Mark 16:15-20
Jesus showed himself to the Eleven, and said to them: ‘Go
out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes
and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These
are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast
out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in
their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay
their hands on the sick, who will recover.’ And so the Lord Jesus, after he had
spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he
took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working
with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.
Food for thought!
Today, is the feast of St. Mark, the evangelist. Because
of this, we want to mack this man; we want to focus our Food for thought on the
man Mark, the Evangelist. As we know, Mark was not among the twelve apostles of
Jesus. Probably, he did not know Jesus face to face. Where then did Mark get
his information? What is so special about Mark's Gospel? What does Mark tell us
about Jesus? What is Mark's style? What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ according
to Mark?
Well, we know that the value of any man's story will
always depend on the sources of his information. Where, then, did Mark get his
information about the life and work of Jesus? Today's first reading gives us a
clue. It is from the First Letter of St. Peter. It says,
"I write these few words to you through Silvanus,
who is a brother I know I can trust, to encourage you never to let go this true
grace of God to which I bear witness. Your sister in Babylon, who is with you
among the chosen, sends you greetings; so does my son, Mark."
This means that Mark was a companion of Peter the
apostle, not of Jesus. Mark's gospel is, therefore, nothing other than a record
of the preaching material of Peter . Certainly Mark stood so close to Peter, and
so near to his heart, that Peter could call him "Mark, my son."
(1Pet.5:13.) One ancient writer, Papias, says: "Mark, who was Peter's
interpreter, wrote down accurately, though not in order, all that he
recollected of what Christ had said or done. For he was not a hearer of the
Lord or a follower of his. He followed Peter."
We may then take it that in his gospel we have what Mark
remembered of the preaching material of Peter himself. And that is what makes
Mark's gospel special: first, it is the earliest of all the gospels; yes,
Mark's gospel is the oldest gospel. If it was written from Peter's preaching,
its date will be about the tear A.D. 65. Second, Mark's gospel embodies the
record of what Peter preached and taught about Jesus. We may put it this way,
Mark is the nearest approach we will ever possess to an eyewitness account of
the life of Jesus. It is the nearest thing we will ever get to a report of
Jesus' life. All the othe r gospels were
written after Mark's gospel, and by and large copied his gospel.
This is another proof that Jesus needs us all. He used
Mark, who was never an apostle. This is why Mark himself quotes Jesus, "Go
out into the real world and witness to Jesus." Whoever you are, wherever
you are, you can and should witness for Jesus, like Mark did. Just be genuine,
be yourself, be Christian.
"Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as
though you were working for the Lord and not merely for your masters,
remembering that it is the Lord Christ who is going to pay you, giving you your
full portion of all he owns. He is the one you are really working for."
(Colossians 3:23-24)
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