Guest Blog #1 from Joyce Voysey

I love the idea of the book club and am delighted to be in on the study that goes with it.  I also love The Message quote Julie has given about the Gospel of Mark.  As well as Dummelow, I also went to the Internet to glean more about Mark.  Here is some of what I found:

Mark was born in North Africa – Was he dark-skinned? Some say he is the same character as John Mark.

"The Messianic Secret": Mark doesn’t mention Jesus as being the promised Messiah. He is the one who has Jesus saying: "Tell no man." This Messianic Secret is something we could possibly look into further.

The last chapter of Mark may have an added piece from 16:8, although as it ends with a conjunction this is tricky. Another notion is that the front and back pages of the book were lost as they can be with use. Perhaps the verses after 16:8 were added in the second century.

The most complete external evidence for Mark's authorship and his association with Peter comes from the church historian Eusebius, who quotes Papias (c. 60-130 AD), a bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor, as writing: " Mark, having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered. It was not, however, in exact order that he related the sayings or deeds of Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied Him. But afterwards, as I said, he accompanied Peter, who accommodated his instructions to the necessities [of his hearers], but with no intention of giving a regular narrative of the Lord's sayings. Wherefore Mark made no mistake in thus writing some things as he remembered them. For of one thing he took especial care, not to omit anything he had heard, and not to put anything fictitious into the statements."

I have more to share - watch this space tomorrow.