Through Mark's Eyes: A Portrait of Jesus Based on the Gospel of Mark

By Puck Purnell

Includes Study Guide

Through Mark’s Eyes invites you into the Jesus story—to walk the dusty roads, to row the boats on the Sea of Galilee, to witness healings, to stand in the Temple, and to weep at the cross.

This dramatic, colorful, moving version of the Gospel of Mark is not a new translation; instead, Puck Purnell augments the New Revised Standard Version of Mark with vivid language and descriptions to reimagine the Gospel story and breathe fresh life into it.

“I was spellbound by Through Mark’s Eyes. I doubt I have ever read a gospel account from start to finish without interruption or desire for one.”
     -Barbara Howe, Harford, CT

“I very much enjoyed reading Through Mark’s Eyes. I loved that the story was easy to follow. As for my plain, honest opinion, I can see people of my age reading, enjoying, and understanding this book.”
     -Allison Swayne, 8th grade, Henry James Middle School, Simsbury, CT

“You have managed to convey the roughness and immediacy of Mark in a more contemporary narrative mode….Your work will offer people some new points of entry into the story and will stimulate reflection and discussion.”
     -L. William Countryman, Sherman E. Johnson Professor in Biblical Studies, Church Divinity School of the Pacific

Puck Purnell, an Episcopal priest, serves as Rector at Old St. Andrew’s Church in Bloomfield, CT. A graduate of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, he is a talented preacher and teacher. Mr. Purnell lives with his wife, Joanne Kimball, in Simsbury, CT.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Release date: Sep 1, 2006
• ISBN: 9781426748257

Puck Purnell

Puck Purnell, an Episcopal priest, serves as Rector at Old St. Andrew’s Church in Bloomfield, CT. A graduate of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, he is a talented preacher and teacher. Mr. Purnell lives with his wife, Joanne Kimball, in Simsbury, CT.

Book preview

Through Mark's Eyes

Through

Mark's Eyes

A Portrait of Jesus

Based on the Gospel of Mark

Puck Purnell

ABINGDON PRESS

Nashville

THROUGH MARK'S EYES

A PORTRAIT OF JESUS BASED ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK

Copyright © 2006 by Erl G. (Puck) Purnell

All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission can be addressed to Abingdon Press, P.O. Box 801, 201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37202-0801, or e-mailed to [e-mail]

.

This book is printed on recycled, acid-free, and elemental-chlorine–free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Purnell, Puck, 1946-

Through Mark's eyes : a portrait of Jesus based on the Gospel of Mark / Puck Purnell.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-687-33572-8 (binding: adhesive, pbk. : alk. paper)

I. Jesus Christ—Biography. 2. Bible. N.T. Mark—Biography. I. Title.

BT301.3.P87 2006

226.3'06—dc22

2006006419

All scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15—10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Every breath a prayer.

For

Joanne Mary Kimball

and

William H. Armstrong

Contents

Preface

Travels of Jesus and the Disciples (Map)

Through Mark's Eyes

Study Guide

Acknowledgments

Preface

THE GOSPEL OF MARK is the codified oral tradition of a Jewish community of Jesus followers who eventually became known as Christians. Through Mark's Eyes: A Portrait of Jesus Based on the Gospel of Mark is the unique recapitulation of the Gospel according to Mark—the actual Gospel of Mark given depth and breadth by vivid descriptions that draw the reader or listener more deeply into the Jesus story. In a very real sense, the book illustrates the original Mark's Gospel with word pictures almost as an artist would do.

This work is neither a novel nor a short story, nor is it a new translation. Instead, it is a fresh and invigorating invitation to know Jesus as he might have been. This book is intended to arouse the imagination of readers or listeners so they might breathe the air as they walk the dusty roads of ancient Palestine as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

In Through Mark's Eyes, the Jesus story is about life. Even the crucifixion of Jesus is about life through the resurrection. And so, the experience of reading this book is meant to encourage people to consider how Jesus' life continues to teach by word and example the universal message of compassion, forgiveness, justice, and love. This book is written in the hope of engaging people in conversation about the gospel and about who Jesus was and is. Thus,

I hope the book is a catalyst, raising questions and encouraging further study.

Through Mark's Eyes is written for a wide, mainstream audience.It is for people who want to hear Jesus laugh; for those confident in Jesus' divinity and his humanity as well as for the faithful who struggle with Jesus' identity and yearn to see him as one of us; for young people studying the Gospels in Sunday school or a college religion class; for the skeptical yet curious; for adult Bible study groups; for evangelists and teachers introducing Jesus to those who don't know him; for Christians disenchanted with the church and a Western European blue-eyed Jesus; for youngsters being read to by their parents at bedtime; and for people of diverse faiths looking for a helpful introduction to the Jesus story.

The challenge of writing this book has been to remain faithful to the gospel story as it is recorded. I have relied on the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible as my starting text, and a preponderance of quotations come from this translation. Direct quotes are followed by a dagger: †. Although many descriptive details are added, the intent is to expand upon rather than deviate from the canonical text.

The author of Mark wrote in a straightforward yet compelling style: And immediately they left their nets and followed him† (Mark 1:18). Likewise, most of the sentences in this retelling are short and clipped, a style such as a master storyteller might use.

Taking the oral tradition of Mark seriously, Through Mark's Eyes is crafted to be read aloud and listened to, perhaps even more than to be read silently. After all, the Gospels are read aloud in churches throughout Christendom every Sunday. Individual words and phrases invite adjusting volume, tone, inflection, or emphasis.

There are also ambient sounds, such as the snapping of fingers or a dog's bark, which accent the story and bring the people and their surroundings to life.

Whether or not to use the vernacular was an open question at the outset. Because this book is written, like Mark's Gospel, for the people of a particular time and place, current commonplace words or phrases such as OK are cautiously included.

While the book remains faithful to the original text, it also portrays Jesus as a more credible human being, to borrow a phrase from Jesus scholar Marcus Borg (The Heart of Christianity). Generic characteristics are knit into the text to give Jesus, the Son of Man, texture, grit, and substance.

Often, pictures in Western art portray Jesus as a blue-eyed Western European with long brown hair, a neatly kempt beard, and a clean robe. Jesus must, however, have looked much different. After all, he was a Semitic Palestinian Jew who, in all likelihood, was dark- skinned with dark hair and eyes, which is how many people of the region appear today.

Nevertheless, as in the Gospel itself, there is no explicit description of Jesus in this book, for there is not a single reference in scripture regarding what Jesus looked like. This is consistent with Hebrew tradition, which prohibited images of the Divine. Another obvious implication is that who Jesus was and the example of his life point to what is important and why he is remembered.

My hope is that those hearing or reading Through Mark's Eyes will enjoy their time with Jesus and his friends as much as I have enjoyed being the creative scribe for this rendition of the Gospel according to Mark.

Please accept this blessing as you prepare to read Through Mark's Eyes.

Life is short

and we do not have too much time

to gladden the hearts of those who travel

the Way with us.

So, be swift to love,

and make haste to be kind!*

Creator God, grant us your blessing,

through him in whom we live and move and have our being,

and fill us with your peace through the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

*Adapted from the journal of Henri Amiel, December 16, 1868.

Travels of Jesus and the Disciples

Image1

Legend

John baptizes Jesus (Chapter 1)

Jesus chooses four disciples (Chapter 1)

Jesus heals the demoniac Gerasene (Chapter 5)

Jesus heals Jarius's daughter (Chapter 5)

Jesus in Nazareth (Chapter 6)

Jesus sends the Twelve into the countryside (Chapter 6)

Jesus feeds the five thousand (Chapter 6)

Jesus walks on the Sea of Galilee (Chapter 6)

Jesus and the Twelve land at Gennesaret (Chapter 6)

Jesus and his followers travel to Tyre (Chapter 7)

Jesus and his followers return to Galilee via Sidon and the Decapolis (Chapter 7)

Jesus is back in Galilee near Magdala (Chapter 7)

Jesus and the Twelve arrive in Bethsaida (Chapter 8)

Jesus and the Twelve go to Caesarea Philippi (Chapter 8)

Jesus and the Twelve return to Capernaum (Chapter 9)

pter 10)

Jesus heals the blind Bartimaeus at Jericho's gate (Chapter 10)

Jesus enters Jerusalem (Chapter 11)

Jesus is crucified (Chapter 15)

Chapter 1

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.†

THE LOUD VOICE echoed. Words vibrated, bouncing off red-brown rocks. Birds jumped into the air and the long river valley woke up. The man took ten steps and cupped huge hands to his hairy mouth. Are you ready? Prepare. Prepare the Lord's way. Make the path to God straight. He walked another ten big steps and shouted again. Are you ready? Prepare. Prepare the Lord's way. Make the path to God straight.

A young village girl scampered to her mother and threw her face against the woman's leg, drowning in her loose goat wool robe. The mother stood still in her doorway, arm pressing her daughter close to her. She watched. She listened. The man kept coming, ten long paces at a time. And then, Are you ready? Prepare. Prepare the Lord's way. Make the path to God straight.The girl squeezed closer into the goat wool. She whimpered even though she had seen the man before, almost every day. Her mother's eyes followed the shouting man. The man walked, stopped, cupped his hands, and called out again.

This man was tall. His chin was far above the woman's covered head. He was big around his chest. Thick, hairy arms stuck out from shoulders draped in a mangy camel pelt with a hole rough cut for the neck and head. A wide leather strap tied at the front hung nearly to the ground and swung when the man walked. A graveyard of bug carcasses stuck to his bushy beard, and live bugs feasted on honey-matted hairs. The man was not concerned about the bugs. Are you ready? Prepare. Prepare the Lord's way. Make the path to God straight.

Iron voice booming, the man's dusty steps passed the clinging girl and the unafraid woman. Black eyes in sun-dried sockets lit his way. His ten-step cadence and repeated calls echoed. Are you ready? Prepare. Prepare the Lord's way. Make the path to God straight.

Straight. The desert man walked straight, straight to the Jordan River. His sandaled feet crossed muddy bank stones. He marched right into the water until wet belt ends floated at his waist.

Who knew where they came from! Maybe from as far away as Jericho, Bethphage, Bethany, even Jerusalem. They came and came and came. Children splashed and the stones they threw splooshed. People waited to get a turn. Some only watched.

All day long this John from the desert reached out and wrapped giant hands around the next one. His light-filled black eyes dove into each face, and he demanded, Do you repent? Do you? Speak your sins. Now, turn, turn around to the one God who is here for anybody who wants new life.

One after another were held in his grip and penetrating gaze. There were women with babies and girls and old men and boys and young men holding shepherd's crooks. They would tell John that they were not pure, that it was so hard and expensive to keep

the Law and they couldn't do it but that they wanted God's love. After he heard this, John pushed each person under the stirred-up Jordan water. He held both hands on their shoulders as they wiggled and thrashed, flailing helplessly until nearly drowned. A quick, rough yank suddenly lifted each back into the air where the breath of life, God's breath, filled lungs again and life lighted anew as the water dripped out of their ears and down their faces. Baptize—to overwhelm with water as a sign and seal of repentance and new life—is what John did in the Jordan River.

People thought John was a holy man. Maybe a prophet. Perhaps the Messiah. Or, crazy. Once he told them, "There is another, another man who is even mightier, much more powerful than I. I wouldn't even unlace his sandals. This one is truly a Spirit-filled