jesus said and did followed the same order as they are told in Matthew (but not in the same order as in Luke’s Gospel), someone (probably Peter) appears to be commenting on the points where his recollections differed, or where he remembered more.
Mark was an eyewitness to Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, for his account tells us (at Mark 14:50-52), ‘Then [the Apostles] all abandoned him and ran. But, a certain young man who had slipped a linen nightgown over his naked body, started following close behind. However, [the mob] tried to grab him, so he ran away naked, leaving his covering behind.’ The fact that mark doesn’t identify this young man by name indicates that he was talking about himself.
The next mentioning of him in the Bible is when he traveled with Paul and BarNabas to Antioch, then on to the Island of Cyprus. From there, he (against Paul’s wishes) returned home to Jerusalem. And that departure later caused quite an argument between Paul and BarNabas, when BarNabas wanted to take Mark along on a subsequent missionary journey. However, in a letter written several years after that, Paul indicated that he had forgiven Mark and asked him to come to him.
Mark was a resident of Jerusalem, because the Bible tells us that Peter went to the home of Mark’s mother (in Jerusalem) after a messenger from God freed Peter from the jail there. And the fact that Mark was present in a nightgown at Jesus’ arrest indicates that Jerusalem was his home.
Some commentators have claimed that Mark’s Gospel was the first to be written, but there is no proof of that claim, and it appears as though much of Mark’s story is actually borrowed from the more detailed account of Matthew. Also, the fact that the book of Mark appears to be written for the benefit of the gentiles, indicates that it is likely a later writing.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with one Bible writer copying the words of another, since Mark and Luke appear to be compiled accounts, and the writings of Matthew were included in those compilations.
The reason why Mark wrote this book was apparently to eliminate many of Matthew’s references to Hebrew prophecies. He likely did this so that gentiles (the ones he was preaching to) could see how Jesus’ life and words applied to them, rather than to the Jews. His writing is definitely more direct, interesting, and abbreviated than the Book of Matthew. However, many of the details that are found in Matthew and Luke are missing.
There are several important places where Mark’s Gospel disagrees with Matthew’s Gospel. Yet, that is simply to be expected when several people tell the same story from different points of view. While many of the things that Jesus said and did followed the same order as they are told in Matthew (but not in the same order as in Luke’s Gospel), someone (probably Peter) appears to be commenting on the points where his recollections differed, or where he remembered more.