In the Gethsemane prayer, Jesus prays, "Abba Father." The Savior pronounces His "Abba" (Father), and immediately Mark translates this word into Greek – Father (14:36). Finally, the last words of the Savior on the Cross: "Eloi'! Eloi'! lama 'savakhthani'?" — which means: "My God! My god! why hast thou forsaken me?" (15:34). It was Mark who preserved elements of the Aramaic language.

There is one more place in the Gospel of Mark that should be paid attention to. Jesus, already captured, is led into the courtyard of the high priest. "A certain young man, wrapped in a veil over his naked body, followed Him; and the soldiers seized him. But he, leaving the veil, fled naked from them" (14:51-52).

Who is this young man? It was once suggested that the evangelist captured himself in this figure. I always compare the Gospel text with an icon. Just as in an icon the master often depicts himself somewhere on the side, so here it is quite likely that a self-portrait will appear — as if in the margins of the Gospel text.

He, this young man, was wrapped in a veil over his naked body. Why? You have to think about the situation. Probably, when this young man was about to go to bed, he witnessed something unusual, jumped out of bed, wrapped himself in whatever came to hand, and rushed after Jesus and the apostles. Perhaps he was a witness to the Last Supper, perhaps he saw Jesus go with the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane and then pray there, or how He was captured. In any case, the brief remark "wrapped in a veil over the naked body" is further proof that we are dealing with authentic testimony in the Gospel of Mark. Moreover, the author (or authors) values every detail, even the smallest and at first glance insignificant.

When the Gospel of Mark was read from this angle in the first decades of the twentieth century, the opinion immediately arose that it was simply a testimony, a document, a haphazard set of facts—genuine, fresh, and unprocessed. Therefore, this is a very good initial witness to the gospel preaching. But when you start reading Mark more carefully, you realize that at the same time this is a text that is quite well thought out from beginning to end. Hundreds and hundreds of fragments of the Gospel of Mark have come down to us, written down for personal use on small pieces of papyrus. These fragments are quotations of the text that we read today. That is, there were no drafts. An important conclusion can be drawn: like the Gospel of Matthew, the text of Mark was written in a ready-made form. These are not random notes or memoir sketches of a witness, but a well-memorized sermon, initially imprinted in the memory of dozens of people, when at first everything fell into place, and then it was written down. It is a sermon that has been passed down by word of mouth, in which (without compromising its authenticity) there is a clear intention. And it is easy to detect.

How does the Gospel of Mark begin? "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God..." (1:1) How does Mark's account of Jesus' death on the Cross end? The centurion, standing near the Cross, exclaims: "... Truly this man was the Son of God" (15:39). In the first chapter, when the Epiphany is described, a voice from heaven says: "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (1:11). The same theme is heard in the question of the high priest: "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" (14:61). And Peter, to Christ's question: "And whom do you say that I am?" answers: "You are the Christ" (8:29).

Probably, it is this verse that should be considered the core verse (it is located just in the middle of the Gospel). Prior to this exclamation of Peter, "Thou art the Christ," one important theme was highlighted in the Gospel. It is necessary to dwell on it.

Jesus heals the sick man and says to the spirit He casts out, "... Be silent and come out of it" (1:25). Then it tells about the healing of many: "And He healed many who were afflicted with various diseases; cast out many demons, and did not allow the demons to say that they knew that He was the Christ" (1:34). Then, while healing the leper, Jesus says to him: "... Look, don't say anything to anyone..." (1:44). And in restoring the life of Jairus's dead daughter, the Savior "strictly commanded them, that no one should know about it" (5:43). Telling about the healing of the deaf-mute, the Evangelist again emphasizes: "And he commanded them not to tell anyone. But no matter how much He rebuked them, they divulged even more" (7:36). And finally, the healing of a blind man who utters a wonderful phrase: "I see people. They are like trees, but they walk" (8:24). (Our translation — G.C.) This passage is very poorly rendered in the Synodal translation: "I see people passing by like trees." It is not clear what we are talking about. The blind man is actually accustomed to feeling his way around the trees with his hands. And finally, now he sees people: "They are like trees, but they walk." This is yet another testimony to the stunning truthfulness and freshness of the Gospel text, uncombed and unadorned. Telling about this healing, the Evangelist again says: "And he sent him home, saying, 'Do not go into the village, and do not tell anyone in the village' (8:26).

And so, right up to the moment when Peter exclaimed, "You are the Christ" (8:29), Jesus forbids those who witness His miracles to tell about them. Why?

The Savior comes into this world in secret. Therefore, His preaching is usually related to what we call the Messianic mystery. Yes, He heals people, because He can't help healing. He resurrects the dead because he cannot help but lend a helping hand to those who are in trouble. But He forbids divulging this, for then people will begin to strive for Him, not because He is the Incarnate Truth, but because He is a miracle worker. And then they will reach out to Him only to get some kind of self-interest, benefit. This is what the Savior fears most of all.

We know from the two-thousand-year experience of the Church that faith ends at the moment when a person wants to have something out of it: health, success in life, an apartment, a job, or something else. The Frank Tales of a Pilgrim speaks of three paths that lead to God. The first is the path of a slave who works out of fear of hellish torments. This path of fear is completely denied by the Gospel, although in the Middle Ages people turned to Christ precisely because they feared the future. The second path is the path of the mercenary, who hopes to earn a reward from God by his honest work. This is exactly the path that people can follow if they see in the Savior not their friend and Brother, sharing all the sorrows and joys of this life, but an almighty miracle worker. Finally, the third path is the one that the wanderer chooses for himself in Frank Stories. This is the path of love, when the question does not arise: what will this love give? When one thing is clear: it is impossible to be outside of Christ. Life without Him is unbearable. You can only be with Christ.

A brilliant answer to this question is given by the Evangelist Mark: from the first lines of the narrative we see Jesus surrounded by His disciples. His mission, His ministry, His way loses all meaning if He is alone. The Gospel of Mark is a gospel in which Jesus, the apostles, and the disciples walk together all the time. Such is the path of the Christian, the path of the disciple who does not ask why he is here with his Master. He simply has no other way: he is with Christ, because he cannot be without Him.

When Peter exclaims, "Thou art the Christ," the mystery of the Messiah ceases to be a mystery. Let us pay attention once again: at the beginning of the Gospel we hear the words about the Son of God, at the end the centurion exclaims: "Truly this man was the Son of God" (15:39). In the middle of the Gospel of Mark, the Apostle Peter says, "You are the Christ," and we already know that He is the Christ. As we read the first chapters of the Gospel, we learn to talk to Him and listen to Him. We follow Jesus through a very difficult path of realizing that His mission is connected with the Cross, with a shameful death. The second part of the Gospel is devoted to this: three times on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus tells His disciples about His death, about the punishment to which He will be subjected, about the shame that He will have to endure. It is very difficult for them to take all this into their hearts, although they already have experience of personal communication with Him.

This is how we are: as we read the first eight chapters, it would seem that we are also accumulating experience with the Savior. Nevertheless, it is very difficult for everything that follows to enter Our consciousness. We always wish that Good Friday was not the day it has been for many centuries – the day of the funeral service. We all want to see some kind of force in Christianity. And the Gospel of Mark shows us that Christianity is simply life in Christ. In the Gospel there is no system, no theory, and no special teaching. He has Christ in him.