Steve and Annie Chapman sing a song that includes these lines: They took that man to Jesus;He had no faith of his own,But when Jesus saw the faith of a few good friends,He said, “Take up your bed, take up your bed and go home. The faith of a few good friends. Let’s look for…

“His fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.”(1:28) This is pretty amazing because Jesus has only just begun his ministry, only just begun selecting his apostles, only just been baptized by John in the Jordan-and already his fame has begun to spread. But it’s no wonder. Look at the Gospels for the…

Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. Well, there I am. You people have a saying about everyone having their 15 minutes of fame. This is mine. Right there in the Gospel written by that boy Mark. It doesn’t tell you my name, of course….

Many scholars think that St. Mark’s Gospel was set down somewhere between 60 and 65 AD. The presumed primary audience is the Jewish Christian community, not in Judea, but perhaps in Rome. If these scholarly theories are true, then the story about Jesus’ authority takes on a special kind of power and import. If the…