The singing of traditional Psalms was one of Mark’s favorite parts of the Passover observance. His mother’s eyes filled as they quietly harmonized.
“I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!’
“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.”
John Mark believed in God, loved Him, and prayed for the coming Messiah. He thrilled to the stories of old, how God had delivered His chosen people time and again despite their failings. Mark knew what it meant to fail, to not be the man he believed God—and his mother—wanted and expected him to be. Besides the constant need to put his wishes above others’, he frequently had to seek forgiveness for being selfish, cross, or disobedient.
“I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!”
Even as they sang the beautiful old passages from the Torah, Mark’s mind wandered, and he was eager to finish and listen in on the disciples and the One they called their Master.
Mark had to admit that having in their own home the Man some believed was Messiah Himself made him doubt it all the more. What was the likelihood that after all these years, Messiah would come in Mark’s lifetime, know his mother, and visit their home? Interesting and fascinating as he found the Man and His friends, the very idea seemed preposterous. And while Peter’s stories included acts that would certainly qualify the Man as the Chosen One, Mark also knew that grown men loved to exaggerate, to thrill gullible young people.
Jesus was surely a wonderful man, and His disciples obviously believed in Him and were devoted to Him. But Mark would have to see one of His miracles himself to even consider that Jesus of Nazareth might be the promised deliverer and king.
With the singing of the psalms completed, Mark began helping his mother and the servants to clear their table, but she urged him to hurry upstairs. “The Teacher informed me that He and His disciples may stay very late and that I should not feel obligated to wait up for them. Please give Him my regards, as I do feel I will turn in early.”
“Shall I stay with you, Mother?” Mark said, willing, but hopeful she would decline his offer. “Are you all right?”
“No, please. Memories tonight are sweet and painful, but I will feel most comforted if I know you are seeing to our guests.”
AS MARK MOUNTED the steps he could hear Jesus speaking again. Near the top he was met by the servants coming down. “Where are you going?” he whispered.
“He has excused us, master,” one said, carrying a pitcher, a basin, and a towel.
“What’s this?”
“He washed their feet. The Teacher.”
“Did He not know that we already—”
“He knew.”
“Very well. Remain nearby to restore the room when they have left. I will signal you.”
Mark sat on the top step, where he would remain out of sight behind the door and yet be able to hear. He tucked his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, for he was wearing only a thin linen garment, and the night was growing chilly.
He listened intently. For whatever reason, Jesus had washed His disciples’ feet. They continued to murmur about it and one or two seemed to be weeping.
Then Mark heard the Master speak.
Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”
“What?”
Mark recognized the sorrowful voice of Peter, echoed by many others. They all seemed to protest at once, then asked Jesus one by one, “Is it I?”
Jesus spoke quietly. “It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.”
Several gasped at that, and it was all Mark could do to keep from peeking around the corner to see who it was. Jesus continued, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”
Suddenly came the sound of rushing footsteps, and Mark pressed himself back against the wall as a figure swept from the room and clambered down the steps. Judas Iscariot! Could it be? Mark stopped himself from calling out, knowing he would give himself away, and he so wanted to hear more.
There was more murmuring, and finally silence, save for the sounds of bowls being passed and cups lifted and set down on the table. Jesus quietly prayed, thanking God for their bread. Then He said something so strange that Mark thought he had not heard correctly: “Take, eat; this is My body.”
Jesus gave thanks for the wine and said to His disciples, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
What was He saying? Mark was a diligent student, but he could make no sense of this. And then he heard one, a voice he did not recognize, ask which of the disciples should be considered the greatest. Jesus said, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.”
Was that why He, the Teacher Himself, the one they called Master and even Lord, had washed their feet? No wonder they found this Man astounding.
Jesus continued, “If I then have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
“But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
“You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.”
What in the name of heaven did He mean? The disciples had to be wondering the same, but when Jesus continued, He sounded just as perplexing. “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.”
Why would they weep? What was to become of Him? Mark rose and stole into the room, quickly moving to the back as if tending to details. When no one seemed to notice, and Jesus did not quit speaking, the lad lowered himself out of sight where he could see the Teacher and most of His disciples.
“I do not speak concerning all of you,” Jesus said. “I know whom I have chosen. Now I tell you before it comes, so that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”
Jesus was making astounding claims about Himself, but maybe Mark was just too young to understand. He would have to ask Peter what he thought of all this. If anyone understood, Peter would.
Jesus said, “Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I sa
id to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. By this all will know that you are My disciples.”
Mark could see their consternation. They could not have understood this any more than he did.
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
They did? Mark certainly didn’t. He was relieved when Thomas said, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
He was claiming to be the Son of God!
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
Jesus cocked his head and smiled. “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.”
Had Mark seen all the works Peter told of, he would have found it easier to believe this. Now he didn’t know what to think. This Teacher was fascinating, captivating even, but could this be true?
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
Was that a promise just for the disciples, or might it be something Mark could try too? He might just have to put Jesus to the test.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
Who dwells with them and will be in them? Jesus Himself? Or another? Mark was getting more confused by the moment.
“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”
Mark’s mind was reeling. The world will see Him no more? But the disciples will? And they will live?
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
The other Judas said, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”
He was speaking the words of God? Mark wanted to know Jesus enough to love Him and keep His word.
“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
So that is who will be in the disciples. A spirit?
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.
“And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
For the first time, after all the hours he’d spent with Peter and the years he’d spent studying the Scriptures, John Mark wished he could be a disciple of Jesus. Was He the Christ, the Messiah? Mark had no idea. But He spoke with such authority and depth.
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.
“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.”
This Man knows the future? How long would it be before Mark could know for sure?
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
“A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.”
A little while? Again, Mark felt lost, and he could tell by their murmuring and their looks that the disciples were too. Yet it was as if Jesus read their minds.
“Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. You now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
“[T]he time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”
Well, Mark decided, that couldn’t have been more clear. And apparently Peter agreed. He said, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”
Jesus said, “Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
; As Mark watched, transfixed, Jesus looked up and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
“I pray for these, My friends. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”
Mark sat shivering, mesmerized by the puzzling, troubling statements of the Teacher. Mark realized that if this had been his own rabbi, holding forth on some teaching, he might have dozed. But the Teacher said such amazing things.
When Jesus finished praying, He said, “After we sing, I would that you would join me at the Mount of Olives.” He led the disciples in a hymn, the very one Mark and his mother had sung to finish their seder.