The Gospel of Mark According to Me

I started a project today translating the Bible be more understandable for the contemporary audience, while also trying to portray more scientific accuracy and provide a more accurate meaning of certain passages.  I also provide some notes in passages I feel need some explanation.  I intend to do this with all of the Gospels at the very least, and will publish the four Gospels from my translation.  I do not pretend that my translation is in any way inspired by God or that my translation is intended to replace more authorized versions of the Gospels.  At best my translation is a paraphrase, intended for purposes of making the Gospels clearer to a contemporary audience.  I hope you enjoy.  Below is the first chapter of Mark according to the translation of Brandon Parks.

1:1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus, the chosen one, the Son of God; 

1:2 As it is written in the prophets, take notice, I send my messenger before you, and he will prepare the world for your arrival.

1:3 The voice of one calling out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.

1:4 John baptized in the desert, and preached the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of our failings.

1:5 And everyone from the land of Judaea, and from Jerusalem, travelled to see John, and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their imperfections.

1:6 And John dressed in camel's hair, with underwear of animal skin; and he ate locusts and wild honey; 

1:7 And preached, saying, One is coming after me who is greater than me, whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

1:8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with his own Spirit. (Meaning Jesus will fill you with his Spirit that will clean you any failings.  See Psalm 51:10-12.).

1:9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan River.

1:10 And immediately coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 

1:11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, You are my beloved Son. I am very proud of You.

1:12 And immediately the Spirit led Jesus to pursue solitude in the desert. 

1:13 And he spent forty days in the desert, struggling with temptation; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels took care of him.

1:14 John was put in prison, and Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God’s perfect government, 

1:15 And saying, The time has come, and God’s perfect government has arrived: turn to God, and believe the good news.

1:16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishermen.

1:17 And Jesus said to them, Come with me, and I will make you fish for men.

1:18 And immediately they abandoned their nets, and went with him.

1:19 And when he had gone a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship fixing their nets.

1:20 And immediately he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went with him.

1:21 And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the sabbath day he entered the synagogue, and taught.

1:22 And they were amazed at his teaching: for he taught them as one with authority and personal knowledge, and not as the teachers of the day.

1:23 And there was a man in their synagogue who was sick and misunderstood (likely someone with paranoid schizophrenia); and he cried out, 

1:24 Saying, Leave us alone; what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Are you here to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

1:25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be quiet, and leave him.

1:26 And when the illness hurt him, and the man cried with a loud voice, the man was cured of his illness.

1:27 And they were all amazed, and questioned among themselves, saying, What is this? what new doctrine is this? For with authority Jesus commands even sickness, and even ailments obey him.

1:28 And immediately his fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.

1:29 And immediately after leaving the synagogue, they went into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

1:30 But Simon's mother-in-law lay sick of a fever, and soon they told Jesus of her.

1:31 And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she waited on them.

1:32 And in the evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Jesus everyone who was sick, (the original said “and those possessed of demons.” To reflect our knowledge today, I have removed that phrase as those “possessed with demons” likely had illnesses the people of the time were unfamiliar with).

1:33 And everyone from the city was crowding the door.

1:34 And Jesus healed many that were sick of diverse diseases; and asked that no one speak of him being the Son of God.

1:35 And in the morning, waking up before dawn, Jesus went out, and found a solitary place where he prayed.

1:36 And Simon and they that were with him followed him.

1:37 And when they had found him, they said, Everyone is looking for you.

1:38 And he said to them, Let us go into the next towns, so I may preach there also: for that is why I came here.

1:39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and Healed those who were sick.

1:40 And a leper came to him, begging him, and kneeling down to him, saying, If you want, you are able to heal me.

1:41 And Jesus, feeling immense compassion for this man, put forth his hand, and touched him, saying to him, I will; be clean.  (Note: at this time touching a leper made a person unclean.  This man likely had not experienced a loving human touch for many years.  Jesus showed that a person does not become unclean for touching someone, but that by touching someone who is unclean, we can make that person clean).

1:42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was clean.

1:43 And Jesus immediately charged him, and then sent him away; 

1:44 And said unto him, Make sure to say nothing to any man: but go right away and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

1:45 But he went out, and began to tell everyone who would listen, and to spread everywhere the details of his healing, so much so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside the city in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.

Christianity and Society in 2011

Back in 1951, H. Richard Niebuhr wrote a book titled Christ and Culture in which he looked at different views of how Christians should face culture. One of the views was that Christians should completely isolate themselves from culture; another was that Christians should embrace culture as it is and accept it completely; a third was that Christians should live in culture but work to fix it; and the final view was that Christians should live in culture but accept they can do nothing about it. Each of these views has been lived out at some time or another by one denomination or another of Christianity. In todays world you see the Amish living out the first view, cutting themselves off from technology altogether. We see other groups, such as the emergent church, completely embracing todays culture and incorporating it into their worship. I think most churches fall under the third category, with programs for every societal problem. Few churches have the perspective of the fourth option, feeling helpless to do anything. Let us look at Christianity and culture for 2011.

If we look at Scripture, and use Jesus as our basis for interaction, we see that he did not isolate himself from society (with the exception of going into occasional solitude for his own spiritual well-being) but instead went to wedding receptions, attended community feasts and holiday gatherings, and even engaged people casually at wells. Jesus did not shun society and he never asked his followers too. We know that Jesus did not embrace every facet of culture either. If he did, he would have followed the exact same hypocrisy as the other teachers, because that was a societal norm back then. Jesus did not get married or have children (despite what popular media claims), and we know that he was without sin. We do know, however, that Jesus did not withdraw from certain social situation in order to uphold his clean reputation, but gained the reputation of a drunkard and glutton, as the Pharisees called him, because of the people he hung out with and perhaps because of his own behavior. So again, though Jesus did not embrace everything about culture (he himself preached for repentance) he did not shun it. Jesus also did not see culture as something to fix. People do not like to be approached with the attitude that they are broken and need fixing. Nor did Jesus approach culture with the attitude that he was helpless. Jesus, instead, approached culture with the attitude that with love and compassion, he could lift people to a higher potential. Jesus did not see the brokenness or sinfulness in people, he saw their need for love and compassion, and a potential higher than they saw in themselves. Jesus approached each person, no matter what their background (some were tax collectors others were adulterers and prostitutes), no matter what their religion (some, like the centurion and the Gentile woman, were of a different faith than Jesus), no matter what kind of lives they lived at that moment (one woman had had multiple husbands and was now living out of wedlock), with love and compassion, and with the attitude that that person had tremendous value. He never criticized a person for their behavior, he never condemned them for their sins. Jesus came to each person with a full acceptance of them for who they were.

I want each reader to take a serious look at the condition of the world today. Christians ask, if we do not condemn people for their sins, or judge certain behavior, how can we stand out as separate from society? My is that there is enough hatred, judgment, and criticism going on. If you want to be different, and if you want to make a difference, show unconditional love and acceptance, show extreme compassion for everyone regardless of their faith and background. If you want to be different from everyone else, turn the other cheek, be blind to other people's sins. If you want to stand apart from society, show other people their true value as God sees it. Make everyone you come into contact with feel worth much more than they value themselves. My resolution for this year is to make others feel more valuable after coming into contact with me than they did before they came into contact with me. I pray that that is your resolution also. It does not matter if a person is gay, has had an abortion, has gotten divorced, or has used God's name in vain; what matters is that they are worth an infinite value in God's eyes and they should therefore be worth as much in our own eyes. Bring Jesus' love to others today and you will be surprised how you might change the world.