Introduction to Mark's

Mark did not sign his Gospel so there is no real way of knowing who wrote it. The earliest reference we have to the authorship of Mark's Gospel comes the Church historian Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea (c. 320 AD). He quotes Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis (c. 130 AD), who recorded a tradition which he claimed was handed down by an elder, that Mark was a companion of Peter. Papias also records that Mark wrote down accurately Peter's account of the sayings and doings of Jesus, though 'not in order'. Further information comes from Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon (c. 178 AD). He had been at Rome and states that after the deaths of Peter and Paul, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, handed down in writing the preaching of Peter. It is likely that Irenaeus is recalling a local Roman tradition. These two pieces of evidence suggest that the author of the earliest written Gospel was Mark and that the place of origin was Rome.

Mark's Gospel was written at a time when the Church was first experiencing great persecution. In 64 AD Rome had been destroyed by fire. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, the emperor Nero was blamed for starting the fire. It is thought he did this so that he might rebuild the city on a much grander scale. In order to avoid the consequences of his crime, Nero made the Christians the scapegoats. They were arrested in hundreds and cruelly put to death. Some were crucified, others were sent to the amphitheater to be killed by wild animals, whilst others were dipped in tar, tied to stakes and burnt alive in order to light up Nero's garden parties. Many of the leaders of the Church in Rome were killed, including eyewitnesses of the ministry of Jesus. Tradition has it that Peter himself was killed during this persecution; when it came to him being crucified he asked to be hung upside down as he was not worthy of dying in the same way as his master. Many stories and sayings of Jesus were passed on in the Church by word of mouth. People could quote long passages from memory. This is sometimes referred to as oral tradition. It became apparent to Mark that it was essential to commit the tradition to writing before it was lost or distorted. It is possible therefore to date Mark's Gospel with some accuracy somewhere between 66 and 68 AD.

Many scholars have tried to find more biographical information about Mark from the New Testament itself. There is a long standing tradition that Mark is the John Mark of Jerusalem whose mother's house became the meeting place of the leaders of the Church after Pentecost (Acts 12:12). This may have been the house where the Last Supper was held. Some scholars think that it is possible that Mark may have been the 'young man wearing nothing but a linen cloth in the garden of Gethsemane who, leaving his garment in the clutches of the soldiers, ran away naked to escape arrest (Mark 14:51). They suggest that Mark was saying to his readers that he was actually there.

Later on in the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles tells us later that a Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. Paul refused to take him on the second journey because he had deserted them in Pamphylia (Acts 15:38). Their differences must have been reconciled because, years later, we find Mark serving Paul during the Apostle's imprisonment in Rome (1 Tim 4:11).

Whoever wrote it, the main purpose of Mark's Gospel was to encourage and strengthen an Early Church community faced with destruction at the hand of a tyrannical state.