| Interviewer: |
Good evening. On tonight’s program I am going to interview the author of a new book. It’s called a gospel, whatever that is. We will meet Mark, the writer of this gospel.
Just a moment. There must be a last-minute change. There are five guests, and I was expecting the writer Mark. Let’s find out what’s going on. Could you introduce yourselves, please? |
| Mark 1: |
Good evening. I’m Mark. |
| Mark 2: |
Good evening. I’m Mark, too. |
| Mark 3: |
Good evening. I’m Mark, and so is she. |
| Interviewer: |
But she’s a woman. She can’t be Mark, too. |
| Mark 5: |
She is just as much as the rest of us. |
| Mark 4: |
Good evening. Maybe we should explain. |
| Interviewer: |
Please. But first, tell me: are you all actually called Mark? |
| Mark 4: |
Yes… and no. We are part of the group that has put together the work called The Gospel of Mark. We belong to a community of disciples of Jesus, and this is a gospel for our community. |
| Interviewer: |
This word ‘gospel’ is a new one. How would you describe it? |
| Mark 1: |
The Gospel of Mark is about a man called Jesus who came from Nazareth . He devoted his life to doing good, to showing our world that God’s love is for all people. He was put to death by the Romans, but was raised to new life by God a few days afterwards. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God. |
| Interviewer: |
Wow! That’s some story! Now I get it. This gospel of yours is an eyewitness account of the highlights of this man’s life. |
| Mark 4: |
Sorry, but no. It’s not an eyewitness account. Jesus’ ministry on earth finished about forty years ago, and I don’t think there’s anyone left in our community who actually met him, or knew him. |
| Mark 3: |
Jesus didn’t live in this area. Most of his life and ministry was around Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee . And, of course, Jerusalem , because he was faithful to the Jewish tradition. |
| Interviewer: |
Where do the stories about Jesus in your gospel come from? How do you know about what he did? |
| Mark 1: |
The stories about Jesus have been shared and handed on among all Jesus’ disciples, from community to community, since the days of the first community. |
| Interviewer: |
So is it more like a biography, where you have done your research and have written his life story? |
| Mark 3: |
We don’t want to be difficult, but it’s not a biography. That’s a different genre altogether. |
| Mark 5: |
What has been handed on are not just stories about interesting things that Jesus did. Our Gospel invites disciples to listen carefully with their hearts to stories about Jesus, to try to understand the message of his teaching and his example, and the meaning of his life. It’s definitely not a biography. |
| Mark 2: |
It’s a gospel. |
| Interviewer: |
I’m getting an idea of what a gospel is not. Someone, anyone, please tell me what a gospel actually is. |
| Mark 1: |
The Gospel of Mark is Good News for the world. |
| Interviewer: |
Good news? You mean, like someone telling you that you have won a prize, or a lot of money, and you say, “That’s good news!” |
| Mark 4: |
No, this is Good News with capital letters. It will last a lot longer than money or prizes. This is serious Good News. |
| Mark 5: |
The Gospel of Mark is the Good News of Jesus Christ, who has come into our world to share God’s life and God’s love with all people forever. |
| Mark 2: |
Jesus of Nazareth was a human being. In Jesus’ human life, God’s own self entered into our human world and our human history. Jesus shared our human life with us, so that we can share in his life with God forever. |
| Mark 3: |
The Gospel is Good News for all people because it is about Jesus’ life, his death on the Cross, and his resurrection from the dead, and all that Jesus means for us. |
| Mark 1: |
Our Gospel is Good News for our community because of our faith in Jesus Christ. It will give us hope in God’s love in good and bad times. It will help our community to follow Jesus’ teaching and example, so that we can continue his work for the Reign of God in our world. |
| Interviewer: |
It sounds like it will be very important for your community. |
| Mark 2: |
Not just for our community now. We think it will be very important for any community of people who want to be disciples of Jesus, maybe even hundreds or thousands of years from now. |
| Interviewer: |
I wonder about how that will work. In your Gospel, you tell about times when Jesus’ first disciples just don’t get the point about Jesus and what he is teaching and doing. They get too frightened to act. What kind of message is that for disciples trying to follow Jesus? |
| Mark 3: |
That’s part of the message of our Gospel. Disciples in our community know very well that we sometimes fail to understand Jesus and his teaching. We know what fear can do to our community. The Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem . Our community does not always feel safe. |
| Mark 4: |
The point is that the world did not have to be perfect for Jesus to be part of it. Jesus’ life and ministry are not for a world where everything is perfect, because the real world is not like that. Jesus’ life and teaching bring healing and hope to the brokenness of our world. |
| Mark 5: |
Our Gospel shows that disciples aren’t perfect, either. Disciples are ordinary human beings who are doing their best to follow Jesus. Jesus brings healing and hope to people who don’t always get it right, who don’t always understand, who live with fear and uncertainty. |
| Mark 1: |
In answer to your question about what kind of message that is for disciples, I would say this. It’s a message about God’s love being for all people. It’s about all people being invited into God’s friendship forever, through Jesus. |
| Mark 2: |
Disciples are not called to be perfect. We are called to have faith in Jesus Christ, and to do our best to live according to his teaching and example, because Jesus is our way to God’s life and God’s love forever. |
| Interviewer: |
Your Gospel sounds very interesting, but do you think it will still be relevant twenty, or even ten years from now? |
| Mark 5: |
Only time will tell. |
