JESUS OF NAZARETH

A BIOGRAPHY

BY

JOHN MARK

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
NEW YORK : : LONDON : : MCMXXII

COPYRIGHT 1922, BY
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

FOREWORD

"Jesus of Nazareth, a Biography, by John Mark," recognizes the author of the second Gospel as that "John, whose surname was Mark" (Acts 15:37), whom Barnabas chose as companion when he sailed for Cyprus on his second missionary journey. In making use of the new title, the plan of the Editor is to present "The Gospel: According to Mark" as it would be printed were it written in the twentieth rather than the first century.

Mark's Gospel has been chosen for this purpose to make available in more readable form this timely portion of the Bible. In John Mark the missionary is revealed a man of action. This characteristic influences strongly the point of view and style of his writing. As John, the beloved disciple, in "The Revelation" beholds the victorious Christ as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," foretold by the prophets, so Mark sees Jesus of Nazareth as the strong, vigorous man of action; he writes of His mighty works in swift narrative at times so vivid it flashes like a burst of flame, as though the facts presented must have been on fire in the heart of the author. Written for the practical, energetic Roman, the Editor feels that this biography of Jesus of Nazareth exactly fits the mood of our own time, with its emphasis upon the practical and its insistence that the man of action, the doer, is the man for the hour.

Printed like a modern book, but in the fine old King James' version, it is believed that all Bible lovers will welcome their old friend, "The Gospel: According to Mark," in its new literary dress; it is hoped, too, that in this popular form book buyers and lovers of good literature may be led to purchase a book which needs only to be thoroughly and thoughtfully read to be greatly reverenced.