Mark's Gospel, the shortest of the four, was strong on what counts.

Saturday, 4/26/14

Our Gospel today is from the last chapter of the Gospel according to Mark. It was composed about thirty years after the ascension of Jesus, and it was the first of the four Gospels to be written.  (The Gospels of Matthew and John were not written by Matthew and John, but by followers of those two Apostles. So, Mark’s Gospel is the only written by an actual witness to what he wrote.)

When Jesus was captured in the Garden of Olives, and he was being led to the home of the High Priest, a young man with just a sheet wrapped around him followed the soldiers leading Jesus. When a soldier made a grab at him the young man dropped the sheet, and he ran for home. Everyone agrees that Mark was that young man. He later accompanied Paul and Barnabus on their first missionary journey.

Matthew and Luke borrowed from Mark’s Gospel in writing their Gospels. As well, they beefed out their accounts with stories that were going around.

Although short on details, Mark’s Gospel is strong on what counted. He heard Jesus say, “Go out into the whole world and proclaim the Good News to every creature.”

The Good News was that Jesus had conquered death, and by adhering to him we can pass through death to life beyond.