The Story of Mark's Passion 1: The Death of Peter

I believe it will be much harder to do with Mark what I just did with Hebrews. Neverthless, let's give it a shot.

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1. The death of Peter was more devastating than that of Paul. Paul was a divisive figure in the church--especially in Jerusalem. Conflict seemed to follow him everywhere he went. When the prefect handed down his final sentence, there was of course great sorrow in the churches across the Mediterranean. But there were others who felt he had brought it on himself.

Peter was more universally treasured. Most Christians saw him as the first to whom Jesus appeared after the resurrection (although there was also a rumor that he appeared to Mary Magdalene even before Peter). While the brother of Jesus, James, had dominated the Jerusalem church, Peter was treasured across the church.

True, he often spoke before he had thought everything through. He was helped by those around him. When he preached in Rome, I -- John Mark -- helped him with his Greek. Silas did too. He could of course speak some, but it was not very polished. I often stood beside him to translate.

2. But his stories were gold. I was from Jerusalem, so I had only briefly known Jesus during his final week on earth. But I loved him, and I think he took a quick liking to me as well.

I loved hearing the stories of his brief ministry in Galilee. The feeding of the 5000 -- or was it 4000? Some of the stories had different versions, but they all rang true.

After Paul died in the eighth year of Nero's reign (AD62), Peter decided it might be helpful to visit some of the churches Paul had founded. This was a little uncomfortable, since he was not accustomed to eating or fellowshiping with Gentiles. Neverthless, Silas and I accompanied him and helped to translate and negotiate the Diaspora world with which Peter was largely unfamiliar.

We saw the churches in Galatia and Ephesus. We visited Corinth. And finally we arrived in Rome. This was such a rich time hearing the stories of Jesus. I had heard them in Jerusalem too, of course. But to hear them straight from Peter himself was such a treat.

3. Peter was in Rome the better part of a year before the fire. About the 10th year of Nero's reign (AD64). Bad timing. Nero wasn't in town at the time, but everyone was blaming him -- especially after he started his building projects on the land the fire had cleared. He seemed quite blissful for the door to open so nicely.

Christians were an easy scapegoat. Peter's stories about Jesus had a lot of power in the synagogues of Rome -- far more than Paul's preaching. As you might expect, Paul had polarized the Jewish community in Rome during his almost two years in the city. But stories about Jesus healing the lame and the blind, even the story of him raising the dead, they were very powerful. And Peter was an eyewitness, no less. He had seen these things with his own eyes.

And then he was gone. Crucified just like our Lord. It was devastating.

Silas and I retreated to Puteoli. What do you do when the first apostle is gone? Paul and Peter both, gone. James the son of Zebedee and James the Lord's brother, both gone as well. It was deeply unsettling. Surely Jesus would return soon and set the world to rights!

4. It was a day or two after Peter's death that I woke up determined to preserve my memories of his preaching, as well as my own memories. What if Silas or I were martyred next? Nero didn't seem to be stopping with the deaths he was inflicting on the churches of Rome. He was enjoying it.

He killed some by putting animal skins on them and letting dogs go to town. He even set them on fire to light his garden at night, while he paraded around dressed like a charioteer.

The thought of preserving some of the stories not only energized me. It filled me with hope. Later that day, I secured some drafting papyrus and began jotting down the stories I remembered about Jesus' time on earth. There was the baptism of John -- that's where it all began. There were the miracles he began to do after John was arrested. Soon, Peter and the others started following him as he preached about the kingdom of God.

There were his parables. He cast out demons. He even healed Peter's mother-in-law. The stories were coming to me quickly, and I jotted a note for each one as I remembered them.

I spent the better part of a day jotting down notes. It was dark before I even thought to eat. When I saw Silas, he added a few that I hadn't thought to write down. I was getting more and more excited.

We all knew these stories, but no one had really written them down. There was little need to record them because Peter and the other apostles were close at hand to tell them. Of course they circulated with slightly different versions. My goal was to get as many down as I could.

5. Then came that final week of Jesus on earth. That was the week that I met Jesus, from his glorious procession into Jerusalem to his crucifixion. I would need more papyrus for that.