Rev. Dr. Devin Strong
Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church
Matthew is the first book in the New Testament and the first of four Gospels written about Jesus’ life and ministry, so many people assume that Matthew was the first Gospel to be written down, but Bible geeks like me know that the Gospel of Mark is actually the first Gospel.
Most scholars believe that Mark was first committed to parchment around 65 C.E., just a few years before the Roman-Jewish War and the destruction of the first Temple in 70 C.E. Mark is also the shortest of the four Gospels by at least a third, and Matthew and Luke are believed to have borrowed heavily from Mark’s sources to write their own chronicles of Jesus.
Knowing this historical background helps us understand why Mark tells the stories of Jesus the way that he does. In this Gospel human response, or the lack of it, seems to play a greater role. Only in Mark is Jesus unable to perform many miracles when his friends and neighbors in Nazareth do not accept him as the Messiah, and only Mark has the book originally end—there was a later addendum—with his followers running away from the empty tomb and telling no one. In Mark Jesus is portrayed as perhaps more down to Earth than in any of the other Gospels. The Lord’s effectiveness, especially in this book, depends on the people’s response to him. Here the little people in the story, including the minor characters, the healed folks, and the foreigners all “get” Jesus in a way that the Pharisees, the Romans, and the powerful people absolutely do not. Caught somewhere in between are Jesus’ closest followers, his disciples, who sometimes seem to understand the Lord’s teachings and other times are absolutely confused.
The point of all this is that Mark seems to be writing to a post-70 C.E. audience, and even to us, asking, where do you stand? Are you willing to trust Jesus the way that the outsiders do, or are your feet firmly planted in the world? Will you tell Jesus’ story like all our lives depend on it, or will you just run away scared?
The other thing about Mark, and all the Gospels, is that they existed in oral form for at least a generation before they were ever written down. People passed Jesus’ stories by word of mouth. The Gospel is meant to be heard, and residents of our community have a unique opportunity to hear the Good News of Jesus in spoken form.
On Saturday, September 14th at 7 PM, Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church, located at 15985 GA Hwy. 144 in Richmond Hill, will host Ashley Strand as he presents The Gospel According to Mark, a one-man show where he performs Christianity’s first Gospel in its entirety. Ashley is a teacher, producer, director, and professional stage actor whose skills stretch all the way from Shakespeare to standup comedy.
Join us for this rare opportunity to see this skilled performer bring the Good News alive in the way that it was meant to be experienced. Tickets are $30, and space is limited, so call 912.910.1511 or email GospelOfMarkTickets@ gmail.com to reserve