A WORD FOR TODAY, April 25, 2023
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, April 25, 2023
“My son, if you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for temptation. Set your heart right and be steadfast, and do not be hasty in time of calamity. Cleave to him and do not depart, that you may be honored at the end of your life. Accept whatever is brought upon you, and in changes that humble you be patient. For gold is tested in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation. Trust in him, and he will help you; make your ways straight, and hope in him. You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy; and turn not aside, lest you fall. You who fear the Lord, trust in him, and your reward will not fail; you who fear the Lord, hope for good things, for everlasting joy and mercy. Consider the ancient generations and see: who ever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame? Or who ever persevered in the fear of the Lord and was forsaken? Or who ever called upon him and was overlooked? For the Lord is compassionate and merciful; he forgives sins and saves in time of affliction.” Sirach 2:1-11, RSV
Today is the day we celebrate the life of Mark the Evangelist. His story is interesting because we see the connections between people in the Gospel stories. Mark was not one of the Twelve, but he was a large enough part of their world that his Gospel is accepted as canon. A few of the disciples were related like James and John, Peter, and Andrew, but we often think of the other characters in the story as completely unrelated. It is particularly amazing for us that these strangers would drop their whole lives to accommodate Jesus’ ministry. Yet, as we look at the story as a whole, we realize that there were connections we might not expect. This is especially true in the story of Mark, also known as John Mark.
John Mark’s mother Mary had a home in Jerusalem with a large upper room. It was to this room that Peter returned after being released from prison in Jerusalem. Herod, who was concerned about the growth of this new religion and who was anxious to keep the Jews happy, had arrested Peter after the killing of James, the brother of John was received so well by Jews. An angel of the Lord appeared to Peter in prison and set him free. The angel led Peter out of the prison, but Peter thought he was experiencing a vision. When he realized that what was happening was real, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many people had gathered for prayer. (Acts 12:12)
This was most likely the same place where the disciples gathered with Jesus for the Last Supper. Mary had a nephew named Barnabas who was an early leader in the church. As a matter of fact, we learn in Acts 13:1 that Barnabas was a teacher at the church in Antioch. Since he is first on the list of teachers of Antioch, he was probably the most important. He is thought to have been among the seventy-two sent by Jesus ahead of Him to every town and place. (Luke 10:1) He was probably with the disciples in the upper room for the Last Supper.
Jesus may have known Mary, the mother of John Mark, through His relationship with Barnabas. When Peter and John (Luke 22:11) were sent to prepare for the Passover meal, the homeowner was very accommodating and had the room ready for them. Perhaps Jesus arranged the details through Barnabas to use his aunt’s house for the meal. There is some conjecture in this line of thought, but there are enough connections in the scriptures between these characters to consider the possibilities. Besides, we know that Mary’s home became a gathering place for those first Christians. Wouldn’t it make sense that they returned to the place where they’d last met with Jesus over a meal? They needed a safe place to hide before the resurrection and a place to pray after the ascension. (Acts 1:13) Since this Mary was among the early believers, it made sense that she made her home available to Jesus and his disciples.
Since Jesus spent time in Mary’s home, her son John Mark would have been there to serve the disciples. One tradition holds that it was John Mark who carried the water into the room for Jesus to wash the feet of the disciples. (John 13) Another tradition claims that it was John Mark who ran from the garden naked when Jesus was arrested. (Mark 14:51) Even if they gathered in different rooms, John Mark would have heard the stories from those first apostles after the resurrection; he would have listened to Peter and the others as they gathered in prayer and to figure out the mission on which they’d been sent. John Mark was likely at his mother’s home when Peter arrived from the prison. The disciples gathered in Mary’s home did not believe it when the servant Rhoda told them that Peter was at the door. They all thought it must be his angel. They all heard his miraculous story, including John Mark who was learning about Jesus from the stories he heard told in his mother’s home. (Acts 12)
Some experts believe that John Mark was an interpreter for Peter and his Gospel is actually told from Peter’s point of view. Peter was a fisherman, and his education may have been limited, so it may have been difficult for him to write the story. Paul was highly educated and used a scribe for his letters, so Peter may have been too busy starting the Church to actually do the writing. So perhaps Peter worked with John Mark to tell the story so that others might hear and know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Peter wrote about Mark as if he were a son, so they were very close. (1 Peter 5:13)
John Mark traveled with his cousin Barnabas and the Apostle Paul. Barnabas was a leader in the Church at Antioch, where Saul/Paul was also a teacher. (Acts 13:1) Barnabas and Paul were set aside by the Holy Spirit to travel to Cyprus (Barnabas was from Cyprus) to share the Good News with the people there. John Mark traveled with them. (Acts 13:2) When they left Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia, John Mark left them to return to Jerusalem. We don’t really know why John Mark left. Was he homesick? He was much younger than the others, so he might have been. Paul was beginning to take over the leadership of the group. Was John Mark upset that his cousin Barnabas was being pushed aside? Was something wrong at home? Was his mother ill? Did Paul make decisions with which John Mark did not agree? Whatever happened, John Mark’s abandonment of the mission upset Paul and he later refused to take John Mark with him on his second missionary journey. That decision caused Barnabas to leave Paul. (Acts 15:39) They must have reconciled because Mark visited Paul in prison. (Colossians 4:10)
Mark’s Gospel was shared first as an oral story. It was learned and developed as these characters gathered together, sharing their memories and the lessons they’d learned. Though it seems to us sometimes that they were strangers who were drawn together by this incredible man, Jesus actually transformed families into something new and different. They knew each other, but they began to know each other differently as the Gospel transformed their lives. Though we look at Mark’s Gospel and realize that he was probably not a direct witness of many of the events, we know that he did know the people who’d lived them. They were family. They were friends. They were a part of his life of faith from the beginning. Peter was even like a father to him. So, he knew the stories as well as we know the stories from our own lives and the lives of those we love. What we read in Mark’s Gospel came out of that odd collection of strangers, connected not only by the love of Christ, but also by their shared experience of Jesus and the love they had for one another.
St. Mark the Evangelist was not an Apostle, but Jesus called him to do the work of the Kingdom in his own unique way; he had the vocation of reporting the story of Jesus to help spread the Gospel to the world. We see in his life the family connections between the Christians that were both blood and spirit. He wasn’t perfect, and we can see God’s grace in the fact that despite his decision to leave Paul, he was restored to ministry. We also see that though Mark was young, God gave him a place in the work of His Kingdom. He does the same for us despite all the excuses we make because we don’t think we can do the work.
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