BACK

JOHNMARK 4'1m0f Monologue: The gospel according to Mark

John Mark -- (enters carrying scroll, wearing tunic) Well, I
finished my book. I started out to write an autobiography. But
the more I wrote, the less I liked the main character. After
describing my first three failures, I gave up. It seems like the
only thing I'm famous for is being a prime example of the
double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is John Mark. You probably
read about me in Matthew's gospel as the "rich young ruler". I
was rich. Filthy rich. I had everything: money, prestige, wine,
women and song. I hired the best teachers and became an expert
in the scriptures. So, when I went to Jesus and asked to be a
disciple, all I expected him to demand of me was a donation. But
he didn't want to have anything to do with my money. In fact, he
made it only too clear that my money was my biggest problem.

Now tell me. How can money be a problem? It had bought me
everything a man could want.... except happiness. I had an
emptiness deep down inside that I was sure that Jesus could
fill. But he was being completely unreasonable! He said there
was no hope for me unless I gave away my money. So I just walked
away from him. That was my first mistake.

But the more I studied the scriptures the more I knew that Jesus
was definitely the long awaited messiah because he performed
miracles and signs as predicted by the scriptures, scriptures
that attributed these miracles to God himself. So, I was among
the thousands of people standing along the road from the mount
of Olives to the Jerusalem gates when Jesus made his triumphal 
entry. We all layed palm leaves at his feet and sang his 
praises. I gave away my money that week and sat at Jesus' feet 
in the temple as he preached the good news of God's redemption. 
The more I listened the more confidence I had that he was the 
one.

Later that week I was with the large crowd late at night on the
mount of Olives when Jesus was arrested. The arrest took me
completely by surprise. All of a sudden when temple guards
arrived, my confidence in Jesus melted. That's when I made my
second big mistake. I ignored all the evidence that Jesus was
God incarnate, I ignored all his fulfillments of scriptures. And
I ran for my life. One of the temple guards grabbed me by my
tunic (demonstrates) but I was not going to be arrested like a
common criminal! I'm a ruler, not a criminal! So, I ran. My 
tunic tore right off me and I fled into the darkness completely 
naked!

I regained my confidence in Jesus again after he died and rose 
again. I was there on the mount of Olives when he ascended into 
Heaven. A few years later, I linked up with the Apostle Paul and
Barnabas to do missionary work all around the Mediterranean Sea.
But that was my third failure. I had grown up with servants and
three meals a day. On the road we were lucky to eat once a day
sometimes. And I was getting discouraged. I started complaining,
but Paul didn't want to hear it. He called me a cry baby and
wanted to send me home. Barnabas defended me. But that just made
matters worse. Paul and Barnabas ended up splitting up over me.
They were a great team. I felt really bad.

Now you see why I decided not to write a book about me. But I'm
a well educated man and I wanted to contribute something to the
cause of Christianity. So, I ended up at the feet of the Apostle
Peter and picked his brain for several years. The result was
this (lifts scroll) book. They say they're going to name it
after me. They're going to call it the gospel of Mark. But it's
not about me. It's about the long awaited messiah, who can take
a double-minded man like me, mistakes and all, and use him for
good. He can do the same for you. Read my book.


©2007 Bob Snook. Conditions for use:
Do not sell any part of this script, even if you rewrite it.
Pay no royalties, even if you make money from performances.
You may reproduce and distribute this script freely,
but all copies must contain this copyright statement.
http://www.fea.net/bobsnook  email: bobsnook@fea.net

BACK