Tackling Tradition 17: John / John Mark

I can’t think of any biblical scholars off the top of my head who think that the author of Mark & the author of John are the same.  That said, neither can I think of any who think James the Just/Lesser & Silas are the same individual— but the Bible says he is. 

The argument for John Mark as author of both Mark & John are one & the same person is similar to the argument that James the Lesser & Silas are the same person. 

The Use of Figurative Language

• We know that the writers of the New Testament deployed gematria from time to time, which demonstrates that they were accustomed to the use of figurative numbers & therefore figurative language. 
• We also know that Luke understood Hebrew naming convention, which explains why Saul’s name is changed to Paul, why Nathaniel in John is called Simon the Zealot in Luke’s corpus, why Matthew’s name is refined & expressed as Matthias, & why James the son of Alphaeus becomes known as Silas after the Jerusalem Council, whose verdict had enormous significance relative to the spread of the Gospel & the Apostolic understanding of justification & the role that works play, if any, in the lives of believers.

The Role of Major Life Events

• Each of these name changes happens at or near a life changing event in the lives of these individuals.
• Matthew had just witnessed Yeshua’s ministry, resurrection, & ascension, & was made church treasurer. 
• Saul sees a great light & hears Yeshua speaking to him & repents of his persecutions on the spot.  Not long after, Luke begins referring to him as “Paul.” 

Simon the Zealot 

• Luke refers to Nathaniel as “Simon the Zealot,” in Acts & his Gospel.  These names mean “God has heard” (Simon), & Nathaniel means “Gift of God.”  Luke’s use of “Simon the Zealot,” seems to speak to both Nathaniel’s high regard for truth & his function as a gift from God & protector of Israel (and the Law & Gospel). 

• Notice that John’s name is in Luke’s list in Acts 1.  Nathaniel’s name in John isn’t listed, but Simon the Zealot’s is. Why? John has a prophetic reason to name Simon the Zealot “Nathaniel.”  In John, he’s a zealot living in a land of angry & very likely disillusioned men. Both the land as a whole & the men of Israel then were in major need of truth therapy. 

John Mark

• In Mark, we read of a young man who ran away from Gethsemane leaving his linen tunic behind. 
• John, in John, is listed as “the disciple whom Yeshua loved.” (John 13:23).  
• Mark is a Latin name” meaning “he who is consecrated to the god of war.”  The use of Mark in his name corresponds to the spiritual conquest of the world & the defeat of the Greco-Roman, Egyptian, & other pantheons. 
• Mark informs us that Peter & the young man in a linen garment attempted to follow Yeshua & his captors into the city.  John 18:15 says the same thing, & it indicates that the young man who had followed Yeshua with Peter was able to make his way as far as the high priest’s courtyard.  
• John means “grace of God.” The name emphasizes the mercy of God as a gift. 
• Mark’s gospel centers on the Gospel as Good News.   John’s Gospel emphasizes cosmic redemption & the “Good newsiness” of the cosmic program we call redemptive history.
• In Chapter 3, which focuses on Nicodemus, one of the reform friendly members of the Sanhedrin.  Mark’s mother is Mary. She lived in Jerusalem according to Acts.   This is probably Mary, Yeshua’s mother, with whom Yeshua had entrusted John in which case the relationship is figurative & informally adoptive. Alternatively, it might be possible that this particular Mary is Barnabas’ wife, in which case the cousin relation between Barnabas & Mark is figurative as is the aunt relationship between Mary & John Mark. 
• In Mark, he is the anonymous young man who ran from Gethsemane.  Why did he run?  Very likely, he ran in order to escape capture & to alert his family & friends about what was happening.    
• He is, in John, the young disciple whom Yeshua loved & able to gain limited access to the temple during the Sanhedrin’s inquisition. 
• In Acts 1, Luke lays out a list of characters some of whom reappear later in the narrative. John’s character in the New Testament story follows the “innocence to experience” trajectory.  Luke refines John’s name into John Mark after John has stood before the Sanhedrin with Peter & prevailed, witnessed the stoning of Stephen, & endured the pain of his brother, James,’ death by way of persecution & execution. 
• After these events Luke alters John’s name from “grace/mercy of God” to “he who knows & understands and is dedicated to the god of war.”  
• In Paul’s eyes, John Mark probably seemed a bit impulsive & / or tied to Mary & his other family members. However, I think is important for us to remember that he went on to travel with Barnabas & probably contributed to Hebrews.   

Mark’s Gospel & John’s Gospel

• As to the Gospels, this means that what we have here is two books, one of which is written by Mark & moves quickly, is written in stageable vignettes, & tells the core story that both Matthew & Luke relay.   The other was written by the same author later in his life. 
• John is quite sophisticated, demonstrating that he rose to the challenge educationally (in response to his inquisitors’ attitude in Acts 4).  
• By way of Mark authoring 2 Gospels, God is seen to answer text critics, skeptics, & others who assert the Synoptic Gospels tell a different story than John.   
• Luke changes his name as a means of prophesying over the text as he writes in a manner than informs us that, as the Gospel spread, John Mark grew with it. 
• The fact that Mark & John share the same author makes these two Gospels perichoretic.  God’s attributes & economy is a theme taken up in John in particular.   The Son cannot judge the cosmos apart from the internally perichoretic nature of God Himself, & although the Son is front & center as the Judge & Deliverer, He expresses an economic unwillingness to judge apart from the perichoretic presence & the work of the Father & the Spirit. 

May God bless us all, each & every one, & “Go and sin no more.”