THIS GOSPEL was written by John Mark, the nephew of Barnabas. He went with Paul and Barnabas on their preaching mission to Cyprus (Acts 13:4–5). He was well known to Peter who called him his “son” (1 Peter 5:13) and may have been the “young man” referred to in Mark 14:51. Four Views of Jesus An interesting connection has been made between the four Gospels and the four faces of the “living creatures”, or cherubim, of Ezekiel’s prophecy (compare Ezekiel 1:10 with 10:14–15). Just as those creatures each had four faces—a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle—so the four Gospels, while offering a full portrait, present characteristically different views of the Lord Jesus Christ. The lion is a fitting symbol to represent Matthew’s view of the ‘King’. The ox corresponds to Mark’s view of the ‘Servant’. The human face relates to Luke’s view of Christ the ‘Man’ (often
Mark
