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The Gospel of Mark brings the good news (euaggelion) for all who will listen. The Gospel of Mark tells a story about events that occurred in Palestine. But these events were so striking that news of them spread quickly throughout the Roman Empire. Who first brought the good news to Rome? Pilgrims, probably, from Jerusalem. Some of these pilgrims were eyewitnesses to the events described in this story. Simon Peter was among them.

Early reliable tradition suggests that the Gospel of Mark began as an oral account in Aramaic that was written out in Greek. Most likely it was written in Rome, probably on a scroll, by someone who knew both Aramaic and Greek. A conversion of the story from Aramaic to Greek is evident throughout the Gospel of Mark (Trochme, Formation, p. 251). Aramaic was the language spoken by Jeshua. Aramaic names and sayings are still found scattered throughout this work. Sometimes the writer’s Greek is a bit stilted because finding an exact equivalent for many Aramaic words is difficult, if not impossible. It has been determined that the person who converted the oral Aramaic to the written Greek knew Greek better than he did Aramaic.

Greek remained in widespread use throughout the Roman Empire. It was used in Alexander the Great’s empire when it was overrun by the Romans. The audience for this Greek translation of the good news was for people who lived in the Roman Empire and its capital, Rome. The text was found later in various places in the empire. Even after the Roman conquest, Greek remained the language of the eastern half of the empire, especially in markets where people carried out their businesses. Simon Peter, for instance, would have used some Greek to sell his fish in the marketplace of Capernaum, a city on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Peter and most of his associates came from the region around the Sea of Galilee.

As the story relates, Peter and his associates were sent out by Jeshua to spread the good news to the ends of the earth. From Peter’s standpoint Rome was the center of that “end of the earth.” Peter reached Rome near the end of his life. He probably preached the good news in Aramaic in the Jewish synagogues in Rome, as he had done in Judaea, Samaria, and Antioch. Interestingly, the followers of Jeshua were first called “Christians” in Antioch.

At the end of his first letter, Peter called Mark his “beloved son.” In Rome, where Latin as well as Greek was spoken, Peter would have needed an interpreter to speak for him. Papias, a Christian bishop of the second century of the Common Era, called Mark Peter’s interpreter in spreading the good news. Among Christians, the idea took root that Mark was the person who wrote this first report of the life, teaching, wonders, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jeshua.

The Gospel of Mark was an unsigned report, and the story it tells, based on an oral tradition, was already forty years old by the time it was written down. But this delay did not detract from the reverence with which the early Christian churches accepted it as an authentic account of what the apostles had witnessed. We should remember that Christ did not command his disciples to write anything. He simply instructed them to proclaim the good news everywhere. And for the first forty years Jeshua’s followers did so orally. Mark’s composition, written on a long scroll, appeared in one continuous stream of letters without spaces between the words or punctuation, paragraphs, and chapters. It served as evidence of what may be called “the great tradition” among Christian churches. To be able to read it you had to know Greek and the oral tradition of the good news that had already spread among the early Christian churches. It’s good to keep these things in mind when interpreting the story.

Peter summarized the teaching and acts of Jeshua when preaching in the temple (Acts 2:22–24), and also when speaking to Cornelius in Caesarea (Acts 10:37–42). Paul did as much when preaching in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:23–31). Trochme tells us (Formation of the Gospel, pp. 6–31) that the first generation of Christians felt the need for a continuous account of the ministry of Jeshua, and so “Mark composed” his gospel to meet the needs of the church of his day. The religious world of Mark’s community was in shock because the First Jewish–Roman War of 70 CE seemed to be putting an end to Judaism and Christianity. The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed. It was a time of enormous upheaval. Mark responded to this upheaval with his coherent story of Jeshua, which became in effect a new Christian genre. He composed his account with the needs of the Christian community of his day in mind.

Mark was the first to call the whole account a euaggelion. Later, longer accounts were then called by the same title (e.g., the euaggelion according to Matthew, Luke, and John). All of these accounts were written for people who lived in various communities during the later decades of the first hundred years of the Christian century. Four of these accounts, scholars agree, were accepted as authentic. This acceptance was a gradual, informal process that occurred under the influence of Christian worshipers, bishops, and theologians.

In classical Greek, euaggelion referred to a ruler’s act of amnesty granted at his accession to power. Often it was an act of freeing political prisoners. Similarly, to the first Christians, Jeshua of Nazareth’s whole life appeared like an act of amnesty—good news for all that extended God’s forgiveness to all those open to the gospel. For those who accepted the euaggelion, it became indeed the good news that assured them of God’s reign as Jeshua had proclaimed it, lived it, suffered and died for it. It was the same for those who received spiritual freedom from Jeshua’s promise of God’s presence, forgiveness, and eternal life.

The word gospel in English comes from the Old English word GodSpell—God’s News. This is not “good news” in the sense of only happy factual information. For the early Christians it meant news of profound significance for the meaning of their life, like the way in which a euaggelion of a new governor meant the release of political prisoners and the easing of tensions between factions or between the ruler and his new subjects, hence, giving hope to all.

In the thirteenth chapter of Mark we read how Jeshua told his disciples their mission was to spread the good news everywhere (13:10). This instruction implied amnesty for those willing to turn from evil desires or actions, to God. That is why the first verses of Mark’s account cites the preaching of John the Baptist, and why John’s cry to all from the waters of the Jordan echoes earlier scriptural calls (e.g., Exod 23:20; Isa 40:1; Mal 3:1) for listeners to repent of their sins, to turn to God, and be washed clean. The good news, then, was first announced by John the Baptist as though he were an angel, a messenger sent from heaven to prepare the way of God for all. So it was also for Jeshua, who made his first public act one of support for John’s call to all, to repent and be baptized. Jeshua approved and replied to John’s call that we should all be baptized and turn to God with our whole heart.

For the Jews, washing with water was a way to purify the body from possibly harmful things. The book of Leviticus, for instance, prescribed such washing after contact with dead animals or human cadavers, or with anything or anyone who might become a source of contagion, such as individuals having leprosy or another disease. Washing was eventually required by Jewish law for anyone recently involved in sexual intercourse outside of marriage. It was required also of converts to the Jewish faith, especially those coming from among the goyim, the Gentiles. What was new about John the Baptist’s baptism was that he called not only public sinners or converts, but everyone, to be baptized.

Mark’s account of the good news gives us graphic details about John. The story begins with an invocation from the prophet Isaiah telling his people that God would send a messenger to prepare the way for the coming of the promised one, one awaited since the days of Moses. John then appeared, dressed and prophesying like Elijah, the great Jewish prophet. John came calling people to reform their lives, to be baptized—to be cleansed—in the Jordan River. He called them to turn to God, to prepare their hearts for the coming of one greater than he, one who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit (1:8).

Then the great event occurred. Jeshua came from the northern village of Nazareth in Galilee into the company of his cousin, John. Jeshua stepped into the river and signaled to John that he wanted to be baptized. John hesitated at first, but finally baptized Jeshua. Then we read of the revelation that came to Jeshua when he emerged from the water. He saw the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descending upon him like a dove. Then he heard the voice from heaven: “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased” (1:11).

This is the profound revelation at the beginning of the good news ascribed to Mark. It sets the tone and meaning for everything that follows. At the very end of Jeshua’s life, as described in Mark’s gospel, we hear of another separation, like the opening of the heavens at Christ’s baptism, and that was the veil in the temple sanctuary. The evangelist who wrote this account of the baptism of Jeshua would have had to use (in translating the original Aramaic version of the story into Greek) the Aramaic word for spirit, ruha, which is feminine (cf. DeConick, Holy Misogyny, p.21). While this account compares the descent of the Spirit upon Jeshua to that of a dove, in Greek “spirit” implies fatherhood, a masculine noun. In the Greek translation of Mark’s gospel, we have only the masculine gender for both the Father in heaven and the Spirit. Latin translations of Mark’s account also use these masculine forms when describing the baptism of Jeshua. For those concerned with the use of gender for expressing all three persons within the Godhead consider these distinctions food for thought.

Jeshua left John the Baptist at the Jordan River and then went into the desert nearby. After John’s imprisonment, however, Jeshua came out of the desert and began preaching as John had done, calling all to repent of their sins and to turn to God. Jeshua proclaimed the reign of God was still closer. It was “at hand,” there among them. Then the phrase “the reign of God” appears no less than fourteen times in Mark’s account of the good news.

Jeshua’s entrance into public life as a preacher implied that the reign of God was spiritual, and that it included also a frontal attack on the powers of evil. To oppose these powers, Jeremiah had foretold how God would summon fishermen to fish his people from the depths where they lay (16:6). Simon would become the leader of those fishermen. His name is also cited frequently in Mark’s gospel—seven times in all. Jeshua gave Simon the nickname, Kepha, meaning bedrock, which was translated into Greek as Petros. Simon Peter subsequently appears as the leader of the twelve apostles.

Jeshua called these fishermen to join him in the battle against evil. During many centuries preceding John the Baptist there had been a silence of prophesy on earth—no outstanding prophet appeared among the Jews during those centuries. Now, however, God had spoken to them through John the Baptist. And after John’s imprisonment, prophesy inspired by God was fulfilled in Jeshua, whom God declared his beloved son. Here was the good news for which John had been preparing God’s people. Mark’s gospel shows how God kept his promise. John had foretold the coming of God’s reign on earth through one greater than he, one who would baptize his people with the fire of the Spirit. Then, after Christ’s baptism, we read that Jeshua was driven by the Spirit into the desert (1:12). The phrase, short though it is, describes the movement of Jeshua throughout his life, first in Galilee, then in Judaea. Throughout his life Jeshua was a man driven by the Spirit.

We have here, in the account of his life ascribed to Mark, the outstanding characteristic of Jeshua. Throughout this story, Jeshua appears as one driven by the Spirit. It seems to me that we may say Mark’s writing of the proclamation of the good news was also under the influence of the Spirit. The second letter of Peter says as much (1:20–21). I take this as an outstanding characteristic of the Gospel of Mark. The Spirit is also what drove him to write his account—the first of its kind—about the life, teaching, and works of Jeshua of Nazareth. It characterizes his whole account of the good news.

The human source of much of this first-written account of the good news included insights from the experiences of Simon Peter and his contemporaries. Early Christian sources tell us that Mark was Peter’s interpreter. The Acts of the Apostles and letters of Paul also tell us of a Mark who was the nephew of Barnabas, and who accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. Paul tells us also that, despite an early disagreement between Paul and Barnabas (about Mark), Mark later gave sustained valuable assistance to Paul. The Marks described in these accounts may or may not be the same person. Regardless, either one or both Marks were not eyewitnesses of the events told in the Gospel of Mark. Much of what is written there had as its source Peter or other contemporary eyewitnesses like him. Many details in this gospel bear the imprint of an eyewitness.

It seems to me that the idea of putting the story of Christ’s life into writing is itself an inspiration that had a precursor. The idea of telling such an account is found earlier in the Hebrew Scriptures. The personal account of Jeremiah describes how he was called and details the mission God gave to him to become a prophet. This account reveals that Jeremiah also met with opposition, contradiction, sufferings, and finally death. In short, the book of Jeremiah contains a “passion account” of the sufferings one man endured because of his message and the conflicts he had with the authorities of his day.

The account ascribed to Mark gives us an account of how Jeshua was called to proclaim the good news, and how Jeshua endured his public life conflicts with the authorities of his day, including much suffering, and finally death by execution. This is the story, however, of a Messiah who was crucified yet was raised again from the dead.

There is another reason, I think, why Mark was moved to write this account of the good news of the life, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Jeshua. Both Peter and Paul were executed in Rome sometime during the sixth decade of the first Christian century. With their death and disappearance from the scene, Christians of the first community in Rome must have missed these leaders terribly. So it may have seemed imperative to Mark to put into writing the memories of what Christians had learned from Jeshua and apostles like Peter.

The first generation of Christians expected Jeshua’s return on the clouds of heaven, as the prophet Daniel had foretold, and as the angels had announced at the ascension of Jeshua into heaven. Because the return of Jeshua, the Messiah, seemed to be delayed the second generation of Christians had reason to want in writing the story of his life.

After the deaths of the apostles, Christians still looked forward to the imminent second coming of the Son of Man that Daniel had prophesied but had not yet occurred. These Christians believed that their Lord and Master would come for them as he would for all human beings, but they yearned for it and wanted the story of Jeshua’s life to be told and retold. This, too, may have influenced Mark to put this account into writing. It probably also prompted Matthew, Luke, and John to do the same. They also must have felt the urgency to put into writing as much of the apostolic proclamation as they could recall. Many others did the same, as Luke reveals in the beginning of his gospel. These other accounts, however, were not accepted as completely reliable by all the churches throughout the Roman world. Only four of them were accepted by all: the euaggelion as written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

In Mark’s account, we learn that after Jeshua was baptized the Spirit sent him into the desert. The desert was viewed as the territory of devils, and for forty days Satan tested Jeshua there. But the presence of Jeshua in the desert changed this view, as did Christ’s reentry into society. When Jeshua returned from the desert to live again in society, he learned that his cousin, John the Baptist, had been silenced by Herod, imprisoned and executed. Driven by the Spirit, Jeshua took up the message of John the Baptist and began proclaiming the reign of God on earth. “This is the time of fulfillment, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (1:15). As Jeshua was walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea, so he said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men”(1:17).

As far as these disciples were concerned, the call to leave everything and follow Jeshua was definitive and lasting. Two pairs of brothers felt that Jeshua was filled with the Spirit and were moved to join him (1:20). They followed Jeshua to Capernaum. On the Sabbath Jeshua entered the synagogue and proclaimed the reign of God. People were amazed by his presence, authority, and teaching. In a way, he spoke like a rabbi, but in another way he didn’t. He made no reference to other rabbis, for instance, as other rabbis did. His presence was enough.

A man possessed by a demon, whom Jeshua met, sensed the Spirit and shouted, “What are you doing here, Jeshua of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (1:24). The devils recognized his authority, but Jeshua rebuked them. “Quiet! Come out of him!” (1:25). The man then had convulsions, cried out, and the devil left him. All in the synagogue were amazed and began asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him!” (1:27). News of the incident spread throughout Galilee.

After leaving the synagogue, Jeshua went home with Simon, where Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill of a fever. When Jeshua heard she was sick, Simon took him to her bedside. Jeshua took the woman’s hand and raised her up, well again. She then prepared something for them to eat. It was still the Sabbath when he had lifted her up, but as soon as the sun set and the Sabbath rest was over, people came to Simon’s house by droves and dozens, bringing their sick and those possessed. They continued coming to Simon’s house long after the darkness set in, to be healed by Jeshua.

The impressive thing about this incident is that even though the neighbors in the city continued to bring their sick to the house, before the day broke Jeshua left and went away to a secluded spot to pray. When Simon and his friends awoke, they went out to look for him. When they found him they told him that the whole town was looking for him. But Jeshua said he had to move on to proclaim the good news in other places as well. “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come” (1:38). He was driven by the Spirit to proclaim his message throughout Galilee.

Mary Ann Tolbert observes that from the beginning to the end of his life, Jeshua’s speech is characterized by a sense of urgency whenever he speaks of his mission to proclaim the reign of God and to fulfill it. There is, she writes, “an atmosphere of urgency over everything . . . The Markan narrative has no time; all is rushing to imminent conclusion” (Sowing the Gospel, p.117).

We are then told how a leper came to Jeshua, knelt down before him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean” (1:46). Moved with pity, Jeshua stretched out his hand, touched him and said, “I do will it. Be made clean” (1:41).

It’s worth mentioning here that what the leper did in approaching Jeshua was against the law of Moses, but so was what Jeshua did in touching him. Yet, as soon as Jeshua broke the law of Moses, the leper was freed from his leprosy. And Jeshua sent the man to the priest, as Moses had commanded of those who were cleansed of leprosy. Jeshua was a person who was observant of the law and yet did not let the law prevent him from doing good things. Jeshua warned the man not to spread the news of his healing abroad. In other words, Jeshua hadn’t healed the man out of desire to attract attention, but out of compassion.

Some scholars like to call this shunning of publicity by Christ his “Messianic secret.” It seems to me and some others that Jeshua’s intention was to avoid people’s superficial curiosity and yet still proclaim the good news of the reign of God. He both healed people out of compassion and proclaimed his message. Although Jeshua admonished the man not to spread news of his cleansing abroad, the man still did so. The result was that crowds then came in such numbers that it was impossible for Jeshua to enter a synagogue or a small town. For this reason he had to head for the hills where he could preach and be heard by large numbers of people.

For reflection, we might consider these thoughts: “What is it that impresses me most about the good news proclaimed by Jeshua? I recall the command by Moses for people to be attentive to the one who was to come after him. Then there is the message of John the Baptist that we should reform our lives, turn away from sin, and prepare for God’s coming. What changes do we, perhaps, need to make in our lives so that we are open to the Spirit of God? What can we learn from these stories?”

I met a man once while I was studying at the Catholic University of America in the District of Columbia. He knocked at the door where I was staying and asked for help to locate something on the campus. Although I had a swollen ankle and was on crutches at the time, I went with him across the university and helped him find what he wanted. He was so grateful that we exchanged experiences and got to know one another. Much to my amazement, I discovered that he was a follower of John the Baptist.

Yes, there are souls who still find in John their inspiration and source of faith. We might do well to ask ourselves this question: “Does John’s call to repentance make any impression on my life?” Further, does Christ’s call to penance and turning to God urge us to consider seriously for our lives the good news he proclaimed? Are we open to the Spirit and to God’s revelation when the Voice from heaven proclaimed Jeshua as his beloved son?