Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, January 10, 2014 Read Mark 3:13-19 We have already spoken about the different ways in which John and Mark, and Matthew and Luke following Mark, conceive of the gathering of the first contingent of disciples. Our reading for today contains the list of the Twelve that Mark provides. We can find similar lists in Matthew 10:1-4, Luke 6:12-16 and Acts 1:13-14. It would also be good to review Mark’s story of the calling of Peter, Andrew, James and John in Mark 1:16-20. Why do John and the other gospel writers differ so much in the telling of this story? A good way for us to think of this is to imagine all of the gospel writers as editors – people who have before them a vast amount of material most of which is unorganized and in rather small pieces. All are challenged to organize those pieces into a sensible whole and in the process to proclaim the gospel they feel compelled to preach. It is likely that Mark faced this challenge and chose to organize his material in the way that he did to proclaim the message he felt compelled to write. And Mark did a brilliant job of it! Matthew and Luke most likely had Mark to use as a guide, but they also needed to do some organizing. Perhaps they had some material that was unavailable to Mark or in a slightly different form than Mark had. Maybe Mark had left out some things they thought should be included. Matthew and Luke felt compelled to deliver a message somewhat different from Mark’s to communities with slightly different needs. And so they created the wonderful gospels they have provided us. And then there is John. It is almost certain that John was not aware of Mark’s, Matthew’s, or Luke’s gospels. In that way he was a lot like Mark. However, as we have noticed there was one striking difference. John had at his disposal the testimony of an eyewitness to the events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. It is also likely that John had some other pieces of information that was very similar to that which Mark, Matthew, and Luke had. It is my view that the Gospel of John as we have it today is much larger than the testimony of that eyewitness that stands behind much of it. The core of John’s gospel is the testimony of this eyewitness, but the final product is the work of one of his followers who expanded upon that testimony, often making it relevant to the needs of the community after that eyewitness had died. We can presume that this eyewitness is dead from chapter 21 of John’s gospel. We have noticed, and will continue to notice that at times the Gospel of John reflects the same episodes as are reflected in the synoptic gospels. But there are also striking differences within these pieces where the same episode is reflected in John and the others. We can best explain the similarities and the differences by presuming that older traditions underlie both John and the others. Mark has shaped that older material in his own way. So have Matthew and Luke (we can notice how they felt free to re-shape Mark). And now John is also shaping older material to meet his needs. All of that reveals an exciting and wonderful process that undergirds the shaping of the gospels as we have them. While all of this is very much a human effort, we need to remember that God is working in the lives of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. And God works in our lives to help us hear the message God needs us to hear. The venture combines human creativity and God’s inspiring Spirit. If we lose either the humanity involved or the work of God within that humanity we fall short of reaping the benefit that God wants us to gain from his Word. It’s this process of sifting through it all that makes Bible study so exciting. When we encounter conflicting stories and even things that contradict one another we need not be troubled. In fact it is often at those points that we reap the greatest gains. Instead of wondering why one writer puts it one way and another puts it another way; and, instead of trying to decide who got it right, we can step back and ask, “Now why did Mark do that? Or, why did John put it that way?” When we ask those kinds of questions we often discover that the purpose of each writer was to proclaim more forcefully the gospel they were compelled to preach. They weren’t worried about “historical accuracy” and neither should we.