Gospel of Mark/Chapter 14:22-52/Commentary

The Gospel of Mark Chapter 14:22-52 14:22 “And while they were eating”: That is, while they were eating the Passover meal. ”He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it”: “Not loaves of raised dough, but the flat, unleavened bread of the Passover meal” (26:17; Exodus 12:15-20). Some have been confused by Luke’s account (22:17), for Luke has Jesus offering the cup first. When we compare this with what Paul said years later (1 Corinthians 11:23ff), Paul plainly followed the order of bread and then fruit of the vine, that is, eat then drink, bread and then cup, and body and then blood. There were four cups of the fruit of the vine that were offered during the Passover meal, and the cup that Luke mentions in 22:17 is the last cup served at the Passover meal. McGarvey notes, “Luke distinguishes between the cup taken during and that taken after supper. The first belonged to the Passover, this (the cup in Matthew and Mark’s account) to the Lord’s Supper” (Fourfold p. 658). “And gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is My body’”: Breaking for others and giving thanks was a habitual practice of Jesus (Luke 24:30,35).

1. “Literal identification of Jesus’ body and blood with the bread and cup is excluded by the fact that Jesus stood there before them, holding these symbols in His hands” (Fowler p. 689).

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2. The doctrine of transubstantiation, whereby the bread and fruit of the vine undergo a change into the literal body and blood of Christ, is a tradition that entered ecclesiastical life around 380 A.D. and became a dogma of the faith in 1215. For the history of the development of this doctrine see Everett Ferguson, Early Christians Speak, chapters VIII-X). In 1226 Catholics began to kneel in the presence of the host, the consecrated wafer of the Eucharist kept in a special box called “the Tabernacle”, because it was thought to become the presence of Christ in their midst.

3. Fowler correctly notes that we know that the bread does not become the literal body of Christ, for after having said “This is My body….this is My blood”, Jesus then referred to the bread as simply bread (1 Corinthians 11:26) and to the cup as “the fruit of the vine” (26:29; Mark 14:25), although both, according to the above theory, should have already changed into flesh and blood. “Paul, too, speaks of the supposedly transformed bread as simply bread two more times and calls the fruit of the vine simply ‘the cup’ three times, after citing the supposedly miraculously transforming words of Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:27f)” (p. 691).

4. Another problem with the doctrine of transubstantiation is the doctrine of the mass, which affirms that the Eucharist is a propitiatory sacrifice that is offered to take away the sins of the living and the dead in Christ. Thus every mass becomes a repeated renewal of Christ’s sacrifice, yet the sacrifice of Christ was a one time, once for all event (Hebrews 7:25-27; 9:22, 25-28; 10:12-14). “Thus, the supposed necessity of other, repeated, complementary sacrifices of Christ’s body and blood to remove sins, is diametrically opposed to the Bible doctrine of the uniqueness and sufficiency of Christ’s original sacrifice (Hebrews 10:17f)” (Fowler p. 692).

14:23 “And when He had taken a cup, and given thanks, He gave it to them; and they all drank from it”: 14:24 “And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the covenant”: The fruit of the vine in the cup symbolizes the long awaited New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), which would be established by His sacrifice on the cross (Hebrews 9:15-17; 10:12

12). “Which is poured out”: “His expression excludes natural death and points to the blood-shedding of a sacrificial victim” (Fowler p. 688). “For many”: For many is an echo from Isaiah 53:11f. He was not giving His life for one person, but one life for all of humanity (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:6).

14:25 “Truly I say to you, I shall never again drink of the fruit of the vine”: We should observe that the writers never call the element in the cup "wine" (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18). Seeing that the controversy is always between fermented or unfermented grape juice, it seems obvious that the vast majority concede that the fruit of the "grape" vine is under consideration in these texts. We should remember that the ancients did have the technology to keep grape juice in an unfermented state. "Sometimes it (the wine) was preserved in an unfermented state, and drunk as ‘must’" (The Bible The Saint & The Liquor Industry. Jim McGuiggan p. 44). Grape juice does qualify as “fruit of the vine”, and in using this element we avoid the problem of casting a stumbling block before those who previously have struggled with an addiction to alcohol (1 Corinthians 6:10-11). In addition, a fermented substance would be “leavened”, which would seem to violate the whole spirit of the Passover celebration.

Some argue that we can substitute and offer different elements today, seeing that we live in a different time and culture. One problem with that argument is that Paul, writing over 20 years after Jesus instituted this memorial, tied these very same elements all the way to the second coming of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread” {11:23} and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes”.) Hence Paul is saying, that among Christians this feast is to remain unchanged. The elements are always to be the bread and the fruit of the vine, and these elements are always to represent among Christians the same thing that they represented when Christ instituted this supper.

14:25 “Until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of God”: I believe this is a reference to the time when the church would be established and Jesus would partake with Christians. It would be “new” in the sense that Jesus would not physically be partaking with them. In the Corinthian letter the Lord’s Supper is called “the table of the Lord” (10:21). Paul also makes the argument that sharing in heathen sacrifices is to share in the fellowship with demons (10:20), in like manner, partaking of the Lord’s Supper is to have communion with Christ. I believe that Christians at times fail to understand that when we gather 3

round to partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are not performing some mere ritual, but rather, we are actually having communion with the Lord Himself around His table.

14:26 “And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives”: Much had preceded this hymn. The discourse from John 13:31-17:76 appears to have happened before they headed out to the Mount of Olives. The original Greek here appears to mean, “they having sung hymns or having hymned”. It was traditional to bring the Passover celebration to a close by singing Psalms 115-118.

By this time Judas had left, and it appears that Judas anticipated that Jesus would head to the Garden of Gethsemane on this night as He had done on other nights (John 18:2).

14:27 “And Jesus said to them, ‘You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I will strike down the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered’”: It appears that Jesus had already issued a similar warning while He and the disciples were still in the upper room (John 13:36-38). What Jesus predicted here, did happen (Matthew 26:56). John would follow at a distance (John 18:15ff), yet he had fled with the rest of the disciples. “The personal prejudices of the Twelve would leave them exposed to extreme psychological shock when they saw their Lord tied and dragged away to the slaughter like a common criminal. Even though He had revealed it many times before, they had not the faith to see Him as God’s Lamb taking away the sins of the world. They could not interpret the arrest and trials as minor incidents on His way to the Throne” (Fowler pp. 705-706). “It is written”: This had been written in Zechariah 13:7. The smitten shepherd in question is the Messiah, which is sustained by an examination of Zechariah’s larger context. The King who came to Israel meek and riding on an ass (Zechariah 9:9) is the Shepherd they detested and priced at 30 pieces of silver (11:12), the one who was pierced (12:10ff), and in whose days a fountain of cleansing from sin would be opened (13:1).

14:28 “But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee”: Jesus realizes that their falling away would not be permanent. Jesus would once again go before them like a Shepherd, and while they would forsake Him, He would not forsake them. Jesus might have selected Galilee because the area around Jerusalem in Judea might have been too turbulent to permit calm learning after the resurrection (Acts 1:3; 10:40-41; Matthew 28:15).

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Peter’s Protest 14:29 “But Peter said to Him, ‘Even though all may fall away, yet I will not”: Just as Peter took the initiative to confess Jesus as Lord, he now impetuously pledges his loyalty. Peter has not yet learned the lesson that when Jesus says something, no disciple has a right to protest, because even when Jesus puts our loyalty in doubt, to disagree with Him is to prove Him absolutely correct in His evaluation. I believe Peter really believed that he would not fall away. Later on it will be Peter who is willing to use the sword to defend Jesus. Yes, Peter was completely prepared to die defending Jesus. Yet, what Peter did not anticipate was how he would react, if Jesus refused to be defended by the sword. He was not prepared to stand by, watch Jesus be arrested—and stand beside Him under those terms. It is easy to be like Peter. Ready to die in a blaze of glory—yet not ready to be faithful when we are told to wait—and be faithful for the long haul when it seems like nothing is happening.

14:30 “And Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, that you yourself this very night, before a cock crows twice, shall three times deny Me’”: Peter will deny Jesus, not once, but three times, and not in the distant future but during that very night, before daybreak.

14:31 “But Peter kept saying insistently, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And they were all saying the same thing, too’”: Peter and the other disciples utter their protests of this prediction, yet after this Peter is quiet in the chapters that follow (John 14-17). McGarvey notes, “Peter appears to have been thunderstruck at this prediction, which showed the nature, the details, and the nearness of his sin” (p. 656). I wonder if Peter thought that such words from Jesus marked him as the betrayer that Jesus had earlier mentioned?

In the Garden 14:32 “And they came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, ‘Sit here until I have prayed’”: In contrast to Matthew and Mark, John does not give the proper name for the garden (Gethsemane), in addition, of all the writers; it is only John who calls Gethsemane a “garden”. One more indication that John already knew that his readers also knew the name of this garden from the other Gospel accounts that had been previously written. The name 5

Gethsemane means “olive-press“. This then, was a garden in the sense of a grove of olive trees which had the equipment for making olive oil” (Lenski p. 1173).

“The name Gethsemane means a place of oil-presses, and hence it accords well with the name of the mountain at whose base it was situated” (McGarvey p. 685).

“Jesus Himself attacked His problems, not by anxious pondering or human reasoning, but on His knees. What a revelation of their overconfidence: they can sleep, prayerlessly oblivious to the danger” (Fowler p. 716). Notice how Jesus takes the offensive and attacks temptation with concentrated prayer. We also need to be encouraged that Jesus defeated temptation with the same tools are that available to every Christian (1 Peter 5:7-8).

14:33 “And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled”: Upon arrival Jesus divided His men into two groups: eight to sit at the entrance and the other three to enter with Him deeper into the olive grove. Both groups are charged with the responsibility of praying so as not to fall into temptation (Luke 22:40). “While seeking heavenly aid in this hour of extremity our Lord also manifested His desire for human sympathy” (McGarvey p.

686). “Until now Jesus had spent all His energies encouraging and instructing the disciples so as not to burden them beyond their strength. Now however, in the privacy of the garden with only His inner three present, He gave way to the deep dread He felt and began to express it as never before. These who had been privileged to witness His transfiguration glory (17:1) and His power over death (Luke 8:51; Mark 5:40) must now behold Him filled with dread and intense emotional agony in the shadow of the cross” (Fowler pp. 716-717).

14:33 “Very distressed and troubled”: This reveals that Jesus knew that He would truly experience and feel all the pain and agony that is associated with crucifixion.

It reveals that pain is real and the way to deal with painful experiences is not to ignore them or pretend that they are not there. This is encouraging, it is normal to dislike pain, and it is normal to be driven to prayer in the face trial. Other things may have grieved Jesus as well during this time: 1. That Judas had betrayed Him. 2. That Peter would deny Him. 3. That His own creation would actually hate Him to the point of crying out for His death. 4. That the Jewish rulers would act so dishonestly and that the multitudes that He had cured, fed, 6

and taught would turn on Him, and that no one would come to His defense. Let it be noted that Jesus being grieved and distress is not proof that Jesus had ceased to be Divine, for God is grieved and distressed by human sin (Genesis 6:6; Ephesians 4:30). The above are divine emotions as well as human. “Our God has always been an emotional being. That fact is found throughout the Bible. Our emotional makeup is patterned after His. It would be strange indeed if He had no emotional feelings at all about seeing His plans for the redemption of mankind now coming to fruition” (The Person of Christ, Maurice Barnett, p. 118). Jesus had grieved or been troubled on other occasions as well (John 11:33; 13:21; 12:27).

14:34 “And He said to them, ‘My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch’”: “My soul” is another way of saying, “I" or "myself”. “My spirit is so deeply burdened with sorrow it almost kills Me”. “Thus crushing agony of anticipation suffered in the garden may also explain why, when some victims of crucifixion linger for days, Jesus died so swiftly on the cross” (Fowler p. 718). Not only did Jesus desire the sympathy of the apostles, but He may also have looked to them to render Him assistance in the case of a physical collapse. “Even though these men were no real protection for Him against what He feared, He could derive some comfort simply from knowing that they were watching the approaching storm with Him. By expressing His need of human fellowship, He proved how deeply He is aware of our need for it too (Hebrews 4:15)” (Fowler p. 718).

14:35 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground, and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by”: “To fall on one’s face denotes particularly deep earnestness of soul” (Numbers 16:22; 2 Samuel 12:16; 2 Chronicles 20:18; Nehemiah 8:6). We can certainly identify with Jesus here. How often have we faced trials, only hoping that we could either avoid them, or quickly be on the other side of the trial.

14:36 “And He was saying, “Abba! Father! “: The term “Abba” is the Aramaic for “Father”. This is the term that belonged to the familiar, daily conversation of little children talking to their father. Here Jesus reveals that God is not an icy-willed Supreme Being, but “My Father”. In like manner, we can approach the Father 7

through Jesus with equal intimacy and confidence (Galatians 4:6). “All things are possible for Thee”: This truth is also found in Genesis 18:14 and Luke 1:37. Here Luke has, “If you are willing”, and Matthew writes, “If it be possible”. Notice how the question is asked and the motive behind it. Even in His agony Jesus remains humble, submissive and willing to accept whatever answer is given. “We shall never be able to understand or feel the full depth of the struggle and distress which Jesus experienced in Gethsemane, while remaining perfect in loyalty towards His Father. Shall we then not choose to devote our all to His service as the least thank-offering we can pay to His honor?” (Geldenhuys p. 576). “Remove this cup from Me”: What “cup” is under consideration in this verse? McGarvey believes that this “cup” includes all that He would undergo from that time until His resurrection. That it embraces all His mental, moral, physical, and spiritual suffering. Some see Jesus here praying that since the Father has a limitless range of power that the suffering ahead of Him be removed if God’s purposes can be fulfilled in any other way. “If there is a way consistent with My mission whereby man can yet be saved” (Fowler p. 719).

Jesus did say in John 12:27 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I came to this hour”.

Barnett notes, “Clearly, the reply to this rhetorical question is He could not pray that because He came into the world for that purpose. It strains all reason to claim that He turned right around in Gethsemane a short time later and said the very thing that He insisted He could not say, namely, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’. This leads Barnett to conclude, “Having planned, prophesied, and promised His own death and suffering, having carried out that plan right up to Gethsemane, now having come right to the time of the fulfillment of the plan, how can we say that He then got scared, changed His mind, and begged the Father to scrap the whole thing? Whatever was troubling Him in Gethsemane, it was not His coming death. He is resolutely determined that He came for that purpose and could not ask the Father for escape from death” (The Person of Christ, p. 121). Yet notice that Jesus said, “the hour is at hand” after His prayer (Matthew 26:45). The hour must refer to the time when the full force of Satan would be unleashed upon the

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Son of God in the ultimate clash between good and evil at the cross and the events surrounding it.

One writer made a good observation when he noted, “As for deity experiencing the distress that Jesus experienced we would say that when the two natures were united in the person of Jesus, things that may not have been possible for either nature separate from the other became possible in Christ. For example, it is not possible for the Divine to get thirsty, but since the divine nature was united with human nature, Jesus thirsted. So, though it may not seem that Deity would experience this kind of distress, it becomes possible when the divine nature is united with human nature in the person of Christ” (GOT, 1-6-2000, p. 25).

In addition, may I suggest that the agony that Jesus faced was not only physical pain, but also being shamefully treated at the hands of sinners. Remember, Jesus is divine and as such is holy and pure. Imagine a holy and pure God being abused, mistreated, and humiliated at the hands of selfish, dirty, and mean men. Imagine the disgust that God would have for the hatred of the Jewish rulers, the weakness of Pilate, the brutality of the soldiers, and the ignorance of the multitudes.

14:36 “Yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt”: “This alone is true faith. He trusts God’s wisdom alone to know what is best for the race and for Himself. One believes very little about God, if he believes himself most qualified to know what is most needed in every circumstance…When the Father said ‘no’, He accepted it.

Prayer is not a motor for twisting God’s arm to overcome His unwillingness. His ability to pray this mighty prayer was not the result of a last-minute heroic emotion suddenly blossoming there in the garden, but the set purpose of His whole life (John 5:30; 6:38)” (Fowler p. 721). Jesus is giving us an example (1 Corinthians 11:1) in this prayer. One does not have to enjoy a trial in order to serve God. One can honestly pray that a trial be ended (2 Corinthians 12), yet when it is not, then we need to have confidence that God knows what He is doing and that this is a trial that we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13).

14:37 “And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?’”: This expresses Jesus’ disappointment in His disciples. Although Peter and the rest had sworn to stand 9

beside the Lord in prison or in death, he and they had fallen asleep! There is a lesson here, emotional exhaustion is not an excuse to let one’s guard down, for often temptation will strike when we are the most vulnerable. Being tired or depressed is not an excuse for sin, rather, we should be even more vigilant during such times. As Fowler notes, “constant vigilance is the price of liberty” (p. 723).

Note, prayer does not eliminate temptation, rather prayer reinforces a person to withstand the temptation. It is the plea for strength to overcome what cannot be avoided. Entering into temptation is the idea that “you not walk into unexpected trials unprepared”.

14:38 “Keep watching and praying, that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”: The reason why they need to keep on praying and being diligent is because man’s nature is complex. At this point the disciples were yielding to such things as sorrow, depression, and bodily weariness.

These men are not sleeping due to indifference but due to emotional and physical strain. “Hence, we are tempted to believe that, because our spirit is eager to do the right, we are necessarily completely committed to it. Unfortunately, our emotions, our body needs, our instincts, especially the basic instinct of selfpreservation, may easily override our spiritual commitment” (Fowler p. 723).

Observe that Jesus did not say that the “flesh” was dead (i.e. totally depraved).

Rather, the flesh can become a liability if we yield to it. Be impressed that Jesus expects His disciples to be faithful even when they are tired or exhausted. He expected them to trust Him and watch with Him, even when they were emotionally shaken. Do we use the weakness of the flesh as an excuse for our sins?

14:39-40 “And again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him”: While Jesus was persistent in prayer— they continued to sleep. Observe that when the trial hit, Jesus was completely prepared and they were unprepared. Never underestimate the value of prayer in the face of challenges.

14:41 “And He came the third time, and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners”: The term “enough” here may mean, 10

“enough of your sleeping and My efforts to waken you”. Jesus then notes that His betrayer is at hand with reinforcements and such will prevent the disciples from sleeping any further. McGarvey observes, “It is as if He said, ‘So far as I am concerned, you may sleep on and take your rest, for the time to be of comfort or assistance to Me has wholly passed. But so far as you yourselves are concerned, you must arise and be going, because Judas with his band of temple police is upon us” (p. 688).

14:42 “Arise, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand”: Notice the courage that Jesus has to face the enemy. Be impressed that His prayers in the garden, and His intense agony has not drained away His strength, but rather, He emerges only stronger and more determined. Do we emerge from our prayers with renewed determination? “Our Lord, fully aware of what would befall Him, boldly presented Himself to be our sacrifice. Such tranquility and courage proves that Jesus’ prayer was answered” (Fowler p. 727).

“In an age where even religious activities are geared to stroking our feelings and coddling our sentiments in order to make us feel good in our sins, we must look to Jesus! In a day when we are instructed to find a life-style that feels good, we must remember that He could say ‘No!’ to His impulses in order to save us from our certain destiny. When, in order to assuage our sense of guilt, sentimental songs of self-congratulation take the place of God-centered hymns, when chummy pep talks feebly supplant life-changing messages that exalt the living God and stir us to responsible action, we must look to Jesus! He did not feel like going to the cross for anyone. It is to this role model that we are called (Romans 8:29; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:6; John 13:15).

Betrayal and Arrest 14:43 “And immediately while He was still speaking”: Observe that often we are not given “time” to pause before a trial. Jesus had used His time wisely. Once He is done praying—Judas shows up. “Judas, one of the twelve, came up, accompanied by a multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders”: Luke 21:37 reveals that Jesus and His disciples, every night during that week, had stayed the night on the mount of Olives. We must 11

conclude that Jesus had used this Garden as a place to camp out, and Judas knew that night, as all the other nights, Jesus would be there. See also Luke 22:39.

Lenski notes, “Purposely, it seems, Jesus had spent the past three nights in Gethsemane; He may have used its shelter also during previous visits to the city.

Judas was to know where Jesus could be found when the hour had come. We also see how easily Jesus could have frustrated the plans of Judas; all He needed to do was to avoid Gethsemane and to go to some new place for the night. By again going to Gethsemane, Jesus who knew the plans of Judas, deliberately placed Himself into the hands of His enemies” (pp. 1173-1174).

14:43 “Accompanied by a multitude”: John says (18:3) that this multitude contained a cohort soldiers that could range from 300 to 600 men 14:44 “Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, ‘Whomever I shall kiss, He is the one; seize Him, and lead Him away under guard”: The kiss is decidedly part of the plot, not an afterthought on Judas’ plot.

Note that the gospel writers are surprisingly subdued in describing Judas and his betrayal kiss. “For men grimly determined to succeed, some definite, unmistakable sign of recognition was necessary in the semi-darkness to eliminate confusion and mistakes” (Fowler p. 737).

14:45-46 “And after coming, he immediately went to Him, saying, ‘Rabbi!’ and kissed Him”. And they laid hands on Him, and seized Him”: 14:47 “But a certain one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off his ear”: It appears that the slave moved to the side as Peter (John 18:10) lurched out and struck. “Just how one could swing a sword at an opponent and only clip off an ear is seen if the servant saw Peter lunge and swing and in the instant dodged to escape the blow. Thus a solid blow which might have split the head or severed the shoulder, was almost escaped” (Foster p. 1238). It is clear that Peter fully intended to inflict serious harm, for he was aiming for that man’s head. Peter did stand ready to make good of his boast that he would suffer and, if need be, die to protect Jesus.

14:48-49 “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as against a robber? Everyday I was with you in 12

the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has happened that the Scriptures might be fulfilled”: McGarvey notes that the strength and diversity of the crowd that came out to arrest Jesus suggests that the Jewish rulers thought that Jesus might attempt to miraculously defend Himself. “By their extensive preparation the rulers bore an unintentional testimony to His divine power. By their failure to arrest Him openly in the temple, they bore witness to His innocence” (p. 693). “His daily teaching the way of truth and righteousness in broad daylight in the most public place possible, the Jerusalem Temple in the very heart of Judaism, proved that His was not clandestine, guerilla movement of opposition to the Roman regime” (Fowler p. 746). Jesus’ dignified protest here reveals the sin of these men to their face.

14:50 “And they all left Him and fled”: What a sad point to flee. Jesus had just expressed His utmost confidence in the Scriptures and they flee! “Stunned by His order prohibiting all resistance, they stood paralyzed by His inexplicable inaction.

They lost their will to resist because He apparently had none. Since the soldiers were uninterested in the disciples, the temptation to flee now becomes imperious” (Fowler p. 748). In addition, Jesus had already told the soldiers to allow His disciples to leave (John 18:8). This leaving of the disciples is also the fulfillment of prophecy (Zechariah 13:7).

14:51-52 “And a certain young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him. But he left the linen sheet behind, and escaped naked”: The young man here is usually presumed to be Mark, the author of the gospel that bears his name, and is thought that he thus speaks impersonally after the manner of Matthew and John. Mark’s mother did reside in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12,25).

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