Oh Mark, Mark, Mark.

My go-to Gospel.

The straight-to-the-point Gospel.

The start-here-if-you-are-new or read-in-one-sitting-for-an-exhilerating-hour Gospel.

Fastest, shortest, punchiest. Once described to me as the Indiana Jones Gospel.

If you have a copy of Mark’s Gospel ancient Greek and you know the word for ‘and’, you can read lots of words because Mark says ‘and then this happened… and immediately… and suddenly… and the next day’ so much.

It’s kai, by the way, the Greek word for ‘and’. It’s the only Greek I know off the top of my head.

Immediately: baptising, following, healing, teaching, walking, driving, telling, betraying, denying. The ESV has 28 ‘immediately’s in jusy 16 chapters.

Arguably, Mark is the first gospel written. I reckon so.

The Gospel of Mark.

No nativity. A slightly botched ending with a whole load of verses added later on. No flowery theology. Just the backbone of our understanding of the man, Jesus.

My favourite verse: Mark 1.18: ‘And immediately they left their nets and followed him’.

It’s a call for all of us. Simple when we hear it, hard in practise, but nevertheless, so important.

Thanks to Peggy_Marco on Pixabay for the banner.