Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – bless the bed
that I lie on.
I learned this simple
child’s bed time prayer from my mother, God bless her, when I was just a
toddler. I’ve never forgotten it, and it sprang to mind when I was thinking
about St Mark, and what I would say today on his feast day. The prayer names
all four evangelists, the four people who wrote the Gospels, through which we
learn of Jesus and his teaching. The 2nd Gospel does not say who
wrote it, but according to Papias writing around 100AD the name of the author is
Mark – Mark the Evangelist.
St Mark’s is the
shortest of the four Gospels. Most scholars believe it was the first to be written,
perhaps shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD following a Jewish
uprising against Rome. Both Matthew and Luke seem to have had his text in front
of them when they wrote theirs, since they include many of the same incidents,
often in the same words. So we owe special thanks to Mark – without his work so
much of Jesus’s life and teaching would be lost to us.
What do we know about
Mark? Very little for certain! Two people called Mark are named in the New
Testament.
·
First
there is John Mark who is mentioned several times in the Acts of the
Apostles. He is the reason for the sharp
disagreement between Paul and Barnabas we heard about in today’s 1st
reading (Acts 15: 35-41).
·
Second
there is Mark the cousin of Barnabas mentioned in some of Paul’s epistles as a
companion of Paul’s during his imprisonment in Rome.
These two Marks are
traditionally identified with Mark the Evangelist, though not all scholars
agree. Mark – Marcus in Latin – was one of the commonest names in the Roman
Empire. We simply can’t be certain that these are the same person as the
Evangelist.
Our Egyptian Coptic brothers
and sisters in Christ have a tradition that Mark was born in Cyrene in Libya
and was martyred in Alexandria, where his relics were venerated. In 828 the reputed
relics were stolen by two Venetian merchants and taken to Venice. When St
Mark’s Basilica was being built in 1063 they couldn’t be found – until, that
is, the Saint himself pointed to the place by sticking an arm out of a pillar.
Some of these
traditions are doubtful – and some of them downright fanciful – but does that
really matter?
Surely, all that really matters is what Mark
tells us about Jesus, and how that speaks to us today.
So let us turn to
reflect on what Mark tells us in today’s 3rd reading (Mark 13: 5-13). The context is
this: Jesus has just foretold the destruction of Herod’s magnificent new Temple
in Jerusalem. The disciples Peter, James, John and Andrew take him aside to ask
privately, ‘How will we know when this will happen?’ Then Jesus replies in the
words we have heard. Both Matthew and Luke have almost exactly the same story
in their Gospels – no doubt they both got it from Mark.
Jesus knows his likely fate – to be killed by
the authorities as an agitator.
He is sure he will
rise again, and that his disciples will continue his saving mission. But he
realises it is inevitable that there will be false leaders too who will
distort his message. So he begins by warning them, ‘Beware
that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!”’
Christians today must still take care to distinguish between imposters and
those who really do come in Christ’s name.
In today’s 2nd reading (Ephesians 4: 7-16) St Paul suggests a test we can apply:
do they equip the community of believers, the church, for the work of ministry
as the body of Christ?
Jesus knows that his disciples are worried for
the future.
Stories abounded then -
as they do now and have always done - about terrible events in different parts
of the world. It would be all too easy for his disciples to give up the hope they
need to continue his mission. So he reassures them in these words, ‘When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be
alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in
various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth
pangs’ - the start of
something new.
Jesus’s words send a
shiver down my back, as I think of the frightful news that fills the media –
now brought to us in our living rooms on screens as it happens in full colour.
But hasn’t it always been like this? My grandparents lived through the horrors
of WW1 trench warfare, armed rebellion and internecine civil war. My parents
lived through total war in WW2 and survived to bring me into the world. I have
contemplated nuclear annihilation during the Cold War and made pathetic plans to
protect my family. My children fear dastardly terrorist attacks and are
terrified by the prospect of catastrophic climate change.
These fears of ours and
people in every age are no more than a sign that the great work of building
God’s kingdom is in progress now. All of us who are Jesus’s disciples are
called to play their part in it. Christians
must not let go of hope for the future.
Jesus’s disciples must proclaim the good news
to all people.
But Jesus knows they
will meet resistance, and some will face persecution. ‘Beware’,
he says, ‘for they will hand you over to councils;
and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and
kings because of me, as a testimony to them.’ Nobody can say
that Jesus is other than realistic and brutally honest with his disciples. He understands that religious minorities are often made scapegoats,
as the first Christians were. Christians
are not being persecuted in Ireland today – but they are in many other places. And
not just Christians: other religious minorities are also suffering, among them
Muslims.
If this happens to
you, says Jesus, ‘do not worry beforehand about what you are
to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who
speak, but the Holy Spirit.’ Jesus recommends to his disciples
that when they face interrogation for their faith they should confront their
persecutors directly and frankly. Please God this will never happen to me, but
it is surely good advice – tell the truth as the Spirit moves you, as there is
nothing to be gained by dissembling and lying at a show-trial.
Some will even face betrayal
and death for their faith. ‘Brother will
betray brother to death’, says Jesus, ‘and
a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to
death; and you will be hated by all because of my name.’ But
there are worse things than death for a Christian. Worse than death would be
the shame of denying our faith. ‘The one who
endures to the end will be saved’, says Jesus. If death is to be
our fate we should face it bravely, in the knowledge that through it we enter
God’s heavenly kingdom, where we will meet Jesus, who died on the cross to show
us how it is done.
Let me finish with a prayer for those
persecuted and martyred for their faith:
Loving Father God, your Son Jesus Christ suffered and
died for us.
In his resurrection
he restores life and peace in all creation.
Comfort, we pray, all
victims of persecution and those oppressed by their fellow humans.
Remember in your
kingdom those who have died for their faith.
Lead the oppressors
towards compassion and give hope to the suffering.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
