Juan. Nephew of Barnabas, Col 4:10; lived in Jerusalem, Acts 12:12; he accompanies Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, Acts 12:25; 13:1
Mark 423 INDEX OF THE HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
Marcos (Gr. Márkos, “manly”). Another name, or nickname, for John* 3 (Acts 12:12, 25; 15:37, 39; Col 4:10; etc.). Mark, Gospel of. Second Gospel and possibly the first to be written. The oldest manuscripts that reach us have the title: “According to Mark”. I. Author. The unanimous testimony of the first Christian writers points to John Mark as its author. The right to occupy a place in the canon of the Gospels was never in doubt. That it bears the name of an unremarkable man like John Mark indirectly certifies its authorship, since if the book were a forgery, the writer would undoubtedly have chosen the name of one of the apostles, as did the authors of spurious gospels and epistles. later. Around AD 140, Papias (bishop of Hierapolis, Asia Minor, and supposed disciple of John the apostle) identifies Mark as the author and claims that his Gospel is an accurate record of the life and teachings of Jesus, as he received it. of Peter and as he proclaimed. Although Mark was not one of the Twelve, according to early Christian writers he was Simon Peter’s companion and interpreter; According to a very early tradition, Mark obtained much information for his Gospel from Simon Peter’s observations and recollections. This is in harmony with Peter’s claim that Mark was his “son” (1Pe 5:13). The especially vivid narration of the incidents involving Peter tends to confirm what Papias said (Mark 1:36, 40; 2:1-4; 3:5; 5:4-6; 6:39, 40; 7: 34; 8:33; 10:21; 11:20; etc.). Although the Church Fathers agree that Mark is the author of the 2nd Gospel, they are divided as to whether he wrote it before Peter’s death (c 65 AD) or after it. Irenaeus of Lyons (c 185 AD) takes the 2nd position, and Clement of Alexandria (c 190 AD) the 1st, which seems the most likely. Thus, it can be dated to sometime between AD 55 and 70. See John 3. II. Setting. According to an ancient tradition, 750 the Gospel was written in Rome and was in general use among Christians before the middle of the 2nd century AD Tatian used it in his Diatessaron or Harmony of the Four Gospels (c 170 AD). Luke, who composed his Gospel c AD 63, asserts that many reports, oral and written, were in existence in his day, and implies that he used those sources to write his own (Luk 1:1-3). A careful comparison of Mark with Luke reveals extensive passages where the words are virtually identical (cf Mark 2:10, 11 with Luk 5:24 and Mat 9:6). The same situation is observed in a number of long verbally identical OT passages (cf 2Sa_22 with Psa_18; 2Ki 18:13-20:19 with Isa_36-39; 2Ki 24:18-25:21, 27-30 with Jer 52: 1-27, 31-34). These passages in the Synoptic Gospels testify to some type of documentary interrelationship under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. III. Source Only 24 verses in all of Mark, or c 1% of the total, have no parallels in Matthew and Luke. If, as Papias reports, Mark’s record is based on Peter’s memories, then he did not take it from them. And that it is the shortest, although it records many events in greater detail than Matthew or Luke, he points out that it was the basis for them and not a condensation of the two. Consequently, it seems reasonable to assume that Mark was one of the written sources from which Matthew and Luke obtained information, which is evidence that it was written earlier. Additional similarities in common materials in Matthew and Luke and not found in Mark indicate that they also used another source, commonly called “Q” (short for Quelle, the German word for “source”). It is notable that where Matthew and Luke have materials in common with Mark, the writers agree on the order in which they are presented, which is not the case with those who do not share. Whatever the documentary relationship of the Synoptic Gospels to one another, they constitute a divinely inspired record of the life and message of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit guided the selection of the materials, protected their manipulation, and supplemented them with direct revelations where necessary. IV. Literary aspects and recipients. Mark recounts 79 of some 179 incidents from the life of Christ that are recorded in the 4 Gospels; or almost as many as Mateo, but in less than about 2/3 of the space. He follows a more chronological order than Matthew or Luke, and he devotes special attention to what Jesus did rather than what he said. He devotes nearly 2/3 of his Gospel to the narrative; that is, half of Mateo. For example, he records only one major speech by Jesus (Mar_13; compared to 5 in Mt.) and only 6 of some 40 parables. The Marcan vocabulary does not reveal that he wrote to non-Jewish readers, as when he transliterates Latin words like centuria into Greek. “centurion” (15:39), denarius, “denary” (6:37), and speculator, “executioner”, “one of the guard” (6:27), instead of using the usual Greek words; this also suggests that the Gospel was intended for Roman readers. That Mark wrote his Gospel outside of Palestine, for non-Palestinian readers, is evident from the explanation he gives for such things as Palestinian coins (12:42), the Passover (14:12), the customs of the Pharisees (7:3.4 ) and various Aramaic words and expressions (5:41; 7:34; 15:34), all unnecessary for Jewish readers, particularly if they were Palestinian. At the same time, it is obvious that the author was a Jew who knew Aramaic and was familiar with the OT, although he quotes generally from the Greek translation. It is written in comparatively simple language, as if for non-literary readers. Although it is the shortest Gospel, it is in some respects the most vigorous and colourful, incisive, vivid and picturesque, often supplying significant details not mentioned by any other evangelist. V. Content. Like the other synoptic writers, Mark repeatedly records incidents in which Jesus is portrayed as attempting to hide his messianic identity. On several occasions he forbade those who had received his healing power to tell others what he had done for them (Mar 1:43-45; 5:43; 7:36, 37; etc.; cf Mat 12:16 ; 17:9). This reluctance to reveal his Messiahship or allow publicity regarding it – seen in the Synoptic Gospels – is today called the “Messianic secret.” As a result, some critical scholars have pointed to this difference in emphasis as evidence of conflicting views about Jesus’ mission on earth. Unquestionably, there are differences between John and the Synoptics, particularly in the areas that describe the 1st part of the ministry of Jesus. However, it should be remembered that in his daily work he demonstrated his Messiahship by living a faultless life as a man among men, and also by exercising his divine power on behalf of human needs. It was his purpose to present men with visible evidences of his divine nature and to enable them to form their own conclusions regarding his 751 identity (Mat 11: 2-5; 13: 53-58; Joh 5: 36; 10: 25; 15:24). A demonstration of his messianity would be more convincing to most people than a direct claim on his part. It is evident, however, that on certain occasions, as recorded in John, Jesus made specific claims of his divinity and of being the Messiah (John 3:11-16; 4:26; 5:17-30, 39-46). ; 6:35-58; 7:26-30; 8:21-56; 10:30; etc.). But it will be noted that it was not until the last months of his ministry that Jesus openly declared that he was the Messiah, which occurred on the occasion that he “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” was rejected, and finished his public work in Galilee ( Luke 9:51; John 6:1, 2). By presenting the evidence, Jesus now challenged the Jewish leaders and the people to make a decision on it. Mark shows Christ as a man of action, and is especially interested in his miracles as evidence of divine power at work on behalf of men (while Matthew devotes his main attention to the teachings of Jesus). Unlike Matthew and Luke, he says nothing of the infancy and youth of Christ. After a brief introduction mentioning Jesus’ baptism and the beginning of his public ministry (Mark 1:1-13), he skips over the first year and a half of it, and describes his work in Galilee in considerable detail ( 1:14-7:23). He mentions various incidents during Jesus’ withdrawal from public action for 6 months after the end of the work in Galilee (7:24-9:50), and then gives a brief account of his performance in Samaria and Perea (cp 10). He then devotes almost 1/3 of his Gospel to the final ministry of Jesus in Jerusalem and to the events related to his crucifixion, death and resurrection (11:1-15:47). He also mentions certain appearances of the Lord to his disciples after the latter cp 16; see CBA 5:551-553). For a detailed chronological outline of the events in the book, see Gospels, Harmony of the. Bib.: EC-HE iii.39.15; Irenaeus, Against Heresies iii. 1.1; EC-HE vi. 1 4.5-7.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
A native of Jerusalem, he appears in the NT as Juan M., the first Hebrew name and the second Roman surname. Son of Mary, a rich widow, in whose house the faithful Christians of Jerusalem met, Acts 12, 12-25. He was with Paul and Barnabas as a collaborator, on the Apostle’s first apostolic journey, 13, 5. There were some differences between them, and M. returned alone from Pamphylia to Jerusalem, Acts 13, 13.
This also caused a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas when the Apostle was preparing to undertake his second missionary journey. Barnabas wanted to take M., his cousin, but Pablo was against it, so they separated, taking the first M. as his companion, and the second Silas, Acts 15, 36-41. However, M. made friends with Paul, because in the letter to the Colossians M. sends greetings through the Apostle to the faithful of the Church of Colossae, Col 4, 10; in 2 Tm 4, 11, he speaks of the usefulness of M. for the apostolic ministry of Paul. M. must have worked with Peter in Rome, as translator and secretary, as he says in the epistle: † œShe who is in Babylon greets you, chosen like you, as well as my son M. †, 1 P 5, 13; when he says Babylon, he means Rome.
Tradition says that M. was the first bishop of the Church of Alexandria and that the Venetians seized his mortal remains, which were taken to this city, making him their patron.
As for the Gospel according to M., the oldest news about its author is found in Eusebius of Caesarea, historian of the Church, from the third century, who quotes Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, in Phrygia, who composed a work, around the year 130, which was lost,…