Good Morning Everyone!

I’ve been out of touch for a few days. Focus has been on figuring out taxes, (which are hitting me hard) and on dealing with my mother-in-law who is now being moved to a full time care facility. Life has been a little caotic for my family.

After a lot of thought and prayer, I decided to continue on to the Gospel of Mark for the next study. This is for a few reasons. One is in a month we will be departing on the Philippine Medical mission trip. Brushing up on New Testament scriptures will help with the mission. I also considered another criticism that I received from a sister who attended our home meeting. She felt that since she is Messianic that the focus should be on the Old Testament. If you have been involved in this study, it is quickly obvious that we study the Old Testament from the New Testament. It is nearly impossible to understand the Gospels without understanding the Old Testament Torah. With that said, let’s focus on Mark and move forward.

This is the second commentary that I am rewriting with the Messianic viewpoint. The other studies on this website have been removed for editing. It is a huge task. I have commented on a large percentage of the Bible. I also feel that it is important to teach the truth accurately. In recent years, I have come to realize that we cannot understand biblical truth without understanding the Jewish view of that truth. When we take the Jewish view and study the scriptures, Christianity takes on a new depth. I am not worried about denominations. Most of the splits in denominations took place because of doctrinal squabbles over the accuracy of the Word. In my opinion, if we study the scriptures accurately, every Christian will be able to have fellowship regardless of the doctrinal flag that each of us flies.

Who am I? I am an independent writer who is running a very small home church. My task is to encourage you to study the scriptures accurately. The goal of this study is to give you the tools and a little insight which will infect your church with the truth of the Gospel. Perilous times are on the horizon. It is time that we as Christians and Jews pool our resources together in order to fight evil. The biggest portion of the fight is to equip each believer with sharp and accurate tools. That is what this study is designed for. I cannot “make” you read, or “infuse” you with wisdom. I can only encourage you to study.

Mark

Who was Mark? Mark was not an apostle. Mark never claimed authorship to this book, this was ascribed at about 125 C.E. by historians. Mark is credited authorship because of an entry of an early church father Paipas,  Eusebius writes:

14 Papias gives also in his own work other accounts of the words of the Lord on the authority of Aristion who was mentioned above, and traditions as handed down by the presbyter John; to which we refer those who are fond of learning. But now we must add to the words of his which we have already quoted the tradition which he gives in regard to Mark, the author of the Gospel.

15 It is in the following words: “This also the presbyter said: Mark, having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately, though not indeed in order, whatsoever he remembered of the things said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but afterward, as I said, he followed Peter, who adapted his teaching to the needs of his hearers, but with no intention of giving a connected account of the Lord’s discourses, so that Mark committed no error while he thus wrote some things as he remembered them. For he was careful of one thing, not to omit any of the things which he had heard, and not to state any of them falsely.” These things are related by Papias concerning Mark.^[1]

This stand is also taken by other early church fathers. Mark shows up in Acts as “John Mark” or “John who is also called Mark” (Acts 12:12). History indicates that Mark was Peter’s scribe. He wrote down what Peter told. Mark gives an eye witness account through the eyes of Peter. The flip side of this coin could also be true. Mark is thought to have been present due to the intimacy of his knowledge. It is possible that he was one of the followers of Jesus even though he was not a disciple. The best view of the book is Mark giving Peter’s account of Yeshua.

Think about the spontaneity of Peter. He demonstrates through the Gospels that he is a reactive, in-your-face type of person. He reacts first and thinks later. This sense of urgency comes out strongly in Mark’s testimony. The word immediately is used at least 40 times in this gospel of 16 chapters, transmitting clearly to us that Yeshua’s task was urgent.

When we look at the Gospel of Mark, we may be looking at the story of Jesus the Messiah through the eyes of Peter. This is important to keep in mind. Through the Gospels we see Peter as reactive. Later though, his ministry changes when he is influenced by the vision of the sheets. Peter was the first one commissioned to reach out to the Gentiles (Acts 10-11:18). It is easy to misinterpret the vision of the sheet and animals to think it is focused upon clean and unclean food. Peter gives the interpretation of the vision as one which clarifies that the Gentiles are no longer to be declared unclean. They are to be reached with the Gospel and experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit as testimony (Acts 11:17-18).

Peter was the leader of the Apostles. We will be looking to see where this commentary goes as we explore Hebrew thinking, Biblical prophecy, and the view of Yeshua through the eyes of Mark. What will we see? Stay tuned and join me in the study.

^[1] Eusebius of Caesaria, “The Church History of Eusebius,” in Eusebius: Church History, Life of Constantine the Great, and Oration in Praise of Constantine, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. Arthur Cushman McGiffert, vol. 1, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1890), 172–173.