Besides his name at the top of the second gospel, Scripture doesn't tell us a whole lot about Mark. He is first named in Acts 12, when an angel busts Peter out of prison and he (Peter) goes to the home of Mary, identified as the mother of a certain John Mark. Later, Saul and Barnabas depart on the first of their missionary journeys, and they take John Mark along. Apparently, Mark bailed during the trip, and in Acts 15 as Paul and Barnabas are planning their next journey, they have a "sharp contention" over whether to take Mark along again. This results in a split; Barnabas leaves with Mark, and Paul with Silas.
It seems that by the time Paul is in captivity in Rome (the period in which Martin Franzmann places his letter to the Colossians), Paul has reconciled with Mark, identifying him in Colossians 4:10 as a cousin of Barnabas (which explains a thing or two). He says Mark is with him in his prison and urges the Colossians to welcome him if he comes to them. Again writing from prison, Paul sends greetings to Philemon from Mark and others whom he calls "my fellow laborers." Even later, in his second letter to Timothy, Paul urges Timothy to come to him and bring Mark as well, "for he is useful to me for ministry."
Peter also writes from Rome, in 1 Peter 5, calling it Babylon and extending greetings from the church there as well as "Mark my son." This Mark, the Mark of whom Paul writes, the John Mark of whom Luke writes (in Acts) and the Mark who wrote the second gospel are widely, but not universally, believed to be the same person. If so, Mark seems to have been a close associate of both Peter and Paul, and one often hears his gospel described as a summary of Peter's preaching. Other than that, we have only church tradition to go on. Symbolized by a winged lion, Mark is said to have become the first Christian bishop of Alexandria, where he was dragged to death by his neck on a stormy Easter Day in A.D. 68.
As far as where Mark might lurk between the lines of Scripture, I've picked up on a few tidbits of idle speculation. One rumor has it that Mark was the rich young ruler who sought Jesus' advice in Mark 10:17-22, and who was sorry he asked after Jesus told him to sell everything and give it to the poor. The story is also in Luke 18, but (the rumor argues) only Mark supplies the detail that "Jesus, looking at him, loved him." The other rumor, again based on something that only Mark's gospel says, has it that Mark is the young man who witnessed Jesus' arrest in Mark 14 while wearing nothing but a linen cloth, and who fled naked when the soldiers grabbed at him. The possibility that both rumors could be true is entertaiing to think about, from a character-development viewpoint – but again, it's just speculation.
It almost goes without saying anymore, but I wrote this hymn with no particular tune in mind. If it seems I stray from the source texts in stanza 4, my excuse is that I was thinking about the idea of lions sleeping with their eyes open.
Hark, the watchmen lift their voices,
Singing that the Lord has come!
And with them the church rejoices:
Christ redeems Jerusalem!
God sheds comfort on the land,
Saving us with mighty hand;
Merciful and free His choice is,
On which stands all Christendom!
Just such watchmen, apt for serving,
Grant, Lord, in these latter days.
Make their footsteps sure, unswerving,
Bearing witness to Your ways.
Give them, like Your lion, Mark,
Eyes to pierce this Babel dark,
From this age a stump preserving
That shall bud with fruitful praise.
Send them preaching, that the hardened
May Your good news take to heart;
Send baptizing, that Your pardon
Trickle to our inmost parts.
Armor them against all pangs
From the devil's venomed fangs,
That they never tire of guarding
Us from Satan's fiery darts.
Meanwhile, Lord, set guardians watching
From Your throne at God's right hand,
With a wakeful spirit touching
Us who weary watch yet stand.
Leaving cares of earth behind,
Let us higher treasures find
Where, a blood-washed garment clutching,
We'll keep vigil with that band.
ART: From St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, ©2010 by Marie-Lan Nguyen under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.
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