Who wrote the Gospel of Mark? When was it written? Who was it written to?
(From “Everyone in the Bible” by William P. Barker, published by Fleming H. Revell Company.)
Mark was a companion of both Paul and Peter. John was his Jewish name; Mark was a Latin or Gentile name. His mother, Mary, was apparently a woman of some means and influence in Jerusalem. Her house was a meeting place for the earliest followers after the resurrection, and Mark was part of the Christian community from the first. Nothing is known about his father.
After Barnabas, Mark’s uncle, and Paul came to Jerusalem with money from the church at Antioch, Mark returned to Antioch with them, and a year later accompanied them on the first missionary journey, which he later left early.
Both Paul and Peter used affectionate terms for Mark, indicating he was a close associate of both great apostles. Most scholars think that Mark spent considerable time with Peter, and early historians state that Mark was with Peter at Rome when Peter died. Peter’s reminiscences of Jesus were gathered by Mark to form the basis of this earliest gospel account.
(From “The Bible Knowledge Commentary” by Walvoord and Zuck, Dallas Seminary Faculty.)
This Gospel is a theological proclamation to a particular audience of God’s “good news” centered in the historical events of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. His major source was the preaching and instruction of the Apostle Peter.
Many scholars believe that Mark was the first Gospel written and that Matthew and Luke used it as a primary source document along with material from other sources. Nowhere does the New Testament have any explicit statement regarding the date of Mark. The discourse centered around Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple suggests that Mark’s Gospel was written before AD 70, when the temple was destroyed. The almost universal testimony of the early church fathers is that Mark’s Gospel was written in Rome primarily for Gentile Roman Christians.
Mark’s portrait of Jesus and its meaning for discipleship stand at the center of his theology. In the opening verse Jesus Christ is identified as “the Son of God”. This was confirmed by the Father (1:11) and affirmed by demons (3:11.5:7), by Jesus Himself (13:32, 14:36, 14:61-62) and by a Roman centurion at Jesus’s death (15:39).
The word gospel means “good news”. It does not refer to the book. Instead, it refers to the good news about Jesus Christ. “News” meant that something significant had happened. When Mark used the word, it had become a technical term signifying Christian preaching about Jesus Christ. It was an important term in the theological shaping of Mark’s narrative.
The main characters in the Gospel of Mark
To allow us to see God’s hand throughout this Gospel we need to understand the background of the main characters. In Mark chapter 1 we meet John the Baptist. In Luke chapter 1 we learn more about who John was.
John’s father, Zechariah, was a priest. His wife, Elizabeth, and Zechariah were both descendants of Aaron. In Luke 1 verses 6 and 7 set the stage for John’s miraculous birth…
6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and both of them were very old.
In the Jewish traditions at the time, not be able to conceive was a disgrace. If we look back in the Old Testament, we see this happen to various women whose sons later in life became a key in God’s story. Think of Sarah, who was 90 when Issac was born. Or Hannah, the mother of Samuel, who begged God for a son and promised to give him back to God.
In God’s timing, Elizabeth would conceive and John was born. He was dedicated to the Lord’s service from the beginning. In Luke 1 verses 15-17 an angel of the Lord told Zechariah…
15He will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to drink wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16He will bring back many of the people of Isreal to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteousness- to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
In Luke 1:36 we discover that John the Baptist is a cousin of Jesus. The angel told Mary…
36Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age.
I marvel at the thought of family gatherings for temple worship on holy days, like Passover, as the two boys grew up. They are only six months apart in age. Were they friends or just acquaintances? Did their parents tell them about God’s plan for the other? As the Christian singing group Mercy Me sang, “I can only imagine!”
The next character is the main character, Jesus Himself. John the Baptist is in the Jordan River. In chapter 1:9-13 John, and we, get to see all three of the Trinity…
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn opened and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.”
12At once the Spirit sent Him out into the wilderness, and He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended Him.
Still in chapter 1 are a few more main characters. Jesus calls His first disciples, Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew, and James the son of Zebedee and his brother John (the Gospel writer). In John’s Gospel, John clarifies that this wasn’t their first meeting. It was their call into ministry. John 1:35-51 tells how John and Andrew followed Jesus when John the Baptist said to them…
35The next day John was there with two of his disciples (John and Andrew). 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37When the two disciples heard him say this; they followed Jesus.
Right after that, they introduced Jesus to Peter. Verse 43 says, “the next day” Jesus found Philip and Nathanael.
Later in chapter three Jesus appoints the twelve disciples. They are named in 3:16-19. Though we know very little about these men, they followed Jesus throughout His three-year ministry. We will discuss other characters as they make their cameo appearances throughout this Gospel.
As we think about what Mark has written, we realize he was receiving a firsthand account from Peter while they were in Rome, probably not to many years before Peter was crucified. That being true, Peter was probably in his early 60’s and Mark, being about 15 years younger, would have been in his 40’s. They are reflecting back about 30 years. Peter has had years of ministry telling the stories that happened in his three years with Jesus. I imagine Peter sitting at a table telling Mark all these stories and Mark sitting there writing it all done. I imagine Peter being very reflective, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometimes very still for a moment.
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