The Facts About Peter and Mark

I told you we would continue on the early childhood of Jesus and we will. I thought I would tell you a little about me and my background. I am in the late stages of life in the early 70's and live with my wife on the far Northern Maine border across from Edmundston, NB, CA. You are fart North here; 380 Km distance north of Bangor, Maine.

If you’ve never been to the St. Johns River Valley and Inlet Indian Area along with beautiful Amish people and country you have really missed something you have only dreamed about. A place to raise a family and retire safely with four seasons assured.

The Gospels are in a four-fold design that can be learned so simply: ready?

• Matthew - The Lion and the Tribe of Judah
• Mark - The Servant Who Rules
• Luke - The Ultimate Man
• John - The Son of God

1. Matthew - The Promised One is here: see His credentials!
2. Mark - This is How He worked: His power was on display!
3. Luke - This is what He is like; His nature!
4. John - Presented Who He really was: His Godship!

There are some tale tale translations of the Aramaic expressions like Bartimaeus (Mark 10.46), Tabitha cumi (Mark 5.41), Abba (Mark 14.36), Boanerges (Mark 10.21), Corban (Mark 7.11), and Golgotha (Mark 15.22), and also the Jewish customs (Mark 14.12 and 15.42). This leads some to believe it was intended to be written in Romans, and Paul may have shared some of these ideas with Peter on the campaign trail.

1. John - The death of our Lord as the burnt offering, glorifying the Father in the scene where He had been so dishonored by sin.
2. Luke - as the peace offering, that man may have fellowship with the Father.
3. Matthew - whose theme was to present the government of God, the work of the cross, the trespass offering, what the Lord Jesus could and could not say as in Psalm 69, "Then I restored that which I took not away."
4. Mark - the sin offering is before us. Christ dying not only for trespasses committed, but because we are sinners by nature, which our practice makes evident.

Four Faces: In Ezekiel and Revelation the Four Faces are described in detail and in the future the Lord willing we will explore this.

Mark's Uniqueness

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry and took with them John, whose surname was Mark. (Acts 12.25)

I am going to give you some tidbits of hopefully wisdom, that will help along the way. For example:

• No Christian ever prays alone; Christians everywhere are all praying at the same time and part of a world-wide network of believer’s and family that unites to seeks God’s blessings on earth as it is in heaven. (Ephesians 3.14-15)
• Prayer is a two-fold adventure. It involves forgiveness as well as faith.
• I must be in contact, or fellowship, with both my Father in heaven and my brothers and sisters on earth if God is to answer my prayer. (Matthew 5.21-26; 6.14-15; 18.15-35) When I read those verses I was struck with how we do NOT follow these in the Church corporate today. If we do, I am not aware of it.
• The first words in the “Disciples Prayer” are: “Our Father what are in Heaven”
• The cursed Fig Tree is an incident widely puzzling to those who have an unhealthy eagerness to find fault. Both the condemning of the tree and the cleansing of the Temple were both symbolic acts illustrating a sad spiritual condition of the nation of Israel: both fruitless and corrupt. (cf. John 12.35-41)
• You may recall Jesus had cleansed the Temple during his first Passover (John 2.13-22) and cursed the Fig Tree along the way but it was not long until the religious leaders permitted the money changers and merchants to return. They of course got a piece of the action. Have you ever seen a table flipped over? It is a very violent act. Mark emphasizes those that sold doves. The dove was one of the few sacrifices that a poor person could afford (Leviticus 14.22). Joseph and Mary brought the same sacrifice at Jesus dedication. (Luke 2.24) Jesus Christ was especially sensitive to the plight of the poor.

We will take this up and more in the next section. The Bible is so much fun to study and I hope you are learning and taking some of this along in your life.

The Court of the Gentiles had become a convenient cross-town short-cut to the Mount of Olives. Even the Mishnah contained an ordinance aimed at curbing traffic by forbidding anyone to enter the Temple Mount carrying his staff, sandal, or wallet or use it as a shortcut but people still went through the Court of the Gentiles.It had become a religious circus.

Mark 11.17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.'"

A vivid quote from the Book of Isaiah highlighted the purpose of the Court of the Gentiles spirit specifically and would hit home with the religious hearing the quote.

Again, thank you for reading and again an appeal for some feedback on the writing. Also, if you are a member here, please subscribe to my page. I would really appreciate that as well.

I will write on any subject I feel qualified to do. Let me know what you would like to hear about. Thank you and God's blessings. Gary