By Phoebe Farag Mikhail
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Mark 1:1
Every time I read this verse I get chills up my spine. I imagine and wonder what St. Mark must have felt writing these words down for the first time. I wonder if he wrote quickly, as fast as he could, trying to get it all down, all the good news. To share with the world that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and to tell them how He lived, how He died, how He rose, how He conquered death, how He saved us.
Did he see the Archangel Michael, portrayed in this icon, reminding him of the words of life? Did the memories flood his mind: what he saw in the Upper Room, where he might have been near, perhaps serving Christ and His disciples, perhaps listening in for tradition tells us the Upper Room was his mother’s house?
Did the sounds of the nails pounding into the Cross reverberate in his ears as he remembered those moments he witnessed? Did he relive the disbelief, the excitement, the joy, at discovering the news of His Resurrection, and perhaps even seeing Him among the Apostles at the Ascension?
Did the fire of the Holy Spirit that rested on his head at Pentecost course through his veins and into his fingers?
Considering the number of times he wrote “immediately” (36 times in 16 chapters, NKJV) St. Mark must have been writing quickly, urgently. Perhaps he had in mind some newly forming churches; some pagans, urging them to recognize this God in this man Jesus; some Christians, perhaps imprisoned for their faith and longing to hear the words of Christ.
Where was he sitting when he wrote these words? Was he in Egypt, where he was preaching the Gospel? Had he already preached or was he on his way?
Did his heart beat faster? Did he continue to write when his fingers got numb? Did he get frustrated when he ran out of ink? Or papyrus? Did the angels bring him supplies?
Did St. Mark have any idea how these words would change the world? Did he have any idea how many people who would come to know and love this Jesus Christ, the Son of God, through his words?
As a writer, my ponder this a lot. I imagine him, I imagine myself in his place, trembling with the joy, with perhaps some of the excitement I feel when I get inspired by an idea and I have to rush to write it down. I recognize the rush of excitement at finding the words to express something bigger than those words. And I wonder if that little excitement that I feel, if that was multiplied a millionfold when St. Mark wrote those words of life?
“The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
The beginning
I wonder if St. Mark had intended to write more if he had not been martyred in the streets of Alexandria? If he planned also to write about his journeys with the disciples, with St. Paul, with St. Barnabas? Did he plan to write of his days in Egypt, North Africa and Persia preaching the Gospel, and all the people who would follow Jesus Christ, the Sonon of God, because of him?
of the gospel of Jesus Christ
The Gospel is the good news, the good news of salvation, the salvation many of us didn’t even know we needed. The good news that Jesus, the one they crucified, was alive, had conquered death, had done what no one else could do because He was not just the Son of Man, He is the son of God. The one who healed the sick, made the blind to see, cast out demons, made the lame walk, raised the dead, raised Himself from the dead, the one who seemed weak was powerful.
the Son of God
St. Mark this repeats this phrase four times in the Gospel. His Gospel is the earliest written Gospel, written perhaps as early as 30 years after Christ’s death and resurrection. Those who claim that Christians made Jesus God only after Christianity became the official religion of Rome need only read this Gospel to know that this is not true. St. Mark shows that from the beginning the Christians knew that Jesus was the Son of God. They were so sure of this they died for it. Or rather, they died for Him, for Him who loved them, Him who loves us. Him who loves us so much that He who is the Son of God would leave His glory and become incarnate.
As a writer, I know my words will never have the same world changing power as the words St. Mark wrote down 2000 years ago. And I don’t deign to believe that the Holy Spirit has inspired every thing I have written the way it did St. Mark.
But it does make me consider how words and stories that point to the Truth do have power, often power beyond our wildest imaginations. They have power to heal, to share love, to give life, whenever we sit down to put pen to paper, finger to typewriter, mouse to post.
For those of us who endeavor to write such words, words that often don’t make bestseller lists, don’t necessarily make us famous, but words that share goodness, beauty, love, life, we could do to imagine St. Mark seated with his pen to paper, writing down the words that changed everything: the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God.
Today is the Commemoration of St. Mark the Evangelist in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Here are a few resources to learn more about him:
The Beholder of God, Mark, the Evangelist, Saint and Martyr by Pope Shenouda III (free download): https://ml.coptic-treasures.com/book/st-mark-the-evangelist-pope-shenouda-iii/
The African Memory of Mark by Thomas Oden (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/3kQe9zD
A brilliant theatrical recitation of the Gospel According to Mark:
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