The Gospel According to Mark is thought to be the first one written about the life of Christ, followed by Matthew, Luke and John.
Most scholars believed that the gospel was written in Rome between AD 60-70. According to Papias (AD 70-155; a pupil of apostle John) it was the apostle Peter who related to him, the words and works of Christ. Mark may have been a convert of Peter as he referred to Mark as his son (1 Pet. 5:13). Some have speculated that he was the “man carrying a pitcher of water” who led the disciples to the house where they celebrated the Passover (Mk. 14:12-16; Lk. 22:9-12). He is also thought to be the young man who fled naked when Jesus was arrested (Mk. 14: 51-52).
About AD 44, Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch (Acts 12:25) and Mark started with them on their First Missionary Journey, but later turned back (Acts 13:13). About AD 50, Mark wanted to go with Paul and Barnabas on their Second Missionary Journey but Paul refused to take him. This occasioned the separation of the two, with the result that Mark went with Barnabas to Cyprus and Paul took Silas through Cilicia and Syria (Acts 15: 36-41). In AD 60, it appears that Mark was in Rome with Paul (Col. 4:10; Phm.24). About four or five years later and just before his martyrdom, Paul wrote to Timothy: “Take along Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.(2 Tim. 4:11)
Mark’s success as a missionary was largely a result of the company he kept.
Mark spent time with his cousin Barnabas who was known as the Son of Encouragement. Barnabas continued to believe in Mark, even after he turned back at Perga on the first mission journey, returning home to Jerusalem. We can only imagine how disappointed Paul and Barnabas were these two older men were left to carry on alone. As the youngest in the team, Mark was needed to do most of the carrying and as a group of 3, they enjoyed greater security from attack. Having been abandoned once, Paul refused to imperil the success of the second trip by taking Mark. But Barnabas took that risk and it paid off.
Then there was Peter. Among the twelve, he was usually first to speak and to act. By this time he was an older man, more patient, slower to get angry, always encouraging, and always challenging. Being with Jesus, he remembered much of what he spoke and did. Mark heard it all and recorded it.
Finally he had Paul. Probably the most educated and most eloquent of the three. We can be sure that Mark had learned much from him. In turn, he had impressed Paul. The one that was once rejected was now desired, having become “profitable for the ministry”.
We can learn from Mark that the insignificant among us can be useful when aided by the right company. It takes time and patience to make a disciple and even more to bring one to maturity. These three Christian leaders invested in Mark and it was time well spent, for Mark went on to serve with distinction.
Church tradition says he was dragged by a horse through the streets of Alexandria and died in the city. His bones were collected and deposited in the cathedral of Saint Mark in Milan, Italy as claimed by the Roman Catholic Church.
Toronto, ON
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the terrifying narratives in the Bible. These two cities were destroyed by God because of sexual immorality, and it seems in the Genesis account, that this was the only reason that God had. But other scriptures indicate there were at least five sins associated with these cities.
We start with uncle Abraham and Lot, his nephew. Both became prosperous until one day they had to part ways to avoid strife between their herdsmen. The peaceful, gracious, magnanimous Abraham gave Lot the first choice. From his vantage point, he looked towards the “Jordan Valley, well-watered like the garden and Egypt” (Genesis 13:12–13). There were five major cities in the valley inluding Zoar/Bela, Zeboim, Admah, Gomorrah and Sodom. The Scripture tells us that Lot pitched his tent outside Sodom, then moved into the city and raised his family there.
It was during this time that the king of Elam and four other kings attacked Sodom and took Lot as captive, but he was eventually rescued by Abraham. Lot went back to Sodom, until the Lord decided to destroy the cities … “because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD” (Genesis 19:13). The Lord sent two of his angels to destroy the inhabitants and retribution was swift.
When then were these five sins?
First there was wickedness.
Abraham referred to it. When bargaining with God, he asked: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (Genesis 18:23–33). Their wickedness included an intent to cause harm. It was both malicious and cruel.
They also engaged in idolatry.
This sin was not directly mentioned but was implied. Idolatry is anything that is placed before God. Jeremiah observes that “The prophets of Samaria, prophesied by Baal and the prophets of Jerusalem, were adulterers, liars and support evildoers…like Sodom…like Gomorrah” (Jeremiah 23:13–14).
They also practiced homosexuality.
Some might argue that this is not really that bad, because it does not hurt anyone in the way that murder, theft and false testimony do. Others would counter, that it was the only reason for which God was provoked enough to destroy these two evil cities.
Leviticus 18 lists these sexual sins among those that were abominations to the Lord. Within Israel, homosexuality was punishable by death (Leviticus 20:13). When the men in Sodom heard about the men- the angels who visited Lot – all of them, both young and old, demanded that Lot give them up, so that they might “know them” (an Old Testament phrase frequently referring to sexual intercourse as in Genesis 4:1, “Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain”).
A fourth sin was idleness.
Ezekiel pictured the southern kingdom as Sodom. The kingdom “had pride, excess of food and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me” (Ezekiel 16:49–50). They were busy enjoying what they had, but idle when it came to assisting the poor and needy.
And a final sin was, that they were proud of their sinfulness.
“For the look in their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sins like Sodom” (Isaiah 3:8–9). In some cultures manhood is measured by the number of women men have.
Jude cited the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, to illustrate what sin looks like and to warn about God’s judgment. God is righteous and judges both within history and at the end of time. Jude does not mean to scare us but to guide us in a way that only the fear of the Lord can. He reminds us that God is going to judge and he is going to save, just as He judged these evil cities but saved the righteous Lot.
Stouffville, Ontario
In the fields of education, technology and even in government, change and innovation is sometimes beneficial and even necessary. These changes are indicative of our advancement in our civilization. Some changes however become detrimental to our society, as history has taught us.
In the church, a call for change and even reform is sounded. It is my conviction that as long as change or innovation is within the bounds of Matthew 28: 18-20; the command “to make disciples…baptizing them…teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…”; we are still in obedience to the command.
Improvements in transportation, technology and especially communication has greatly enhanced church efforts to evangelize. “Simulcast” (simultaneous broadcast) is made possible by the advancement in technology and communication. Now, we can join in worship with any church anywhere in the world, as it was during the Covid pandemic.
But some wanted more. They demand changes in leadership that do as much as possible to erase the distinctions drawn in scripture between male and female roles in the church..
Those roles are however – prescribed in the New Testament. They do not depend for their existence upon relative abilities or levels of education. The scriptures that address the subject along with known examples, are very clear.
In the context of the worship assembly, and in contrast with those who addressed the gathering, the apostle Paul instructed women “to keep silent in the church”. 1st Cor. 14: 34-35. He said this without further conditions, unlike his instructions for prophets and tongue-speakers. Prophets were to take turns and to speak one at a time while all others remained silent. In the absence of those with the gift of interpreting tongues, those with the gift of tongues were commanded to remain silent. And when Paul added that women were to remain ‘silent in the the church’, this instruction was not conditioned upon anything else. Silence had not suddenly changed it’s meaning, nor had the setting changed. Paul was still talking about who it is that addresses the congregation when assembled for worship and edification.
This passage has the advantage of being both clear and concise. It is good hermeneutical practice to allow passages of scripture that are clear to enlighten our understanding of those that are less so.
Now it turns out that what the apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, he repeated and enlarged upon this in his letter to Timothy over a decade later. Nothing had changed nor had God’s reasons changed.
Compare the following passages:
(1 Cor 11:3)
But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ”
1 Tim 2:11-13
A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a wrongdoer.
Headship – both in the home and in the church was assigned by God and based upon his divine choice to create a man first and then a woman. No passage in either the Old Testament of the New invites us to weigh in on the subject. Our opinions about it and reactions to it – do not change a thing, except where we stand with God.
Unlike 1 Corinthians 11:13-15 and the question of head coverings, God does not ask us what ‘seems right to us’. He did it when considering head coverings, recognizing that cultural practices change. What ‘seemed right’ (or culturally self-evident) to those 2000 years ago in Corinth is not the same thing that ‘seems right’ to us. God has always reserved the right to regulate cultural practices and in this case he insists that our practices promote the guiding principles that He identifies for us.
By contrast, creation order and headship are of God alone. Those who want to mix and match these – fail to make this crucial distinction.
A second important principle for interpreting scripture has to do with context. We must always ask ourselves…’what is the question?’.
When the Apostle wrote to brothers and sisters in Galatia, what question was he answering or what issue was he clarifying when he penned these words?
Galatians 3:26-29
“For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise”.
Was the question:
Or was it:
The problem was – that some of the Jewish leaders in the church were insisting that Gentiles had to first become Jews in order to qualify for entry into the kingdom of God (the church). And having entered in this way, there were trailing obligations from the Law of Moses that had to be adhered to in order to be saved.
So this passage has nothing to do with the first set of questions and everything to do with the second. A mix and match approach once again casts a shadow instead of shedding light.
Throughout scripture, leadership belongs to the head. The head of the church is Christ, and he has chosen to mediate his authority through others. As Paul observes, the church is…”built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”
First century apostles and prophets were the direct source of inspired teaching, authoritative writing and served as the primary leaders of the church. In post-apostolic times, the church turned to those writings that now make up the New Testament scriptures. Those apostolic teachings were intended by God to be permanent relative both to matters of salvation and leadership for the on-going life of the church. And this is very important for understanding God’s will for the structure of His church.
In the New Testament, congregational polity is marked by local autonomy. Each congregation operates independently. The church in Syrian Antioch, did not interfere in the affairs of the church in Ephesus. They helped each other in times of need, as the churches in Macedonia and Achaia sent aid to the church in Jerusalem in their time of difficulty.
And then, all of the New Testament churches were instructed to adhere to the pattern of leadership set out by the apostles. They were ruled by a plurality of elders and served by deacons. This was corrupted in later centuries, when an unbiblical hierarchy was put in place; elevating a single bishop above the others.
But in the New Testament, alongside of evangelists, prophets and teachers, elders and deacons are the other two major leadership roles in the local church.
Distinguished from members at large, each group was to be made up of men who met the standards set out by God. (Titus 1:6-9; 1 Tim. 3: 1-13). But lest we miss the point, there were no women who served among them. So the actual practice of what we find in the church is in agreement with the instructions that we noted earlier for conduct in the assembly.
Each assembly is treated as an extension of the family. Headship in the family translated into headship in the church…where families assembled. Thus, wives were instructed to submit to their husbands in all things, and husbands in turn were to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5: 22-28).
Male spiritual leadership – in scripture – did not arise as a result of culture. It was put there by God long before human “culture” arrived. It was by design that God made man the leader of his household and it is by his will that He has delegated qualified men to govern His household, the church.
END OF ARTICLE.
Reference: Jack Cottrell; The Faith Once And For All
Toronto, ON
Deuteronomy 8:1–10
Introduction
The passage belongs to the second of five discourses of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy. The second discourse began with chapter 4:11 to 11:32. In 8:1–10, Moses pressed upon the various motives of obedience arising from their past, present and future. They were to “remember the past”; “consider the present” and “anticipate the future” Obedience had to be acted in their hearts and led them forth to holy obedience to the God who was their Protector and Provider from Egypt to Canaan.
Discussion
1. Remembering the Past
Their past was a Test of Privation. As slaves of Egypt, there was no freedom but God gave them a reluctant deliverer in the person of Moses. On their way to Canaan, hostile nations attacked them but allowed them to prevail. When they were about to enter Canaan for the first time, they were dissuaded by the ten spies not to enter the land, because it will be an act of national suicide. Forty days of spying Canaan went to nothing. (Numbers13:2, 25). In God’s anger God let them wander in the wilderness for forty years. Some scholars suggest that the punishment was one year for one day that was spent.
In those forty years of wandering, God was their Provider. He provided them with clothing that did not rot and shoes to protect their feet, manna and quails to eat and water to drink. Yet they continued to provoke God’s wrath through their murmurings and rebellion. It was during this time that Israel was being “schooled.” They learned that every move they made needed help, direction and commandment of God. They were shown the absolute necessity of heeding and obeying the word of God.
2. Consider the Present
Moses wanted the Israelites to listen attentively to the commandments of the Lord. God is giving them the moral motivation to obey. Israel had failed the expectations of God. Despite their failures, the path of obedience is open to any Israelite who will emulate the faithfulness of their father Abraham. Like a father who loves his son, God will discipline them.
3. Anticipate the Future
The Israelites will enter the land of plenty and prosperity. There they will be tempted to think that in their abundance, they do not need to depend on God for their material needs.
It is also a test of time. The longer they enjoy prosperity, the greater the danger of forgetting the Lord. Should that ever happen, Moses solemnly testified that God will destroy them as He had destroyed the Canaanites before them.
Verse 3: “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knowest not, nor did your fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out from the mouth of God.”
This verse of special interest and importance from the fact that it was the first quotation from the book of Deuteronomy in Jesus’ conflict with Satan after spending forty days and nights in the wilderness (Matthew 4:3–4; Luke 4:4)
Here are some things for us to ponder about:
(1) Jesus was alone in the desolation of a desert, lonely and hungry but he was there for God.
(2) Jesus was there to show how to meet the Enemy in his varied temptations. He showed how a follower should live when face to face with the “lust of the eyes. lust of the flesh and the pride of life.”
(3) He showed how man would triumph. Man could triumph simply by the word, every word of that comes from the mouth of God. Jesus did not use his divine power but as the humble, dependent, self-emptied obedient man.
(4) Jesus did not reason with Satan and neither should we. The only weapon we have in our possession is the simple, precious written word of God. As the natural life is sustained by bread, so the spiritual life is sustained by the word of God. Confronted with the Scriptures, Satan is powerless. He could do nothing with a man who could only actonn the authority of the word of God.
References:
Commentaries of Adam Clark, James Smith, Bruce Obert and C. H. MacKintosh.
Toronto, Ontario
