1Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker, 2to the beloved Apphia, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the assembly in your house: 3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, 5hearing of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, 6that the fellowship of your faith may become effective in the knowledge of every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus. 7For we have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
8Therefore though I have all boldness in Christ to command you that which is appropriate, 9yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you, being such a one as Paul, the aged, but also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. 10I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have become the father of in my chains, 11who once was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me. 12I am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, 13whom I desired to keep with me, that on your behalf he might serve me in my chains for the Good News. 14But I was willing to do nothing without your consent, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but of free will. 15For perhaps he was therefore separated from you for a while that you would have him forever, 16no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much rather to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17If then you count me a partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18But if he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, put that to my account. 19I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self besides). 20Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord.
21Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even beyond what I say.
22Also, prepare a guest room for me, for I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you.
23Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
25The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
As with the other Gospels, the author of the Gospel of Mark is not explicitly stated. However, very early and nearly universal church documents assign Mark as the author. Papias (ca. A.D. 140) claims Mark wrote the Gospel as Peter’s interpreter. Justin Martyr, writing around the same time, agreed. Irenaeus (ca. 180) also said Mark was the author, and that it was a compilation of Peter’s sermons.
Mark was the author’s Roman name, but he was also known by his Hebrew name, John. He lived in Jerusalem with his mother, Mary, whose home became the headquarters of the first Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12). Mark went with Barnabas and Saul (Paul) to Antioch, and went on Paul’s first missionary journey around A.D. 46. At Pamphylia, he left Paul unannounced, causing Paul to argue with Barnabas about taking him with them again (Acts 15:36-41). However, by 60-62, Paul’s faith in Mark had been repaired to the point that Paul called him a “fellow worker” (Col 4:10, 11; Phlm 24). He also helped Peter (1 Peter 5:13), and came to Rome to help Paul during his imprisonment and final moments (2 Tim 4:11).
Although some early church Fathers assigned a date as early as A.D. 40, it is all but impossible that Mark would have written the Gospel before he deserted Paul. Irenaeus dated Mark to after both Peter and Paul’s death, around A.D. 67. However, both Papias and Clement of Alexandria, much earlier than Irenaeus, claimed that Mark wrote down Peter’s sermons while Peter was still alive. Also, if Luke used Mark as a source, as many scholars now believe, Mark must have compiled his account earlier than Luke’s gospel, which was written before Luke wrote Acts, sometime around A.D. 62. For these reasons, the strongest argument is that Mark wrote his Gospel sometime in the mid 50’s.
Clement of Alexandria said that Mark was written for those in Rome. Mark is thought to have been living in Rome at the time of the gospel’s writing. Internal evidence seems to agree with a Roman audience, and also points to a majority of Gentile addressees. Mark uniquely uses Latin terms, such as lepta, praetorium, and quadrans. His use of quadrans is especially helpful, since this coinage was not circulated in the eastern part of the Roman empire. Mark also translated Aramaic sayings into Greek, and explains customs unique to Palestine, pointing to a Gentile audience, or at least an audience that was unfamiliar with Judaism in Palestine.
Many scholars think Mark was written to strengthen Christian communities in the face of persecution, assuming a late date for the writing of Mark. Certainly suffering is one of the themes of Mark. Mark emphasizes not only Jesus’ death, but also His triumph over death and suffering. However, suffering is not the only theme, and may not even be the most important one. Another theme is that of Jesus as servant. This is shown by Mark’s emphasis on Jesus’ actions over His words. Another significant idea in Mark is Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law, negating its requirements. Because of the similarity of this theme in Mark with the Epistle to the Romans, combined with the theory that Mark was written in the mid-50’s to Gentiles in Rome, some scholars have posited that Mark was written as a primer in preparation for Paul’s visit to Rome. New converts returning from Pentecost in Jerusalem had most likely formed the church in Rome. Thus they were not established by an Apostolic visit, and were probably lacking in information about the faith they had embraced. Some have even suggested Mark may have written his Gospel with the intent of redeeming himself with Paul. We know that by 60-62, when Mark was in Rome, Paul had changed his mind toward Mark. If this was the case, it would explain the similarities between Mark and Romans, despite that Mark got his information from Peter.