Mark 13.5-13
April 25 commemorates the life and work of St Mark. It was certainly the testimony of the early church that the gospel was written by the same Mark referred to in several places in the Acts of the Apostles, sometimes called John Mark. Mark, it is believed, was a close companion of Peter, who accurately preserved the preaching of Peter to the early Christian communities. It is likely, therefore, that this gospel consists largely of Peter’s preaching arranged and shaped by Mark.
Mark was a Jew and a cousin of Barnabas whom he accompanied with Paul on their first missionary journey. Afterwards he travelled to Cyprus with Barnabas, and to Rome with first Paul and then Peter. His gospel was written most likely when he was in Rome, shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. That would help to make sense of passages such as the gospel reading cited above, part of a chapter in which the destruction of The Temple is foretold.
Mark was anticipating the Roman backlash to the Jewish revolt of 66AD. He was reading of the signs of the times and might also have been responding to the persecution following the fire of Rome in 64AD which Nero blamed on the Christians.
Mark’s gospel is a succinct, yet vivid account of Jesus’ life. It has been, and continues to be, an important means of telling ‘the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’ – as the first verse of the gospel puts it.One striking example of the power of this gospel can be seen in the testimony of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh.
The late Russian Archbishop was an atheist in his teens. Living in exile with his family in Paris, he found life increasingly meaningless and gave himself one year to try and discover a sense of purpose. If unsuccessful he would commit suicide. Having attended a youth camp at which he was annoyed by the words of a Christian leader, he set out to disprove the Christian faith. Let me take up the story in the Archbishop’s own words.
“I asked my mother whether she had a book of the Gospel, because I wanted to know whether the Gospel would support the monstrous impression I had derived from his talk. I expected nothing good from my reading, so I counted the chapters of the four Gospels to be sure I read the shortest, not to waste time unnecessarily. I started to read Mark’s Gospel . . . Before I reached the third chapter, I suddenly became aware that on the other side of my desk there was a presence. And the certainty was so strong that it was Christ standing there that it has never left me. This was the real turning point. Because Christ was alive, and I had been in his presence I could say with certainty what the Gospel said about the crucifixion of the prophet of Galilee was true . . . It was in the light of the Resurrection that I could read with certainty the story of the Gospel, knowing that everything was true in it because the impossible event of the Resurrection was to me more certain than any event in history.”
Mark’s gospel changed the life of that young boy who would become one of the greatest Orthodox figures of the late 20th century. Countless others have also been drawn into a relationship with the risen Christ and strengthened in their faith through the account of Jesus’ life bequeathed to us by Mark.
So, it is right that we give thanks on this day for the life of the man who has, through his written account of the life of Jesus, shared the good news with innumerable people across the centuries. May we, also, be encouraged by Mark the Evangelist to play our own part in sharing the good news with others, wherever our life takes us.
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